How Will They Hear?
Romans 10:13-15
All who call on the Lord’s name will be saved. So how can they call on someone they don’t have faith in? And how can they have faith in someone they haven’t heard of? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the good news.
Let’s look at this passage backward and see a picture of how the Gospel spreads:
God sends people to announce the good news (v. 15) - People hear and believe (v. 14b) - Those who believe call upon the name of the Lord (v. 14a) - God saves those who call on his name (v. 13). That’s it! This is God’s plan for saving the world. And while it sounds simple, there are still over 3 billion unreached people who have not heard the good news that Jesus is King. They will live their entire lives without ever meeting a Christian or hearing the Good News.
Paul wrote to the church in Rome imploring them to support his efforts to take the gospel to Spain to people who had not yet heard. He asks the obvious question, “How are these people going to hear and believe the gospel if someone doesn’t go and announce it to them?” Do we ask that same question today? How are people in India or Yemen or [fill in the blank] going to hear and believe the gospel if someone doesn’t go to them? Let’s pray and ask God what role we should play in the spread of the gospel.
-The Outreach Team
Here I am. Send me.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Who should I send? Who will go for Us?” I said: “Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah 6:8
It was November 1900. A group of five missionaries were looking over the rail of their banana boat that had just arrived in Cuba. As they leaned over the rail watching the ship cargo being unloaded, one of them heard and understood his first Spanish words in Cuba, “Poco a poco.” The group had been on an intensive Spanish course in the last few months as they got ready to leave for Cuba. Mr. Jones understood that it meant “little by little” in other words, “take it easy.” He took these words as a sign from the Lord. Ministry was going to take a while, and he was not to try to rush it. Their first convert was the carpenter that built a few benches for their meetings. Ministry in Cuba did take a while, but by 1927, there was an independent, thriving church in Cuba.
Why am I telling this story? Those five missionaries answered God’s call and joined Him on mission. When God asked “Who should I send,” they answered, “Send us.” They could never have imagined the impact that their answer would have on thousands of Cubans. They impacted the lives of thousands of people they never met. I am one of them. I came to know Jesus in one of those churches founded by that group of missionaries, and those who followed them. It is interesting that I am writing this in November because every November we celebrated the lives of those five missionaries. I remember how we had to learn their names in Sunday School. By the time I was old enough to understand salvation, there were no missionaries left in Cuba. The Communist regime revoked all of their visas and they had to leave, but their work and the Holy Spirit remain in Cuba. Generations continue to worship the Lord and study the Bible in spite of all the hardships.
Those five missionaries were not super-Christians, but ordinary people like you and me. They just heard a call from God and answered it. If you hear His call and answer it, the Lord will send you on an amazing journey, and you will never know until you get to Heaven the impact that you had on many lives.
Isabel Hines
Global Outreach Council
What will you say?
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
Early on in my involvement with EFCC’s Journey of Hope Refugee Ministry, I found myself driving two Syrian refugee women home from an event in El Cajon. I wasn’t familiar with the area and these two ladies were doing their best to give me directions by pointing, speaking to each other in Arabic and then to me with a few words of English! I remember thinking how did I get here? In fact, I’ve asked myself that question many times.
The answer goes back to the opportunity I had to find out more about serving refugees at an informational session. I didn’t know what might be involved but I wanted to find out more and to say “yes” and take a step forward. Not long after, there was an invitation to join the refugee ministry leadership team. Who me? Surely there were others more qualified and knowledgeable than me. I had never met a Muslim. I knew nothing of Arabic culture or the honor-shame worldview. Yet, I knew in my heart that the nudge I was feeling was the Holy Spirit encouraging me to say “yes” again and take another step forward.
Six years later, I can joyfully say that while in service to Him, God has expanded my life with purpose and blessings beyond what I could have ever imagined. He has given me a love for refugees, enlarged my community of other believers with whom I am blessed to serve and continued to open doors for other service. I am so grateful that He has. given me the opportunity to participate with Him in what He is doing locally and around the world.
What are the interests in your life that animate your spirit and excite you? Will you be intentional about pursuing opportunities for service by being open to taking a step toward those opportunities and by making yourself available? What will you say?
Nancy Wood, Global Outreach Council
My Global Family in Christ
It was a beautiful clear evening. We were in a small church in the mountains high above the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. We had a beautiful view of the city lights. My husband and I had been ministering there with a team from Costa Rica. One of the local workers invited us to visit her home church. Most of the members were Quechuan and did not speak Spanish fluently. The moment we stepped into the building everybody was eager to make our acquaintance. We were greeted with the usual Bolivian way of hand shake, kiss, hand shake again. At my 5'-3`` height, I was a head taller than most women. They wore their traditional colorful skirts, typical hats and long braids past their waists. I definitely did not look like them and did not even speak their language. And yet…I felt at home! I was with my family! My family in Christ!
I have never felt more like I was participating in a true New Testament church than that evening. The service was conducted in a mixture of Spanish and Quechuan. There was singing and praying. My husband shared a brief message in Spanish and it was translated to Quechuan, followed by a message from one of the elders. What a treat!
When it was time for communion, the leaders announced that a member of the congregation who was put under Elder discipline had gone through all the requirements and was ready to be reinstated. The congregation was asked if they agreed that he could again participate in the communion service. They did. Then we were asked to get on our knees (on the tile floor) and get our hearts right with the Lord by confessing any sins committed. People all around me were whispering prayers in Quechuan. I was praying in Spanish. John was praying in English. After a while, still with our heads bowed, we were asked if we had anything against a brother or a sister to get up and reconcile. I could hear some shuffling of chairs and feet. Then there was a final prayer, we sat up, and communion started pretty much how we conduct it in our congregation.
This was the closest I have ever felt to real communion with my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I still get tears in my eyes thinking about that experience. The service lasted over two hours. The best two hours I have ever spent. I will probably never see those dear people again until we get to heaven. But I am looking forward to that event described in Revelation 7:9-10, "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ''Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”'
If you have the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart, you can also look forward to that event, but you can have glimpses here on Earth as my husband and I did that evening. You can participate in short or long term missions and experience the joy of being with our global family in Christ.
Isabel Hines
Global Outreach Council
God’s Infinite and Beautiful Story
One of my favorite experiences as an elder is listening to testimonies from people in the New Members Class. I love hearing stories of the beautiful ways God has worked in people’s lives. The testimonies are beautiful in and of themselves as they stand alone, a singular point in time and history, but when I think about how they fit into God’s bigger picture, they are even more beautiful and a stronger witness to what God is building. God is building something that transcends time and space, a feat that only God can accomplish.
My mother loves to put together big colorful puzzles. As she looks at each of the pieces, they are truly beautiful in hue and in unique shape. However, they make sense and are only truly beautiful when seen as part of a whole as they are purposefully placed together. In this world, I cannot see the whole until it is completely assembled, but as God puts together his story, he knows and sees the bigger picture and how it all fits beautifully together.
This bigger picture not only transcends my limited earthly view, but it also transcends time. Only God can orchestrate a narrative that transcends time. In 1 Corinthians 3:10, Paul talks about being a part of the building process. He acknowledges his part and our part, building throughout time on the foundation laid by Christ.
Toward the end of his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson points out that when I share my story or when I listen to the testimonies of others, it is not how God fits into my story. It is how I fit into God’s story. I am not beyond the scope of time and space, but God is. I will wither and fade but God’s plan and purposes are eternal. God has a plan for me individually and a plan for us corporately. God is writing his story, history. Because of God’s work on the cross, I get to be a part of a bigger story that is even more beautiful than my singular story. I get to be a part of that story because of his work on the cross. That is not only beautiful but it is purposeful and eternal.
Lord, thank you for giving deeper and broader meaning to my story because it is part of your story. As I live out the story you have planned for me, and as I encounter the stories of others, help me to see each one in light and in view of your plan and purposes. Your kingdom story is a vantage point that is infinitely more beautiful.
Rich Bell
Global Outreach Council
Missio Dei
I was on a mission and could not be stopped. Undergoing a house remodel, the work was paused while a broken plumbing part had to be replaced. The plumber could not continue. That meant the drywaller could not finish. Next the painter had to reschedule. The housing inspector's appointment changed. I had to find that part. Life was certainly tougher in these pre-internet days. Driving from Valley Center to all the different plumbing supply stores in Escondido and surrounding areas to locate this part was quite an effort. Eventually though, mission accomplished!
Thankfully, the mission of God continues in a more joyful manner and on a much grander and eternal scale. Throughout history, God has called men and women to be His workers. Beginning in Genesis 12 with the call of Abraham, summoning Moses and revealing Him as the greatest I AM to deliver Israel, appointing David a king that would produce seed in Jesus that would rule forever.
Jesus was on mission too. The Father was sending Jesus to reconcile all people to Himself. Jesus was sent by the Father to do not His will, but the will of the Father. “Then Jesus explained: My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work." (John 4:34) We are not bystanders. I remember Gary Haugen from IJM teaching one morning at EFCC. “God doesn’t have a Plan B. The church is His plan.”
This paragraph from an essay in the Perspectives on the Christian Movement by Henry Blackaby and Avery Willis is convicting and challenging to me. “Christians are Kingdom people and Christ Himself is the eternal King over His kingdom. He “has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father.” (Rev 1:6) You are called into a partnership with Christ the King. In this partnership, you will become involved in His mission to reconcile a lost world to God. To be related to Christ is to be on mission with Him. You cannot be in relationship with Jesus and not be on mission with Him. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you too.” (John 20:21).
Those are clear marching orders. May we all be faithful and obedient to the call that the Father has put on each one of our lives. Soli deo gloria.
Todd Hoyt,
Global Outreach Council
Even Greater Things
In John 14:12, Jesus, while saying his good-byes to his disciples, makes an amazing statement: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father”.
Wait a minute… which “works” is Jesus referring to? Does he mean miracles? What exactly did Jesus mean by “even greater things”? How we answer these questions has profound implications for our life and ministry.
I’ve heard all kinds of answers being offered. I’ve heard preachers claim on the basis of this passage that all believers will perform miracles as long as they have enough faith. (Lack of miracles, must mean lack of faith on our part). I’ve also seen preachers perform “exegetical gymnastics” with this passage to say the exact opposite - to eliminate any expectation of supernatural works in a believer’s life. (Lack of miracles, must mean God doesn’t do that anymore.)
I don’t think Jesus meant we will perform greater miracles than he did (how do you rank miracles anyway?), but he certainly expected his mission to be continued and accompanied by supernatural works. After all, “the student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.” I personally think “even greater things” refers to the growth of the movement and the scope and impact of the ministry to come.
But instead of theology, I’d like to share my experience from being involved in global missions.
I’ve had the unique privilege of traveling to many countries and seeing the global church in action on six continents. I’ve shared meals with amazing brothers and sisters in the world's megacities and in tribal villages. I’ve met Christian leaders who oversee rapidly multiplying movements of thousands of churches and hundreds of thousands of disciples. They all believe that John 14:12 applies to all followers of Jesus, not just the first few. They believe that Jesus expects all of his followers to continue his mission, including continuing the works he did. Lastly, they believe that when Jesus said “and they will do even greater things than these”, he actually meant what he said! He certainly wasn’t trying to lower our expectations of what will happen!
They don’t just believe John 14:12 is true, they are living it and they have personal stories to back it up. Dreams, divine interventions, miracles big and small. God is doing “even greater things” every day around the world and he does it through ordinary men and women doing extraordinary works that can only be explained if God’s supernatural power was involved.
Meeting such believers around the world challenges my insufficient theology, limited experience, and relative lack of faith in what God can do in my life. It also encourages me, strengthens my faith, and raises my expectations. My prayer is that we as a church will see what God is doing around the world, allow ourselves to be challenged by it, and passionately pray for Him to do “even greater things” among us in Escondido. And that you will personally lean into the astounding invitation to continue what Jesus started, so you can see what God can do through you!
Beautiful Feet
I remember it like yesterday. Mom, Dad, and my six brothers and sisters all gathered in a small living room around the TV to watch it at night. These were the times when the whole family would gather around one tv in the house and 4 channels. Compact living and close together. As an 8-year-old kid, the normal daily grind was school, play, and non-stop movement. I kicked my shoes off and laid down in the middle of the living room to join them. That didn’t last long. “What is that smell!” yelled my Mom. I was immediately banished to go wash my feet and missed that Happy Days episode.
Do you know who has beautiful feet? Paul reminds us of this by quoting Isaiah. “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring the Good News!” (Romans 10:15 New Living Translation) In his letter, Paul has outlined the need for repentance, the gospel message of salvation for all, and the incredible eternal benefits of this gift during the first 10 chapters. Now he tells us how the message is communicated.
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?
Having beautiful feet doesn’t require new shoes, expensive perfume, or an expensive pedicure (although they all might be nice). They are not reserved only for the super-spiritual, those that are in professional ministry, or those serving missionally in the most remote places on earth. Missio Dei invites each one of us to participate with Him to reconcile His children. That can involve knowledge of God’s mission and telling the story, praying for our brothers and sisters from EFCC attempting to reach the unreached, sharing the good news with a coworker, or funding efforts of global missions organizations.
Prayer: Father in heaven. We acknowledge and praise you for who you are and desire for all the lost to be saved. Please Lord, please use us, all of us, in any way you see fit to accomplish your mission. Father, you have put others in our path that have shared the gospel; may you use us to do the same for others…..may you bless us with beautiful feet to share your Good News.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Todd Hoyt
Global Outreach Council
The Condition of my Heart Matters!
Many of you, like me, have grown up in Bible-teaching, missions-minded churches. From early ages, we’ve repeated “For God so loved the world…” and sang “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go.” For me, there was a definite surrender of my life to the Lord in my high school years as I sang that song (with the caveat - Please, Lord, just not as a pastor’s wife…which in fact I later became!).
While in Bible college with some decisions looming concerning my future, I came across Solomon’s words as he dedicated the Temple in 1 Kings 8:60, 61. Stating as God’s “bottom line” His desire that all the people of the earth may know that He is the one and only True God, he goes on to exhort the people to be wholly devoted to (other translations say “committed to,” “fully obey,” “give your entire heart to”) God. It was an AHA! moment for me…a life-impacting moment! I suddenly realized that the condition of my heart before God…wherever His path would take me… made a difference in God’s seeing His deepest desire met that all the people of the earth would know about Him. The condition of my heart matters! I like the way Eugene Peterson puts this passage in The Message: “…your lives must be totally obedient to God, our personal God, following the life path he has cleared, alert and attentive to everything he has made plain this day.”
Obviously for some this means vocational Christian ministry…pastoring, translating Scripture, taking the message to unreached people groups, and more. For others, it means being a nurse, driving a school bus, working as a businessman or a carpenter, or being a mom raising kids. All are important… for wherever God plants us, we have the opportunity to show by life and word that He is the True God, seeking a relationship with us and those whose lives we touch. But the condition of our hearts is paramount for this to happen! We’re in this together…with Him…so that all the people of the earth will know that He is God, and respond to His great love. Will you tell Him today you’re on board with a committed heart to see His will accomplished?
Bev Feiker
Global Outreach Team
The God Who Sees
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13
Recently, I had the privilege of being part of a ministry team in Jordan. We had the opportunity to fellowship with local church leaders, learn simple yet effective ways to share the gospel, participate in discipleship training sessions, attend worship services and home Bible studies. However, my favorite part was the home visits. Our team of four, two local women who are ministry leaders and two women from our team, went out several times to seek out Syrian refugee women with whom the truth of God’s love and plan of redemption would be shared.
We sought out these women through congested city streets swarming with cars whose drivers seemed to make up their own traffic rules as they careened along – no stop sign, no problem. Pedestrians bravely stepped out into this tangle of traffic while shopkeepers and shoppers conducted daily business. Finally, we stopped and began to look for the address of the woman we would visit. Often, we would walk through dark doorways, down narrow alleys, or climb several flights of stairs to a door. When we knocked a woman would shyly peek out and open the door for us to enter.
As we listened to these women, themes began to develop of families driven from their homes in Syria because of war, marriages at 14 or 15 years of age with two, three or more children by their early 20’s and for some no ability to read or write. Many women spoke of heartache, isolation, and loneliness.
Mari is one of these women. Little did she know that when she opened the door to us her life would change forever. As Mari listened intently, she learned that God sees her and has always seen her. She learned that he loves her and offers a way through Jesus to heal her brokenness and restore her to a whole relationship with God. The way it was always meant to be. That day God called Mari out of darkness into the light of His love and she said “yes”.
Do you know someone who is waiting to hear about Jesus? God sees them. Will you also see them and be intentional about sharing God’s plan for redemption with them?
Nancy Wood
Global Outreach Council