How will they hear without someone to tell them?
What is a desert? Google helpfully says that any area that receives fewer than 9.75 inches (25 cm) of rainfall annually is considered a desert. Antofagasta, with an average yearly rainfall of 0.11 inches (0.28 cm), definitely qualifies!
What is a spiritual desert? It might be harder to quantify and Google may be less helpful, but we could define it as a place where Christians and local churches are few and far between, and where the gospel is not well known or even unavailable. Certainly there are many areas—even nations—around the world where this is the case.
Traveling in Fertile Fields
If we are honest, our country is a spiritual greenhouse. The gospel is readily available and we have a veritable smorgasbord of churches within easy driving distance from which to choose. Over the past several Lord’s Days, we have enjoyed traveling to and worshiping with God-honoring, healthy churches, some of whom have enjoyed Bible teaching and fellowship for decades. We thank God for this blessing, but we know it isn’t so throughout our world.
Praying for Deserts
As we serve in our fertile fields (1 Cor 3:9), our prayer is that we will obey Jesus’ great commission. We also desire God to burden our hearts and theirs with the needs of spiritual deserts that need the Water of Life. Just as we are making disciples here, pointing unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ and encouraging believers to obey everything Jesus commands us, we desire to see the same thing taking place in Antofagasta.
Please pray that God would use us to encourage pastors and churches in our spiritually fertile area and to represent gospel deserts around the world, and provide our necessary support. We are thankful for the opportunity to serve the Lord by serving Jesus’ church. Our itinerary for the next several weeks looks like this:
- October 18: Fayette Bible Church, Washington Court House, Ohio
- October 25: Orwell Bible Church, Orwell, Ohio
- November 1: Grace Bible Church, West Middletown, Pennsylvania
- November 8: Calvary Baptist Church, Willard, Ohio
- November 15: Faith Bible Church, Bellevue, Ohio
Thank God with us:
- for meetings scheduled this fall and winter.
- for our first three meetings and many opportunities to encourage pastors and churches.
- for God’s provision of encouraging churches who have ministered to us.
- for safety in travel and grace in serving.
Pray to God with us:
- for opportunities to “impart some spiritual gift” and be encouraged by each other’s shared faith (Rom 1:11–12).
- for God to make us more like Jesus through deputation (Rom 8:28–29).
- for God’s provision of partners to help us on our way (Rom 15:24).
This is our October 2015 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.
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