News from Missionary Jason Holt in Chile

During our camp last week Karin Figueroa gave a stirring testimony.  She’s a 32 year old microbiologist who teaches at a local university in Santiago.  Karin accepted Christ at our church in 2008.  She’s now teaching one of our children’s Sunday School classes and studying 2 nights a week in our Bible Institute.

Karin mentioned during her testimony that she is now known among her scientist peers as the “Science Traitor” because she believes in God, the Bible, and the biblical account of creation.  The jokes and jeering do not phase her!  She’s a strong example for our young people of how we should be bold witnesses for Christ in our secular society.

One of our supporting churches voted tonight to give $500 towards the Sunday School classrooms construction project!  It’s exciting to see how God is providing!!!

God has provided all but $2,050.00 for the construction project!  Please continue to pray that we will reach the goal and finish this project!

Here’s an outside view of the new Sunday School addition.

This will be the front door. As you can see, we still have much work to be done to finish the walls, put in the windows and doors, etc.

Here’s the unfinished version of one of the new classes. We used it for the first time this Sunday.

This bathroom is obviously not finished… but it will be soon!

This is the hallway.

Here’s the second classroom!

This will be my office when everything is finished!

This is classroom number 3

This is a view of the ceiling in the hallway.

This is our storage room… every church needs one!

This is classroom #4

This will be the front yard in the future… pretty small huh?

This is a picture of Lori and me in the middle of our old children’s Sunday School class. This rental property we turned back into the owner this weekend.

This is the front of the rental property that we used for the last 4 years… this Saturday we returned the building to the owner.

taken from To Every Tribe Winter 2009

Do you know how the Moravians decided who got to go as missionaries when new opportunities arose? They cast lots for it . . . for it . . .not to avoid it! The attitude of the whole community was that they were all called to go and send. They might be called upon at any moment, so everyone lived in constant readiness. When the lots were thrown down they eagerly gathered around, hoping for their name to be called out. It was like winning the lottery! When twelve missionaries died from disease on St. Thomas, the Moravian leadership in Herrnhut gathered the community together, threw down the lots, and chose twelve more to replace the ones who had died!

These people took the Great Commission seriously and personally. In just the first 15 years of the prayer revival, churches were established in the Virgin Islands,Greenland, Turkey, the Gold Coast of Africa, South Africa, Suriname, the Arctic, Algiers, Sri Lanka, Persia, Ethiopia, and among the Eskimos and Indians of North America.

Even John and Charles Wesley were converted, in part, through their contact with the Moravians. George Whitefield hotly debated some of the Moravian theology, but came to love and respect their zeal to get Christ known in places where no one else would consider going.

Count Nikolaus Zinzendorf, with all his personal flaws and theological deficiencies – and there were many – passionately loved Christ, the gospel, and the nations. Zinzendorf did much, and suffered much, to enlist missionary martyrs for the truly tough places of the world. He deservedly is considered one of the most influential leaders in mission history.

Zinzendorf laid a foundation for cross-cultural, protestant mission that pioneered the way for what is called “The Great Century of Mission” which followed in the 1800’s.

Sixty years before William Carey set out for India and one-hundred fifty years before Hudson Taylor sailed for China, God had already selected a rag-tag, rough-and-tumble group of radical believers to demonstrate what he will do when a few sell-out to Christ and simply do what he tells them to do.

I’ve scribbled the name of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians into the margin of Hebrews 11 in my bible alongside the other gospel champions listed there. Like those biblical examples, the Moravians’ lives demonstrated outrageous faith and extreme risk for the gospel. They lived by faith, and they died by faith. It is appropriate to remember the Moravians’ among God’s flock of fools who went to the far nations to gather a chosen, ransomed people for the glory of his name.

Thanks Pastor Gardner for this great article!

This past Sunday an older gentleman from the English class attended our church again.  He’s been attending several times a month since last November.  He always brings a Bible, although I had never paid much attention to his copy of God’s Word… until Sunday.  My assistant pastor noticed that his Bible is the Jehovah’s Witness’s translation (or mis-translation)!

We decided to make a switch-off.  Cristian made the trade!  We just didn’t want him to have a good Bible; we didn’t want him to have the counterfeit one!

Just about 2 hours after the Bible trade, he accepted Christ as his personal Savior!!  It was a great day!

5 years ago today Lori and I left Atlanta with our 2 year old daughter Katie.  The next morning we arrived to the Santiago airport.  That was the first day of an incredible journey!

I don’t deserve this awesome opportunity to serve Him as a missionary in Chile, but I’m thankful for it!!

This is the date of the article written about the martyrdom of Jim Elliot, Ed McMully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and Nate Saint in Life magazine.  If you’ve never seen the article, check it out!

In his booklet From Pride to Humility, Stuart Scott has compiled an insightful list of 30 biblical indicators as to whether pride is resident in our hearts. Read these slowly and prayerfully.

1.  Complaining against or passing judgment on God (Numbers 14:1-4, 9, 11; Romans 9:20)

2.  A lack of gratitude (2 Chronicles 32:25)

3.  Anger (Proverbs 28:25; Matthew 20:1-16)

4.  Seeing yourself as better than others (Luke 7:36-50)

5.  Having an inflated view of your importance, gifts and abilities (Acts 12:21-23)

6.  Being focused on the lack of your gifts and abilities (1 Cor. 12:14-25)

7.  Perfectionism (Matthew 23:24-28)

8.  Talking too much (Proverbs 10:19)

9.  Talking too much about yourself (Proverbs 27:2; Galatians 6:3)

10. Seeking independence or control (1 Corinthians 1:10-13; Ephesians 5:21)

11. Being consumed with what others think (Galatians 1:10)

12. Being devastated or angered by criticism (Proverbs 13:1)

13. Being unteachable (Proverbs 19:20; John 9:13-34)

14. Being sarcastic, hurtful, degrading, talking down to them(Proverbs 12:18, 24)

15. A lack of service (Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 2:10)

16. A lack of compassion (Matthew 5:7, 18:23-35)

17. Being defensive or blame-shifting (Genesis 3:12-13; Proverbs 12:1)

18. A lack of admitting when you are wrong (Proverbs 10:17)

19. A lack of asking forgiveness (Matthew 5:23-24)

20. A lack of biblical prayer (Luke 18:10-14)

21. Resisting authority or being disrespectful (1 Peter 2:13-17)

22. Voicing preferences or opinions when not asked (Philippians 2:1-4)

23. Minimizing your own sin and shortcomings (Matthew 7:3-5)

24. Maximizing others’ sin and shortcomings (Matthew 7:3-5; Luke 18:9-14)

25. Being impatient or irritable with others (Ephesians 4:31-32)

26. Being jealous or envious (1 Corinthians 13:4)

27. Using others (Matthew 7:12; Philippians 2:3-4)

28. Being deceitful by covering up sins, faults, and mistakes (Proverbs 11:3; 28:13)

29. Using attention-getting tactics (1 Peter 3:3,4)

30. Not having close relationships (Proverbs 18:1-2; Hebrews 10:24-25)

Thanks Travis Snode for this great article!

Let’s be honest, traveling around the world is expensive. Airfare alone with all its hidden costs can easily break anyone’s budget. But what if you could see the world, without leaving the United States?
The world itself has gotten smaller. It was once normal that in order to taste authentic Indian food, you would need to travel to India. Or, if you had an interest in Somalia, it would be nearly impossible to get to Somalia to meet and converse with a Somalian. Those days, however, are over.

This summer in Atlanta, Georgia; high school and college age students can see the world in what is becoming one of the most culturally diverse cities in the nation. In the city of Atlanta, within one hour you can make it to either the largest Islamic mosque in the Southeastern United States or the largest Hindu temple within the entire country. There are an estimated 100,000 Chinese and 75,000 Muslims living in the Atlanta area. In addition to these people groups there are also Korean, Japanese, Indian, Pakistani, Vietnamese, Bosnian and many more ethnicities that are all found in the city.

This five day long camp is also unique in that it directs students towards the cause of world missions. Students will spend time on the street, in a mosque, at a Buddhist temple and visit many other places as they learn about cultures and religions from all over the world that need to hear the Gospel message. Not only will they be able to have experiences that many Americans have not had, but they will also be challenged by missionaries from around the world and spend time with them as well.

The camp takes place June 14-18. What is the cost? At only $125 ($25 registration fee and $100 camp fee), it is certainly cheaper than flying round trip to nearly any city within the USA. You can find out more information and register now by going to bcwe.org and clicking on events. You do not want to miss this camp, it is five days that can change the world.

(via http://visionbaptist.com/blog/)

This came from my friend Keith Shumaker’s blog. He is a church planter in Burkina Faso.  Take the time to read this insightful article.

I wanted to share with you something that I developed on the different levels in a church. I guess the only bad one would be the first one.

1. The First Level – Those who do-nothing

Churches are full of these types of people. They are good people. They have been saved. They just haven’t engaged themselves in the work. Or maybe I should say they haven’t been lead to follow. They haven’t been challenged. Pastors and missionaries get frustrated because our churches are full of people who do basically nothing. I know and understand the frustration all to well. But I have realized that the problem isn’t really them, it is a reflection of leadership. Yes, it is a reflection of my leadership. I will say that 60% or higher of church members are in this category.

2. The second level – Followers

These people will make up about 25-30% of the church. Every church needs followers. They are workers. They do exactly what they are instructed to do. They don’t mind working. They just can’t see the need. They need to be told exactly what to do.

3. The third level – A solitary visionary

Most of the time churches have very few visionaries. These are people who can see a need and get the job done. These people are a great blessing to a pastor or missionary. They take a load off of the leader. Their struggle is that they normally work alone. They aren’t able to lead others to action.

4. The fourth level – A leader – A visionary that leads followers

Most of the time, unfortunately the pastor/missionary is the only one in this category. A pastor can be a success if he is a success at this level. His goal should be to train and go to the next level but many stay here. If a missionary wants to be a success he has to be a good leader but he must move on. He will not leave an indigenous church if he is only a leader with followers.

5. The fifth level – A leader of leaders – A visionary that leads other leaders

For a missionary to be a success, he must one day arrive at this level. There are a few pastors that have arrived at this level but most truly haven’t. Most missionaries, unfortunately, haven’t arrived here either. I am not saying that I have arrived here. Actually, I am striving to train true leaders and I am not sure if we have gotten there yet. I have some good followers and I have a few third level people but not many.