heartcry 72 - missions: a theological endeavor

7/28/2019 HeartCry 72 - Missions: A Theological Endeavor

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How could I do something other thanspreading the message that rescueshell-bound men and imparts eternallife? Though I desired greatly to beabout the ministry, I accepted theprovidence of God to go through col-

lege and was sustained by His graceto complete my undergraduate degreein Computer Science at Ohio StateUniversity.

My hunger for serving Christ onlyincreased after college as I becamemore and more exposed to the needof the gospel among the unreachedpeoples of the world through preach-

ers like Pastor John Piper and PaulWasher. Soon the Lord opened a doorfor fruitful ministry overseas througha Filipino pastor I had known for a fewyears. Sensing the Lord calling meinto preaching and missions, I quit myjob in software engineering and movedto Mindanao, Philippines.

Ministry in the Philippines was

both joyful and challenging. I enjoyedfour months of preaching and teach-ing at the local Bible college and dis-cipling a few students. Then I wrestledwith my calling toward missions, re-turned back home to the States, andsought the Lords will for my life. TheLord led me to move to Minnesota andto get involved at Bethlehem Baptist

Church, sitting under the preachingof Pastor John Piper. I experiencedthe grace of God at Bethlehem innumerous ways: working on staff atthe church, fellowshipping with manypassionate brothers and sisters inChrist, and eventually doing full-timeoutreach ministry with United for theGospel.

Through the evangelistic ministry Iwas involved in, I helped lead two short-term trips to India in January 2011and February 2012. We took teamsfrom Bethlehem to work together witha dear Indian brother, Vijay (HeartCrymissionary), doing theological train-ing for pastors, Bible distribution, andevangelistic outreaches to villages. We

saw the grace of God in remarkableways and witnessed a very significanthunger for the gospel among thesepredominantly unreached peoples.

Upon my return from my secondtrip to India, I was very moved byGods evident work among us, and

I began praying how the Lord mightwant to use me more for the sake ofthe gospel among the unreached. Pas-tors were being trained to take thepure gospel to their lost Indian broth-ers, hundreds of villagers were com-

ing to each outreach event to hear thegospel, and some of the most anoint-ed messages I have heard were beingpreached by my teammates.

It was at this time that I received aphone call from one of the brothers atHeartCry asking if I had ever prayedabout working with HeartCry and co-ordinating missions in Asia. I knew

very soon after this conversation thatthe Lord was calling Christina and meto join with HeartCry for the sake ofthe gospel. After a month of prayer,receiving counsel from brothers atBethlehem, and a visit to the brothersin Virginia, Christina and I committedto joining the ministry at HeartCry fol-lowing our wedding in July.

We are very eager to serve ourLord and Savior in this worthy work ofreaching the unreached with the gos-pel of Christ through the ministry thatGod has entrusted to HeartCry. Welook forward to walking in the goodworks God has prepared beforehandfor us, and we hope to be faithful min-isters of the gospel of Jesus Christ

and hold fast to the faith that wasonce for all delivered to the saints. Wepray that God would use our lives forHis glory and further advance the gos-pel to the unreached peoples of Asia.May we be ever faithful to Christ andHis Word, never peddling or tamper-ing with the Word of God or strayingfrom the truth of the gospel.

We also seek to grow in our loveand devotion to Christ, our Savior,and to be good and faithful servantsof Him. We desire to be true to Godand uncompromising in integrity, bothin our personal lives and our publicministry. May we be content to knowChrist and make Him known, not forour names sake, but for His!

Finally, pray for our new marriage,that Christ would be glorified; that wewould be the husband and wife Goddesires us to be; and that our first yearwould be the start of a God-centered,life-long union that exalts Christs rela-tionship with His Church.

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heartcry 72 - missions: a theological endeavor

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