And aren’t we to share with adults, young people, children, married couples, singles, the elderly (like me), plus people who speak a language different from our language?  Isn’t that a vital part of our commission?

Isn’t our time of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be at unscheduled times as well as scheduled times?  Isn’t that a vital part of our commission?

My friend Randy and I were in a van being taken, from the hotel where we had stayed, back to the airport.  A man and his wife were riding along with us.  It was very early in the morning, it was till dark.  Randy can speak the language of the country where we were.  As we traveled to the airport, Randy was sharing Christ with this couple.  Must be okay to share Christ in the mornings and when it is still night time.

I met a man from another country in a grocery store where my wife and I shop often.  So, I saw this man a number of times.  I was always talking Jesus to him.  It must be okay to share Christ while shopping.

I have been where we met people walking down a mountain in another country.  In our conversation, Jesus was shared with these individuals.  It must be okay to share Christ on a mountain side.

My friend Dale and I were having lunch while in another country.  Dale noticed a man who was from even another country.  He went and introduced himself to this man.  A part of the conversation he had centered on Jesus.  It must be okay to share Christ in a restaurant.

I visited with two neighbors until after midnight one evening.  The whole conversation was concerning God and Jesus Christ.  It must be okay to share Christ with one’s neighbours.

My wife, Inez, has used the telephone many times to share Christ, especially with other women and even kinsfolk.  Must be okay to share Christ through communications methods and with those to whom you are related.

In fact, I can’t think of a time, a place, or a people when it is not okay to share Jesus Christ.

As a Band of Brethren, shouldn’t we be doing this, everyday and everywhere with everybody?

When Friends of Mexico began a ministry in Mexico, the missionary went to many mountain villages seeking locations in which they could share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  One evening in a particular village as he was sharing Christ with the people, one man came up and cried out in his language, “You lie, you lie!”  And he had a gun and said he was going to shoot the missionary.  He meant it.  Some of the villagers intervened and tried to stop this angry man but told the missionary that he had to leave “now.”  So, he left.

Years later while on a mission venture in Mexico, we decided to return to that location and see if it was now possible to begin to minister there.  We decided to use a sports ministry and were able to get a number of boys and young men to engage in a game of softball.  I will never forget being there because I have never seen a softball hit so far.  Not only did it go out of a very large area where we were playing, but it went over the road that runs through this village and landed by some homes on the other side of the road.  Wow!  We were there for about two hours and had a good time with these young people.  However, as the missionary was seeking approval, from the adults, to return later to try to establish some type of interaction with the people, he received no encouragement.  With sad hearts we walked away, leaving many friendly young people with no hope of ever hearing the Truth that brings “real life.”  We had to shake off the dust from our feet.

Years later now the remembrance of this still saddens me.  Yet, in many areas of this world there are places that have never even been visited as was this village. 

I believe we are back in New Testament times where Jesus was hated and our Band of Brethren were being persecuted, killed, and run out of certain areas of the world and even in my country today, we are having to shake off tons of dust from our feet.

Are we, you and I, willing to go beyond, willing to get dust on our feet, and pay any price necessary so that “some” can hear the Truth of “real life,” that being the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Well, now we had too many people and not enough places to put all of us.  So some of Franks boys used the bus for sleeping.  We still did not have enough space.  So the Hotel Galeana comes into play.  And since I was one of the oldest persons on site I was volunteered to go to the hotel.  I say volunteered because I was a guest there once before. 

Hotel Galeana had 12 cabins lined up in two rows.  Two of them had bath facilities in them.  People in the other 10 had to go outside to 2 shower stalls and 2 restrooms.  I was assigned to #5.  The hotel clerk took me outside where the keys were numbered and hung on a  nail on a board.  I got my key and went to the cabin.  I unlocked the door and opened the door, or I tried to open the door.  There was a chair in the way.  I had to reach in the door, pick up the chair and set it on the bed, then I could open the door where I could enter the room.  Once in the room, I could see there was a bed and a chair.  The room was about one foot wider than the bed and two feet longer than the bed.  There really wasn’t room for the chair.  Also, this hotel was about 9  blocks from the compound.

I was able to sleep though.  Next morning I returned to the compound for our ministry schedule.  About 10PM I returned to the hotel and found my room #5 key was missing from the board.  I asked the clerk for the key.  He said, “Just take any key, they all open any door.”  That made me feel a little ill at ease.  But I survived.

On another mission venture to Galeana the same situation occurred.  Again, I was volunteered for the hotel.  However, this time I got Cabin #12.  It had it’s own shower and restroom.  This turned out to be an advantage since there were so many individuals having to utilize the showers at the compound, some came to my room at the hotel and used that shower.  Also, this cabin was big enough for two people to get into at the same time.  Also, the water and electricity stayed on for the entire time we were in Galeana.  That was very rare.

Years have passed and the Hotel Galeana is no more.  Galeana has grown greatly over the years.  They have a “real” hotel on the plaza which is a beautiful place in the center of Galeana.  How much has it grown you may inquire?  When I first went to Galeana, FOM’s phone number was 9.  There were only 12 phones in the town.  Now they even have a traffic light or two in the town.  They have an Ice Cream Parlor on the plaza which is a good place to go after a tiring day.

Well,  how does all this relate to Christianity?  Let me share a few thoughts.  Galeana was a good location to set up a ministry center.  Not only does it open opportunities to minister into many mountain villages, many of the mountain village people come to Galeana to seek jobs.  As a Band of Brethren, we go to them and they come to us.  Many indigenous leaders receive training at FOM and go out into more villages.  Mission teams work side by side with these leaders to assist and encourage them in their ministry.  As you read this blog, there are men working to develope a Bible School in Galeana.  And regardless of what a mission team must endure it is always necessary that we go beyond and rejoice in going.

And if you ever have to stay in a “Hotel Galeana,” praise God and thank Him that He is allowing you be involved with His plan and purpose in spreading the “only” Truth in our world, The Bible, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

People can live without fancy hotels and they can live without running water and electricity but no one can live without Jesus!  Amen?

However, we can’t always get to those in need of the Word of God by using a van.  There will be times when we, too, must travel as do the people to whom we go.  I have a friend who went to a country where he traveled by car, motorcycle, row boat, and by foot to get into ‘out of the way’ villages.  I must confess that most of my traveling has been by motor vehicle of some type or on foot.  However, there were times, due to the condition of roads, that I had rather have been on foot than in a car.  So what are we who have been given “much” to do with this “much?”  Use it to get to those who have much less than we have so they can know Jesus Christ?  Can you think of another reason for our having so “much?”

Then this does not just relate to how we travel.  It relates to all of our livelihood.  There are good men and women who seek to carry on needed ministries in areas of the world who have almost no encouragement from anyone.  Is it possible that we, the Band of Brethren, can seek out some of these individuals and be an encouragement to them and share some of our “much” with them, what ever their individual needs may be?  Also, in Biblical understanding we have been given “much.”  We must share with them the Truth of God’s Word so they can also share the Truth.  This is vital as there are so many false teachers in the world today making a ton of “much” for themselves.

Who does our “much” belong to?  What are we going to do with the “much” which God has placed in our hands?  Lets you and me think it over.  Okay?

Shortly, the Police came back through our area and unlocked the doors.  Everything settled back to normal.  It seemed that someone the Government was looking for had landed in a private plane but it turned out not to be the individual they thought it might have been.

So, I boarded my flight and continued on my journey.  We sometimes consider a situation such as this as a “bump in the road.” 

As I mulled this over in my mind I realized that there will always be “bumps in the road” in life.  And man has always tried to smooth out these bumps with the best man can accomplish through man’s ability apart from Creator God.  Our world is in the condition it is because man has told God to ‘get lost.’  Just today I learned of a woman who has worked in a medical clinic for 30 years who was told that the cross she wears on a necklace is harmful to the patients and it must be removed.   

Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer had it right when he said, “When man loses the moral imperative of what man should do, all man is left with is what man can do!”

I remember……

One young girl, that did not get much expression of love at home, who ran up to a lady of our Mission Team, who had shown love to this child, and she literally jumped up into this lady’s arms.  This child had such a big smile on her face.  This woman and child speak different languages.

Five young boys who came up to a pastor on the street and gave him a big hug.  He was loving these boys away from a life of hopelessness.  One of the boys said, “We have quit sniffing glue.  Thanks pastor!”

One location where a child went everywhere I went and ended up in my arms many times.  I never got tired of the child’s presence.  This child and I have different skin color.

One location where I prayed with a boy who that day had been put out of his home.  The family did not have the funds to take care of him.  He became just another “street kid.”

A young boy who hung around me as much as possible as he wanted to practice speaking English.  After I left his country we continued to correspond by mail.

Another location where the competition to continue going to school is so difficult that they miss what it means to be a “child.”

A home in my country where a child was wanting attention and to keep the child from making a fuss the father gave the child a can of beer to drink.  This child was three years old.

Children will welcome us with love in what ever language they speak.  And since the vast majority can’t come to us, we must go to them with the Love and Word of God.  It is their only hope.  Are we, the Band of Brethren, willing?  A real tough question isn’t it?

Much has changed in La Poza since my first visit.  They now have electricity and a small school building for the younger children.  I have even seen a map of Mexico which shows the location of La Poza. 

However, as some look at La Poza they might wonder if anything has been gained by the time and effort put into the sharing of the Word of God in such an insignificant place.  We may never know the full impact of that.  But what we do know is Isaiah 55:11 – “So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void (without fruit), but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”  There is reason and a purpose for God’s Word to go into the lives of the people who live in this village.  And it is God who brings the results.

Our task is to take His Word to places like La Poza.  God promises it will bear fruit.  Isn’t that enough incentive for us to go beyond, where no man has gone before with the Gospel, no matter where that may take us?

As God’s “Band of Brethren” are we going to do that? 

I have lived in an area, in times past, where we had no running water, no indoor plumbing, and no electricity in a small wooden framed house.  But there were other such homes within walking distance where there were opportunities for fellowship and interactions with others.  Not so on this particular mountain and other mountains on which I have been.

I began to comprehend the scripture where Jesus states, “The harvest is plenteous,but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” -Matt: 9:37b-38.

I also lived where we had crops that would, at the right time, be ripe for harvest, but they were crops planted on level ground.  But God’s harvest includes mountains also and His harvest includes the entire earth, wherever man is seeking to make a living.  The people who lived in those shacks we drove by on that mountain need to be harvested also.  The only people who can do that harvesting are you and me.  And these people are always ripe for harvest.

One mountain town where I have been, in another country, has about 300 small mountain villages in the area.  I doubt if very many of these villages have ever heard any of the word of God.  This is just one such example.  It can be multiplied by thousands of other examples.  The task of harvest is greater than I can envision.

In other countries men and women are being trained, as best as possible, in God’s Word and are committed to going, mostly on foot, up into the mountains to go to villages where there is no Gospel of Jesus Christ being presented. 

The same is being done in mountain-less nations.  The harvest is everywhere.  But the laborers are so few.

As one non-Christian author wrote, “We Americans Are Amusing Ourselves To Death!”

What are we “Band of Brethren” going to do about the Harvest?

The day before we had gone down to where my Step-father kept his boat and took it way up the bayou as far away from open water as possible.  It was tied up, in an area where there were many trees, with long rope lines so the boat could rise with the incoming tide and not sink the boat. 

Also being considered, was the location of the boat as it would rise with the water, was where the trees were located so if one was blown over it would not fall on the boat.  (I remember after the storm as we were taking the boat back to the its basin, we noticed a number of boats that had been sunk by the storm.  Going up the bayou we had to be careful so as not to hit some boat which was completely underwater.)

We lived in a wood framed house and had a big oak tree in the front yard.  The house had two bedrooms, one up at the front of the house and one in the back.  I had the bedroom at the back. 

Now it is late, there is no electrify and no radio to hear the latest hurricane forecasts.  But by the strength of the wind and the heavy rain we knew it was coming right down “the middle of main street” as the adults stated.  So, being just a young “kid” I went on to bed.  Somehow, I was able to go to sleep.  When I woke up the next morning, there was no strong wind and no rain.  The house was still there and big Oak tree was still standing.  But there was something else, on one side of me was my Mother and on the other side was my Step-father.  A hurricane was raging around me and all the while, the people who loved me most were right with me side by side and there to welcome me to another day.  The storm was over.

Today, as I recount that episode in my life, I believe that is what will happen when a Christ Follower goes home.  We go to sleep, the storms are over, and we wake up in the arms of Jesus.

Knowing that, shouldn’t we be ready and willing to do all that God desires of us, no matter what that may cost us? 

Mark 4:39-40 - “And Jesus arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, ’Peace, be still.’  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And Jesus said unto to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? how is it that you have no faith?’”  

That is a great question.  We all know where the storms are.  But much more important, where is “our” faith?

What say you?   

John arose early and went into the hotel lobby where there was a TV set, which daily at this hour had news broadcasts in English.  In a short time he returned to our room where Dale and I were in the process of getting ready for the day ahead.  (We were conducting a daily seminar for pastors and church leaders).

John told us that the Twin Towers in New York had been hit by an airplane.  We were a little stunned by this news.  How could this happen?  Where did the plane come from?  What kind of plane was involved?  Not once did I think it could be a passenger aircraft.  And at this point we did not know there were other planes involved.  As we discussed this event it was now mid-night of the 11th of September in my home town of Houston, Texas.

When we went outside the hotel, we noticed men hawking newspapers with headlines like: “10,000 Killed In New York” and “20,000 Killed In Attack On The Twin Towers.”  With so little facts about what had and what was transpiring back home, we became very concerned.

The three of us then began to pray for our families and for our country and for the people to which we would be sharing that day.  Here was a “God Moment.”  How would we react before these Kenyan Brothers.  We prayed thanking God for always being in control.  As we met that day our Brethren were also praying like prayers.  Even many, who were not a part of those to which we were ministering, shared their concern for us.  Especially was this true for other Kenyan Christ Followers who sought us out to show their love in Christ for us.  One such person told Dale, “My heart hurts for those who left this world without ever knowing Jesus Christ and His Salvation.”

As we corresponded back home with our families, we discovered our wives where on the phone daily, form Texas to Oregon, praying for us.  What an encouragement! 

Little by little, we began to get the truth about what had happened.  We continued to pray more specifically.  What had transpired reminded me of another such day in my life, December 7, 1941, the day Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii without warning.  I remembered the fear I had as a nine year old boy.   That same fear returned.  Only this time, I knew more about God’s sovereignty.

Next, our attention turned to how we would return home.  Flights everywhere were cancelled.  Since I was scheduled to leave Kenya in about 5 days, this became a problem.  John and Dale, being from Oregon, looked into the possibility of flying into Canada if flights where still grounded in the United Stated.  I, on the other hand, considered flying into Mexico.  I had contacted a friend, in South Texas, about this possibility.

In the meantime we continued to conduct our seminar.  God was giving us a love for the Kenyans.

The day I was to leave, we traveled back to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to get me on my flight.  Air traffic was now moving in most places.  I was dropped off at the airport and said goodbye to my Kenyan Brethren.  When I went to check in for the flight there was a problem.  I never did discover what that problem was but they seemed determined to not allow me to board this flight.  We had several discussions but no reason was forth-coming.  Then I remembered I had checked with the airline office in Nakuru and they had given me a slip of paper showing I was confirmed for the flight.  When that was shown, I had no more problems. 

As I traveled home from Nairobi to Amsterdam to Houston, I met a number of people who had to wait up to 7 or 8 days before they could get on a flight.  I was blessed.  So were John and Dale as they too, arrived home without problems.

Will I always remember “9/11″ as it is called in the USA?  Yes!  Just as I have always remembered December 7th and Pearl Harbor.  I remember the hurt and loss of life.  Yet, I also remember the love of family and the love of my Kenyan Brethren and the love of God as He made our paths straight.

No matter what may come our way, as a nation, as a church or as an individual, I pray we will always remember God’s Word and His plan and purpose for our lives. 

But of more importance……. 

May we never, never forget what Christ has done for us on “the” Cross!