ministry team training manual

Missions ManualGo InTo All The World...

Why we go...

We are commanded in Scripture to go (Matthew 28:19-20).

We go in order to encourage our partners in the field (Romans 1:11-12).

It is the first step in confirming your calling. You will gain new perspective and will have the opportunity to test your cross-cultural abilities.

You will develop and strengthen your Christian character, stretching spiritually, culturally, and relationally.

A short-term mission trip…much more than a mere adventure,it’s part of fulfilling The Great Commission!

This manual has been designed to provide information that will prepare you for what is ahead. Please read carefully!

A short-term mission tripÉmuch more than a mere adventure,itÕs part of fulfilling The Great Commission!

This manual has been designed to provide information that will prepare you for what is ahead.Please read carefully!

Congratulations! You have stepped forward and are about to begin your

short-term missions training. This book has been prepared to equip you for

your mission. I personally want to encourage you to make the most of this

experience. Surrender completely to God and allow Him to stretch you and

grow you like never before. Open your heart to the people that you are going to

minister to and ask God to allow your heart to be broken with the things that

break His heart. You will not be disappointed!

Jodi Felty, Missions Director

Seacoast Church

Mission and Vision:

Jesus' final instruction to His followers was to make disciples of all nations and of all peoples. Seacoast Missionsexists to mobilize Christians for the completion of The Great Commission.

We are committed to reaching out to the lost and hurting by forming strategic partnerships with churches andorganizations that are planting churches, equipping leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, and educatingfuture generations.

Our Vision is to see all believers on Mission with God in some capacity as prayer warriors, financial supporters,or missionaries. Seacoast Missions is about fully devoted followers of Christ going into "all the world" to offer theanswer, Jesus Christ, to a hurting world in need and, in the process, finding meaning for their own lives.

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Congratulations and thanks for stepping up to make a difference in the world. I believe

that a short-term mission trip is one of the most worthwhile experiences of which you

will ever be a part. The material that follows, along with your team meetings, will equip

you to make a big impact. I personally challenge you to dive in with all that is in you

and allow God to use you. If you do, your life will never be the same. My prayer is that

He will do abundantly more than you could ever ask or imagine!

Jason Surratt, Missions Pastor

Seacoast Church

Trip PreparationWhere God guides, He provides

“Therefore go and makedisciples of all nations,baptizing them in thename of the Father and ofthe Son and of the HolySpirit, and teachingthem to obey everything I have commanded you.And surely I am withyou always, to the veryend of the age."

–Matthew 28:19-20

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Not me, Not now, No way, No how!I want to go on a mission trip, but….

I’ve never traveledoverseas.”

Great! What better way to experience overseastravel than with a missions team?

Every team is led by a caring, trained, and experienced leader whowill prepare you each stepof the way. Your team willmeet weekly for 8-12weeks prior to your trip.You’ll be told what topack, what shots you’llneed, how to get apassport, and even whatto expect cross-culturally.You will grow in your faith as you obedientlytake this next step.

I don’t have thetime.”

Most of our international trips are 7-14 days.

Because they fall over weekends, most of ourteam members only have to take 5-10 days of vacation time. Checkyour calendar and the mission trip brochure orwebsite for trip dates.Dates may change slightlydepending upon flightschedules.

I don’thave themoney.”

Where God guides,He provides.

As you pray about going,God will lead you in decisions on how to saveand earn money, and howto ask for support fromfriends and family. He willalso surprise you with financial support frompeople and places youwould never have imagined. If you need to connect with someoneon this issue, please [email protected].

I’m notsure what I can do or what I have tooffer.”

What are your gifts? Use them to reach the world.

Can you smile, play withchildren, pray and/or careabout the lost? Your presence and prayers canmake a huge difference incorners of the worldwhere there are no witnesses for Christ.Additionally, your pre-triptraining will equip you formission trip activities.

“ “ “ “

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ÒAnd my Godwill supply

all your needsaccording to Hisriches in glory in Christ Jesus.Ó

ÐPhilippians 4:19

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“And my Godwill supply

all your needsaccording to Hisriches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

–Philippians 4:19

Before You Go . . .ConsiderThe Cost

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STEPS OF PREPARATION

Fundraising is an integral part of your short-term missionsexperience. Don’t let money keep you from jumping in...God is waiting for an opportunity to show how big He is!

Here are some inevitable costs that are your responsibilityand are separate from the cost of the mission trip:

Deposit & BalanceA $50 deposit is required with the application. In addition,the balance of the trip cost is due before the departure ofyour trip.

After airline tickets have been purchased, you will beresponsible for the ticket fare if you should decide not togo. Your leader will announce in advance when the ticketswill be purchased.

Immunizations & VaccinationsSeacoast Missions supports the immunizations that arerecommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC)www.cdc.gov/travel/destinat.htm. Please check with yourteam leader to determine what is needed for your trip. Youwill need to consult your physician or a local travel clinic.Some shots must to be given 4-6 weeks prior to your trip!

For immunizations, you will need to contact your physicianor a local travel clinic. Following are several options:

• MUSC Travel Clinic @ 843-792-1414• Charleston ID Consultants and Travel Medicine

@ 843-763-6336• Passport Health @ 843-225-5688• Charleston Low Country Infectious Diseases, P.A.

@ 843-402-0227

Fees for immunizations and vaccinations are NOT includedin the price of the trip. Tetanus/Diphtheria vaccinations arerequired for ALL trips. You may also need to get a prescription from your physician for malaria medication.For a list of recommended vaccinations, check outwww.cdc.gov/travel/destinat.htm.

Passports & VisasPassports are required for all trips outside the continentalU.S. Passports: $65-$100, depending on when you apply.Photos: $10-$20

If you don’t already have one, apply now for your passport!

To obtain a passport, you will need a certified birth certificate (not the hospital record), two passport photos,and a driver’s license. In addition, you will need to pick upa passport application from the post office and turn in therequested information to the postal clerk for processingwith the US Passport Agency. You should allow 6-8 weeksbefore your trip for your passport to arrive.

For further information on passports, check outhttp://travel.state.gov/passport/index.html.

Visas may be required—this will be discussed in teammeetings. Your team will obtain visas together; the cost isincluded in your trip.

Before You Go . . .ConsiderThe Cost

COMMUNICATIONAND FUNDRAISING

Are you concerned that people won’t understand whythey should support your trip? Here are some reasonswhy people give:

• People give when they feel informed.Think about…why am I going? How will the money be used? How can others be involved? How do I expect to grow spiritually through this trip?

• People give because they believe their gift willchange lives.Help them understand how their gift will benefitGod’s kingdom.

• People give if you make them feel as much a part of the trip as those going.Communicate with them before, during, and after the trip. They need to know you are depending on their prayer and support.

• People give when they see that you are completely committed to this and enthusiastic about it! People are excited to see others with a passion and are then inspired to support them.

Above all else, focus on God, not on your own need,claiming the promises of Ephesians 3:20-21.

PRAYER AND SUPPORT-RAISING

You are about to embark on an awesome faith-buildingjourney . . .

Prayer is the foundation of your trip. Prayer needs to startnow—long before you pack your bags and travel. God iswilling and able to do far more than all we ask or imagine,but we must PRAY. Here are some things to be diligentlypraying about as you are preparing your heart to be usedby God on this trip:

Pray for…

• peace that you are following His will• growing faith as you rely on Him to provide financial

support• wisdom for your team leaders• unity of purpose for your team• clear vision of God’s plans, and for the removal of

all distractions• opportunities to share your story with those who

need Him• insight and understanding for the people and culture

you will be serving• safe travel and smooth planning of all the details• God to prepare the hearts of the people that you

will encounter

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out the laborers intoHis harvest field.” –Matthew 9:38

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For your plans to succeed, you must be committed toprayer. Prayer doesn’t seem practical, and unfortunately,it is often left out of the fundraising process.

Raising the funds necessary to take this trip may seem likean insurmountable hurdle, but this critical step—whengiven the proper attention—will build the foundation for a spiritual, Christ-filled trip. Fundraising has a scripturalbasis. The way you view it is crucial in turning fundraisinginto a partnership.

The level of anxiety associated with money and short-term mission trips is high. Worry and anxiety oftenresult when our finances are not entrusted to God.We often think that God will help us when sharing our testimony, with cultural adjustments, or with our problemson the field, but we have to worry about the money! Makesure you dedicate a good amount of time to prayer, andask God for help and wisdom as youprepare for your trip.

The overall goal and purpose of fundraising should be toshare the vision of what God is doing on the mission field.A critical, sometimes neglected, aspect of fundraising iscommunicating the bigger picture.

You should attempt to raise a prayer support team whowill pray for you regularly during your preparation andtraining, and daily during your trip.

Prepare a list of potential prayer and financial partners towhom you would like to send a support letter. Keep inmind that your prayer partners will be an important partof your team, even if they do not support you financially.

Types of communication include:

• one-on-one conversations• letter-writing• keeping the partnership team updated• follow-up after the trip

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Stop! Before You Mail Your Letters...You must enclose a copy of the Mission TripDonation Guidelines with each letter sent out to supporters. Thisform is contained on the next page of this manual so that you caneasily reproduce it.

Contributors should be instructed to mail orbring their donations tothe Missions Department.Please discourage placing contributionsdirectly in the offeringboxes. Send church-addressed stampedenvelopes along with your letters. This increasesthe potential for them tobe sent back!

You may have the supporters write yourname on the memo line of the check. If youare having difficultieswith raising the necessarysupport, contact yourteam leader or theMissions Department.

Only contributions made out to SEACOAST CHURCH and accompanied by the TRIP DONATIONGUIDELINE form will beconsidered and included on the giver’s contribution statement,thereby qualifying for a tax deduction.

Mission Trip Donation Form Only complete if you need a charitable contribution receipt at yearend.

We (I) want to support the missions outreach of Seacoast Church and are sending a donation detailed below. Our preference is that this donation be used to support the short-term mission trip of the individual listed below but understand that the use of the donation is subject to the discretion and control of Seacoast Church. If this team member is not able to participate in the trip, our contribution will still be used to support the missions department. ***Donate online! In one easy step you can skip the paper work to save time! Ask the trip participant for a link, or go to www.seacoast.org and select the sponsoring campus, then select Global Missions,

then select the trip, select support, and follow the prompts to complete your donation.

Please return form with your contribution to: _______________________________________________ -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mission Trip Donation Form

Only complete if you need a charitable contribution receipt at yearend.

We (I) want to support the missions outreach of Seacoast Church and are sending a donation detailed below. Our preference is that this donation be used to support the short-term mission trip of the individual listed below but understand that the use of the donation is subject to the discretion and control of Seacoast Church. If this team member is not able to participate in the trip, our contribution will still be used to support the missions department. ***Donate online! In one easy step you can skip the paper work to save time! Ask the trip participant for a link, or go to www.seacoast.org and select the sponsoring campus, then select Global Missions,

then select the trip, select support, and follow the prompts to complete your donation. The person I would prefer to support is: ________________________________________ He/She plans to go on a Missions trip to: ________________________________________ Attached is a check made payable to Seacoast Church for $________. Check #_______ Printed Donor Name ____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Street Address City, State, Zip Please return form with your contribution to: ___________________________________________________

The person I would prefer to support is: ________________________________________ He/She plans to go on a Missions trip to: ________________________________________ Attached is a check made payable to Seacoast Church for $________. Check #_______ Printed Donor Name ________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ Street Address City, State, Zip

Sample Support Letter #1

Dear Friends and Family:

I hope this letter finds you doing well. I have some exciting news that I’d like to share with you. For some time now, I have had the desire to go on a short-term mission trip, and now I have that opportunity! I will be traveling to Colombo, Sri Lanka on Oct 18-Nov 2 with a team from Seacoast Church. We will be working with Pastor Dishan DeSilva, who leads Bethany Christian Life Center, a church with approximately 250 members. We will spend one week in Colombo offering our services, sharing our faith and encouraging the small groups in the church. Then we will travel upcountry to work with children in an orphanage for a week. Sri Lanka is predominately a Buddhist country, and speaks some English, but the native language is Sinhalese. Fortunately, we will have interpreters!

As I have started to prepare for this missions opportunity, I have been overwhelmed with a sense that something great is going to happen in and through me. This will be my first mission trip experience, and I anticipate being stretched and broken and made new daily.

If you would like to share with me in this powerful ministry, here are some important things that you can do:

Pray that God would strengthen me spiritually to do the work He has called me to do. Pray that this trip would encourage and forever change the lives of the people of Sri

Lanka. Pray that my health would remain strong.

Obviously, this trip will be expensive. The team members are responsible for raising a percentage of the trip cost that includes airfare, food, lodging, and transportation. This cost is approximately $2,500. I feel confident that since God has called me to do this, He will also provide a way. I would greatly appreciate your prayerful consideration of giving financially to help me meet this need. If you are able to make a gift to the church to help with my expenses, please complete the attached Mission Trip Donation Form and return to me with your check made payable to Seacoast Church. We need this form to help us properly record all assistance. Alternatively, you may contribute online at www.seacoast.org and (1) choose the Mount Pleasant campus, (2) select “Missions,” and (3) choose “Support.”

I thank you in advance for taking the time to consider supporting me prayerfully and/or financially. If you have any questions or would like more information on the trip, please do not hesitate to call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx, or email me at [email protected]. I look forward to sharing this experience with you upon my return.

Blessings,

Sample Support Letter #2

Dear Friends and Family:

I have some exciting news that I’d like to share with you. I have an opportunity to travel to Togo, West Africa on June 15-29 on a short-term mission trip with Seacoast Church. Our team will be working with local missionaries to build a church in a remote West African village. We will also have the opportunity to do street performances (puppet shows, dramas, balloon animals) and teach Vacation Bible School to the village children. In the evenings, we will participate in outreach programs and share the Jesus video. Fortunately, interpreters will be attending!

In order to make this possible, we need to assemble a strong supporting team. People like you may lift us up in daily prayer and/or give a financial gift toward the expense as we seek to serve God in this area. The total amount that each team member needs to raise is $2,400. This amount includes travel, expenses, food, lodging, and transportation.

I would appreciate your prayerful consideration of giving financially to help me meet this need. If you are able to make a gift to the church to help with my expense, please complete the attached Mission Trip Donation Form and return to me with your check made payable to Seacoast Church. We need this form to help us properly record all assistance. Alternatively, you may contribute online at www.seacoast.org and (1) choose the Mount Pleasant campus, (2) select “Missions,” and (3) choose “Support.”

I thank you in advance for taking the time to consider supporting me prayerfully and/or financially. If you have any questions or would like more information on the trip, please do not hesitate to call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx, or email me at [email protected] I look forward to sharing this experience with you upon my return.

Blessings,

“He protected us on our entire journey and among all thenations through

which we traveled…”–Joshua 24:17

WHAT TO PACK...

• Passport• Neck pouches or fanny packs for

your passports, tickets, and money• Bible, journal, pen• Ministry materials• Spending money• Towel/washcloth

(quick dry towel is great)• Twin sheets (on some trips)• Sunscreen, lip block• Insect repellent (high deet)• Snack foods

(protein bars, crackers, candy)• Handi-wipes, antibacterial gel• Pepto-Bismol, Imodium AD,

allergy meds, Tylenol,Dramamine (drowsy and non-drowsy)

• Mosquito nets (Africa trips)• Flashlight/extra batteries• Laundry soap (small amount or

share with a teammate)• Duct Tape• Toilet paper• Camera and film (make sure

the batteries are fresh)• Neck pillow for traveling• Good walking shoes/sandals;

sandals for shower• Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste,

soap, shampoo—minimal needs)

DO NOT Pack or Wear:• Mini skirts—all skirts should be

BELOW the knee• Short shorts (most places shorts

are not allowed)• Two piece bikinis• Spandex• Midriff tops, off the shoulder,

spaghetti straps, or tank tops• Clothing with ads for tobacco

or alcohol

Do not take anything you don’t need.Leave valuables at home! Go through your wallet and purseand take out credit cards, keys,and other items you will not need.

Clothing and JewelryTalk to your team leader about specific dress requirements for yourtrip. Certain cultures have specificguidelines that you need to follow inorder to avoid offending the localsand damaging the work of the ministry. Do not bring expensivejewelry or watches.

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TripPreparation

TripPreparation

TIPS FOR TRAVEL

• NO, NADA, ZERO JOKES of any kind about safety or security issues in the airport.

• Take a money belt or shoulder harness to keep cash, passports,and other important items.

• Always carry prescription medications in their original pharmacy-supplied bottle.

• When packing toilet paper,remove the cardboard center. It will flatten and require less space.

• If you carry detergent, buy small packets and keep them in their original container. Otherwise,customs may open your bag and find a baggie of suspicious white powder!

• Pack a small sewing kit with a few safety pins.

• Leave economy sized shampoos at home. Use travel sizes.

• Avoid taking wrapped gifts.Airport security has the right to open them.

• Wear comfortable clothes and shoes while traveling. Be sure to bring something to cover up with (even if your trip is in the summer) in case the airports or planes are cool.

• Don’t bring any knives, fireworks,scissors, toys resembling weapons, or liquid corrosives.

• Remove your toiletries, food items and other items from their boxes and pack in zipper seal bags.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Be sure that everyone has had theproper immunizations and vaccina-tions! By using a little common senseand a little care, you should have noproblems with your health while on a mission trip.

NOTE: For countries requiring Yellow Fever vaccination, you mustshow your yellow card (proof of vaccination) in order to enter the country.

We suggest that you bring a hand gelthat is antibacterial, and Handi-wipesfor use throughout the day, as soapand water are not always available.

The most common ailments experienced by visitors are an upsetstomach and diarrhea. The majorcause of this problem is the non-purified water. Carry bottledwater with you and do not eat food from roadside vendors. Do not eat raw vegetables (includingsalad) that have not been washed in clean water (just ask your leader).Eat only peeled fruit. Sodas are generally safe to drink. Food in recommended restaurants is quitedelicious and inexpensive—enjoy!

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Remember….• Report any illness to your

team leader.• Water should not be used for

drinking unless you are certain it is purified and safe. This includeswater in motels and restaurants.

• Use bottled water for brushing your teeth.

• Be sure to drink a lot of bottled water to avoid dehydration.Powdered Gatorade is great to bring and keeps you hydrated.

MONEY

Money will be exchanged by thegroup leader, the missionary, or byyourself at a money exchange houseor at the airport. We suggest that youbring only enough cash to covershopping and personal expenses.Travelers checks can be very hard tochange, if not impossible.

Keep your money with you at alltimes. A money belt or a neck pouchwill come in very handy. Your teamleader will let you know when andwhere money will be exchanged.

DEVOTIONS

Take advantage of the time beforeyour trip to prepare your heart forthe work that God wants to do inyour life. You will not be effective inserving others until you completelysurrender your heart to God and areopen to what He wants to dothrough you. Set aside time eachday to study God’s Word and allowHim to make you the person that He has created you to be.

JOURNALING

Keeping a journal is not just something to do for fun; it is a way to process the events of the trip.Maybe you’ve never kept a spiritualjournal before, or maybe you are anexpert. Either way, it’s an importantprocess of your spiritual growth.

The great thing about journaling isthat you can write whatever youwant! It is a time to reflect on yourday and process what has been running through your mind. You can write out what you want God todo in your life, what you have beenreading in your Bible, questions,struggles, prayers, poems, incidentsin your day that sparked a thought…anything you want. Sometimes youmay need to write to God; othertimes you will want to write to yourself.

Consistency is the key. Record something every day even if youthink there is nothing happening.You will see God’s hand working asyou look back over your entries. Youcan track specific answers to prayer,and remember events that wouldotherwise have been forgotten.

Give it a try. Find a quiet spot and adaily time. Write. Draw. Dream. Youwon’t be disappointed!

“Now devote your heartand soul to seeking the

Lord your God.”–1 Chronicles 22:19

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SET GOALS

Don’t have rigid expectations, but do plan to set general goals.

Take a minute to think about your personal goals in these areas:

In what areas do you want to grow and be challenged?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do you want to learn about working closely with others in ministry?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

How can you use and improve your spiritual gifts to help your team?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

What kind of insights do you hope to come away with spiritually, practically, and culturally?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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REFLECTION PASSAGES

Psalm 67:4...Let the nations be glad…

Matthew 25:40 …Whatever you did for one of the least of these,you did for Me…

Matthew 6...Giving to the poor and prayer...

Matthew 10...The twelve disciples’ instructions and prayer…

Matthew 28:19-20...Go and make disciples of all the nations…

Acts 4:12...And there is salvation in no one else…

Romans 1:16...For I am not ashamed of the Gospel…

Romans 10...The word of faith brings salvation…

Romans 10:15…How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News...

Galatians 5:16-26...The fruit of the Spirit…

Philippians 2…Be like Christ...

1 Peter 1:16...Be holy, because I am holy...

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Team UnityWhere God guides, He provides

“May the God who givesendurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity amongyourselves as you followChrist Jesus, so that with one heart and mouthyou may glorify the Godand Father of our LordJesus Christ.”

–Romans 15:5

THE ESSENTIALS

The sole basis for our belief is theBible, which is uniquely God-inspired,without error, and the final authorityon all matters on which it speaks. Asthe Bible teaches, there is one God,eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—eachpossessing all the attributes of Deity.

God created humans to have fellow-ship with Him, but we have defiledGod by going our own way. As aresult, we need God’s saving grace to end our alienation from Him.Salvation comes only through God’sgrace, not human effort, and must bereceived personally by repentanceand faith.

Jesus Christ, the second person ofthe Trinity, lived a sinless life on earthand voluntarily paid for our sins bydying on the cross as our substitute.This accomplished salvation for all who receive grace by trusting Him alone.

He rose from the dead and is theonly mediator between us and God.He baptizes believers in the HolySpirit. He will return to Earth to consummate history.

The Holy Spirit draws sinners to Christ and equips believers for personal growth and service to thechurch. The church’s role is to glorifyGod and serve those in need. At the end, everyone will experiencebodily resurrection and the judgment. Only believers will enjoyeternal fellowship with God.

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OurStatementofFaith

OurStatementofFaith

In the essentials we believe in unity….

ÒThere is one body andone spirit...there is onelord, one faith, one baptism, and one Godand Father.Ó ÐEphesians 4:4-6

ÒAccept him whose faithis weak, without passingjudgment on disputedmatters...Who are you to judge someone elseÕsservant? To his master hestands or falls...so eachof us will give anaccount of himself toGod...so whatever youbelieve about these thingskeep between yourselfand God.Ó ÐActs 14

In all our beliefs we show charity...

ÒIf I hold in my mindnot only all humanknowledge but also thevery secrets of God, andif I have faith that canmove mountains, buthave no love, I amount to nothing at all.Ó Ð1 Corinthians 13:2

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In the essentials we believe in unity….

“There is one body andone spirit...there is onelord, one faith, one baptism, and one Godand Father.” –Ephesians 4:4-6

“Accept him whose faithis weak, without passingjudgment on disputedmatters...Who are you to judge someone else’sservant? To his master hestands or falls...so eachof us will give anaccount of himself toGod...so whatever youbelieve about these thingskeep between yourselfand God.” –Acts 14

In all our beliefs we show charity...

“If I hold in my mindnot only all humanknowledge but also thevery secrets of God, andif I have faith that canmove mountains, buthave no love, I amount to nothing at all.” –1 Corinthians 13:2

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Ò...May they bebrought to completeunityÉÓ

Ð John 17:2326

Getting To Know YourTeamGetting To KnowYour Team

“...May they bebrought to completeunity…”

– John 17:2326

Getting To Know YourTeam

Getting To KnowYour Team


– John 17:2326




– John 17:2326



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Missions Team Member Guidelines and Covenant

Remember that you are representing Jesus Christ as well as Seacoast Church. Model Jesus in your behavior and attitude.

Attend all weekly team meetings before the trip as well as follow-up meetings.

Prepare spiritually and physically as needed.

Respect the team leader(s) and his or her decisions. All team members must work under the supervision of the team leaders and missionary host. Members should give practical and spiritual support and encouragement to their leaders.Working as a teamis a necessity.

Develop and maintain a servant’s attitude toward all nationals and your teammates.

Be flexible with scheduling, changes, and roles assigned.

Remember that you have come to learn as well as teach. Resist the temptation to inform your host about ‘how we do things’.

Respect the host’s view of Christianity, recognizing that Christianity has many faces throughout the world, and that one of the purposes of this trip is to experience faith lived out in a new setting.

Refrain from complaining.Travel can present numerous unexpected and undesired circumstances, but the rewards of conqueringsuch circumstances are innumerable. Instead of complaining, try being creative and supportive.

Be committed to the standards of God’s Word and Seacoast Missions.This includes refraining from using profanity, tobacco, illicitdrugs, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages while on this trip. Also, respect dress codes.

Cell phones are not to be used on the trip unless it is an emergency. In order to get the most of this experience, it is preferred thatyou do not bring them at all.

Remember not to be exclusive in relationships. If your boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse is on the team, make every effort to interactwith all members of the team. If you are attracted to a teammate, do not attempt to pursue a relationship on the trip – save ituntil after you return home!

The team is to travel together.There will be no late arrivals or early or late departures unless approved prior to the trip.

Remember the missionary’s prayer:“Where You lead me, I will follow; what they feed me I will swallow.” It is an insult to turndown the food you are given—it is always their best although it may be different from we normally eat. Most people in the countries we visit eat one meal per day, at best. Please honor your host.

DO NOT give money or gifts to anyone without first consulting your group leader and host missionary.

Your team leader should know where you are at all times. NEVER wander off alone—it is too dangerous.

Always BE ON TIME for meals, team times, and projects. If there is a problem or you are not feeling well, please let your leader know.

Do not waste water—it is a precious resource. Be considerate and use as little as possible.

Remember that you can be sent home at your own expense if you don’t adhere to these guidelines, or if your team leader believesit is in the best interest of the team.

___________________________________________ ___________________________Team Member’s Signature Date

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PERSONALITY (DISC) TEST

In the grid below, rate yourself using a scale of 1- 4.(4 indicates what is “most like me” and 1 indicates what is “least like me”)

Beginning on line #1 and moving across the line:Place a (4) below the word that is most like youNext, place a (1) below the word that is least like youNext, place a (3) below the word that is next most like youLast, place a (2) below the word that is next least like you.

It is important to do this in this order and respond as if in a business setting. Next, add up your numbers down thecolumns and put the total in row #11 provided. Your two highest numbers reflect your personality traits.Either D, I, S or C. (See personality chart attached).

D I S C

#1 Directing Influencing Steady Cautious( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#2 Self-Certain Optimistic Deliberate Restrained( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#3 Adventurous Enthusiastic Predictable Logical( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#4 Decisive Open Patient Analytical( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#5 Daring Impulsive Stabilizing Precise( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#6 Restless Emotional Protective Doubting( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#7 Competitive Persuading Accommodating Curious( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#8 Assertive Talkative Modest Tactful( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#9 Experimenting Charming Easy-Going Consistent( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#10 Forceful Sensitive Sincere Perfectionist( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

#11 Total Total Total Total( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

THE RESULTS ARE IN!

High Point D I S C

Value Takes Influences Builds Focuses on to a Team initiative people relationships details

Major Strength of Enthusiasm; Good people skills; Thoroughness;Strengths purpose; gets people good team player accuracy in

goal-oriented; motivated or leader analyzing gets things done and involved all the data

Major Can be Impulsive; May sacrifice results Overly cautious;Weaknesses insensitive to may not focus for harmony; can be too

feelings of others; reluctant to initiate thorough and impatient lose sight of time

Motivated by Results: Recognition; Relationships; Being right;challenge; action approval; visibility appreciation quality

Time Focus: now; Focus: future; Focus: present; Focus: past;Management efficient use of time; tends to rush spends time in works more

likes to get to to the next personal slowly to the point exciting thing interaction ensure accuracy

Communication One way...not as Enthusiastic; Two-way flow; Good listener,good a listener; stimulating; a good listener especially

better at initiating often one-way; in relation communication can inspire others to tasks

Emotional Detached; Highs and lows; Warm; friendly Sensitive; carefulResponse independent excitable

Decision- Impulsive; Intuitive; Relational; Reluctant;Making always makes quick; makes decisions thorough;

decisions with lots of wins more slowly, due to needs lots ofgoal in mind and losses input from others evidence.

Behavior Autocratic Attacks Acquiesces AvoidsUnder Tension

Would Improve Listening Pausing Initiating DeclaringEffectiveness by

29

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UNDERSTANDING RELATIONAL NEEDS

D I S C

How to relate Be direct. Start with Be enthusiastic, Be relational. Be analytical.to a... results/benefits first, positive and friendly. Use friendship. Give clear facts.

and then provide Provide praise. Be easy-going. Present ideas details only as needed. Validate their Be low-key on objectively.

Be quick self worth. Give objectives. Don’t push. Don’t rush.and to the point. them a feeling of Let them respond at Be specificChallenge them. “I need you.” their own pace. and thorough.

How to Key Question: WHAT? Key Question: WHO? Key Question: WHY? Key Question: HOW? persuade a…. Focus on Provide emotion; Be friendly To them it is

results and be enthusiastic. with them. Take important to do it bottom line first. Share testimonies time with them. right. Show them

Answer their of significant Answer their step-by-step question,“What are people. Answer question,“Why do how to do it. Answer

their benefits?” their question, you want things their question,“Who else to change?” “How do you want

has done this?” me to do this?”

How to lead a... Goals/Results. Group/Recognition. Group/Together. Goals/Quality.Give them the Consult/counsel Doing things How to do it “what” and let with them about together is the best way is

them determine ideas, projects, people. important. important.the “how”. Let them Recognize Always maintain Be available to

have control, be their efforts in the relationship. work closelyin charge front of others. Let them have peace; Let them have time

of something. Let them have fun. minimize conflict. to do it right.

How to disagree Agree with their Agree on their Together. Facts.with a... Goal + Test. Vision + Time. Take time to Gather your facts.

Ask: Why do you think Allow time to pass. convince them that They will not this is the best way? They get excited about the disagreement be swayed by Have you considered so many things, will not disturb the emotional appeals

other alternatives they’ll move on to relationship. or verbalto reach your goal? something else. persuasiveness.

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UNDERSTANDING RELATIONAL NEEDS

D I S C

How to relate Be direct. Start with Be enthusiastic, Be relational. Be analytical.to a... results/benefits first, positive and friendly. Use friendship. Give clear facts.

and then provide Provide praise. Be easy-going. Present ideas details only as needed. Validate their Be low-key on objectively.

Be quick self worth. Give objectives. Don’t push. Don’t rush.and to the point. them a feeling of Let them respond at Be specificChallenge them. “I need you.” their own pace. and thorough.

How to Key Question: WHAT? Key Question: WHO? Key Question: WHY? Key Question: HOW? persuade a…. Focus on Provide emotion; Be friendly To them it is

results and be enthusiastic. with them. Take important to do it bottom line first. Share testimonies time with them. right. Show them

Answer their of significant Answer their step-by-step question,“What are people. Answer question,“Why do how to do it. Answer

their benefits?” their question, you want things their question,“Who else to change?” “How do you want

has done this?” me to do this?”

How to lead a... Goals/Results. Group/Recognition. Group/Together. Goals/Quality.Give them the Consult/counsel Doing things How to do it “what” and let with them about together is the best way is

them determine ideas, projects, people. important. important.the “how”. Let them Recognize Always maintain Be available to

have control, be their efforts in the relationship. work closelyin charge front of others. Let them have peace; Let them have time

of something. Let them have fun. minimize conflict. to do it right.

How to disagree Agree with their Agree on their Together. Facts.with a... Goal + Test. Vision + Time. Take time to Gather your facts.

Ask: Why do you think Allow time to pass. convince them that They will not this is the best way? They get excited about the disagreement be swayed by Have you considered so many things, will not disturb the emotional appeals

other alternatives they’ll move on to relationship. or verbalto reach your goal? something else. persuasiveness.

CHARACTERISTICS . . .

D I S C

Tendencies Quick action; Verbalizing; Sitting or staying FollowingInclude: creating change generating in one place; directions;

taking charge; enthusiasm patience accuracygetting results

Desires an Freedom from Social recognition; Sincere No sudden or Environment controls and popularity; appreciation; abrupt changes;Including: supervision; freedom from traditional security;

many varied control and detail procedures; reassurancesactivities known results

Fears: Being taken Loss of Confrontation; Irrational acts;advantage of social recognition change antagonism

Judges Aggressiveness; Verbal skills; Consistency; Accuracy;Others By: results flexibility amiableness precise standards

Stress Relief: Open hostility Emotional expression Excessive need Need forof feelings for sleep time alone

Recovery Physical time Social time Nothing time Quiet timeNeeds:

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CHARACTERISTICS . . .

D I S C

Tendencies Quick action; Verbalizing; Sitting or staying FollowingInclude: creating change generating in one place; directions;

taking charge; enthusiasm patience accuracygetting results

Desires an Freedom from Social recognition; Sincere No sudden or Environment controls and popularity; appreciation; abrupt changes;Including: supervision; freedom from traditional security;

many varied control and detail procedures; reassurancesactivities known results

Fears: Being taken Loss of Confrontation; Irrational acts;advantage of social recognition change antagonism

Judges Aggressiveness; Verbal skills; Consistency; Accuracy;Others By: results flexibility amiableness precise standards

Stress Relief: Open hostility Emotional expression Excessive need Need forof feelings for sleep time alone

Recovery Physical time Social time Nothing time Quiet timeNeeds:

31

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HANDLING CONFLICT

The guidelines below are intended to serve as a guide to responding to potential or real conflict situations. At any giventime, some may be more appropriate than others:

When dealing with conflict, PRAY FIRST. Seek God’s guidance for you and those involved.

• Realize that conflict is an opportunity for growth.• Withhold judgment until you have heard the other person’s perspective.• Keep emotions and hasty conclusions under control.• Identify the core issue and central problem, and let the other stuff go!• Determine if the issue is “worth fighting for;” pick your battles wisely.• Commit yourself to seeing the problem through.• “Different” does not mean wrong. State your commitment to the relationship as a priority.• Compare the relative value/importance of the goals you desire and the relative value/importance of the relationship.• Remember that God’s glory and your witness are at stake in how the situation is resolved. It is okay to agree to

disagree as long as you leave the situation with a healthy respect for each other and are able to affirm the other person’s dignity.

“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will notlisten, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established bythe testimony of two or three witnesses’. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to thechurch; and if he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as you would a paganor a tax collector.” –Matthew 18:15-17

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HANDLING CONFLICT

The guidelines below are intended to serve as a guide to responding to potential or real conflict situations.At any giventime,some may be more appropriate than others:

When dealing with conflict, PRAY FIRST. Seek God’s guidance for you and those involved.

• Realize that conflict is an opportunity for growth.• Withhold judgment until you have heard the other person’s perspective.• Keep emotions and hasty conclusions under control.• Identify the core issue and central problem, and let the other stuff go!• Determine if the issue is “worth fighting for;” pick your battles wisely.• Commit yourself to seeing the problem through.• “Different” does not mean wrong. State your commitment to the relationship as a priority.• Compare the relative value/importance of the goals you desire and the relative value/importance of the relationship.• Remember that God’s glory and your witness are at stake in how the situation is resolved. It is okay to agree to

disagree as long as you leave the situation with a healthy respect for each other and are able to affirm the other person’s dignity.

ÒIf your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will notlisten, take one or two others along, so that Ôevery matter may be established bythe testimony of two or three witnessesÕ. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to thechurch; and if he refuses to listen to the church, treat him as you would a paganor a tax collector.Ó ÐMatthew 18:15-17

EvangelismWhere God guides, He provides

"...Everyone who calls on thename of the Lord will be saved."How, then, can they call on theOne they have not believed in?And how can they believe in theOne of whom they have not heard?And how can they hear withoutsomeone preaching to them? And how can they preach unlessthey are sent? As it is written,"How beautiful are the feet of thosewho bring Good News!"

–Romans 10:13-15

SHARINGYOUR TESTIMONY

Your Story…Everyone has a story. Your story, however boring or crazyyou may think it is, can have major impact on someoneelse’s life. Take some time to reflect on what God has donein your life and how you have come to the place that youare now. A personal testimony is the most persuasive formof communication!

The Value of Your Testimony

• It is unique! There are no others like it.• It is personal and easy to understand.• You are the authority on it. It’s difficult to

argue with!• People love to hear personal stories, and they

remember them.• It builds a relational bridge.• In our postmodern world, it may be your most

effective witness.

It’s Biblical!

We are commanded to share our testimonies! “Let the whole world knowwhat He has done for you.” –Psalm 105:1b

“Every day tell how He saves us. Tell the nations of His glory; tell allpeoples the miracles He does.” –Psalm 96:2-3

“Be wise in the way you act towardsoutsiders, make the most of everyopportunity.” –Colossians 4:5

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give ananswer to everyone who asks you togive the reason for the hope that youhave. But do this with gentleness and respect.” –1 Peter 3:15

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EvangelismEvangelism

The Four Parts of Your Testimony:

1. What my life was like before I met Christ:

• What common circumstances would an unbeliever identify with?

• What were your attitudes that an unbeliever would identify with?

• What was most important to you?• What substitutes for God did you use to find

meaning in your life? (sports/fitness, success,marriage, sex, money, drugs/alcohol, fun,popularity, hobbies)

2. How I realized I needed Christ:

• What significant steps led up to your conversion?• What needs, hurts, or problems made you

dissatisfied with the way you were living without God?

• How did God get your attention? • What motivated you?

3. How I committed my life to Christ:

• What specifically did you do? • Where did it happen?• What did you say in your prayer? • Be specific.

4. The difference Christ has made in my life:

• What benefits have you experienced?• What problems have been resolved?• How has Jesus helped you change for the better?• How has it helped your relationships?• Give a current example.

Preparing Your Testimony:

When you give your testimony, spend the least amount oftime on what your life was like before Christ. Spend moretime on how you realized you needed Christ. Spend evenmore time on how you committed your life to Christ.

Spend most of your time on the difference yourrelationship with Christ has made in your life!

Think of the pyramid:

If you became a Christian as a child, but walked away ornever developed a deeper commitment until you becamean adult...

Use the same four steps, but start with the time just priorto your recommitment. Give some examples of how youwere trying to meet your own needs without Christalthough it wasn’t working.

Describe what caused you to realize you needed Christdirecting your life and how you made a full commitmentto Him. Then explain how Jesus is currently meeting thedeepest needs of your life.

If you became a Christian at an early age and neverstrayed...

Use the same four steps with this modification:Point out some deep need or common problem that you see other people trying to resolve. Point out howunsuccessful their attempts are to meet their own need.Then explain why you never experienced that problem by trusting Christ early in life. Don’t say the exact age.Continue with steps 3 and 4.

“…Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to givethe reason for the hope that you have…”–1 Peter 3:15

Note: The Bible does not ask us to share our faith...it asksus to share our hope. Faith is what we believe; hope is thebenefit of what we believe. Share the benefits!

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Suggestions for Preparing Your Testimony….

• Pray and ask God to give you the right words.• Write it out on paper. God honors preparation.• Keep it short and to the point. Don’t lose sight of

your goal.• Be concise. Avoid excessive, unnecessary details.• Try to keep your testimony below 3 minutes.• Refer to experiences most people have in common.• Share a slice of your life (a story) that they will

identify with.• Be honest about your continuing struggles. Your life

is not perfect.• Don’t imply that all of your problems ended at

conversion.• Emphasize WHY you received Christ (the benefits of

doing it).• Mention the benefit of being certain of your destiny

when you die.• Don’t exaggerate, glorify, or brag about

pre-conversion sins.• Don’t make negative remarks about other religions

or people.• Don’t mention denominations.• Give concrete examples of changes in your life, but

don’t share more than is appropriate—ask your host/leader if you are not sure.

• The more specific you are, the more dynamic it will be.• Avoid using dates, names, and ages.• Be prepared. Practice it until it feels and sounds natural.• Read it aloud and edit it to make it conversational.• Let a friend read it and make suggestions.• Speak casually and informally, in a matter-of-fact tone.• Don’t dramatize or embellish your story.• Don’t share mystical experiences.• Share on their level, not yours.• Don’t talk down to people.• Use “I, me, and my,” not “you”.• Don’t use slang.• Choose a central theme.

COMMON-GROUNDCIRCUMSTANCES

Give a testimony about how Jesus has helped you withany of the following:

Positive Experiences…

Negative Experiences…

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• adoption• breaking a bad habit• financial gain• raising kids• marriage restored

or strengthened,• new baby• new business

• new friends• new home• new marriage• new job• success• renewed love• restored friendships

• abuse• accident• addiction• abortion• bankruptcy• broken dream• eating disorder• death• depression• disease

• discrimination• divorce• empty nest• financial problems• infertility• incest• jail• rape• surgery

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How trusting Jesus

has helped mewith my...

Worries/anxiety

Guilt/shame

Anger/temper

Emptiness/lack of purpose

Grief

Stress/burnout

Low self-esteem

Poor health

Disappointment

Insecurity

Regrets

Discontentment

Fears

Loneliness

Lack of emotional support

Addictions/habits

Self-centeredness

Despair/depression

Cheap thrills

Boredom with my life

Fear of death

“Something was missing”

Bitterness/resentment

Pain of rejection

Marriage problems

Financial problems

Business problems

Howtrusting Jesushas givento me...Inner peace

Forgiveness and a fresh start

Patience and love

Purpose and meaning in life

Comfort and joy

New energy/power for living

Significance

Strength to go on

Trust in His good plans

Confidence/sense of security

A second chance at life

Contentment and peace

Faith to face my fears

Assurance He’s always with me

A church family that supports me

Power to change/freedom

Love for other people

Hope

Real, lasting happiness

Adventure with God

Assurance of heaven

A sense of fulfillment

Ability to be free from my past

God’s unconditional love

Positive changes in marriage

Positive changes in finances

Positive changes in my business

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By Frank Cate

The material you are about to read is the practical application based on a book entitled Share Jesus WithoutFear, written by William Fay with Linda Evans Shepherd.Bill Fay is a gentleman who was involved in prostitution,mafia-run businesses, and other activities not pleasing toGod, until he accepted Christ as his personal Lord andSavior in 1981. I am grateful to him for developing thisapproach to sharing Christ with others, and believe it willprove to be a blessing to your life and to the lives of othersthrough you.

Sharing Jesus Without Fear is encouraging to you whoknow people that may seem difficult. But God is sovereign.God can take somebody like Bill Fay and change them.Bill testifies as to how difficult he was, but some peoplecontinued to confront him with the Good News, and theHoly Spirit finally drew him in.

God can take anybody in your life and change them, aswell. But the difficulty is that He can't if you don't share.He can't if you feel like a failure. It has nothing whatsoeverto do with bringing anyone to the Lord. We have to domore than just offer little tiny tidbits of gospel truth. Wejust can't say to someone, "I love the Lord,”“I'll pray foryou," or "I go to church." The purpose of this presentationis to help you never again fear sharing your faith with anyone, even if you know the person to be difficult, or aclose friend or relative, or even if they are a total stranger.

LESSON ONE: SHARING JESUS IN POWER

What do you believe the Bible tells us is the duty of yourpastor or of an evangelist? Many of us feel our pastor’sduty is to do ministry and to share his faith with others.

“And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,for the training of the saints in thework of ministry, to build up the bodyof Christ.” –Ephesians 4:11-12

One Bible translation says his job is to “equip the saints.”In other words, the role of our pastor(s) is not to do theministry or the witnessing, but to train us. Too long wehave depended on others, when it is our biblical command to do it, with training from our pastor. It is theresponsibility of the pastor to witness and minister in hisown sphere of influence—family, friends, neighbors, etc.But we are the ones to share the Good News with thosearound us.

Have you ever wanted to share your faith with others,and just plain “chickened out?”Yes, that is something thatwe have all done. Have you felt a need to share your faithwith someone in your life, and just never quite got aroundto it? Yes, we’ve all also done that, too.

What keeps you from sharing your faith?

• Feeling of inadequacy• Fear of rejection• Fear a question will be asked for which I don’t have an

answer (sadly, that fear normally comes from a believer of ten years or more)

• Fear I don’t know the Bible well enough• Fear of offending, losing a friend, etc.• Not knowing where to start or how to begin a

conversation

There are many fears that we have, and perhaps hidebehind, that prevent us from sharing our faith with others.Perhaps we even just fear rejection; that someone will say “no.” Remember this truth as you share our faith withothers: Success is not leading someone to Christ. Success is acting out our Christian faith, sharing the Good News,and trusting God for the results.

If you really believe that success is sharing your faith, livingout your Christian life, and it is not bringing someone toChrist, you'll connect with the fact that it is not you theyare rejecting. It is Jesus they are rejecting. It is God's Wordthey are rejecting. It's never you. If you will just believethat, you'll realize you can't fail.

Keep in mind that Jesus is offensive to many people, butwe don’t need to be offensive. There is no reason to feelyou are offensive when you share with a friend or relative,so you will not be in any danger of losing a friend. But ifwe are silent, we can love someone right into hell—not apleasant thought.

SHARING JESUS WITHOUT FEAR

We also need to remember that only about 15% of people who profess Christ at some point in their life do itat an “event” (a church service, an evangelistic preachingevent, a Christian festival, etc). Most people make a decision when someone takes the time to share withthem individually. And, on average, people need to hearthe Gospel numerous times. It is estimated that the average person who finally accepts Jesus as their Lordand Savior does so after hearing the Gospel about eighttimes. So perhaps your witness to an individual is numberone, but it might well be number eight. Now what is ourrole in this? In what we know as the Great Commission in Matthew, we are told…

Then Jesus came near and said to them,"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore,and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of theFather and of the Son and of the HolySpirit.” –Matthew 28:18-19

Notice that Jesus does not say go as soon as you get adivinity degree, nor does He say go when you have thegift of evangelism. He just says for them to simply go andtell everyone about Himself. It is a command, so if we donot obey Jesus’ commands, would you consider it sin?

We are ambassadors for Christ; certainthat God is appealing through us, weplead on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciledto God.” –2 Corinthians 5:20

What a responsibility! I am to be His voice; His witness.But it is also an incredible privilege to speak for our King.We have looked at what our responsibility is in sharingour faith—what is God’s role?

“No one can come to Me unless theFather who sent Me draws him, and Iwill raise him up on the last day.”–John 6:44

"This is why I told you that no one cancome to Me unless it is granted to himby the Father." –John 6:65

When we witness to someone, we cannot know for certain if God is drawing that person to Himself. Therefore,do not draw conclusions that when a person seems so difficult, so hostile toward God, toward the Christian faith,and toward individual believers, that the person is nothungry for the Good News. There are many accounts ofpeople who seemed very hostile, but who accepted Christthe moment someone took the time to share with them.How about Paul? How much more hostile could one ofyour friends or relatives be than Paul? Remember it washis job to kill Christians. Yet, when he heard the savingknowledge of Christ, his life turned completely.

“My speech and my proclamation werenot with persuasive words of wisdom,but with a demonstration of the Spiritand power.” –1 Corinthians 2:4

Here Paul is saying it was not because of his eloquencethat people were saying yes to Jesus, but through thepower of the Holy Spirit in their heart and in their life. So,as you share your faith, keep in mind that the person willnot say yes because of your great words or your greatanswers, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. Andisn’t it great to know that God can use our ineptitude? HE CAN! AND HE WILL! If we will only be faithful.

It's one area of your Christian life you cannot botch ifyou'll say something. Even if what you say is somewhattactless, even unloving, our Lord can use that. He can't useyour silence. And He will use your prayers. If you willpray…and pray…and PRAY! …prior to sharing with thatperson for whom you have a burden, God will honorthose prayers. In addition, He will cause you to see theface of any person for whom He wants you to pray, and to whom He wants you to share Jesus. Try it! Ask God toshow you to whom He wants you to be a witness, and Hewill show you.

Adapted for Seacoast Christian Community Church, 2006.

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42

By Frank Cate

LESSON TWO: SHARING JESUS BEGINS WITH QUESTIONS

Preparing to Use Questions

“Sharing Jesus Without Fear” is a simple approach basedon a series of general questions using some simple guide-lines to help you get started. Never offer our own answersand do not disagree with any answer the person may give.Rather, just smile, stay relaxed, nod or occasionally say,“Uh-huh,” or “Yes,”to let the person know that you are listening. Do not stare, but good eye contact also showsthat you are listening. Keep in mind that listening is a formof love. So, no matter what the person says, you are onlygoing to listen until it is appropriate for you to tell yourstory. Under no circumstances should you give your ownanswers, or correct the answers of the other person.Just listen, smile, and nod that you are hearing them!

Ask questions of others for only two purposes:

• to probe to find out what the person truly believes.Even if it is a person you know well, you will not be able to predict the answers to these questions.

• to obtain permission to open God’s Word to the person.

A major advantage of asking questions is that it helpsguide the conversation toward a discussion about salvation. How often do we start out to share in our normal way of telling people things—what we believe,what the Bible says, what our church believes—only to discover that the other person’s defense mechanism is better than our telling skills, and an argument ensues?

Another benefit to questions is that most of us like toexpress our opinion, even if we know nothing about the subject. So people are complimented when we ask questions, because it gives them an opportunity toexpress opinions.

Evangelism is not a project. It is a lifestyle. If someoneordered you to spend one hour each week out of your lifeand evangelize, most of you would mentally reject thecommand. Even though dedicated Christians might agreein principle, they still will likely fail to do it. But if you discover that as you move through the normal course of your life, you can switch every conversation into an opportunity to share Jesus, then it will become a normalpart of what you discuss with those you encounter.

You can take any conversation that you have with anybodyand use one of the following questions and insert it intothe conversation. That's all. It's just that simple. You don'thave to set more time. As you move through your life,wherever you are, whoever you're in front of, you can say,“Excuse me, can you tell me about your spiritual beliefs?”

Assignment: During the next week go to one person andask these first five questions. Go to a friend, an enemy, nextdoor neighbor, work mate, somebody, because you needto experience how open people really are.

Using the First Five Questions

Imagine how the non-believer to whom you feel a need toshare Jesus might answer these questions. Keep in mindthat is important that you stay relaxed and casual. It is notan interrogation, but rather an act of love being genuinelyexpressed by being interested in what the person thinksand feels.

Question #1: Could you tell me about your spiritual beliefs?

Do not fear that this question—or any of the others—would be received as combative or argumentative. Theyare not. They have been used by many, many people, andrarely, if ever, lead to any argument or confrontation. Mostpeople seem to be complimented that you ask, and thatyou are willing to listen to their answers.

You will get many different types of answers, includingsuch answers as “I have been a Christian all my life,”“I havebeen a Catholic all my life,”“I have been a Methodist all mylife,” etc. You may hear people describe the beliefs ofsomeone else. No matter what the answer, just listen.And, by the way, the answers you receive will probably surprise you; even from those people you know intimately.However, do not act shocked or surprised. Just listen andsmile. Once again, do not provide any answers. Do not correct anything they may say, no matter how wrong theymay be. If you dare touch it, they can take you off on apath that leads nowhere except to trouble.


Question #2: To you, who is Jesus?

People may say He is a “great teacher,”“The Messiah,”“Heis God,”“the man that died on a cross,” or numerous otherdescriptions. The only answer that would cause you tothink the person is a Believer is if the answer is personal—i.e.,“He is my Lord and Savior,” or a similar answer.

Question #3: Do you think there is a Heaven and a hell?

Most people will answer that they believe in Heaven.Fewer will answer that they believe in hell. Of course,many will answer that they are not sure about either.

Question #4: If you died tonight, where do you think youwould go?

You will find that a majority will say they are going toHeaven (in some cases even when they have just said, inanswer to question #3, they do not believe in Heaven).Many will say they do not know where they are going.Some will say they are going into the dirt. A good numberwill even say they are destined for hell.

If their answer is Heaven, very casually ask them,“Why doyou think God would let you into Heaven?”The onlyanswer that will lead you to believe they are a born-againbeliever is that they have accepted Jesus as their personalLord and Savior. Most, however, will say something alongthe lines of,“Because I am a good person.” Some will saythings like,“I never harm anyone,”“I have never killed any-one,” or “I go to church.” All of these are “works”- orientedanswers. However, the Bible is very clear that only faith isrequired for salvation. Saving is all [God’s] idea, and all Hiswork. All we do is trust Him enough to let him do it.

It's God's gift from start to finish! Wedon't play the major role. If we did, we'dprobably go around bragging that we'ddone the whole thing! –Ephesians 2:8-9

So we cannot earn our way into Heaven by being good,by being in church, or by giving our money.

Question #5: If what you believe is not true, would youwant to know it?

Please ask this question exactly as stated. You do not wish to ask them “If what you believe is wrong…”You are asking them if it is not true, because you are next going toopen the Bible, and that is what we, as Christians, believeis truth. So that will be our basis for establishing truth.The person will say “yes” virtually 100% of the time. Untilyou try this approach, that seems a little farfetched thatpeople would say they do want to know it if what they currently believe is not true. Very few people will say “no.”But, if they should, you just go silent for awhile and pray,and most of the time they will ask if you are going to tellthem. Or you can just ask the question again in a little different tone of voice. You may want to ask,“But if whatyou believe is not true, wouldn’t you want to know it?” Orthey may give you a grudging answer like,“Well, I guessso,” or “Oh, go ahead and tell me.”

The reason you want a “yes” answer is that you are looking for permission to open the Scripture to them.Remember, our questions were to accomplish two things:to probe, and to get permission to open the Scriptures.When they say “yes,” we are now ready to move aheadinto God’s Word.

Notes__________________________________________

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44

By Frank Cate

LESSON THREE: SHARING JESUS WITH SCRIPTURE

God uses His Scriptures to change people’s lives. What distinguishes “Sharing Jesus Without Fear” from othermethods of sharing our faith is the manner in which wepresent the Scripture. We are going to use two biblicalprinciples to expose the person to God’s Word.

1. Christians are told in Romans:

Faith comes by hearing, and hearingby the word of God. –Romans 10:17

Faith comes from the hearing. Help them understand byreading the Scripture aloud.

2. Christians learn a principle from the Gospel of John:

“On one occasion an expert in the lawstood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said,‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied.‘How do you read it?’“ –Luke 10:25-26

Instead of interpreting and explaining the Law to thisman, Jesus asked the man,“How do you read it?” In ourvernacular today, we might say,“What does it say to you? “or “What does that mean to you?” Christians should keepa New Testament available to them whenever possible.There are many good translations that you might use,but if you are serious about sharing your faith with others,you will always have in your possession a “sharing” NewTestament.

It is strongly recommended that you do not use your big,marked up, and highlighted Bible to share with others.Avoid intimidating the person to whom you are witness-ing. Carry a small New Testament stashed away in yourpurse, your pocket, or your briefcase, ready to be usedwhen God presents us an opportunity to share withsomeone. Always treat the Bible with respect and replaceyour Bible as it becomes worn or frayed, or has loosepages. Your investment in a Bible with few markings will make it easier for you to give away the Scriptures to thosewho have no copy of their own.

Handling Romans 3:23

A good verse to highlight with a yellow marker is Romans 3:23. Next, take a pen and print at the top of the page “ROMANS 6:23.”You may opt to print it upsidedown. We’ll explain why in a moment. The printed versereference serves as a road map for you to find your nextScripture. You will recall that we have just asked the person if what they believe were not true, would theywant to know it. So now, in a very calm and relaxed manner, pull out your New Testament. Don’t make a bigdeal of it; just calmly open it to Romans 3:23.

Some people choose to put a little tab on this page, sothey can easily and quickly open it to the starting place.Use any little aid like this to make it as relaxed for you aspossible. Now that you have opened it to Romans 3:23,you hand the Bible so the person who receives it is looking at it right side up.

You then say,“You will notice that the 23rd verse there inthe 3rd chapter is highlighted. Would you be kind enoughto read that verse out loud?” Emphasize “out loud.”Remember Romans 10:17. Faith comes from hearing themessage, so we want our person to read the Scripturesout loud.

Do not fear that the person will object to reading theBible out loud. Choruses of many who have expressed this fear have tried it and find no objection at all. Many,many people have been skittish, only to discover that they encounter no resistance. We need to trust God thatHe will prepare the hearts of those who will read theScripture, so it will fall on fertile ground. PRAY!

Are you also discovering that with Sharing Jesus WithoutFear, we are not required to memorize and quoteScripture verses? Instead, we allow the person to readthem. Does that make you feel more comfortable?If a person is not comfortable reading aloud, just take theNew Testament back, and read each Scripture aloud veryslowly, then repeat it once or twice until they grasp whatRomans 3:23 is saying.

After they have read it aloud, we then very calmly askthem,“What does that mean to you?”You certainly mustrealize, if you have shared your faith at all, that the


traditional way is to quote a verse, then explain it to theperson. Using this method, we allow the Holy Spirit tospeak to the person, and aid them in understanding what it means.

As the person responds with their understanding of what the verse means, listen carefully to see if they trulyunderstand the meaning of the verse. This brings in yourrequired preparation. Just as a teacher must know theanswers to any test questions he/she may pose to a student in order to know if the response is correct, so you must study each verse you intend to use to make certain you know the correct interpretation.

Correct answers you may get could be something like,“It means we are all sinners,”“It means we all do badthings,” or “It means I am a sinner.”When you receive ananswer you believe is correct, you just reach over and takeback the New Testament, and turn to the next Scripture.

It was mentioned earlier that you might choose to printthe next verse upside down on the page. Why upsidedown? As you take the Bible back from the person, theprinting will be readable, and perhaps make it easier toquickly turn to the next Scripture. But the way you print is whatever way makes it easiest for you.

But what if you get an incorrect answer? And, as easy asthis verse is to understand, you will frequently get a wronganswer. It seems there may a couple of good reasons why so often the explanation is incorrect:

• The person may be reluctant to acknowledge the presence of sin. Many people deny the existence of sin.

• It may be because the person is nervous, wondering what is going on.“Is this a Bible I have in my hands? I have not held a Bible ever. What is my friend doing? I just sat down with them to discuss the weather, and I’m reading a Bible. What’s going on?”They never seem to express these feelings, but a good number will seem a bit confused during the first one or two Scriptures.Then they come to realize you are doing them no harm,and they relax.

In any case, you may get answers like,“I don’t know,”“Itmeans some have sinned,” or the like. What do you do if

the person doesn’t grasp this verse, and gives an incorrect explanation? Do we explain it to them? No! All we do iscalmly ask the person to read it again aloud. This mayseem as if it will produce some type of negative reactionfrom the person. But it does not. They will read it againaloud, and you again will just ask them,“What does thatmean to you?” If you can stay relaxed about it, the personwill relax as well.

In his book, Share Jesus Without Fear, Bill Fay indicates that he has asked people to read the same verse as manyas fifteen times, before the person finally grasped themeaning of the verse. Wow! It seems as if that would makethem get a bit testy, but it does not. Many people reportthat they have asked persons to read the same verse threeto five times aloud, and with no negative reaction. You willbe comforted using this repetition only when you haveexperienced it personally.

A quick review:

a. Open the Bible to Romans 3:23. Turn it around, then hand it to the person and ask them to read the yellow highlighted verse out loud. When they have read it,then ask them,“What does that verse mean to you?”or “What does it say to you?”

b. When they give you the correct interpretation, take the Bible back, and turn to the next verse. If they give you the incorrect answer, ask them to read the verse again.Then re-ask the question until they give the correct answer, and turn to the next verse.

Handling Romans 6:23

Next, turn to Romans 6:23, highlight the verse, and then print “JOHN 3:3” on the top of the page. Again youwill do exactly the same thing as before. Hand the person the Bible, ask them to read aloud the 23rd verse, which is highlighted, then ask them,“What does that mean to you?”

If they give you a correct answer to the meaning of theverse, take the Bible back from them. If not, ask them toread the verse again aloud. Repeat until they properlyinterpret the meaning of the verse.

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Handling John 3:3

Now please turn to John 3:3. This is the only Scripture passage that is treated slightly differently from all the others. Please highlight the verse in your New Testament,then print “JOHN 14:6” at the top of the page. In addition,please place an “X” somewhere on the page near John 3:3,large enough so it will catch your attention. The reason forthe “X” is that for this verse we will not ask,“What does itmean to you?”The “X” reminds you that this verse is an“eXception.”

Ask the person to read the verse aloud, then ask the question,“Why do you think Jesus came to die?”You mayoften get an answer like,“He came to die for my sins,”or a similar, very personal answer. Often, even when theperson has not seemed to grasp the meaning of the earlier Scriptures they have read, at this verse they willfully grasp that Jesus came to die for them.

Note that this question is not the same question asked on the other Scriptures. The reason is because Jesus wasspeaking to Nicodemus. And Nicodemus was a highlytrained man in the Law of Moses. He was also of the ultra-pious Pharisee sect. And yet, he didn’t understandwhat Jesus was saying to him.

A paraphrase of Nicodemus’ response to Jesus could bestated,“You mean at this advanced age I need to go backin my mother’s womb and be born a second time?” If thisman did not understand what Jesus was saying, there willbe a good chance the person with whom you are sharingwill not understand well enough to explain it to you.But reading this Scripture is a key to effectively sharingJesus without fear.

We all need to understand that we must go through aspiritual transformation—be born again—in order to besaved. They need to hear it because if they are respondingto the Holy Spirit working in them, they will come to realize the impact of Jesus’ words.

Before moving on…

If you feel the person has not fully grasped these firstthree Scriptures (perhaps they seem a bit confused, orhaven’t seemed to fully grasp the meaning), it is okay todo a quick summary of the three verses they have read.Even though you have done no talking to this point, youmust still keep it short. Here is a suggested explanationfor you to learn and tell in your own words…

“In Romans 3:23, you read that we are all guilty of sin, thenin Romans 6:23 you read that the wages, or the payment,for that sin is eternal death, or hell. But some of the bestnews in the Bible is in the second half of 6:23, that Godgave us a gift of Jesus coming to redeem us of our sin andrescue us from hell, if we will establish a relationship withHim. Then in John 3:3, we see that if we establish that relationship, then we can undergo a spiritual rebirth or aspiritual transformation, and we can be saved.“

This short review should put the first three verses in proper perspective for them.

Handling John 14:6

Please turn to John 14:6. Please yellow highlight the verse, and print at the top of the page “ROMANS 10:9-11.”Once again, ask the person to read this highlighted verseout loud, and then ask them,“What does that verse meanto you?”You will frequently see a visible transformationtaking place on this verse. Here Jesus is making a claimthat He is God, and that no one can get to Heaven,except through accepting Jesus Christ as their personalLord and Savior.

Please keep in mind that the world has been telling thisperson—and perhaps they believe it—that there aremany ways to get to God, many ways to get to Heaven,and all religions are good. Now they have God’s HolyWord in their hands, and they are reading that Jesus ismaking the claim that what the world is telling them is alie. He is the only way.

Perhaps you have been confronted with that realization atsome time in the past. When people come to this verse,they are frequently overcome with the truth that is hittingthem squarely in their heart.

Please be reminded that the beauty of this approach towitnessing is that you are not telling, you are not preach-ing, nor are you trying to convince. God’s Word is speakingfor itself. Do you truly believe in your heart that theScripture is fully capable of standing on its own? If you do,it will be much easier for you to keep your mouth closedand not be tempted to interpret each Scripture to theperson. It is a beautiful approach. And it works!

Handling Romans 10:9-11

Please turn to Romans 10:9-11, highlight these verses, andprint “REVELATION 3:20” at the top of the page. When you

share, you are going to once again ask the person to readthese verses aloud, and then ask them to share what theverses mean to them. What frequently strikes people inthese verses is that we are being asked to speak the nameof Jesus aloud—with our mouths. You probably knowmany people who profess to be Christians, and yet theystill refer to God as “The Big Guy Upstairs,”“The Creator,” orperhaps they might call Him God, but they are not able tospeak the name of Jesus. Here we are being told in Romans10 that we must speak His name if we are to be saved.

Handling Revelation 3:20

Now let’s turn to our final Scripture verse, Revelation 3:20.Highlight this verse. Ask the person to read this verse aloudand then ask,“What does it mean to you?”This is one of the best known verses in the Bible, and paints a beautifulpicture. As a matter of fact, there is a famous painting ofthis verse which shows Jesus standing at a large doorknocking. The thing we notice is that there is no door handle. The only handle is on the inside. This is symbolic of our heart, to which this verse is referring.

Jesus stands at our heart’s door from the time we are ayoung man or young woman, and have reached the age of accountability, or age of knowledge. He stands and gently knocks on our heart’s door, which has no outsidehandle. He is the perfect guest. He does not go where He is not invited. So He will not come into our heart until weinvite Him in to be Lord of our life. And since God has givenus free will, He will allow us to make the choice of neverinviting Him in. But that is not what He desires. It is ourchoice to make. When the person to whom we are witnessing gives us a correct interpretation of this finalverse, we are now ready to move the most exciting part.You’re almost ready to move into what we call “The Close.”

Before moving on…

We first asked the person some non-threatening questionsdesigned to gently probe and find out where this personreally stands spiritually. We also wanted obtain permissionto share the Bible with them. After getting permission—by asking them if what they believe is not true, would theywant to know it—you then shared Scriptures with them.They have now read, and correctly interpreted, each of the passages. Throughout the process you have demon-strated your love and care for them by just listening tothem. You haven’t preached or given your opinions;haven’t told them where they are wrong; haven’t givenyour opinion of the meaning of Scriptures. You have simply asked, then listened.

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48

By Frank Cate

LESSON FOUR: SHARING JESUS WITH “THE CLOSE”

Get ready to ask the final set of questions. Since the person with whom you are sharing has just read Biblepassages that tell them they, like we, are sinners, then ask this series of questions:

1. According to the Bible, are you a sinner?Always say “according to the Bible”—not our own judgment of them. You will get a “yes” to that question virtually 100% of the time. And, even though many people dislike the idea of sin, since they have just read it in God’s Word, they will agree.

2. Do you want forgiveness of your sins?They will almost always say “yes.”

3. Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for you, and rose again?The reply is usually a “yes.”

4. Are you willing to surrender yourself to Christ?Even though they may not yet understand what this truly means, they will far more often than not say “yes.”If they say either “no,” or they are not certain, then you can also learn how to handle objections or rejections.

5. Are you ready to invite Christ into your heart and into your life?When you ask this question, go silent and pray. As you know from your own experience, this may be the most important moment in the person’s life. And you are placed here by God to be a part of it. So PRAY! If it takes the person ten seconds to answer, stay silent and pray.If it takes thirty seconds to answer, stay silent and pray.If it takes five minutes to answer, stay silent and pray! It can be a bit scary going through this moment, but it is a high and holy moment. So just pray, and God will guide you—and the other person—through it. You have just asked a question that may well be the most important question the person is ever asked in their lifetime, so it is worth staying silent and giving them time to contemplate their answer.

Handling a positive decision

If the person answers “yes” to question #5, then you getthe privilege of being a part of something really, really special. Lead this person in praying what is commonly

called “The Sinner’s Prayer.” Actually, there are a goodnumber of sinner’s prayers, but they all contain the samefundamental elements. Here is one:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and need Yourforgiveness. I believe that You died on the Cross for mysins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You into myheart and into my life. I want to trust You as my Lord andSavior. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Once they have answered yes to Question #5, indicatingthey want to invite Jesus into their heart, tell them youwould like the privilege of praying with them to inviteHim into their lives. Indicate that you would like to say aprayer (reading the prayer is perfectly okay), and youwould like them just to listen as you go through it. Then,if it is a prayer they would like to pray, you would be honored to pray it with them.

You then slowly say or read the prayer. After they haveheard it, you ask them if that is a prayer they would like to pray. They will usually say “yes.” Encourage them tokneel together with you, or just bow together, or holdeach other’s hands–whatever seems appropriate at thatmoment. Tell them you will say a portion and they canrepeat it after you.

You say “Dear Lord Jesus” and then pause to let them say that phrase. Then you say,“I am a sinner” (pause). Theyrepeat it. Then say,“and I need your forgiveness” (pause).They say that phrase. Continue this approach through the remainder of the prayer, remembering to go slowly.Don’t rush it. This is the most significant moment in thisperson’s life—allow them to savor it.

Handling a negative decision

If the person rejects the invitation to question #5, invitingJesus into their lives, then do not be upset or act hurt insome way. It is only your intent to share Jesus with themand rely on the Lord for anything that happens. Thank theperson for exploring this important life decision. Affirmthem as a person in the eyes of God by saying somethinglike,“You are a special person to me. I hope that we cantalk about this after you have had time to think about it.”Seek to leave the door open for them to talk with you


again. Try to follow-up in a few days by asking if they wantto talk about putting their trust in Jesus. If the person asksto delay answering the invitation to question #5, thenseek to establish a time when you can get together. If yousense that it is appropriate to do so, ask the person if theyhave any questions that you can answer. Listen to theirquestions and seek to help them know the answers froma biblical standpoint.

Next steps for a new believer

There are five things you want to do to guide a newbeliever into the fellowship of other believers:

1. Make sure that the new believer is baptized as soon as possible. In some situations, there may not be a church established in the area. In that case, it is up to you to baptize the believer following Philip’s example with the Ethiopian in Acts 8:26-40. Seek to lead the new believer to establish a new church in which they would baptize the new believers that would form the church.

2. Involve the new believer in Bible study. Assign the new believer the first 10 chapters of John to read prior to your next meeting. Give the person the Bible you used in sharing Jesus if they do not have one of their own.Use the first Bible study time to affirm their decision of faith and begin thinking about sharing Jesus without fear.

3. Encourage the new believer to think of five people that they know that need Jesus. Have them write down the names and then pray for their salvation for a week prior to sharing Jesus with them.

4. Train the new believer how to begin sharing Jesus without fear! Take them through the steps that you just learned including learning the questions and using their Bible.

5. Volunteer to be the new believer’s partner when they go to share Jesus without fear.

REMEMBER: Success is not leading someone to Christ.Success is acting out your Christian faith by sharing theGospel, and trusting God for the results. There is always ablessing when we share our faith with someone.

“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you willhave a full understanding of everygood thing we have in Christ.”–Philemon 1:6

God only asks us to prepare, to pray, and to show up. Hewill use our preparation, our prayers, and our availabilityto do His work through us for His eternal glory. To God be the glory!

Recommended Resources:

Camel Method Training is a Muslim evangelism trainingguide by Kevin Greeson and Randy Owen that was adapted from the book for P.E.A.C.E. participants.Available free on the P.E.A.C.E. e-Learning System online at http://thepeaceplan.com (under Advanced Electives).

Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay and Linda EvansShepherd (Broadman & Holman: Nashville, TN) 1999.Available for $9.99 from LifeWay Christian Resources athttp://lifewaystores.com

Training for Trainers by John Chen provides training forevangelistic Bible studies. An oral version is also availablefor those who can’t, won’t, or don’t read.“T4T” coachessomeone through sharing their faith and seeing that it is continually passed on to others.“T4T” is also good forevangelism training where there are no churches.Available free on the P.E.A.C.E. e-Learning System online at http://thepeaceplan.com (under Advanced Electives).

Other recommended resources free on http://thepeaceplan.com, under Resources/Evangelism:Sharing the Gospel Hand picture book, Four Spiritual Laws worksheet handout, Gospel Bridge Illustration handout, How to Help Fulfill the Great Commission,How to Know God's Will for Your Life, How to Prepare aPersonal Testimony, How to Use Evangelism PictureBooks - The Four Spiritual Laws, Kingdom of God II - ABroken World to Heal, Ready and Willing Witnesses,Road to Salvation handout


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“Come, follow Me … I will make you fishers of men.”

–Matthew 4:19

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Cross-Cultural PerspectivesWhere God guides, He provides

“After this I looked and

there before me was a great

multitude that no one

could count, from every

nation, tribe, people and

language, standing

before the throne and in

front of the Lamb.”

–Revelation 7:9

CULTURESHOCK

Whether you are going to a differentcity or a different continent, you willencounter some form of cultureshock when leaving home.

Unfortunately, the way things aredone in “our world” forms the basisfor the way we believe things “shouldbe done” in the rest of the world.

Nothing is more damaging to ministry than turning people awayfrom the message by offending them or their culture by somethingwe do or say.

We need to stay open as to howother cultures are different. To beeffective in ministry, we should move from judgment-passing todiversity-embracing. Here are sometips on how to make sure you understand the culture and represent God to the people you are going to serve.

• Make time for a quiet time.• Be relationship-oriented instead

of task-oriented.• Be flexible.• Share God’s love in everything

you do.• Pray that God will open your eyes

to see the people as HE sees them.• See Cultural Differences beginning

on page 58.

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cross-culturalPerspectives

Cross-culturalPerspectives

CULTURESHOCK

Whether you are going to a differentcity or a different continent, you willencounter some form of cultureshock when leaving home.

Unfortunately, the way things aredone in “our world” forms the basisfor the way we believe things “shouldbe done” in the rest of the world.

Nothing is more damaging to ministry than turning people awayfrom the message by offending them or their culture by somethingwe do or say.

We need to stay open as to howother cultures are different. To beeffective in ministry, we should move from judgment-passing todiversity-embracing. Here are sometips on how to make sure you understand the culture and represent God to the people you are going to serve.

• Make time for a quiet time.• Be relationship-oriented instead

of task-oriented.• Be flexible.• Share God’s love in everything

you do.• Pray that God will open your eyes

to see the people as HE sees them.• See Cultural Differences beginning

on page 58.

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cross-culturalPerspectivesCross-culturalPerspectives

Cultural Values

Feelings of frustration, irritation, ten-sion, impatience, embarrassment,and confusion, are inevitable. Themost important thing is how yourespond. Think about how Christwants us to respond when these sit-uations arise.

Culture is neutral when viewed froma Christian view.

• Always respect others and act as a servant.

• Have a willingness to submit andtry new things.• We are guests-don’t act like it isyour home.• Ask questions, and try to under-stand their culture and customs.• Be honest about your feelings, anddiscuss them with your team.• Remember that God can use ourdiscomfort about cultural differencesas a way of stretching us and giving usa larger view of him and his world.

Cultural Values

Feelings of frustration, irritation, tension, impatience, embarrassment, and con-fusion are inevitable. The most important thing is how you respond. Thinkabout how Christ wants us to respond when these situations arise.

Culture is neutral when viewed from a Christian view.

• Always respect others and act as a servant.• Have a willingness to submit and try new things.• We are guests—don’t act like it is your home.• Ask questions; try to understand their culture and customs.• Be honest about your feelings, and discuss them with your team.• Remember that God can use our discomfort about cultural differences

as a way of stretching us and giving us a larger view of Him and His world.

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“...Observe them carefully, for this will show yourwisdom and understanding to the nations…”

–Deuteronomy 4:6

Cultural Values

Feelings of frustration, irritation, ten-sion, impatience, embarrassment,and confusion, are inevitable. Themost important thing is how yourespond. Think about how Christwants us to respond when these sit-uations arise.

Culture is neutral when viewed froma Christian view.

• Always respect others and act as a servant.

• Have a willingness to submit andtry new things.• We are guests-don’t act like it isyour home.• Ask questions, and try to under-stand their culture and customs.• Be honest about your feelings, anddiscuss them with your team.• Remember that God can use ourdiscomfort about cultural differencesas a way of stretching us and giving usa larger view of him and his world.

Cultural Values

Feelings of frustration, irritation, tension, impatience, embarrassment, and con-fusion are inevitable. The most important thing is how you respond. Thinkabout how Christ wants us to respond when these situations arise.

Culture is neutral when viewed from a Christian view.

• Always respect others and act as a servant.• Have a willingness to submit and try new things.• We are guests—don’t act like it is your home.• Ask questions; try to understand their culture and customs.• Be honest about your feelings, and discuss them with your team.• Remember that God can use our discomfort about cultural differences

as a way of stretching us and giving us a larger view of Him and His world.

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Ò...Observe them carefully, for this will show yourwisdom and understanding to the nationsÉÓ

ÐDeuteronomy 4:6

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10 TIPSF O R E F F E C T I V E

CROSS-CULTURALCOMMUNICATIONby Neil Payne

Communicating across cultures can be confusing anduncertain—unless you have the right frame of mind andapproach. These practical strategies can help you preventmisunderstandings and communicate effectively acrosscultures.

1. Slow Down.

Even when English is the common language in a cross-cultural situation, this does not mean you should speak atnormal speed. Slow down, speak clearly, and ensure yourpronunciation is intelligible.

2. Separate Questions.

Try not to ask double questions such as,“Do you want to carry on, or shall we stop here?” In a cross-cultural situation only the first or second question may have beencomprehended. Let your listener answer one question at a time.

3. Avoid Negative Questions.

Many cross-cultural communication misunderstandingshave been caused by the use of negative questions andanswers. In English we answer “yes” if the answer is affir-mative and “no” if it is negative. In other cultures a “yes” or“no” may only be indicating whether the questioner isright or wrong. For example, the response to “Are you notcoming?” may be “yes,” meaning “Yes, I am not coming.”

4. Take Turns.

Cross-cultural communication is enhanced through taking turns to talk—making a point and then listening to the response.

5. Write it Down.

If you are unsure whether something has been under-stood, write it down and check. This can be useful whenusing large figures.

6. Be Supportive.

Effective cross-cultural communication is in essenceabout being comfortable. Giving encouragement to thosewith weak English gives them confidence, support, and atrust in you.

7. Check Meanings.

When communicating across cultures, never assume theother party has understood. Be an active listener.Summarize what has been said in order to verify it. This isa very effective way of ensuring accurate cross-culturalcommunication has taken place.

8. Avoid Slang.

Even the most well educated foreigner will not have acomplete knowledge of slang, idioms, and sayings. Thedanger is that the words will be understood but themeaning missed.

9. Watch the humor.

In many cultures business is taken very seriously.Professionalism and protocol are constantly observed.Many cultures will not appreciate the use of humor andjokes in the business context. When using humor thinkwhether it will be understood in the other culture. Forexample, British sarcasm usually has a negative effectabroad.

10. Maintain Etiquette.

Many cultures have certain etiquette when communicat-ing. It is always a good idea to undertake some cross-cul-tural awareness training or at least do some research onthe target culture.

Cross-cultural communication is about dealing with peo-ple from other cultures in a way that minimizes misunder-standings and maximizes your potential to create strongcross cultural relationships. The above tips should be seenas a starting point to greater cross-cultural awareness.

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LEADING CROSS-CULTURALLY

Crossing into a Different Culture

Team leader leads cross-culturally when he/she:

• Understands his/her own culture by identifying andexamining its worldview

• Learns about the culture and worldview of the host country and people group

Team members function cross-culturally when they:

• Are open to learning about another culture and worldview

• Seek to connect with people of other cultures

Key Issues in Cultures:

Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What I hold as truth Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How I relate to nature Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What I do routinely Adaptability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How I respond to change Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What I hold as good or evil Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What are significant markers

In your home culture you live day to day in harmony with the key issues. This is the BEHAVE factor in your lifeand culture. What happens when you cross into a differentculture? All of the BEHAVE factors you rely on may clashwith the different culture.

Listed below are BEHAVE factors from other cultures.Make a check by the ones that would be challenging foryou to deal with:

B____ I have no control over my life; I am subject to what the gods and spirits deal me.

E ____ Rats, roaches, any living thing cannot be killed.

H____ A full-course dinner is served and eaten at 11pm.

A____ I have no schedule; we will just go with theflow today.

V____ Obesity is a sign of wealth and prosperity.

E ____ The birth of a son must be celebrated by a feastfor the entire community.

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SEVEN TRIGGERS OF CULTURAL STRESS

In this section you will:

- Define culture stress.

- Identify seven triggers of culture stress.

- Consider effective responses to triggers.

Culture Shock: the immediate sense of disorientationupon entering a new environment. Temporary and short-term.

Culture Stress: the day-to-day stress that occurs in newor changing situations creating doubt, frustration, shorttemper, sleeplessness, anxiety.

Think about a time that you have entered a new environment. You moved to a new town, job, or school.At first you were disoriented, but you oriented yourselffairly rapidly because the environment was similar toplaces you had been before.

Although you were uncomfortable for a short period oftime you knew how to act, to get things done, and torespond to others around you. Your culture shock wasover quickly.

Below, in the space provided, name a time you entered a new environment. Describe what was most disorientingto you in each situation (ex. going to a new school andfinding the cafeteria or food court). Write how you solvedyour disorientation (ex. followed the crowd, the smell,read the signs).

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

During an overseas trip you experience an initial cultureshock that is replaced almost immediately with culturestress. You need to know ways to act, how to get thingsdone, and how to respond to others around you. You act,do things, and respond to others according to your lifeexperiences and worldview. However, you are in a new situation where the ways to act, to do things, and torespond to others is different. Cultural stress grows as youencounter situations that are contrary to your expectation of what “ought” to be.

You do not have to go overseas to experience culturestress. In your own familiar environment you may not rec-ognize your feelings and behavior as being culture stressbecause in that environment you know how to cope.

Seven triggers of culture stress are:• Courtesy• Charity• Comfort• Communication• Control• Cleanliness• Conclusion Making

Courtesy

Charity

Comfort

Communication

Control

Cleanliness

Conclusion-Making

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ÒTHE BIBLE IS NOT THE BASIS OF MISSIONS; MISSIONS IS THE BASIS OF THE BIBLE.Ó

ÐRALPH WINTER, U.S. CENTER FOR WORLD MISSION

Courtesy

Charity

Comfort

Communication

Control

Cleanliness

Conclusion-Making

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“THE BIBLE IS NOT THE BASIS OF MISSIONS; MISSIONS IS THE BASIS OF THE BIBLE.”

–RALPH WINTER, U.S. CENTER FOR WORLD MISSION

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COURTESY

all smiles, bowing, teadrinking; so slow to get to the point…personalquestions pointed at meall the time…no lines;pushing to get on buses or grabbing taxis…

CULTURE SHOCK TRIGGERS(What we may experience…)

CHARITY

beggars are everywhere—do I ignore them?…how do I help the localbelievers?…they take upso much of my time …how and what do I give?…

COMMUNICATION

no one speaks clearEnglish…they just smileand laugh at us…point atus all the time…can’t getour orders correct in thelocal cafes…can’t even geta cup of black coffee…phones don’t work…CONTROL

the meetings don’t everstart on time…plans made weeks ago have allchanged…what we weretold last night we woulddo today has changed…no one seems to be incharge…it is chaos everywhere…

uh-oh!CONCLUSIONsWE MAY FORM:

crazy place…why do we have to eat at11:30 at night—it is bad for digestion…what a waste of gooddaylight hours when everythingshuts down fromnoon to 3:00…children are notallowed to stay forworship…they aresent home to guardthe house…how can a child do that?…CLEANLINESS

can’t drink water from the tap…piles of garbage …bugs, flies,everywhere…children with open sores…horridsmells…open markets with unrefrigerated food…I’ll get sick…

COMFORT

no air conditioning orice…beds are strawmats…hard pillows…water pressure is nil…long lines to get anything…no easy way to wash clothes…

�

�

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CULTURE SHOCK RESPONSES (How we should respond…)

COURTESY

follow the lead of yourhost culture…take timenecessary to build relationships…be patientand flexible…prepareanswers ahead of time topersonal issues…

CHARITY

remember that the beggar is loved by God;smile and acknowledgethe beggar as a person…explore with your hosts or leader how theyrespond to needs COMFORT

pack comfortable clothing and shoes…learn how to take a 30 second shower…observe and imitate your hosts who are comfortable…

COMMUNICATION

memorize useful phrasesand words…always carrypad and pen…writing itout helps…speak slowlyand simply…settle forwhat you get rather than what you want…use your smileCONTROL

use unplanned free timeto get to know people…be flexible…enjoy andmaximize unscheduledopportunities…take time to pray and write inyour journal…let go andlet God…

CLEANLINESS

go prepared for having a safe supply of water…concentrate on the beautiful things you seerather than the piles ofgarbage…remember that the children are victims of poverty…eatonly food that is stove-hotor peeled with a sterileknife…learn a polite wayto refuse food that is not safe…

• Avoid drawing conclusions or making judgments without learningabout the culture.

• Be flexible and consider differenthabits and customsan adventure!

• When seekinginformation use the phrase “tell meabout…” rather thanasking why.

☺

☺

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

In this section, you will:

- Define “worldview”

- Increase your understanding of the components of a worldview

- Practice making cultural adjustments

Worldview is the framework you use to explain life around you.

Read about parents and children in the chart on the opposite page. The information reflects the worldview for each typeof family and the culture they live in. After reviewing the chart, reflect on the following questions:

How does the worldview of discipline differ between the Asian worldview, and the Western worldview?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you were participating in a time of worship and small children interrupted, what would be your usual reaction? What would be the reaction in the African culture?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

In situations such as the ones

described in the chart, there is a collision of two worldviews.

Every day you experience worldview collisions,

but are perhaps unaware of what is going on.

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Worldview& Culture

Worldview& Culture

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African Western Middle Eastern Asian

Child is named, Child’s name may Child’s name Child’s nameand mother is be the family is reflective of reflects heroic orreferred to as name, or randomly religious personage, noble qualities;“Mama Jeff.” chosen. or important women are fulfilled(male child’s name) historical figure. when first grandson

is born.

Child’s health is Pediatricians Children are nursed Child is nursed untildependent on the provide specialized as required by next child is born;spirits and good care of children; religious practices. health is supervisedfortune of the child is nursed by oldest woman family; most children according to in household.are nursed; folk mother’s choice.medicine and remedies are oftenutilized.

Child eats and Child has schedule Child eats and Child eats and sleeps on his/her for eating and sleeps on his/her sleeps on his/herdemand. sleeping. demand. demand.

Discipline is Discipline begins Discipline is within Discipline ispermissive in at birth. the framework of permissive untilthe early years. religious beliefs. school age; then

based on importanceof keeping family honor.

In the Middle East, what would be the reaction if a child did not eat with the family, butwanted a meal at an unusual time? What might be the reaction in the Western culture?

_________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

WORLDVIEW…WHAT IS REAL

Knowing a culture

There are many different cultures in which you participate. To name a few:• Your family• Your small group• Your workplace• Your neighborhood

Each culture has behaviors that define what is done, values that define what isgood, and beliefs that define what is true. This makes a WORLDVIEW that defineswhat is REAL. Please add some of your own examples to the chart below.

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Behavior… Values… Beliefs…what is DONE what is GOOD what is TRUE

My family ex: We open Christmas gifts Opening gifts together Family harmony is

on Christmas morning. brings warmth and important.

_____________________ harmony. _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

My small group ex: We call everyone by Using first names shows Using first names shows

first names. that the group members intimacy or knowledge

_____________________ are bonded. of a person.

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

My workplace ex: We celebrate employee Recognition of a special Employees need special

birthdays once a month. day fosters in the celebrant recognition.

_____________________ a sense of being special. _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

My neighborhood ex: We cut grass regularly. Neat yards or lawns show Well-kept neighborhoods

_____________________ community pride and caring. reflect the kind of people

_____________________ _____________________ who live there.

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

THE CULTURAL ICEBERG

Functions of Worldview

• Worldview explains how and why the world came to be as it is and how it continues.• Worldview provides ways of judging and validating different actions and institutions.• Worldview provides psychological reinforcement during times of crisis.• Worldview is an integrator providing comprehensive, uniform explanation of reality.• Worldview provides the possibility of growth and change.

Worldview is your framework for explaining life around you. You probably have not given it much thought. Your worldviewshapes the cultures in which you operate.

Each culture is like an iceberg. Behaviors, values, and beliefs are part of the iceberg,but only some of these are evident. Those that are “below the waterline,” you know, buthave not necessarily named or recognized their existence and impact on your culture.

What’s In The Tip of the Iceberg?Language • Architecture • Food • Population • Music • Art and literature • Clothing • Pace of life

Emotional display • Gestures • Leisure activities • Eye contact • Sports

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BehaviorsFive Senses

OpinionsViewpointsAttitudes

PhilosophiesValues

Convictions

What’s In The Bottom of the Iceberg?Notions of time • How the individual fits in • Beliefs about human nature • Rules of relationship • Importance of work

Motivations for achievement • Men and women’s roles • Adult and children’s roles • Tolerance for changeExpectation of macho role • Importance of avoiding confrontation • Leadership styles • Communication styles

Preference of thinking style: linear or systematic

Western Non-Western BiblicalCosmos: Created from matter; Created by and Created out of nothing byWhat is the world? progresses from simple continually influenced powerful, holy, loving God.

to complex. by spiritual beings who are unseen andwithdrawn.

Can be experienced, Is complex and dangerous Consists of seen andstudied, measured world of seen and unseen unseen elements.through the senses. powers and beings

among which humans must survive.

Cause and effect can Influenced by capricious Follows physical laws, but explain all things. spiritual beings, both is not tied to the cause

good and evil. and effect.

Self: Complex machine. Human society, Image of God.What is man? not individual, is focus.

Emotions and feelings Soul is multiple; may leave Has personality; can love;are result of glands and the body. soul leaves body at death.chemicals.

Is organization of cultural Ancestors determine who Is moral, can make forces and elements that and what kind of person judgements between right have formed and are one is. and wrong.expressed.

Death is end—cessation Death brings membership Death brings God’s of the machine. in world of ancestors. judgement—reward or

punishment.

Knowledge: Can know real laws Truth and wisdom Man, in the image of God,What and how do by which the universe come from ancestors’ can think and reason.we know? is controlled. experiences.

Man, through knowledge, Man must follow the Man is to work andcontrols the universe. ancestors and not care for creation.

disturb the spirits.

No higher power exists. Appeasement and Man can communicate sacrifice to the spirits, with God.but no communication.

THE BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

Your most important worldview is the Biblical worldview.

Study the chart to compare and contrast the Western, Non-Western, and Biblical worldviews.

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(continued…) Western Non-Western BiblicalTime: Extends from infinite past Has a past and a Extends from creationWhat is history? to endless future. present; no future. to the fulfillment of God’s

purpose.

Is a valued commodity. Not a valued commodity. Is valued as opportunityto fulfill God’s will.

Change is progress, Change is dangerous; Change (moving forward)and creates an optimistic can upset natural is seen as the Creator’sview of the future. equilibrium. objective (hope) for His

creation.

Value: Ethics are relative; Based on family or Based on the absoluteWhat is good or evil? based on man-made social group. nature of God.

assumptions.

Necessary only to allow Established by history Revealed in Scripture,individual to develop their or tradition. and by human conscience.own potential withoutdetriment to others.

Mankind is basically good Judged by the value Cannot be reached byand will acquire wealth of the good provided by man’s own efforts.for itself. family or community.

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A Quick Review!

Now that you know even more, think back to “Worldview…What Is Real?” and the iceberg illustration on page 51. What behaviors doesyour culture have that differ from the Japanese culture? Why—what are the values and beliefs behind those behaviors? Fill in thechart below, using it as a sample. Then make your own, based on the culture you are planning to visit.

Think: Iceberg Your Culture Japanese Culture

Eye contact… B E H AV I O R : _______________________________ • Limit eye contact

VA L U E : _______________________________ • Being polite

B E L I E F : _______________________________ • Making eye contact is rude

Emotional B E H AV I O R : _______________________________ • Avoid touching in public

displays… VA L U E : _______________________________ • Appropriate distance

B E L I E F : _______________________________ between people

_______________________________ • Emotions cannot be shown

How B E H AV I O R : _______________________________ • Never show individual

individual VA L U E : _______________________________ behavior or opinion

fits in… B E L I E F : _______________________________ • Group decisions are best

_______________________________ • Individual that sticks out

_______________________________ must be hammered down

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"We must be global Christians with a global vision becauseour God is a Global God."

ÐJohn Stott

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"We must be global Christians with a global vision becauseour God is a Global God."

–John Stott

Spiritual WarfareWhere God guides, He provides

“Be strong in the Lord and inHis mighty power. Put on thefull armor of God so that youcan take your stand againstthe devil’s schemes. For ourstruggle is not against fleshand blood, but against therulers, against the authorities,against the powers of thisdark world and against thespiritual forces of evil in theheavenly realms.”

–Ephesians 6:10-12

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“Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around

like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him,

standing firm in the faith because you know that your brothers

throughout the world are undergoingthe same kind of sufferings.”

–1 Peter 5: 8-9

A Spiritual Warfare Study for Your Team:

When it comes to spiritual warfare most people are toohot or too cold. They are either the ones that say “there aredemons behind every bush” or “I haven’t noticed there wasa devil and let’s not talk about it lest he start picking onme.” Often times we get out of balance when it comes tospiritual warfare. On a scale of one to ten, with one beingno awareness of spiritual warfare, where do you fall?

Our secularized culture has disarmed us to the spiritualnature of life; we forget that we “wrestle not against fleshand blood, but against principalities, against powers…and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlyrealms” (Ephesians 6:12). As a result, we rely on our ownresources when we encounter adversity, and thus we arequickly discouraged and defeated. To be truly preparedfor life we need to know how to be fed, nourished, andequipped with the resourceful life of Christ. We need tounderstand the reality of spiritual conflict and know theresources that God has given us for standing firm.

When we read about the devil and the principalities of evil it can get kind of scary. Sometimes it is tempting tothink that if we don’t bother the devil, he won’t bother us.Here’s some good news and some bad news. First, the bad news—it doesn’t work that way. The devil hasdeclared war on you and if you didn’t know it then he’sbeen having a heyday with you. The good news is thatthe devil was stripped of all his power at the cross andChrist has given us authority over him and the sin hewants us to commit.

SpiritualWarfare

SpiritualWarfare

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Read 1 Peter 5:8. How does Peter describe the devil?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

What things does Peter tell us to do in verses 8 and 9?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

What things should you be alerted to while preparing for this mission trip?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Read Ephesians 6: 11-12. What do you think the schemes of the devil may be for your team?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

List some spiritual battles you think are faced by the people to whom you are going to minister:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do you think it means not to “struggle with flesh and blood?” Who should we struggle with?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Think back to the last time you were angry with someone or some situation. How could you have struggled with the enemy instead of flesh and blood?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

People involved in other religions, paganism, demon worship, animism, etc., don’t always think that what they are doing is the worship of Satan. If they did, they would certainly run. They see themselves as worshiping their god. They havesimply been blinded to the truth; therefore we must RESPECT them and pray for Christ to open their eyes to the truth.Read 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. How do people deal with things in a worldly way?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Thought to reflect on

Are you impressed with God and only aware of Satan,or are you impressed with Satan and only aware of God?

Read Hebrews 2:14:15. You do not receive your authority over the enemy at a certain age, or after youhave been a Christian for a certain number of years, oreven after you read the Bible. God gave you authority the minute you asked Him into your heart.

Most non-Christians think that God is equal, but opposite,from the devil. It is like this big tug of war with equal andopposing forces. This is a lie from the pit, trying to give us the image of a puny God and a powerful devil. The factis that it is God who created Lucifer, who then rebelledand became the devil. It is God who the devil has toanswer to. It will be God who will put the devil in hisplace in the lake of fire. If we want to compare God andthe devil it would be like comparing Niagara Falls to a drip from a faucet, or a heavy weight boxing champion to an ant, or a brilliant sunset to a pile of ashes.

Read 1 John 4:4. God has given us authority over the enemy.

Is there anything in your life that this truth does not applyto? Take some time and reaffirm God’s truth in situationsin your life that you may struggle with. Remember thatGod who is in you is greater than anything you face.

The Armor of God

We often enter the world wearing only the helmet of salvation, knowing that we are forgiven and saved throughJesus Christ. A helmet is great, but without the full armorwe are thoroughly unprotected. God has provided us withall the authority we need to manifest his authority overareas that the adversary seeks to dominate. Knowing howto use these resources is a vital dimension of maturing inChrist and engaging in ministry.

What type of weapons do you think Paul wants us to fightwith? See Ephesians 6: 13-17; 2 Corinthians 6:7

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

List the various items of armor, and describe the significance of each for our protection.

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

Take a moment to ask God to show you some areas whereyou and your team may be under attack, and then prayfor that person or that situation.

“The thief comesonly to steal

kill and destroy,but I have come

so that they mayhave life and

have it to the full.”

– John 10:10

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SPIRITUAL WARFARE QUIZ

Test your knowledge of spiritual warfare!

What is spiritual warfare?

a) The use of garlic and holy water to ward off evil vampires.

b) The use of weapons to attack non-believers in order to force them to accept Christ.

c) It is a holy war,“jihad” or the use of Christian principles to justify going to war.

d) A pro-active approach to our faith. Actively resisting the devil when his hosts harass us, and actively pursuing

spiritual disciplines that will make us stronger and better prepared. It is actively engaging the enemy when people

are in spiritual bondage.

Which of the following is a Christian’s primary weapon when involved in spiritual warfare?

a) The Bible, in order to beat non-Christians over the head with it.

b) An AK-47.

c) A shield-in order to protect himself from the devil’s schemes.

d) Prayer-a weapon to penetrate strongholds that cannot be reached in any other way.

Which of the following is an example of spiritual warfare experienced by Christians today?

a) The fear of what non-Christians will think when they speak of Christ.

b) A medical student who decides not to go on the medical trip he has been thinking about for years, because he is

worried where the money will come from.

c) A man who is possessed by demons that cause him to hallucinate and make violent threats.

d) All of the above.

e) A and B only; things like C don’t happen any more today.

Who is our enemy when we engage in spiritual warfare?

a) Non-Christians

b) The devil

Which of the following is true of Spiritual warfare?

a) Good Christians are immune from Satan’s deception.

b) If we ignore the devil and his demons, they will ignore us as well.

c) We can never be harmed when engaging in spiritual warfare; as long as we trust in God we are always safe.

d) Satan’s primary tactic when engaging in spiritual warfare is lies and deception.

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The devil is real and he is our enemy.1 Peter 5: 8-9John 10:10

Jesus has overcome the devil. The victory hasalready been won.I John 4:4 John 16:33 I John 2: 12-14Hebrews 2:14-15

As Christians, we have the full power of God withwhich to fight the enemy.Matthew 28-18-20 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Satan’s primary means of attack is by deception and lies.Revelation 12:9John 8:44Genesis 3:5

A true believer can give a “foothold” to Satan in his life, but a true Christian can never be possessed by a demon because we belong toChrist; we have been bought with the price of the blood of Christ.I Peter 1:18-19

When you attempt to serve God in your life andthrough your missions team, Satan will attackyou, and spiritual warfare will be involved.John 16:33

Christ has equipped us with all the weapons weneed to fight spiritual battles.Ephesians 6: 10-18

Spiritual warfare is not fought against people,but against Satan.Ephesians 6:12

TRUTHS ABOUT SPIRITUAL WARFARE

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I haveovercome the world!”

–John 16:33

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IDENTIFYING SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Learn to use your spiritual eyes to identify spiritual warfare within your team.

How does the enemy attack your team? By attacking your unity! Satan sows discontent within your team in any way he can.

Just before Jesus was arrested to be tried and crucified, He prayed for His disciples to receive something that was essential to God’s mission. What was it?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Unity is not the only issue the enemy will attack. List other ways the enemy will wage war within your team.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

List what you can do to protect your team against the enemy’s divisive wiles.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Realize that the enemy will attack the project itself.

If the enemy can’t get at your team to make you ineffective, then he’ll attempt to sabotage what you’re trying to do.

• The flight is running late and you may not make your connection. Is this a spiritual battle? • The connection at the airport is not there to meet you in this foreign land. Is this a spiritual battle? • The generator, or projector, or computer, or _______________ (add anything that is supposed to work) does not

operate just before your team most needs it. Is this a spiritual battle? • Rain has made getting to your area of ministry virtually impossible. Is this a spiritual battle?

Understand the people with whom you interact.

You are encountering people who not only believe in the spirit world, they live with the spirit world. The Bible clearlystates that Satan holds people without Christ as captives.

No amount of your own effort—not church planting, leadership training, financial enterprise, medical aid, nor education— will change a person’s heart condition toward Jesus Christ. Anything you do for people that originates from you and is separate from the Holy Spirit accomplishes nothing for God’s kingdom.

“My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it wasGod, not we, who made it grow.” –1 Corinthians 3:6

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ENGAGING IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Identify five key “weapons” to use in spiritual warfare…

How do you win the spiritual battle that will be raging all around you as you plan for, prepare for, carry out, and returnfrom this mission trip?

1. Get in shape and expect to get hit!

“Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” –2 Timothy 2:3-4

2. Be self-controlled and alert (discern spiritual realities behind situations and circumstances).

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaringlion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith,because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing thesame kind of sufferings.” –1 Peter 5:8-9

3. Trust Christ.

“Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcomethe world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believesthat Jesus is the Son of God.” –1 John 5:4-5

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”–John 16:33b

4. Use God’s plans and weapons.

“We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. We useGod's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the devil'sstrongholds. With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keepspeople from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas,and we teach them to obey Christ.” –2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NLT

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5. Know your enemy is and use God’s armor.

“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle isnot against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” –Ephesians 6:10-12

“Use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting onthe sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News, so that you will be fully prepared.In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of theSpirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times and on every occasion in thepower of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for allChristians everywhere.” –Ephesians 6:13-18

Write a response to the following situations using your knowledge of spiritual powers and God’s weapons:

The flight is running late and you may not make your connection.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The connection at the airport is not there to meet you in this foreign land.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The generator, or projector, computer, or ____________ (add anything that is supposed to work) decides not to operateright before your team needs it most.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rain has made getting to your area of ministry virtually impossible.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

“You dear children arefrom God and have

overcome them becausethe One who is in youis greater than the onewho is in the world.”

–1 John 4:4

“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and

destroy, but I have come so that they may

have life and have it to the full.” – John 10:10

“I have told you thesethings, so that in Meyou may have peace.In this world you willhave trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!”– John 16:33

“I write to you, dearchildren, becauseyour sins have beenforgiven on accountof His name. I writeto you, fathers,because you haveknown Him who isfrom the beginning. I write to you youngmen, because youhave overcome the evilone. I write to you,dear children, becauseyou have known theFather. I write to you,fathers, because youhave known Him who is from thebeginning. I write toyou, young men,because you arestrong, and the Wordof God lives in you,and you have overcome the evil one.”–1 John 2:12-14

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Scripture for WarfareBE STRONG IN THE LORD

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“For though we livein the world, we donot wage war as the world does. Theweapons we fightwith are notweapons of thisworld. On thecontrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments andevery pretensionthat sets itself up against theknowledge of God, and we takecaptive everythought to make itobedient to Christ.”–2 Corinthians 10:3-5

“The great dragon washurled down—thatancient serpent calledthe devil or Satan,who leads the wholeworld astray. He washurled to the earth,and his angels withhim.” –Revelation 12:9

“You belong to yourfather, the devil, andyou want to carry outyour fathers desire.He was a murdererfrom the beginning,not holding to thetruth, for there is notruth in him. Whenhe lies, he speaks hisnative language, forhe is a liar and thefather of lies.”– John 8:44

“For God knows that whenyou eat of it your eyes willbe opened, and you will belike God, knowing goodand evil.”–Genesis 3:5

“For you know that it

was not with the

perishable things such

as silver or gold that you

were redeemed from the

empty way of life handed

down to you from your

forefathers, but with the

precious blood of Christ,

a lamb without blemish

or defect.”

–1 Peter 1:18-19

“In truthful speechand in the power ofGod; with weaponsof righteousness inthe right hand andin the left.”

–2 Corinthians 6:7

“Since the childrenhave flesh and blood,He too shared in theirhumanity so that byHis death He mightdestroy him whoholds the power ofdeath—that is, thedevil—and free thosewho all their liveswere held in slaveryby their fear ofdeath.”–Hebrews 2:14-15

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FIRST-PERSON: 4 Biblical Principles forSpiritual Warfare

Jul 19, 2004 By Rick Warren

Every Sunday when I get in my car and drive the 20 minutes it takes me to get to the church, I put on thewhole armor of God, and then I do it again before everyworship service. I say,“Lord, I know eternity hangs on what I’m talking about today. There may be somebodywho’s in the worship service who will never come tochurch again.” I recognize that I am in a spiritual battle,so I use four biblical principles in the fight:

First, I acknowledge the adversary.

Satan is real (1 Peter 5:8-9). When you’re beingattacked, welcome to the club. It’s proof that you’re abeliever. The fact is, the more you make an impact forGod, the more the devil is going to fight you. You neveroutgrow it. It just gets more intense. If there were nodevil, why would God send His Son to fight what doesnot exist? The Bible says God sent Jesus Christ to defeatthe works of Satan. The Bible says that Satan is theprince of this world. Jesus said so. He never disputedSatan’s right to work all across the world. The Bible saysin 1 John 3:8, "The Son of God came for this purpose:to destroy the devil's work"

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FIRST-PERSON: 4 Biblical Principles forSpiritual Warfare

Jul 19,2004 By Rick W arren

Every Sunday when I get in my car and drive the 20 minutes it takes me to get to the church,I put on thewhole armor of God,and then I do it again before everyworship service.I say,“Lord,I know eternity hangs on what I’m talking about today.There may be somebodywho’s in the worship service who will never come tochurch again.”I recognize that I am in a spiritual battle,so I use four biblical principles in the fight:

First, I acknowledge the adversary.

Satan is real (1 Peter 5:8-9). When you’re beingattacked, welcome to the club. It’s proof that you’re abeliever. The fact is, the more you make an impact forGod, the more the devil is going to fight you. You neveroutgrow it. It just gets more intense. If there were nodevil, why would God send His Son to fight what doesnot exist? The Bible says God sent Jesus Christ to defeatthe works of Satan. The Bible says that Satan is theprince of this world. Jesus said so. He never disputedSatan’s right to work all across the world. The Bible saysin 1 John 3:8, "The Son of God came for this purpose:to destroy the devil's work"

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Second, I accept God-given authority.

Most believers are very ignorant about the authority theyhave for use against the devil. Matthew 28:18-19 says wehave all authority in heaven and earth. Then Jesus says,“Therefore go and make disciples…” He transfers theauthority to you and me. He does that because He’s givenus a specific mission (2 Corinthians 5:20). When you sendan ambassador to another country, the ambassador hasthe full authority to represent that country. The Bible saysthat you, as a believer in ministry, are Christ’s ambassador.

Third, I put on the full armor of God.

Take a look at the famous passage on spiritual armor inEphesians 6:11-17. When the Apostle Paul wrote this, hewas in prison. He was chained 24 hours a day to a Romanguard. Sitting there chained to this centurion, Paul lookedat him and saw a model for spiritual armor.

The Roman had on a breastplate -- a piece of metal toprotect his chest from spear attack. He had a strong,leather girdle around his waist to protect him. He had onboots, a shield, a helmet and a sword. Paul says just as theRoman soldier goes out to do battle, when you’re in ministry you’ll need to be dressed for battle. You put it on before you teach that Bible study, before you teachthat Sunday School class, before you play that note inworship. In all these things, you need to put on yourarmor of God. I do this every time I speak. I mentally runthrough this list, putting on the full armor of God. I say, forinstance,“Lord, I put on the helmet of salvation that willprotect me from the thoughts the devil will try to giveme. I don't want to think the devil’s thoughts. I don’t wantto think my thoughts. I want to think Your thoughts, that I may be a voice for You. I put on the belt of truth. Lord,I want to share the truth, not falsehood. I want to leadpeople into righteousness.”

Fourth, I aim the weapons God gave me for warfare.

Not only do we have some armor, but also we have someweapons to use when we’re involved in ministry.Remember, we’re not fighting against physical people.We’re fighting against spiritual forces.

The battlefield for spiritual warfare is primarily in thethought life; in your mind (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Noticewhat Paul says the weapons do: They demolish argu-ments—that’s the way people think. They pull down pre-tension—that’s the way people think. We take everythought captive. In this battle for thoughts, you have fourweapons: humility, faith, truth and praise. I use them everyday, but especially as I’m preparing to teach God’s Word.

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA, one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of The New York Times bestseller The Purpose-Driven Lifeand The Purpose-Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the 20th century.He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet community for ministers.

THEAUTHORITYOF THEBELIEVER

by Josh McDowell

I would like to talk about theauthority of the believer overSatan. I believe this is one of thefive most important messages aperson can hear and consider.As you study the Old Testament,you see that the men and womenof God were in a constant struggle with Satan. Study the life of Christ, of Paul, of the otherapostles, and you'll see a constantspiritual struggle.

If I were to ask you, "How many ofyou in the last year have felt a realspiritual struggle in your witnesson the campus?" I would estimatethat 80 to 90 percent of you wouldraise your hand. The authority ofthe believer is a possession ofevery true child of God. We haveauthority over Satan, and Satantries to blind believers to that fact.

The Devil in a Dodge

I first learned of the authority of thebeliever during Easter week atBalboa Beach. About 50,000 collegestudents would come (much likeDaytona Beach). We had a big ballroom, and we packed that outseveral nights in a row. In fact, wewould have two, three meetings anight, packed-out. We also packed-out a supper club and a coffee shop.André Kole would put on his performance each evening. We hadso many people coming to our meetings that many of the bars wereempty. It really irritated some people,and one night, one of the men froma place called Socrates' Den decidedto come and try to break up ourmeeting. So, they came over driving a new souped-up Dodge. As Andréwas performing (whatever went onoutside, you could hear insidebecause the walls were so thin) thisguy pulled up with his Dodge,stopped out in front, and revved theengine--"Vroom, Vroom, Vroom."Then he popped the clutch, and"roooooooom" down the street.Well, everyone inside turned aroundand looked out. André got them settled back down and the guy wentback around the block. He cameback, stopped out in front andrevved it up again. Vroooommm,vroommm, vrooommmmm, and hetook off down the street.

By this time everybody was whisper-ing and wondering what was goingon. Some of them were standing uptrying to look out the window. Well,the guy went back around the blockagain. And I knew at that time that ifhe did it once more, it would literallybreak up the meeting. So, I turned toone of our staff members, and said,"I think Satan is trying to break upthis meeting. Let's step out in thedoorway and exercise the authorityof the believer." So, we stepped outin the doorway, and we prayed a

very simple prayer that I'm going to teach you how to pray. The guycame, stopped out in front and started to rev it up, vrooommm,vroommmmm. And he popped theclutch and Eeeerrrrrrr Brrrmmmm,and he blew the rear end of his carall over the street. Well, we justthanked the Lord, and we went overand pushed him off the street, andI shared the Four Laws with him.It reminded me of what Jesus said."All authority is given to me in heaven and earth."

Misconceptions aboutAuthority

Now, what is the authority of thebeliever? First, let's ask what theauthority of the believer is not. Onemisconception is that the authorityof the believer is the fullness of theHoly Spirit. Now, I believe Goddesires every person to be filledwith the Holy Spirit, but the filling of the Holy Spirit and the authorityof the believer are different. Thenthere are others who say the authority of the believer is a spiritualgift conferred only on a few thatendows them with power over Satan.Now, of course, God gives spiritualgifts. But spiritual gifts and theauthority of the believer are differ-ent. Then there are those that believethat the authority of the believer isto be equated with prevailing prayer.That's when you go to your kneesand you pray something throughuntil you have God's confidence thatit's been answered. So, God leadspeople to prevailing prayer. But prevailing prayer and the authorityof the believer are different. Now,what is the authority of the believer?

What is Authority?

First we need to answer,”What isauthority?" Now, to point out whatauthority is, I need to show you thedifference between two Greek

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words which are often rendered thesame in our English translation. Forexample, in Luke 10:19, the KingJames Version would read: "Behold,I have given you power to turn uponthe serpents and scorpions and overall the power of the enemy andnothing shall injure you." There are two separate Greek words usedfor power here but one English translation. The first word should betranslated authority, not power. TheChristian does not have power overSatan. We have authority over Satan.What's the difference? Let me giveyou an illustration.

Authority Illustrated

I used to live in Buenos Aires,Argentina. It's the second largest cityin the western hemisphere. It hasone of the longest streets in theworld—almost 60 miles long. It alsohas one of the widest streets in theworld, a street called Corrientas. InEnglish, it means current, and it's asolid current of traffic. Sometimes,it's one of the longest parking lots inthe world. As you approach an intermodule, about the only way youcan really make it across is to confessany unknown sin, make sure you arefilled with the Holy Spirit, commityour life into the hands of a livingGod and dash across the street.But one day as we approached it, anamazing thing took place. It was veryunusual and yet very usual. Out inthe center of the intermodule therewas a platform. On the platformthere was a uniformed policeman. Helooked over at us. There were about20 of us at that time congregating onthe corner waiting to cross. Helooked at all those cars and all of asudden he blew his whistle and putup his hand. The moment he put uphis hand, all of those cars came to ascreeching halt. Then he motioned usto cross the street. Now, what is theexplanation for that? With all of hispersonal power, he couldn't have

stopped one of those cars. But hehad something far better than personal power. He was investedwith the authority of the policedepartment. And, the moving carsand the pedestrians recognized thatauthority. Authority is delegatedpower. Its value depends on thepower behind its user.

In Mexico, they have these little platforms for traffic police about afoot and a half off the ground out inthe center of the large intermodules.One day I saw a mother walkingalong with a little boy. He was quiteinfatuated with the traffic police.The traffic policeman stepped off the little platform and walked to theother side of the intermodule. Thislittle kid broke away from his mother,ran out in the intermodule, jumpedup on the platform, and put out hishand like he had seen the policemando and all those cars stopped. Yousee, they recognized the authority ofthat platform. The authority of thebeliever is delegated power. Thebeliever must be aware of the divinepower behind him or her, and of hisor her own authority to face theenemy without fear or hesitation.Why? Because the authority possessed by the believer is backedby a greater force or power than ourenemy Satan—much greater. AndSatan knows that.

The Source of Authority

Ephesians 1:19-23 reads, "And whatis the surpassing greatness of Hispower toward us who believe? Theseare in accordance with the workingof the strength of His might. WhichHe brought about in Christ when Heraised Him from the dead and seatedHim at His right hand in the heavenlyplaces far above all rule and authority and power and dominionand every name that is named."I'm so glad I knew that before I wentto Latin America. Jesus' name is far

above every name that is named; notonly in this age, but also in the oneto come. And, "He put all things insubjection under His feet and gaveHim as head over all things to thechurch which is His body, the fullnessof Him who fills all in all."

When Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, it was the greatestmanifestation of God's powerrecorded in the Scriptures. TheApostle Paul used four Greek wordsfor power to describe what God did.First, he says the "greatness of Hispower." The word “power” here isdynamis. We get our word “dynamite”from this word. It means personalpower. Then Paul goes on to saythese are "in accordance with theworking." The word “working” is energeo. We get our word “energy”from this word. It means a manifesta-tion or an activity. Paul then says thatit is the working of the "strength." Inother words, it is God's exercise ofstrength. The word “strength” here inthe Greek is kratos. Like a man working out or exercising, God exercises His strength. The word for “might” is from the Greek ischuo.It means a great summation ofpower or power afforded bystrength; great inherited strength.

The combination of these four words signify that behind the eventsdescribed in Ephesians 1:19-23,we have the greatest working of Godmanifested in the Scriptures—evengreater than creation. When mostpeople talk about the might of God, they refer to the Resurrection.That's only half the story. If it wereonly a resurrection, it wouldn't havetaken all that might of God. Look at verse 20 and see what it incorporates. Paul says that thispower raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand inthe heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power anddominion. The last thing Satan

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wanted was not for Jesus Christ tobe raised from the dead. Of course,he didn't want this. But the last thingSatan wanted was Jesus Christ toascend through the powers of the air to take His place at the right hand of the Father. Satan was notdefeated at the resurrection alone.It was the resurrection, ascension,and the seating of Christ that defeated him. And so, in this greatunleashing of God's might, "He disarmed the rulers and authorities,He made a public display of themhaving triumphed over themthrough Him" (Colossians 2:12-15).

The Operation of His Power and Authority

The source of the authority is the resurrection, ascension, and the seating of Jesus Christ. By those,Satan was defeated and disarmed.But when did this power becomeoperative in our lives as believers? Indiscussing the text of Ephesians 1:19,I skipped over four words that areextremely important to this point:"toward us who believe" or "towardthe believing ones." In other words,all of this unleashing of God's mightin the resurrection, the ascensionand the seating of Jesus Christ wasfor you and me. All of this might ofGod was towards you and me,towards the believing ones, that wemight take victory over Satan.Observe the identification of Christ'speople with him and the crisis of the resurrection and ascension andthe seating. Look at Ephesians 2:1."As for you, you were dead in yourtransgressions and sins." Paul's flowof thought in 1:20 is continued in 21.It would read like this. "And seatedHim at His right hand in the heavenlyplace." And then 2:1, "And you alsowho are dead in your trespasses." In other words, there was such anidentification of the believer withJesus Christ in His crucifixion, burial,resurrection, ascension, and seating

and victory over Satan that the apostle Paul used the same verbsthat described the resurrection andascension of Jesus to describe ourresurrection and our ascension (theverbs raised and seated). How canPaul say this? Because at themoment of salvation, you wereplaced into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:3). Paul says, "Byone Spirit we've all been baptized."The word baptized here means identified, we are identified with onebody, the body of Christ. At themoment of salvation, the Holy Spirittook and baptized you and totallyidentified you with the Body ofChrist. This happened the momentyou believed in Jesus Christ. And atthat moment, you are identified inthe eyes of God and Satan withChrist's crucifixion, burial, resurrec-tion, ascension, and seating at theright hand of the Father. That's whythe Apostle Paul used the sameverbs to describe our resurrectionand ascension.

At the moment of salvation, you are

identified in the eyes ofGod and Satan withChrist's crucifixion, burial, resurrection,

ascension, and seatingat the right hand of

the Father.

There are two persons who knowthat: God and Satan. The biggestproblem is that the believer usuallydoesn't know it. So many Christianssincerely believe that they never get to the right hand of the Fatheruntil they die. They don't realize thatat the moment of salvation we were co-resurrected, co-ascended, and

co-seated with Jesus Christ positionally; far above all rule andpower and authority and dominionand every name that is named.You might say, in our co-crucifixionwith Christ, we died to the penalty of sin. In our co-resurrection, we died to the power of sin. In our co-ascension, we gained authority overthe source of sin, the evil one.

The Location of Our Authority

Let's review for a moment. First, welooked at some misconceptions.Then we learned that authority isdelegated power. The believer has no power over Satan. It's delegatedpower. Third, we saw that the sourceof the authority is the resurrection,ascension, and the seating of JesusChrist. And then we learned that thisauthority became operative in thelife of the believer at the moment of salvation. Now, let's look at thelocation of spiritual authority. InEphesians 2:4-6, Paul writes, "Butbecause of His great love for us, God,who is rich in mercy, made us alivewith Christ even when we were deadin transgressions—it is by grace youhave been saved. And God raised usup with Christ and seated us in theheavenly realms with Christ Jesus."Made us alive together with whom?With Christ. And raised us up withHim and seated us with Him in theheavenly places in Christ Jesus. Weare co-resurrected, co-ascended, co-seated. We have been made to sit inthe heavenlies. We are co-occupantsof the right hand of the throne ofGod with Jesus Christ. It is not somespecial gift conferred upon a certaingroup of believers. It is the birthrightof every true believer in Jesus Christ.The right hand of the throne of Godis the center, or the location, ofpower. And we have been elevatedto that right hand position so thatwe may exercise to the extent of ourspiritual apprehension authority

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over the powers of the air. But this isonly to the extent of our spiritualapprehension. Because, you see,authority is delegated power anduntil the believer comes to realizethe power behind him, he will never exercise the authority of thebeliever. The more you apprehendthe power behind you, the more youwill exercise the authority of thebeliever. That's why I have to take allthis time to give you the backgroundfor a 30 second prayer. Because youwill never pray a prayer to exercisethe authority of the believer unlessyou realize the power behind it; thatyou've been co-resurrected, co-ascended, and co-seated far above allrule, power, authority, and dominion,and every name that is named.

"Oh, No, They Won't Be"

Hebrews 12:2 reads, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author andperfecter of our faith, who for the joyset before Him, endured the cross,

scorning its shame, and sat down atthe right hand of the throne of God."Where's Jesus? At the right hand ofthe Father. Where are you? If youbelieve in Jesus Christ, if you havebeen co-resurrected, co-ascended,and co-seated with Jesus, at least twopeople know about it, God andSatan. Now, let me show you how my understanding that I have beenco-resurrected, co-ascended, and co-seated with Jesus Christ allows me to be bold in my witness. I don'tknow about your personality, butmine is the type of personality thatwhen I'm in an adverse situation (afree speech situation or debate),and it seems like everyone turns onme, if I set my mind to circumstancesaround me, I start to withdraw. Ialmost become an introvert and back away from the situation. Butnow that I’ve learned that I'm above the situation and I am seatedat the right hand of the Father and I fix my eyes on Jesus, I see the thingsabove—not the circumstances

around me. I become bold. Let meillustrate. I was at the University ofColorado. We had a two night serieson prophecy. The second night waspacked out. There were five guys atthe back of the room and as soon as I closed the meeting, they literally ran to the front. The leader had bloodshot eyes. And he just ran forward screaming. I mean he wasdamning God, damning the HolySpirit, damning Jesus, and damning me. (I kind of appreciated the progression.) And he was justscreaming. I looked at him and said, "Who in the world do you thinkyou are?" He said, "I was born to be a disciple of Satan and by free choice,I have become one." And he lit intome. Well, let me tell you, if I had setmy mind to circumstances aroundme, I would have withdrawn. But I set my mind at the right hand of theFather and knew that I had been co-resurrected, co-ascended, and co-seated with Jesus Christ far aboveall rule and power and authority

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and dominion and every name thatis named. I looked straight back athim and every time he opened hismouth I quoted Scripture. He'd saysomething else, and I quotedScripture. And he'd say somethingelse, and I quoted Scripture. It wenton and on.

Well, something happened. I guesshe didn't have his mind set at the lefthand of the pit, because he turnedaround and walked away. He walkedabout nine feet and turned backaround. I'll never forget it. Hescreamed at me and said "Christian,we're going to meet again. And thenext time we meet the tables aregoing to be turned." Well, let me tellyou, if I would have set my mind onthe circumstances around me, Iwould have withdrawn and said"Well, maybe that's right. Let's hopewe don't meet again." But, I set mymind at the right hand of the Father, and I knew that I had beenco-resurrected, co-ascended, and co-seated with Jesus Christ far aboveall rule and power and authority anddominion and every name that isnamed. And I looked back at him and I said, "Oh, no, they won't be."

His face just dropped and he said,"How can you say that?" I said,"That's easy. You see, I've been co-resurrected, co-ascended, and co-seated with Jesus Christ far above all rule, power, authority, anddominion and every name that isnamed, and there is nothing that youcan do to hinder the gospel goingout when I am speaking. Come onback tomorrow night." Jesus said,"all authority is given to Me in heaven and earth. Go therefore andmake disciples of all nations"(Matthew 28:18, 19). Now, how canwe go into all the world and makedisciples? Because Jesus said "allauthority has been given to Me inheaven and on earth. Now you go."And the only way we can go is when

we realize the authority we have.The more you learn of your positionin Christ at the right hand of theFather, the bolder your witness will become.

Qualifications for Exercising Authority

Let's discuss the qualifications forauthority. Please remember, it is not a special gift. It is the birthright ofevery true believer in Jesus. At themoment of salvation, you were elevated to the right hand of theFather. You don't climb some ladderof faith to get there. Here are some ofthe qualifications. First of all, theremust be a knowledge. A knowledgeof your position in Christ and Satan's defeat. You see, if you don'tunderstand who you are and thatyou are co-resurrected, co-ascendedand co-seated and that Satan wasdefeated, you will never exercise spiritual authority.

Second is belief. It's not mere mentalassent I'm thinking of. The will isinvolved. Belief must lead to action.Or you can put it this way: that which the mind accepts, the willmust obey; otherwise you do nottruly believe. Do you truly believethat you have been co-resurrected,co-ascended, and co-seated withJesus Christ? I mean men andwomen, if you truly believe that,then your actions would be different. You'd wake up each morn-ing and say, "Lord Jesus, I accept myposition. I acknowledge it at the righthand of the Father. And today, causeit through the Holy Spirit to be areality in my experience."

The third qualification is humility.While belief introduces you to yourrightful place at the throne of power(the right hand of the Father), onlyhumility will ensure you of keepingit. Humility is knowing who you are,who made you, and giving God

the glory for it. Maybe I'm not all Ishould be, but I am more than I usedto be and I'm who God made me tobe. Men and women, once you realize that the source of yourstrength and authority is the powerbehind you, you are going to go outof here and pray the way I show youhow to pray. And God is going to dothings in and through your life thatyou've never seen done before.Pretty soon, you're going to start saying "Well, God sure is lucky tohave me on His team." And youknow what happens next? A nose-dive. Because if you go out of hereand you set your mind at the righthand of the Father and you startexercising the authority of thebeliever, you'll see things happenthat have never happened before.And you start thinking you're reallysomeone. And the next thing is anosedive. Spiritual authority must beexercised in a spirit of humility!

The fourth qualification is boldness.With humility comes the greatestboldness. True boldness to me is faithin its full manifestation. When Godhas spoken, to hold back is sin.What we need are men and womenfilled with the Holy Spirit, with theirmind set at the right hand of theFather, that fear no one but God. Andtrue boldness comes from realizingyour position in Jesus Christ andbeing filled with the Holy Spirit.

What we need are menand women filled withthe Holy Spirit, withtheir mind set at the

right hand of the Father,that fear no one but God.

The fifth and final qualification isawareness. Awareness that the placeof every believer at the right hand of

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the Father is also the place of themost intense conflict. The momentyour eyes are opened to the right hand of the Father and theknowledge that you have been co-resurrected, co-ascended, and co-seated, Satan will do everythingpossible to wipe you out, to discourage you, to cause you to give up. Because the last thing Satan wants is a believer exercisingspiritual authority. The last thingSatan wants is a Spirit-filled believerthat knows his throne rights. And soyou become a marked individual.I'll warn you ahead of time: Satan will start working in your life to dis-courage you from further study ofthis topic. He'll try to get you not tolook at your position in Christ. I'llwarn you ahead of time.

The Authority of the Believer in Practice

Now here's the way I exercise theauthority of the believer. I had to gothrough all of this just to show you a30 second prayer. Why? Because,remember, authority is delegatedpower. First, I always pray in thename of the Lord Jesus Christ andclaim victory on behalf of His shedblood on the cross. Speak right outand remind Satan that he's alreadydefeated. I'll say, "Satan, in the nameof the Lord Jesus Christ who shed Hisblood on the cross, I command youto stop your activities in this area."Or, "Satan, in the name of the LordJesus Christ who has shed blood onthe cross, I acknowledge the victorythat is in Jesus Christ." Or "Satan, inthe name of the Lord Jesus Christwho has shed blood on the cross, Iacknowledge that the victory is inJesus and all honor and glory in thissituation should go to Him." I speakto Him various ways, but I always use"In the name of the Lord Jesus Christwho has shed blood on the cross"because it reminds Satan that he isalready defeated. And then, I realize

that there is nothing I can do. I haveno power over Satan. I only haveauthority. The more I learn of thepower behind me, the greater boldness I have in exercising theauthority of the believer.

Make Sure It's Satan

Now, you need to make sure it'sSatan working. Satan gets blamedfor a lot of things that are simply alack of organization on the part ofman. I've spoken at meetings wherethe organization was horrible. Somestudent will stand up and say, "Wow,we really need to pray and exercisethe authority of the believer here."And I'll say, "Forget exercising theauthority of the believer. Next timejust start preparing." There is total disorganization and they blame it onSatan. How do you know it's Satanworking? Paul says in 2 Corinthians2:11 not to be ignorant of the wilesor schemes of the devil. As we studythe Scripture, we'll learn more abouthow Satan works. Second, is the witness of the Spirit (1 John 4:1-4).Many times you may feel the presence of a spiritual struggle in a situation. Note the Scriptures,weigh the circumstances, and judgeif there is a witness in that struggle.If I think there is, then I exercise theauthority of the believer.

Honor to His Name—Not Ours

Now, once you exercise the authorityof the believer, be patient. I find thatGod always acts when it brings the most honor and glory to Hisname—not to our name. I'm veryimpatient. A lot of the time, I thinkGod ought to work according to myschedule. I exercise the authority ofthe believer, and I think God ought toact when I think He ought to act andin the way that I think He ought toact. Well, God doesn't always do itthat way. So, I've learned to be

patient. Sometimes I exercise theauthority of the believer and just theexact opposite of what I expectedtakes place . Now I've learned to waitsix months and even a year to lookback on a situation to see how Godgot all the honor and glory. I canhonestly say that I have never exer-cised the authority of the believerwhere I did not see Satan defeated.Never. Sometimes I had to wait sixmonths. Sometimes it seemed likeSatan was getting the victory, but inthe long run, God worked out Hisplan and it was just beautiful.

God's Perfect Timing

Let me close with an illustration. Iwas speaking in a University in SouthAmerica, and it was a very tense situation. I was the first American infour years to speak at the Universitybecause of its Marxist leanings. Theyhad photographs of me all over campus, and the communist students, to keep students from coming to where I was speaking,painted “CIA agent” in red lettersover the photos. I thought it meantChristians in Action. But of coursethey meant "Central IntelligenceAgency." It backfired on them. Mostof the students had never personallyheard or seen a CIA agent. So they allcame to the meeting to see whatone looked like, and we packed outthe room. Whenever you speak inSouth America, you always have a lot of professional agitators. Therewere some professional Marxist agitators there that night. When I go to another country, I like to speakas best I can the language of thatcountry. And so, I pointed out tothem that I was learning their lan-guage and that night I would be lecturing in it. Well, I started in and itwas horrible. These guys would jumpup and say "you filthy pig, etc., etc."One after another, they were jump-ing up and throwing out accusations,and I couldn't answer them. I didn't

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even know what they were saying.I felt so sorry for the Christiansbecause they had so looked forward to my coming to see newbrothers and sisters and a lot ofevangelistic contacts.

And you know, that first night everything was going wrong. I wanted to crawl underneath theseat. I felt like crying. It finally got tothe point where I was about to quit.Every time I mentioned Jesus, theyjust laughed. The entire audience.But I had exercised the authority ofthe believer, and I thought "God,why aren't you doing something?"Why? Satan's defeated, yes. But I wasn't walking by faith. You see,God works when it brings the greatest honor and glory to Hisname, not to ours. Well, this went on for 45 minutes and finally Godstarted to work. The secretary of the Mobiento Revolutionario, the

revolutionary student movement,stood up. She was quite an outspoken woman, and everyonewent silent so I figured she wassomeone. She said, "ProfessorMcDowell, if I accept Christ tonight,will He give me the love for peoplethat you have for us?" Well, men andwomen, I don't have to tell you itbroke just about every person'sheart. We had 58 decisions for Christthat night. God works when it bringsthe greatest honor and glory to HisName, not to ours. I've learned toexercise the authority of the believerand then to walk by faith. God willtake care of it from there. Jesus said"all authority has been given to Mein heaven and earth. Go thereforeand make disciples of all nations."

This article has been prepared from a

transcript of Josh's tape, "The Authority of

the Believer."

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciplesof all nations, baptizing them in name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” –Matthew 28:18-20

ÒThe Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.Ó

ÐCarl F.H. Henry

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“The Gospel is only good news if it gets there in time.”

–Carl F.H. Henry

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YOUR AMAZING AUTHORITY

by Wesley Duewel

During the last week of Jesus' life, before His mediatorial death and resurrection,He gave His disciples some special instructions concerning prayer. These wereamong His deepest teachings. One of His primary emphases was that, hereafter,Jesus' disciples were to bring their petitions in His name. No leader has ever givensuch amazing authority to his followers. In order to be able to use this authority to the glory of Jesus and the advancement of His kingdom, we need to know theanswer to three questions: What does the word “name” imply in Jewish thought?What does it mean to pray in Jesus' name? How can we use Jesus' name mosteffectively in our praying?

The Meaning of “Name” in Jewish Thought

The word “name,” as it was used in the time of Christ, implied three things:

The name is the person. To praise the name of Jesus is to praise Jesus Himself. To love the name of Jesus is to love Jesus. To dishonor the name of Jesus is to insult Jesus. The name represents all we know of the person. Moses hungered to draw closer to Jehovah; heasked to see His glory. God replied that a human being could not survive such a divine encounter, for His glory would begreater than the physical body could bear. But God promised to reveal Himself partially. He Put Moses in the cleft of arock, covered him with His hand, and passed in front of Moses, removing His hand for a second so Moses could see theglory that lingered after God had passed by. As He did so, He proclaimed His name—a revealing two-sentence name: TheLord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining loveto thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished (Exodus 34:6, 7).To know God was to know all that His name represented. To understand the name was to see God.

The name of Jesus represents all we know of Him from Scripture and personal experience. It includes His transforming power, His love, His mercy, His intolerance of hypocrisy, His desire for us to be holy as He isholy. It includes our knowledge of Him in His eternal glory, His creation of the universe, His incarnation, His atoningdeath, His resurrection, and His coming again.

The name is the person actively present.To the early Christians, to be gathered "in Jesus' name" (Matthew 18:20) meant for Jesus to be personally present in theirmidst, as He truly is today. To be sent "in Jesus' name," to do all "in the name" of Jesus (Colossians 3:17), meant acting bythe authority of Jesus, manifesting His character. When we act "in Jesus' name" today, we likewise believe that we are notacting alone, but with Jesus by our side, even though He is invisible to our eyes.

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JESUS

The Meaning of Praying in Jesus' Name

Several important concepts must be kept in mind before you can pray in Jesus' name:

To pray in Jesus' name is possible only If you are "in Jesus." Jesus said, "I will do whatever you ask in Myname, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it" (John 14:13,14). In that same conversation with His disciples shortly before His death, He reminded them: "If you remain in Me and Mywords remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you . . . Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:7,5).Jesus used the phrase "in Me" seven times in John 14 and 15. To be "in Jesus" means:

To pray in Jesus' name is to be conformed to His nature. The example given in John 13 is Jesus in His servantrole, washing the disciples' feet. As you know truth you must do truth (13:17). When you joyfully do His will, reflecting HisChrist-likeness, you may pray in Jesus' name. To pray in Jesus' name is to pray for His sake. You must so desire what Jesusdesires that your every request is in the spirit of the Lord's Prayer, "Your will be done" (Matthew 6:10). This was the attitudeof Jesus as He prayed in Gethsemane. You are to pray actively, aggressively that Jesus' will may prevail. To pray in His nameis to insist that His total victory be made manifest in the world.

To pray in Jesus' name is to use His name as your reference. This aspect of God's truth is clear in The LivingBible paraphrase of John 14:12-14: "You can ask for anything, using My name, and I will do it, for this will bring praise to the Father because of what I, the Son, will do for you. Yes, ask anything, using My name, and I will do it." Jesus is your reference as you approach God the Father in prayer. When Satan tries to block and oppose you, use the name of Jesus togain total victory.

To pray in Jesus' name is to claim Calvary's victory for your need. Because Jesus openly defeated Satanand all his evil hosts of demons (Colossians 2:15), Satan is a defeated foe. He is a usurper. He tries to frighten and bluff you,but he has already lost the last battle. In Jesus' name you claim the actualization of the victory Christ won on the cross.

To pray in Jesus' name is to acknowledge His full role as God's anointed—your Prophet, Priest,and King. As Prophet, He is your Counselor and Guide. As Priest, He is your Intercessor. As you pray He says the "Amen"to your prayer (Revelation 3:14). "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so throughHim the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:20). As King, He is your Sovereign Lord. As you pray in His name, you claim His prophetic guidance for your prayer, His priestly intercession for your prayer, and His kinglyanswers to your prayer.

To pray in Jesus' name is to pray in all His authority. He has delegated to you the authority to pray and askGod to accomplish great things in His name. You can rebuke Satan and his schemes, his demons, and all his infernal workin the name of Jesus. This is your protection; this is your might; this is your victory.

1. …to be in Jesus' love (15:9, 10). Love is the prevailing topic of John 13-16. Love must be mutual; if it is to be received, itmust be responded to. His new command is love (13:34; 15:17).You cannot love Jesus unless you love His other children (13:34).To love Jesus is to obey Jesus (14:15, 23). If you love, you will remain in Jesus (15:10).

2. …to have Jesus living within you (14:20; 15:4-5).3. …to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit (14:15-18).4. …to be in the vine (15:4).5. …to be in spiritual unity with Jesus (15:4-7).6. …to have Christ's words remaining in you (15:7). Our ability to

pray in Jesus' name depends upon this "in Christ" relationship.

How to Use the Name of Jesus in Prayer

Oh, holy privilege! You need no other recommendation to God, no other introduction. Come instantly, directly to God'sthrone. Lift up your heart and look to your Father. Don't be embarrassed to come. God has been expecting you, waitingfor you to come in prayer. As a child of God, your sin and guilt have been forgiven. You are no longer a servant. You areJesus' friend; you are His official prayer partner. You come to the throne of grace, not in your own name, but in Jesus'name, representing His interests, by His authority. You are officially appointed to intercede. How shall you use that wonderful, almighty name?

• Remember what His name represents. The name of Jesus represents His person, His purposes, His honor,His authority—all that He is.

• Rejoice in the preciousness of His name. The name of Jesus signifies all His beauty and loveliness.• Recall all His graciousness, especially His loving kindness to you. His name represents His constant, personal love

for you, and for the ones for whom you pray. Use His precious name in praise and song as you pray (Psalm 135:3).• Express your love by use of His name. Those you love are thrilled to hear you speak their name. Jesus loves you more

than any other, and no matter how many thousands call His name, He thrills to hear you say it again. No matter how many times you have spoken it before, He constantly rejoices to hear it spoken in love. Confessing His name is a true sacrifice of praise. "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips thatconfess his name" (Hebrews 13:15).

• Believe in His name. As you pray, Jesus wants you to exercise your faith through belief in His name (1 John 3:23).His name creates expectancy, gives firmness to your confidence, and fills you with joy (Romans 15:13; 1 Peter 1:8).Faith in His name brings miracle answers (Acts 3:16).

• Make your prayer requests in His name. (See John 14:13-15; 15:6, 7; 16:26, 27.) Be sure you are in unity with Him.Pray for what pleases Him; what will glorify Him. Claim your inheritance in His name. Ask—for His name's sake.

• Use the authority of His name. The name of Jesus expresses His sovereign authority, recalls the victory He has already won at Calvary, and suggests the availability of the angelic hosts who are subject to Him. His name endorses His plan and program; it guarantees Satan's failure and defeat. His name has been given to you to use in prayer. Be firm in claiming its authority to resist Satan and promote Christ's will to prevail.

• Sanctify your prayer in His name. There is a sanctifying influence as you use the name of Jesus in prayer: (a) His name guards the nature and motive of your request. You cannot pray selfishly or carnally in His name. (b) His name demands that He be given the glory. (c) His name expects your integrity and obedience. (d) His name calls for your perseverance in prayer. You only pray in His name for that which is truly important.

• Involve His partnership through His name. Christ is your great High Priest, interceding at the right hand of the Father (1 Peter 3:22; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20-23). You can join in His intercession and involve His prayer partnership by praying in His name. That which the Holy Spirit prays through you on this earth as you pray in the Spirit is prayed by Christ as He sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Using His name in the full biblical sense makes you prayer partners.

• Give honor to His name. God wants you to glorify the name of Jesus. Your prayer in Jesus' name enables Him to bring glory to the Father (John 14:13, 14). God has exalted Jesus to the highest place and given Him the name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9). You give glory to the name of Jesus by praying in His name.

• Rebuke Satan in His name. Even the angels rebuke Satan and his demonic hosts in the name of Jesus. Remind Satan who Jesus is. Remind Satan of Jesus' victory on the cross and of His resurrection, and remind Satan that he is already defeated. Remind Satan of your identity with Jesus and the authority you have been given through His name.

• Use the name of Jesus as your refuge. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe" (Proverbs 18:10). Rejoice in your privilege to bear and use the name of Jesus. Claim the ministry and protection of God's holy angels for yourself and for others for whom you pray, especially missionaries serving in dangerous places.Angels are on constant assignment to help you and all God's children (Hebrews 1:14). All are subject to Jesus and follow His command. You are safe in the refuge of His name.

• Do all in the name of Jesus. Colossians 3:17 is all-inclusive: "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus." Live for the glory of Jesus' name. Pray in His name. Serve in His name. Trust in His name. Glory in His name. Take the name of Jesus with you and thus be triumphant wherever you go. Rejoice in all that the name of Jesus adds to your prayer. You have amazing privilege and authority in the name of Jesus. Using His name brings the dimension of the supernatural to your praying. It clears the way before you. It pushes back the darkness from you. It is the key to heaven's resources. Rejoice in His name! Clothe yourself with His name! Learn to pray in the full authority of the name of Jesus!

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Your Enthroned Prayer Partner

Prayer brings you into a sacred partnership with Jesus Christ, the enthroned Son of God. If God had not revealed this to you in His Word, it would have been blasphemous to suggest that you could share such partnership. "The Lord workedwith them" is a succinct history of the early church (Mark 16:20). Further Scripture calls all Christians "God's fellow workers" (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1).

There are many ways to "work" with God—through obedience, through service to others, and through sharing His love.But He wants to have even more intimate contact with you. He wants to bring you into His inner circle where you canhear His great heart beating for a lost world. He has created you with the ability to speak to Him and fellowship with Him. Above all else, as His "fellow worker," you were created to pray—as He prays.

Why Does Jesus Pray?

We are told repeatedly in Scripture that Jesus prayed and that He continues to pray today. But why is prayer necessary for Jesus who spoke worlds into existence (John 1:3) and sustains all things (Hebrews 1:3)? Why must He pray? Why notmerely command? No demon from hell or combination of demonic forces could stand against His powerful Word. Whydoes Jesus not just rebuke them, stop them, or consume them by His Word?

One day He will (2 Thessalonians 2:8). One day He will rule with an iron scepter (Revelation 12:5), and so will we(Revelation 2:27). But today Christ has chosen to rule the world by prayer. This is the day of grace, not the day of His power and glory. Christ is already enthroned at the right hand of the Father. What is He doing? He is reigning. But how is He reigning? Not by His scepter, but by prayer! Even before His death and resurrection, when He forewarned Peter that Satan had asked permission to sift the disciples as wheat (Luke 22:31, 32), Christ did not say, "I will stop Satan."Instead, He said, "I have prayed for you."

Jesus Reigns by Interceding

Today Jesus Christ is seated at the Father's "right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God hasplaced all things under his feet" (Ephesians 1:20-22). Christ is already seated on His throne. And what does Christ do there? Grant interviews to the angels or departed saints? The only picture Scripture gives is that He is "at the right hand of God . . . interceding for us” (Romans 8:34). Jesus lives forever, has a permanent priesthood, and always lives tointercede (Hebrews 7:24, 25).

Does Jesus not live to reign?

Yes, but He also lives to intercede. He reigns by interceding. He is the Sovereign over all, but He is also the great High Priest praying for all. Prayer secures results; prayer conveys blessing. He blesses as He prays. He is the royal Intercessor and Giver of blessing.

Your Priestly Prayer Role

And that is exactly the role He has chosen for you. He loves you so much that He desires you to intercede with Him as He intercedes with the Father, and to bless the world as He does. He mediates blessing through prayer. You and I are to do the same. Thus we read in 1 Peter 2:9, "You are…a royal priesthood." John writes us that Jesus loves us, has freed us from our sins by His blood, has made us into a kingdom, and has made us priests to serve His God and Father(Revelation 1:5-6).

Jesus is God's High Priest (Hebrews 2:17). He has made us priests to God also (Revelation 1:6). This is how we are to serveGod (v. 6). The greatest service you will ever do for God will not be your external ministering, witnessing, or preaching.Your greatest service, whatever your vocation, is to be your priestly intercession. God has ordained to work through theprayers of His people. He is waiting for your intercession. You were not only created to pray; you were redeemed, justified,and sanctified to pray.

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Your MutualCommission withChrist

What is Jesus' greatest personal prayer assignment in this age? Perhaps it is topray for the church. However,only one command regard-ing Christ's intercession forthe churches is recorded inthe Bible. It is found in Psalm2:7-8: "I will proclaim thedecree of the Lord: He said to me, You are my Son; todayI have become your Father.Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,the ends of the earth yourpossession.” Is that why Jesusintercedes today?

Jesus is commanded by the Father to ask for the nations. His Great Commission to the church, His last request to thechurch, is to go to the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). His second return will be delayed until adequate witness is given to thenations (Matthew 24:14). If He is a God of infinite love, His heart is yearning for the nations. Certainly one of the prioritiesHe places on every Christian is to intercede for the evangelization of the world.

Since Jesus ever lives to intercede, any time you pray—day or night—Jesus is already interceding. Every time you go toprayer, you can be Jesus' prayer partner. Paul makes this very clear: "By grace you have been saved. And God raised us upwith Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. . . . For we are . . . created in Christ Jesus to dogood works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:5-6, 10). You are already seated with Christ in theheavenly realms. Where is Christ seated? On the throne of the universe beside God the Father. You are to be sharingChrist's throne already and doing what Christ is doing—interceding.

Jesus: Your Divine Prayer Partner

Note the important ways your prayer partnership with Christ affects your praying:

What reverent caution it places on you as you pray! If you are Jesus' partner in intercession, you must besure to pray in harmony with Jesus' prayers, not in contradiction to them. What kind of prayer partner would you be if youkept disagreeing with Him? How urgent it is, not only to seek to know God's will, but to pray constantly the words Jesustaught us to pray: "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Just as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, soyou must pray, "Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).

What strong confidence it gives to your prayer! If you are praying for His will to be done, if you are joiningyour prayer to the intercession of Jesus, with what full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22) you can draw near to God. "InHim and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence" (Ephesians 3:12). If Jesus and you arepraying together about a matter, what doubt is there that God is listening? Once, when praying, Jesus mentioned that Heknew God the Father always heard Him (John 11:42). God's Word stacks assurance on assurance to encourage your inter-cession. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Andif we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him" (1 John 5:14,15). The verynext verse shows that the Holy Spirit especially had in mind your praying for others—in other words, your intercession.

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What strong incentive it gives you to persevere in prayer! Jesus Himselfurges you to hold on in prayer and not give up until the answer comes (Luke 18:1-8;11:5-10). If you are praying in the will of God and your prayer has not yet been answered,you can be sure Jesus is still interceding for the need, so you too should persevere. Whatan amazing story Jesus told to illustrate this truth! You are to keep praying with the sameinsistence as the widow who persisted in her plea to an unjust judge who was ignoringher and refusing to answer. God the Father, said Jesus, is not like that judge! But youshould be like that widow!

The God of Amen

There is a beautiful picture in Scripture of Jesus' role as your prayer partner. "These arethe words of the Amen" (Revelation 3:14), meaning that Jesus is the "Amen." What doesthis mean? The Hebrew rendering of Isaiah 65:16 calls God "the God of Amen." The original meaning of the verb "to amen" is to regard someone as reliable, trustworthy,and truthful. It is therefore used in the Old Testament in two ways: (a) It echoes a leader'sprayer or praise. That is, it means "Yes, indeed" or "May it be so in very truth." (For someexamples, see Psalm 41:13; 72:19; 106:48; 1 Chronicles 16:36; Nehemiah 5:6) and (b) It isused as the assent of an obedient listener to a royal decree or purpose (1 Kings 1:36;Jeremiah 11:5). When Scripture declares that Jesus is the “Amen,” it means that He is the divine "Yes" to all of God's will and to the prayers of God's people whenever they are in accord with God's will. "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Now let the full glory of the scene in heaven dawn on you! In human pictorial terms,Jesus is seated on the throne on the right side of the Father. You, sharing the throne ofJesus in Spirit, are seated beside Him. When you intercede according to the will of God,aided by the Holy Spirit indwelling you (who intercedes for you and through you), youturn to Jesus and make your plea for His glory and for His sake. By your authority "inChrist," you hand the request to Jesus. He joins His almighty intercession with yours andturns to the Father to present your united intercession (Jesus' and yours!) and then sealsit by saying His royal "Amen," being in His very essence your enthroned "Amen." Becauseof who Jesus is, because of what He accomplished at Calvary, because He agrees with you in prayer (Matt. 18:19), He is the sovereign "Amen" of your prayer. Is not this the timeto sing the doxology? And is it not a time to fall on your knees and join the heavenlybeings exclaiming in adoration: "Holy, holy, holy!"?

Excerpt from Touch The World Through Prayer, Wesley L. Duewel

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What is man that You are

mindful of him, the son of manthat You care

for him?–Psalms 8:4

Oh, the depth ofthe riches of the

wisdom and knowledge

of God! Howunsearchable

His judgments,and His paths

beyond tracing out!

…For from Himand through Him

and to Him are all things. To Him be theglory forever!

Amen.–Romans 11:33, 36

Amen.

YOU CAN DEFEAT ANDBIND SATAN

by Wesley Duewel

Because of Jesus' triumph at Calvary you and I have anamazing new authority. What does that include? Is it reallythe plan of Jesus that you and I bind and restrain Satanand his demons?

Jesus said, "If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, thenthe kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, howcan anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off hispossessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then hecan rob his house" (Matthew 12:28, 29). This teaching is soimportant that it is repeated by both Mark (3:27) and Luke(11:21-22). The strong man to whom Jesus referred is Satan.The possessions which are to be taken from Satan are thepeople who are enslaved by him--even those who are possessed and indwelt by demons. The power Jesus usedincluded His own inherent authority and the power of the Holy Spirit.

But does Jesus expect you to seize Satan's possessions?

Yes, God wants you to rescue those whom Satan has seizedor bound in any way. Jude 23 urges, "Snatch others fromthe fire and save them." Proverbs 24:11 commands "Rescuethose being led away to death; hold back those staggeringtoward slaughter." Second Timothy 2:26 teaches that sinners are made captive by Satan to do his will. Jesus andHis followers are commissioned "to proclaim freedom forthe captives" (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18).

But do we really have authority to bind Satan?

Remember the words of Matthew 16:18-19: "I will build Mychurch, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I willgive you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever youbind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever youloose on earth will be loosed in heaven.“

Commentators interpret this passage in several ways.Whatever the full meaning may be, it is related to buildingChrist's church. This teaching was so important to Christthat it is repeated and amplified two chapters later. Here, itis related to prayer in Jesus' name and is strengthened byagreement in prayer. "I tell you the truth, whatever youbind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever youloose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell youthat if two of you on earth agree about anything you askfor, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. Forwhere two or three come together in My name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:18-20).

Whatever else Christ may have had in mind, certainly Hewas teaching the following truths:

• He is determined to build His church.• This building will be dependent on both His power and

our obedience.• Binding and loosing has something important to do

with building His church.• He expects us to participate in this binding and loosing.• Heaven's authority and power will back our binding

and loosing.• This binding and loosing can be related to agreement

in prayer.• Those agreeing in prayer need not necessarily be a

large group, for Jesus Himself will be there joining in their prayer agreement.

• Binding and loosing is primarily accomplished throughour prayer.

It was prophesied that Jesus would crush the serpent'shead (Genesis 3:15). Jesus' victory over Satan is implied bysymbolism here and in the following passage: "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpionsand to overcome all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19).The primary reference is not to physical snakes and scorpions. It is to be interpreted spiritually. Christ gives us,His disciples, authority over all the power of Satan, our chief enemy. "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3:8). Binding Satan'spower, restraining his diabolical work by the authority of Christ, is certainly in the will of God.

But please remember: This is not child's play. It is spiritualwarfare. Even the archangels respect the awesome powerof Satan and, in their warfare against him, do all in thename and authority of Jesus (Jude 9). When the seven sonsof the Jewish chief priest Sceva tried foolishly to use thename of Jesus without themselves being in right relationto Jesus—and therefore, not covered by His promise—they were physically assaulted and hurt by the demon-empowered man (Acts 19:13-17). Spiritual warfare is not for the spiritually defeated, or for those not covered by Christ's blood.

You don't bind Satan by repeating a few words as if theywere some magic formula. To use the name of Jesus, youmust be "in Christ" and must be living in harmony with His holy nature and will.

Paul says clearly, "We struggle" (Ephesians 6:12). Prayer warfare is serious spiritual conflict. However, every scriptural injunction in this connection is for you to bebold, to have faith, and to expect Christ to prove His sufficiency and authority. You need not fear Satan whenyou use the name of Jesus scripturally.

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How to Bind Satan

Since prayer warfare is so urgent and Satan so powerful,we are urged to use all the armor and all the weapons Godprovides to win victory. We are to put on "the full armor ofGod" (Ephesians 6:13). This passage found in Ephesians (vv. 10-20) refers to all spiritual warfare, but primarily toprayer warfare (vv. 19-20). The full armor includes all theseparate pieces listed in this passage. The purpose of thearmor and exhortation is "so that you can take your standagainst the devil's schemes" (v. 11). The Christian in thiswarfare is expected to do "everything" made possible byGod (v. 13). This implies that there will be various aspectsto your prayer warfare.

As you live a Spirit-filled life and daily fulfill your role as a fellow intercessor with Christ and the Holy Spirit, theremay come unexpected emergencies when you are confronted by a manifestation of Satan's power and must, like Jesus, rebuke Satan instantly (Matthew 16:23;Luke 4:8). Do not hesitate to take the authority Christ gives you whenever you need it.

There are, however, other places and situations whereSatan has been long entrenched. It is not so much anemergency situation as an urgent need. You may haveprayed repeatedly and yet not seen God's answer to yourprayer. God may lead you to spend a longer time in prayeruntil you feel the inner witness of the Spirit that yourprayer has been heard and by faith you claim the bindingof Satan. It is for such a longer period of intense prayerwarfare that the following suggestions are offered. Youmay feel free to use any of them at any time as the Spiritleads, without regard to this specific sequence.

Rejoice in Christ's victory at Calvaryover Satan and his demonic spirits. Strengthen your prayer by reading such Scriptures as Luke 10:19, John 12:31-33, Romans 16:20, 1 Corinthians 2:6,Ephesians 1:21-22, Colossians 2:15, Hebrews 2:14, andJames 4:7.

Praise God for Christ's complete victory.Thank Jesus for paying the price. Perhaps some chorus or a hymn will be the expression of your heart. My Indian co-workers often sang this chorus of triumph:

He signed the deed with His atoning blood And ever lives to make His promise good.When all the hosts of hell combine to make a second claimThey all march out at the mention of His name.They all march out at the mention of His name.

Rejoice in Christ's sovereign authorityand almighty power.Praise God, Jesus has sat down "at the right hand of theMajesty in heaven" (Hebrews 1:3). He is seated at God'sright hand while God is putting everything beneath Hisfeet (Psalm 110:1). "Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:7). He has powerto bring everything under His control (Philippians 3:21)."Your God reigns!" (Isaiah 52:7). Jesus is seated at God'sright hand in heaven "far above all rule and authority,power and dominion, and every title that can be given"(Ephesians 1:20-21). All authority in heaven and earth hasbeen given to Him (Matthew 28:18). Our Jesus Christ is the same in power and authority yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Plead the blood of Jesus.You have no merit of your own, but Jesus died for you.You do not place faith in yourself but in Jesus' blood(Romans 3:25). When Jesus cried on the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30), Satan's defeat was complete, thevictory of Calvary was complete, the blood of the Son ofGod was now available as the basis of your plea for God'sanswer to your prayer. Now you can overcome Satan bythe blood of the Lamb of God (Revelation 12:11). Plead the blood of Jesus as you advance and attack Satan'sstronghold and his power.

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Use the name of Jesus.Your prayer warfare is for His name's sake. It is for theglory of Jesus' name that you advance against Satan.Before Jesus every knee must bow, for He is Lord(Philippians 2:9, 10). Jesus promised, "I will do whateveryou ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it"(John 14:13,14). "The Father will give you whatever youask in My name" (15:16). "I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in My name…Ask and youwill receive" (16:23, 24).

All power in heaven and earth is behind that name.Every demon from hell knows the authority of that name.Peter, Paul, the apostles, and the early church again andagain proved the power of Jesus' name. Across the worldtoday Satan is being driven back and forced to release hiscaptives through the use of the name of Jesus. You areauthorized to use His name. Take the authority God hasgiven you. Use the name of Jesus when you pray. Use itwhen you claim God's promise. Use it as you take the initiative to drive back Satan and his evil spirits. Use it tobreak the bonds of sin and hell and demand the releaseof Satan's captives. Use the name of Jesus to rout theDevil. Use it to bind Satan's power and authority. Use the name of Jesus now!

Take the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.Quoting from the Old Testament, Jesus used the Word todefeat Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). The weapon which theHoly Spirit uses to defeat Satan, the Spirit's sword, is theBible (Ephesians 6:17). The entire Bible contains passageswhich can be mightily used to claim victory over Satan.You may use Scripture to point out to Satan how Christ is Conqueror over him. You may, like Jesus, use theScriptures to rebuke Satan to his face. Refer to theScriptures, quote Scripture passages, and you may even at times symbolically want to hold the Scriptures in yourhand or place your hand on the Word of God as you pray or rebuke the devil.

While he was president of Union Biblical Seminary inIndia, Dr. Frank Kline visited the village home of a newconvert to share in a joyous service of cleansing the homeof its former idols. He was chosen to be the one to enterthe house and bring the images outside. The Indian pastor instructed him: "Call on the name of Jesus, holdyour Bible in your hand before you, and go in and bringout the images." This was a new experience for Frank.

With the Bible at his side and forgetting to use Jesus'name, he started toward the door of the house. To hisamazement, at a certain point he was stopped by anunseen power. Try as he would, Frank, who is a strongman, could not advance another step.

"Hold your Bible before you, Frank, and use the name ofJesus!" the pastor called. Suddenly realizing the serious-ness of Satan's power against him, Frank held out his Biblebefore him and, in Jesus' name, walked right into thehouse and brought out the idols. I myself have facedexperiences in India when I wanted the Bible in my handto symbolize my strength and confidence. Bible truth is literally the sword of the Spirit. March forward, praisingHim. Praise is not only a method of worshiping the Lord,bringing joy to the heart of God and expressing your loveand thanks, but praise is also a mighty spiritual weapon.

Use praise to defeat the Devil.Praise strengthens your own spirit of faith. Praise bringsthe angels of God to help you. Praise clears away the darkclouds with which Satan would like to engulf you. Praiseangers and frightens Satan and his demons. The name ofJesus is powerful in prayer, powerful in commands yougive to Satan, and powerful in striking terror into theranks of Satan.

Advance against the demon opposition, praising the Lord. Shout the praise of the Lord in the Devil's face. I have several times been used by the Holy Spirit to castout a demon just by calling praise to Jesus in the ear ofthe demoniac as the demon convulsed him. Praise toJesus routs the unclean spirits.

Perhaps Jehoshaphat is the only king who won a literalwar by praise instead of by weapons (2 Chronicles 20).

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Judah had been invaded by a vast army from Ammon,Moab, and Mount Seir. Jehoshaphat called the nationtogether to fast and pray at Jerusalem. They came from every town "to seek help from the Lord." KingJehoshaphat stood and led the nation in prayer, firstrejoicing in God's sovereignty, and then interceding forthe men, women, and children who were all standingbefore the Lord in prayer. The Holy Spirit came upon one of the Levites in the middle of the congregation and He prophesied that they would not need to fight;the battle was the Lord's (v. 15). He told them not to fear,but to go out and face the enemy, and the Lord would be with them. The whole nation fell on their faces beforethe Lord in worship, and the Levites praised the Lord "with very loud voice."

Early the next morning they all arose; Jehoshaphatexhorted them to believe God, and then they appointedsingers to lead the army into battle, praising God. "As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes"against the enemy (v. 22). While the Israelites praised theLord, the enemy began to attack one another, and theywere all destroyed. For three days Judah gathered the loot from the defeated enemies. On the fourth day theyhad a praise gathering, and then the king led the wholenation in a triumphal procession back to Jerusalem andinto the temple. We have no record that Jehoshaphat ever again was attacked by another nation. Satan wasabsolutely routed.

Command Satan in Jesus' name. I cannot overemphasize the importance of speakingdirectly to Satan in Jesus' name. "Satan, you were defeated at Calvary. By the authority of the name of Jesus I command you to go. By the name of Jesus I bind you and all your working."

When casting out demons, if the demon's name is known, use it in ordering the demon to leave as you command by the authority of Jesus' name. In cases ofdemonic pressure, oppression, or opposition, do not hesitate, if God leads you, to command Satan and all his demons to obey your command.

Through Christ, You Can Defeat Satan

Thank God the Christian is able to resist Satan and causehim to run from the field of battle (James 4:7). Sometimesyou must drive him away by prayer and praise. Sometimesyou must command him to leave. Sometimes you mustbind his power. Sometimes you must rob him of his captives and in Jesus' name set them free. You have fullauthority in Jesus' name to defeat Satan on any field of combat.

You are not to run. You are to force Satan to run. You areto invade the devil's territory and set his captives free.

Satan is nothing but a usurper. Through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, through Him who goes with us and covers us with the protection of His blood,through Him who has armed us with the authority of His conquering name, you are to battle and defeat Satan again and again.

Some battles may be more prolonged than others;sometimes Satan is deeply entrenched. In some battlesyou may need the backing of an interceding, fastinggroup of believers who agree with you in prayer. But Jesus is Victor now and forevermore. Stand in His victory.In yourself you are nothing, but in Christ and His nameyou are more than conqueror.

Excerpt from Touch The World Through Prayer, Wesley L. Duewel

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"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."

–C.T. Studd

TOOLS FOR WARFARE

by Mark Bubeck

A number of years ago, a friend of mine presented me with an unexpected gift which

has proven to be one of the most helpful gifts I've ever received. This man brought me a

large carpenter's tool box jammed full of wrenches, hammers, saws, screwdrivers, nails,

screws, and many other things that go with such a box. One might wonder why a pastor

would treasure such a gift. It is a gift that has never ceased to be a treasure to me

because I like to do things with my hands. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting

to do some project around the home and not having the necessary tools. In my heart I

thank my friend for that gift every time I use it. The tools work for me in enabling me to

get the job done.

We need tools in spiritual warfare as well. It has been the underlying purpose of this

book to provide practical, usable information and insight into the waging of a winning

warfare. The world, the flesh, and the devil will be continuously defeated if we use the

weapons of our warfare. The Lord has provided all the tools we need. The Lord Jesus

Christ has provided all of our victory. He used the same tools He has provided us in

winning the battle. His victory is our victory. It remains our responsibility to use these

weapons so graciously provided in His grace. Every time you use them you'll thank God

for the tools of victory He has provided. Just as I think with fond remembrance of the

man who gave me the tool box when I use my carpenter's tools, so your heart will reach

out in an ever-deepening gratitude to your Lord.

Doctrine, God's unchanging truth, is mighty in defeating our enemies. This truth must

get deep into our souls. This can only come about as we gain understanding of the Holy

Word of God and then use that Word aggressively in our lives. With the permission and

approval of Dr. Victor Matthews, professor of theology at the Grand Rapids Baptist Bible

College and Seminary, I include here some very fine helps in keeping doctrinal truth in

the forefront of your warfare.

"The Daily Affirmation of Faith" was written by Dr. Matthews to provide a concise, clear

statement of the truth of the Word of God as it applies to our victory. I recommend this

affirmation for daily reading aloud on the part of those who are experiencing intense

warfare. It will do much to build spiritual foundation into your soul. It will keep the

ground of your victory aggressively in action against your enemies. Study the texts of

Scripture for your own enlightenment and edification.

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“Blessed is the man who

perseveres undertrial, because

when he has stoodthe test, he will

receive the victor'scrown, the life

God has promisedto those who love Him."

– James 1:12

The Daily Affirmation of Faith

Today I deliberately choose to submit myself fully to God as He has made Himself knownto me through the Holy Scripture which I honestly accept as the only inspired, infallible,authoritative standard for all life and practice. In this day I will not judge God, His work,myself, or others on the basis of feelings or circumstances.

I recognize by faith that the triune God is worthy of all honor, praise, and worship asthe Creator, Sustainer, and End of all things. I confess that God, as my Creator, made me forHimself. In this day I therefore choose to live for Him (Revelation 5:9, 10; Isaiah 43:1, 7, 21;Revelation 4:11).

I recognize by faith that God loved me and chose me in Jesus Christ before timebegan (Ephesians 1:1-7).

I recognize by faith that God has proven His love to me in sending His Son to die in my place, in whom every provision has already been made for my past, present, andfuture needs through His representative work, and that I have been quickened, raised,seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenlies, and anointed with the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:6-11; 8:28; Philippians 1:6; 4:6,7,13,19; Ephesians 1:3; 2:5,6; Acts 2:1-4,33).

I recognize by faith that God has accepted me, since I have received Jesus Christ asmy Lord and Savior (John 1:12; Ephesians 1:6); that He has forgiven me (Ephesians 1:7);adopted me into His family, assuming every responsibility for me (John 17:11,17;Ephesians 1:5; Philippians 1:6); given me eternal life (John 3:36; 1 John 5:9-13); applied theperfect righteousness of Christ to me so that I am now justified (Romans 5:1; 8:3,4; 10:4);made me complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10); and offers Himself to me as my daily sufficiency through prayer and the decisions of faith (1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 1:27;Galatians 2:20; John 14:13,14; Matthew 21:22; Romans 6:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-3,11).

I recognize by faith that the Holy Spirit has baptized me into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13); sealed me (Ephesians 1:13,14); anointed me for life and service (Acts1:8; John 7:37-39); seeks to lead me into a deeper walk with Jesus Christ (John 14:16-18;15:26,27;16:13-15; Romans 8:11-16); and to fill my life with Himself (Ephesians 5:18).

I recognize by faith that only God can deal with sin and only God can produce holiness of life. I confess that in my salvation my part was only to receive Him and that Hedealt with my sin and saved me. Now I confess that in order to live a holy life, I can onlysurrender to His will and receive Him as my sanctification; trusting Him to do whatevermay be necessary in my life, without and within, so I may be enabled to live today in purity, freedom, rest, and power for His glory (John 1:12; I Corinthians 1:30; II Corinthians9:8; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 4:9; 1 John 5:4; Jude 24).

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Having confessed that God is worthy of all praise, that the Scriptures are the only authori-tative standard, that only God can deal with sin and produce holiness of life, I again rec-ognize my total dependence upon Him and submission to Him.

I accept the truth that praying in faith is absolutely necessary for the realization of thewill and grace of God in my daily life (I John 5:14,15; James 2:6; 4:2,3; 5:16-18; Philippians4:6,7; Hebrews 4:1-13; 11:6, 24-28).

Recognizing that faith is a total response to God by which the daily provisions the Lordhas furnished in Himself are appropriated…

I therefore make the following decisions of faith:

For this day (Hebrews 3:6,13,15; 4:7) I make the decision of faith to surrender whollyto the authority of God as He has revealed Himself in the Scripture to obey Him. I confessmy sin, face the sinful reality of my old nature, and deliberately choose to walk in thelight, in step with Christ, throughout the hours of this day (Romans 6:16-20; Philippians2:12, 13; 1 John 1:7, 9).

For this day I make the decision of faith to surrender wholly to the authority of God asrevealed in the Scripture—to believe Him. I accept only His Word as final authority. I nowbelieve that since I have confessed my sin He has forgiven and cleansed me (1 John 1:9).I accept at full value His Word of promise to be my sufficiency and rest, and will conduct

myself accordingly (Exodus 33:1; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Philippians 4:19).

For this day I make the decision of faith to recognize that God has made every provision so that I may fulfill His will and calling. Therefore, I will not make any excuse formy sin and failure (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

For this day I make the decision of faith deliberately to receive from God that provision which He has made for me. I renounce all self-effort to live the Christian life and to perform God's service; renounce all sinful praying which asks God to change circumstances and people so that I may be more spiritual; renounce all drawing backfrom the work of the Holy Spirit within and the call of God without; and renounce all nonbiblical motives, goals, and activities which serve my sinful pride.

I now sincerely receive Jesus Christ as my… sanctification, particularly as mycleansing from the old nature, and ask the Holy Spirit to apply to me the work of Christaccomplished for me in the crucifixion. In cooperation with and dependence upon Him,I obey the command to "put off the old man" (Romans 6:1-14; 1 Corinthians 1:30;Galatians 6:14; Ephesians 4:22).

I now sincerely receive Jesus Christ as my… sanctification, particularly as myenablement moment by moment to live above sin. I ask the Holy Spirit to apply to me the work of the resurrection so that I may walk in newness of life. I confess that only Godcan deal with my sin and only God can produce holiness and the fruit of the Spirit in mylife. In cooperation with and dependence upon Him, I obey the command to "put on thenew man" (Romans 6:1-4; Ephesians 4:24).

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I now sincerely receive Jesus Christ as my… deliverance from Satan. I take my position with Him in the heavenlies, asking the Holy Spirit to apply to me the work of the ascension. In His Name I submit myself to God and stand against all of Satan's influence and subtlety. In cooperation with and dependence upon God, I obey the command to "resist the devil" (Ephesians 1:20-23; 2:5; 4:27; 6:10-18; Colossians 1:13;Hebrews 2:14, 15; James 4:7; 1Peter 3:22; 5:89).

I now sincerely receive the Holy Spirit as my… anointing for every aspect of life and service for today. I fully open my life to Him to fill me afresh in obedience tothe command to "be filled with the Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18; John 7:37-39; 14:16,17;15:26,27; 16:7-15; Acts 1:8). Having made this confession and these decisions of faith,I now receive God's promised rest for this day (Hebrews 4:1-13). Therefore, I relax in the

trust of faith, knowing that in the moment of temptation, trial, or need, the Lord Himselfwill be there as my strength and sufficiency (1Corinthians 10:13).

“Submit yourselves, then, to God.Resist the devil, and he will fleefrom you.” –James 4:7

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Warfare Prayer

Heavenly Father, I bow in worship and praise before You. I cover myself with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as my protection during this time of prayer. I surrender myselfcompletely and unreservedly in every area of my life to You. I do take a stand against allthe workings of Satan that would hinder me in this time of prayer, and I address myselfonly to the true and living God and refuse any involvement of Satan in my prayer.

Satan, I command you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to leave my presence with allyour demons, and I bring the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ between us. Heavenly Father,I worship You, and I give You praise. I recognize that You are worthy to receive all gloryand honor and praise. I renew my allegiance to You and pray that the blessed Holy Spiritwould enable me in this time of prayer. I am thankful, heavenly Father, that You haveloved me from past eternity, that You sent the Lord Jesus Christ into the world to die asmy substitute that I would be redeemed. I am thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ came asmy representative, and that through Him You have completely forgiven me; You havegiven me eternal life; You have given me the perfect righteousness of the Lord JesusChrist so I am now justified. I am thankful that in Him You have made me complete, andthat You have offered Yourself to me to be my daily help and strength.

Heavenly Father, come and open my eyes that I might see how great You are and howcomplete Your provision is for this new day. I do, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,take my place with Christ in the heavenlies with all principalities and powers (powers ofdarkness and wicked spirits) under my feet. I am thankful that the victory the Lord JesusChrist won for me on the cross and in His resurrection has been given to me and that I am seated with the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenlies; therefore, I declare that all principalities and powers and all wicked spirits are subject to me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the armor You have provided, and I put on the girdleof truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of peace, the helmet of salvation.I lift up the shield of faith against all the fiery darts of the enemy, and take in my hand the sword of the spirit—the Word of God. I use Your Word against all the forces of evil inmy life; I put on this armor and live and pray in complete dependence upon You, blessedHoly Spirit.

I am grateful, heavenly Father, that the Lord Jesus Christ spoiled all principalities andpowers and made a show of them openly and triumphed over them in Himself. I claim all that victory for my life today. I reject out of my life all the insinuations, the accusations,and the temptations of Satan. I affirm that the Word of God is true, and I choose to livetoday in the light of God's Word. I choose, heavenly Father, to live in obedience to You and in fellowship with You. Open my eyes and show me the areas of my life that wouldnot please You. Work in my life that there be no ground to give Satan a foothold againstme. Show me any area of weakness. Show me any area of my life that I must deal with so that I would please You. I do in every way today stand for You and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in my life.

By faith and in dependence upon You, I put off the old man and stand in all the victory of the crucifixion where the Lord Jesus Christ provided cleansing from the old nature.I put on the new man and stand in all the victory of the resurrection and the provision He has made for me there to live above sin. Therefore, in this day, I put off the old naturewith its selfishness, and put on the new nature with its love. I put off the old nature withits fear, and put on the new nature with its courage.

I put off the old nature with its weakness, and put on the new nature with its strength.I put off today the old nature with all its deceitful lusts. and put on the new nature withall its righteousness and purity.

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Another doctrinal toolthat has proved of greatbenefit to me and to manyothers is the "WarfarePrayer" composed by Dr. Matthews. As a theologian, his unique and thorough way ofincluding sound doctrinein this prayer is most helpful. I would urge anyone facing obviousspiritual warfare to usethis prayer daily. It is goodto read it aloud as a prayer unto the Lord.Eventually one will be able to incorporate thedoctrinal truths expressedinto his own prayer lifewithout reading it.

The devil hatesthis prayer.

Usually before workingwith anyone who hasdeep demonic affliction,I will request that we readthis prayer in unison. Manytimes the oppressed onecan read only with greatdifficulty. Sometimes sightproblems, voice problems,or mind confusion become so intense thatthe afflicted person cancontinue only with greateffort. It is the truth of Godthat Satan cannot resist,and he vigorously fights itbeing applied against him. Those serious aboutwarfare should daily use a prayer of this type.

I do in every way stand in the victory of the ascension and the glorification of the Son ofGod where all principalities and powers were made subject to Him, and I claim my placein Christ victorious with Him over all the enemies of my soul. Blessed Holy Spirit, I praythat You would fill me. Come into my life, break down every idol, and cast out every foe.

I am thankful, heavenly Father, for the expression of Your will for my daily life as You haveshown me in Your Word. I therefore claim all the will of God for today. I am thankful thatYou have blessed me with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I amthankful that You have begotten me unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christfrom the dead. I am thankful that You have made a provision so that today I can live filledwith the Spirit of God with love and joy and self-control in my life. And I recognize thatthis is Your will for me, and I therefore reject and resist all the endeavors of Satan and ofhis demons to rob me of the will of God.

I refuse in this day to believe my feelings, and I hold up the shield of faith against all theaccusations and against all the insinuations that Satan would put in my mind. I claim thefullness of the will of God for today.

I do, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, completely surrender myself to You, heavenlyFather, as a living sacrifice. I choose not to be conformed to this world. I choose to betransformed by the renewing of my mind, and I pray that You would show me Your willand enable me to walk in all the fullness of the will of God today.

I am thankful, heavenly Father, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mightythrough You in the pulling down of strongholds; the casting down of imaginations andevery high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God; and in bringing everythought into obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, in my own life today I teardown the strongholds of Satan, and I smash the plans of Satan that have been formedagainst me. I tear down the strongholds of Satan against my mind, and I surrender mymind to You, blessed Holy Spirit. I affirm, heavenly Father, that You have not given us thespirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. I break and smash the strongholds of Satan formed against my emotions today, and I give my emotions to You. I smash the strongholds of Satan formed against my will today, and I give my will to You, choosing to make the right decisions of faith. I smash the strongholds of Satanformed against my body today, and I give my body to You, recognizing that I am Yourtemple. I rejoice in Your mercy and Your goodness.

Heavenly Father, I pray that now through this day You would quicken me; show me theway that Satan is hindering and tempting and lying and counterfeiting and distorting thetruth in my life. Enable me to be the kind of person that would please You. Enable me tobe aggressive in prayer. Enable me to be aggressive mentally, to think Your thoughts afterYou, and to give You Your rightful place in my life.

Again, I now cover myself with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and pray that You,blessed Holy Spirit, would bring all the work of the crucifixion, all the work of the resur-rection, all the work of the glorification, and all the work of Pentecost into my life today.I surrender myself to You. I refuse to be discouraged. You are the God of all hope. You have proven Your power by resurrecting Jesus Christ from the dead, and I claim in everyway Your victory over all satanic forces active in my life, and I reject these forces; and Ipray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with thanksgiving. Amen.

Excerpt from The Adversary, Mark I. Bubeck

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108

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His na me;

make known among the nations what he has done.Ó

ÐPsalm 105:1

108

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;

make known among the nations what he has done.”

–Psalm 105:1

Re-EntryWhere God guides, He provides

"Some wish to live

within the sound of

a chapel bell; I wish to

run a rescue mission

within a yard

of hell."

–C.T. Studd

You will be moving from:

• Daily focusing on the spiritual to daily focusing on the practical matters.• Being daily surrounded with Christian encouragement and fellowship to deriving

your fellowship and encouragement solely from church services.• Having a specific, driven goal to perhaps having no goals at all.• Seeing devastating poverty to experiencing seemingly overwhelming wealth

and selfishness.• Being someone important and needed in the culture you were serving to not

feeling as if you are important at all.• Serving with people who share your world perspective to being with people who

may not care much for people outside their own circle.

112

“So the man wenthome and told all

over town howmuch Jesus had

done for him.” –Luke 8:39

Coming home from themission field opens youreyes to the fact that yourlife as you knew it is verydifferent from what youhave been experiencingwhile on your trip.

Being aware of thechanges can help you get through the re-entrytime and adjust back tolife in your culture.

Re-entryRe-entry

Stage 1: FUNThis stage is marked by excitement and enthusiasm for beinghome. You are happy to be sleeping in your ownbed and eating with thefriends and family that you missed.

Stage 2: FLIGHTThis stage is marked byconstant daydreaming and desires to be back inthe foreign culture. Yourmind wanders back to the things that happenedon your trip, and youremember how incredibleit was to be there.

Stage 3: FIGHTThis stage is marked withlow points and frustration.If you are in the fightstage, you don’t want tobe home anymore. Youfeel like no one under-stands; you want to tryand alienate yourself fromyour friends and family.

Stage 4: FITThis is the final stage of re-entry. It is marked by adesire to do what youneed to in your daily routines balanced with anew world perspective.You have learned to re-adjust to your environment and get back into the way thatyour life works here athome—but with a betterview of how life works outside your home.

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STAGESOF RE-ENTRY

Stage 1: FUNThis stage is marked by excitement and enthusiasm for beinghome. You are happy to be sleeping in your ownbed and eating with thefriends and family that you missed.

Stage 2: FLIGHTThis stage is marked byconstant daydreaming and desires to be back inthe foreign culture. Yourmind wanders back to the things that happenedon your trip, and youremember how incredibleit was to be there.

Stage 3: FIGHTThis stage is marked withlow points and frustration.If you are in the fightstage, you don’t want tobe home anymore. Youfeel like no one under-stands; you want to tryand alienate yourself fromyour friends and family.

Stage 4: FITThis is the final stage of re-entry. It is marked by adesire to do what youneed to in your daily routines balanced with anew world perspective.You have learned to re-adjust to your environment and get back into the way thatyour life works here athome—but with a betterview of how life works outside your home.

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STAGESOF RE-ENTRY

THE RE-ENTRY PROCESS

As you return from your trip, you will begin to experience many different feelings.The following suggestions are provided to assist in your re-adjustments.

• Debrief during and after the trip.Post trip de-briefings are mandatory.

• Identify your areas of growth.

• Build rest into your schedule.

• Be prepared for grief.You will miss the people and experiences. You may tend to be judgmental about the American culture and materialism. It is not up to us to determine other people’s convictions. Pray and make practical changes in your own lifestyle.Remember as you share with your family and friends that they have had different life experiences while you were away. They may not be as excited as you expect them to be. Be patient as you share with them. Prepare for the innumerable times you will be asked,“So, how was your trip?” by thinking of specific stories or examples to share.

• Remember to thank the people who made it possible for you to go on your trip.Send follow-up letters to let them know everything that God did on the trip and how their support made a difference in your life and in the lives of those you were able to reach.

• Be cautious in reporting ‘negative’ elements of the trip.Review your journal from time to time to continue processing the growth that began on the trip.

• Be excited that you spent time making a difference in the lives of others.Be confident that you are able to personally deliver God’s never-ending hope and love to others.

• Be confident in Jesus who made it all possible.

• Give the Lord all the praise.Praise Him for your home and birth place, and receive all that He has blessed you with and understand that with the blessing comes HUGE responsibilities to the Kingdom!

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5 WEEKSOF DEVOTIONS

FOR YOUR RETURN HOME

beginningon page 108

you will find...

Week 1What am I doing HERE?

(where am I?)

Week 2How do I absorb what I

have experienced?(gaining perspective...)

Week 3How do I turn my

emotion into practicalaction?

(taking the next step)

Week 4How do I continue theexperience long after

it’s over?(who is God and how can I

relate to Him?)

Week 5How do I infect others

with what I have caught?(continuing in His

presence)

“But the plans ofthe Lord standfirm forever, thepurposes of His

heart through allgenerations.”–Psalm 33:11

Introduction

“When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor onearth—his eyes not seeing sleep day ornight—then I saw all that God hasdone. No one can comprehend what goeson under the sun. Despite all his effortsto search it out, man cannot discoverits meaning. Even if a wise manclaims he knows, he cannot reallycomprehend it.” –Ecclesiastes 8:16-17

Now that you’re back and have unloaded your bags fromyour mission trip, let me share with you that you’re stillcarrying other baggage – a whole range of emotions andexperiences from your trip. Soon, you’ll start to unpackthose bags, too, as you think about how you can re-enteryour life without losing your heart and how you canregain your balance without losing your momentum.You may soon ask yourself,“Who will take care of what westarted?”You may even feel that you should do a 180 andgrab the next plane back.

Join me in unpacking those other bags. Let’s take sometime together to let the experience soak in, to bring it intoour lives in a lasting and meaningful way, and to make it a springboard for continuing the work that you began on your trip. As we get started, just remember that timetakes time. All things get revealed over the course ofGod’s timing. You can have ultimate confidence that Godhas a lasting purpose in all that you have experienced,but it may not be what you initially think after returningfrom your mission trip. Don’t try to rush God’s timing.

“And we know that in all things Godworks for the good of those who loveHim, who have been called according to His purpose.” –Romans 8:28

Grab your Bible and a pen and let’s spend time together.Notice there are two devotions in your first week backand also two on your fourth week. Read these on the daysthat are indicated.

Let’s start in prayer:

Oh, Father, You have brought us through a journey that

has changed our lives. We are so in awe of how close we

have come to You, how it was as though we almost

touched You, and how we have been changed because

You touched us. We are so humbled by the miracles we

have observed, the people we have grown so amazingly

close to, and the intensity of our trip. You have brought

us home safely. But somehow, we knew that even as we

traveled we were always home, safely in Your arms,

defended and protected by Your angels, and gifted with

the ability to see through new eyes. Now that we’re home,

we want to be the people that You have crafted during

our trip. We long to become the vessels that You have

continued to form with our lives. We are anxious to yield

to the Master’s hands as you continue the work You have

begun in us. Help us to see Your ways during the next

several weeks and inspire in us what You would have us

do. We praise You and thank You in the name of Your

precious son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Week 1. What am I doing HERE?

1st day home: Where am I?

"Come to Me, all you who are weary andburdened, and I will give you rest. TakeMy yoke upon you and learn from Me,for I am gentle and humble in heart, andyou will find rest for your souls. For Myyoke is easy and My burden is light."–Matthew 11:28-30

It’s your first week home. Where are you? How did you gethere? Last night you were dreaming that you were still onyour mission trip and now you wake up and don’t recog-nize this place. Is this home? What is home anyway? Whatdid you ever see in this place? It seems so unimportantthat you think you’ll just go back to sleep and return toyour mission trip…

But now you remember. God saw you safely through thetrip and safely back home where your family and friendswere waiting for you. And you have work to do here.What were you doing before you left? You almost don’tremember. You catch yourself telling anyone around you,“Did I tell you the story about…? You can’t believewhat…!”You feel as though part of you is still on your tripand part of you is at home. Maybe you were one of thosewho asked,“Why am I here? I really want to go back. Iwant to turn around and catch another plane.” Or maybeyou’re tired. In fact, you’re weary. You have been weariedby what you have seen and what you have done. In anycase, Solomon advised in Ecclesiastes…

There is a time for everything, and aseason for every activity under heaven.–Ecclesiastes 3:1

This is a time for rest and renewal. Rest comes in the Lordas you give yourself permission to be home and to justaccept things as they are. On your trip, you learned not tojudge anything by your own experience, but instead to bean observer and to respect the culture you were visiting.Now that you’re home, you need to do the same thing inreverse. Accept things as they are without judging themagainst your recent mission experience. God createdeverything; He has made everything for a reason, and put everything in your life just where it is for His purpose.Don’t try to figure it out. Rest.

Be still, and know that I am God; I willbe exalted among the nations, I will beexalted in the earth. –Psalm 46:10

Quiet your mind; move slowly and calmly. You have muchto absorb. Be still so that God can teach you and renewyou. It takes time to readjust and it takes time to regainyour strength. God’s Word says that it’s normal to be tired,even when you don’t recognize it.

Even very young men get tired andbecome weak, and strong young mentrip and fall. But they who wait uponthe Lord will get new strength. Theywill rise up with wings like eagles.They will run and not get tired. Theywill walk and not become weak.–Isaiah 40:30-31

Give into it and let God renew your strength. Write downyour thoughts about how you feel. Do you feel tired orenergized? Do you feel calm or anxious? Why? Whatwould you rather do than rest? How will you rest and letGod renew your strength?

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2nd day home:In the night.Tonight before you slipinto the bed that youleft so far behind to goon your mission trip,go outside for a fewminutes and thank God for the wonder ofthe night. Is there a freshness in your faith?Do you feel changed bythe experiences thatyou had on your trip?Has God used thisexperience to reshapeyou and transform youinto a person closer toHis heart? Consider themajesty of the heavens.At night when the lightof the day is erasedfrom the sky, you can see the glory of His creation.Right where you are. If it’s a clear night and you can seethe stars, go outside and look up at the sky. If it’s rainingor cloudy, imagine a clear, starlit sky sprinkled with thesparkling diamonds of millions of stars. Then read these scriptures:

ÒWhen I consider Your heavens, thework of Your fingers, the moon and thestars, which You have set in place, whatis man that You are mindful of him,the son of man that You care for him?Ó ÐPsalm 8:3-4

ÒThe heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pourforth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.Ó ÐPsalm 19:1-3

What is the night sky telling you about God? As you lookat the night sky, or imagine its beauty in your mind, doyou remember a night on your trip when you looked tothe sky and were almost overwhelmed by the work ofGod’s hands? What do you remember about that? Nowthat you’re back, God’s work in the world and in your lifehas not stopped. It is continuing just as it always has. Theuniverse displays the timelessness of God’s creation.Everything in the universe is moving to God’s timing,keeping time to an eternal clock that He alone hasdesigned. And so are you. Remember that God has created a perfect balance of night and morning so thatthere would be rest and renewal. Write down a prayer ofthanks to God for His gift to you of this night.

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2nd day home:In the night.

Tonight before you slipinto the bed that youleft so far behind to goon your mission trip,go outside for a fewminutes and thank God for the wonder ofthe night. Is there a freshness in your faith?Do you feel changed bythe experiences thatyou had on your trip?Has God used thisexperience to reshapeyou and transform youinto a person closer toHis heart? Consider themajesty of the heavens.At night when the lightof the day is erasedfrom the sky, you can see the glory of His creation.Right where you are. If it’s a clear night and you can seethe stars, go outside and look up at the sky. If it’s rainingor cloudy, imagine a clear, starlit sky sprinkled with thesparkling diamonds of millions of stars. Then read these scriptures:

“When I consider Your heavens, thework of Your fingers, the moon and thestars, which You have set in place, whatis man that You are mindful of him,the son of man that You care for him?” –Psalm 8:3-4

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pourforth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” –Psalm 19:1-3

What is the night sky telling you about God? As you lookat the night sky, or imagine its beauty in your mind, doyou remember a night on your trip when you looked tothe sky and were almost overwhelmed by the work ofGod’s hands? What do you remember about that? Nowthat you’re back, God’s work in the world and in your lifehas not stopped. It is continuing just as it always has. Theuniverse displays the timelessness of God’s creation.Everything in the universe is moving to God’s timing,keeping time to an eternal clock that He alone hasdesigned. And so are you. Remember that God has created a perfect balance of night and morning so thatthere would be rest and renewal. Write down a prayer ofthanks to God for His gift to you of this night.

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Gaining Perspective

“My heart is changed within me; allmy compassion is aroused.”–Hosea 8b

How do you begin to put all of the pieces together—whatdo you do with what you have seen and done on yourtrip? How does it all go together with the life that youhave returned to? Why do you feel so different?

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“Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom.And whatever else you get, get understanding.”–Proverbs 4:7

Understand that God has gifted you with an experiencethat is meant to propel you forward. So the question isthis: how do you use this experience to move forward?Take some time to reflect on your trip. Then take a fewminutes and jot down your thoughts. What was the mostsignificant experience of your trip?

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Week 2. How do I absorb what I have experienced?

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Gaining Perspective

ÒMy heart is changed within me; allmy compassion is aroused.ÓÐHosea 8b

How do you begin to put all of the pieces together—whatdo you do with what you have seen and done on yourtrip? How does it all go together with the life that youhave returned to? Why do you feel so different?

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ÒW isdom is supremeÑso get wisdom.And whatever else you get, get understanding.ÓÐProverbs 4:7

Understand that God has gifted you with an experiencethat is meant to propel you forward. So the question isthis: how do you use this experience to move forward?Take some time to reflect on your trip. Then take a fewminutes and jot down your thoughts. What was the mostsignificant experience of your trip?

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Week 2. How do I absorb what I have experienced?

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ÒIn his heart a man plans his course,but the Lord determines his steps.ÓÐProverbs 16:9

Why do you think God might have wanted you to havethat experience? Write down two ways that you can use that experience now that you have returned home.What experience on your trip puzzled you or left you wondering why it happened?

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In Proverbs we’re instructed that:

ÒMany are the plans in a man's heart,but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.ÓÐProverbs 19:21

What purpose do you think God might have had in allowing that puzzling experience during your trip?

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“In his heart a man plans his course,but the Lord determines his steps.”–Proverbs 16:9

Why do you think God might have wanted you to havethat experience? Write down two ways that you can use that experience now that you have returned home.What experience on your trip puzzled you or left you wondering why it happened?

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In Proverbs we’re instructed that:

“Many are the plans in a man's heart,but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.”–Proverbs 19:21

What purpose do you think God might have had in allowing that puzzling experience during your trip?

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Week 3. How do I turn my emotion intopractical action?

Taking the Next Step

God is so great. He created us, loved us before we wereborn, made us unique, and didn’t want us to ever be apartfrom Him, so He gave us prayer.

I’m sitting here drinking a cup of coffee the morning aftera day of prayer and fasting for the people we visited inAfrica. I wanted Peanut M&Ms really bad about 4 pm yes-terday, but every time I thought about eating, I thoughtabout why I felt hungry. It was intentional. I was doing thison purpose. I had the choice. It was just a decision that Imade that I could change if I wanted. And that caused meto think about the two men among the people we visitedwho decided to build a church.

These men made a choice. It was their decision. They haddecided to follow the God who gave them hope, who hadsent His son to die for them, who had made the ultimatesacrifice already for them. Their choice was to follow Himand to obey His ways and to teach their families to do so.Because of their choice, one of them had already experi-enced years of isolation. No one would hire him; he hadbeen within one day of graduation from college and hisfuture was yanked out from under him. He was a brightmind made to shuffle around on the streets for 17 yearsas a peasant begging for money until a missionary sawhim and got him a job as a night watchman at a church.The other man was thrown into jail for being a Christian.He accepted Christ while helping that same missionarytranslate the Bible into his language. He wanted to start achurch in his village for 13 years, but no one would help.Every church he approached for encouragement told himhe should just go to their church in town and read theBible in their language. He told me how he became aChristian and why he is willing to be the pastor of a newchurch in his village.“I translated the missionary’s Bible for12 years and now I have it. It’s in my heart.” God’s Wordbecame part of who he is. His life was changed. And nowthat there are newly printed Bibles in his own language,he wants to build a church in his village for his people. Heis one of only three known Christians among the 40,000of his people in this country.

Can you hear it? It’s the irrepressible cry of the heart setfree. They’re crying out to worship and others are dyingwithout Christ.

What experiences did you have that made it clear to youthat you were on your trip to do God’s work and that Hewas definitely using you for a purpose?

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What have you started and who will keep doing it?

What are some practical steps that you can take?(Remember, I said practical here, which in most cases does not mean selling all of your belongings and movingto China.)

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“Commit to the LORD whatever you do,and your plans will succeed.” –Proverbs 16:3

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Consider prayer and fasting as a step of worship andentreaty to God on behalf of the people you left.Remember, only God can truly take care of them. You cantake a day to fast—go without something that you reallylike and count on every day. For some people, that meansgoing without food and having only water or fruit juiceduring the entire day. For others who are medically unableto do that, it means giving up coffee or sweets or softdrinks. In every case, fasting means to make a personal sacrifice—the more significant, the more meaningful it will be to you. And then, during your day of fasting, everytime you want what you have voluntarily given up for thatday, pray to God for the people and the area you visited.Ask God’s blessing and ask for His inspiration in your life to help you think of other ways to further His cause there.Pray as specifically as you can, and journal your thoughtsso that God’s inspiration during your time of fasting can be recorded for you to read later.

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"Let my heart

be brokenwith the

things that break

God's heart

–Bob Pierce,

World Vision

founder

"

Week 4. How do I continue the experience long after it’s over?

Monday: In the morning

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, considermy meditation. Hearken unto the voiceof my cry, my King, and my God: for unto Thee will I pray. My voice shaltThou hear in the morning, O Lord; inthe morning will I direct my prayerunto Thee, and will look up.” –Psalm 5:1-3

There’s something so soothing about the morning. Did youexperience one of those quiet mornings on your trip,where the sun was slow in waking and every other part ofnature was in place when the sun finally rose in the sky?Today as you wake up at home and look around at theworld that you have returned to, there’s a morning waitingfor you. It’s the birth of a new day, the beginning of anotherchapter in God’s plan for your life. Now that you’re home,keep the beauty of your trip with you. Take time this morning to see what you rarely look at; to hear what youdon’t often listen to; to feel what you usually give no timeto. Can you feel it? It’s the morning.

When you were on your trip, you heard things more clearly.The birds sounded different. The wind felt different. Eventhe sun brought a new touch to your skin. And now that

you’re home, listen. Do you hear it?It’s the sound of the world wakingup. It may be cars and planes andpeople, but listen. Do you hear it?There’s something else.

One of our dear friends fromMissouri likes to say,“of a morning” todescribe what is happening duringthose hours when the day is wakingup. Give yourself permission to be “ofa morning,” to let the day wake upand unfold and fill you with the wonder of what God has in store foryou today…right where you are.

As the morning continues, let yourexperiences gently wash over you.What were you doing last week at

this very time? Were you somewhere far away, being “of amorning?” Remember that in the stillness, in the quietplace, God is waiting for you. He can’t break through thenoise and clatter of what we put in our minds. But He isthere, waiting, and He will meet you to spend time withyou “of a morning.” Right where you are.

“You will look for Me and find Me whenyou look for Me with all your heart.” –Jeremiah 29:13

When you listen really closely this morning, what are youhearing that God wants you to hear? Why do you thinkGod wants you to hear that particular sound? Describe onemorning from your trip when you really felt God’s presencearound you. What happened? What can you do everymorning to be still and listen for God? What habit couldyou start that would let you hear His voice in your life?

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Wednesday: Who is God and how can I relate to Him?

Just a prayer to my God. Driving to work this morning,trying to pray, but all that comes out are just routine words,like my brain is on automatic and my mouth has no power

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to override it. And suddenly the thoughts flood my brain:Should I be praying to God on auto-pilot? Just who is God?Is He just someone who is bigger than I? Is He someone towhom I put my knee to the ground simply because He isin a position of authority? Is this something that just getsdone without thinking, because that's the way it is,because it's the routine, because I'm supposed to?

And why am I allowed to pray in the first place? Who is this God that I pray to? This is not just a powerful person.And He is not just more powerful than me. He is God. Howcan I fathom that? God, who knows everything, is more powerful than anything, is perfect, and is capable of being everywhere at once…how can I even imagine that?

He is so powerful that He created all that is. He created the vastness of the universe with its mysteries that manwill never unlock, its unreachable emptiness that we willnever travel as humans, its uncountable immensity ofplanets, stars, galaxies. He planned that this particular planet would orbit this particular sun, and that both wouldhave such a balanced combination of elements and otherphysical attributes that this would be a wonderful worldfor human life. He designed and built the earth knowingthat erosion would create the grandeur of the GrandCanyon. He created humans that we might have senses toexperience the wonder of His creation. And He plannedthe tiniest detail, like the intricate workings of even themosquito—all fearfully and wonderfully made. All from a plan of infinite design.

How can I approach this God whose power is so great thatI am not even a molecule of air in the breath of a whisper?How can I boldly kneel at His throne without fearing Hisawesome power and might? How can I so casually moutha mechanical prayer to Him that took no thought and wasmore an act of routine than respect?

Pretty deep thoughts for a morning commute amongthousands of other drivers all vying to win the covetedpole position at the next intersection. But suddenly theanswer to my questions caused everything around me to stand still.

How can I approach Him? It is only because the God whocreated the universe and all things also created what humans would readily see is the ultimate sacrifice:the life of His Son to pay for our lineage of sin. God, who isall-powerful and all-knowing, loved us—this one little partof creation—so much, that He did this. And nothing, notthe roar of mighty oceans, the blast of volcanic eruptions,or the cosmic explosion of a super nova, can take awaythat immense love that He has for us.

And so I kneel at His throne. Stunned. Unable to speak. Nomechanical words to automatically pull out of well-wornenvelopes and lay routinely at His feet. Just a prayer to myGod. “Thank You, Father.”

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic isYour name in all the earth! You have setYour glory above the heavens. From thelips of children and infants You haveordained praise because of Your enemies,to silence the foe and the avenger. WhenI consider Your heavens, the work ofYour fingers, the moon and the stars,which You have set in place, what isman that You are mindful of him, theson of man that You care for him? You made him a little lower than theheavenly beings and crowned him withglory and honor. You made him rulerover the works of Your hands; You puteverything under his feet: all flocksand herds, and the beasts of the field,the birds of the air, and the fish of thesea, all that swim the paths of the seas.O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”–Psalm 8

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How has your life returned to the way it was before youleft on your trip? Have you found yourself going throughthe motions, not thinking or being intimately involved inprayer? What can you do with the people you traveledwith to revisit the emotion and incredible experiencesfrom your trip?

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If you have shared your experiences with your prayer support team or others in your circle of friends and family,what was that like? What were their reactions? What questions did they ask?

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Week 5. How do I infect others with what I have caught?

Continuing In His Presence

ÒDay after day, in the temple courtsand from house to house, they neverstopped teaching and proclaiming theGood News that Jesus is the Christ.Ó ÐActs 5:42

ÒI thank my God every time I rememberyou. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of yourpartnership in the Gospel from the firstday until now, being confident of this,that He who began a good work in youwill carry it on to completion until theday of Christ Jesus.Ó ÐPhilippians 1:3-6

By now you are fully back, fully into your life again, andfully into all of the activities, plans, and schedules thathave rushed back in to fill up your life. The stories you soreadily told have stopped pouring forth. You don’t findyourself frequently mentioning something that happenedor that someone said. In fact, there may be a few people inyour life now that don’t know you went on a mission trip.And yet, you are changed. What happened on the trip didn’t stay on the trip; it came home with you and yourlife will never be the same.

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How has your life returned to the way it was before youleft on your trip? Have you found yourself going throughthe motions, not thinking or being intimately involved inprayer? What can you do with the people you traveledwith to revisit the emotion and incredible experiencesfrom your trip?

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If you have shared your experiences with your prayer support team or others in your circle of friends and family,what was that like? What were their reactions? What questions did they ask?

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Week 5. How do I infect others with what I have caught?

Continuing In His Presence

“Day after day, in the temple courtsand from house to house, they neverstopped teaching and proclaiming theGood News that Jesus is the Christ.” –Acts 5:42

“I thank my God every time I rememberyou. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of yourpartnership in the Gospel from the firstday until now, being confident of this,that He who began a good work in youwill carry it on to completion until theday of Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 1:3-6

By now you are fully back, fully into your life again, andfully into all of the activities, plans, and schedules thathave rushed back in to fill up your life. The stories you soreadily told have stopped pouring forth. You don’t findyourself frequently mentioning something that happenedor that someone said. In fact, there may be a few people inyour life now that don’t know you went on a mission trip.And yet, you are changed. What happened on the trip didn’t stay on the trip; it came home with you and yourlife will never be the same.

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What can you do to further the work you started duringyour trip? Did it end when you got on the return flight?Did you leave someone at the airport or in the last town,waiting, hoping that you weren’t another fleeting hope?Or has your heart made a commitment to continue? To dowhat you can with what you have to make a difference?And to get others to do the same?

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Many people return from their mission trip with a lot of enthusiasm to keep doing what they did on the trip, butover time they simply slip back into doing what they usedto do—nothing. God let you have this experience to use it for His glory and His purpose. He has invested in you.Now you get to return that investment.

The good news is, most of the people who had somethingto do with your missions experience were tremendouslyaffected by their involvement with you and they wouldlove to do more. They just need someone to set them offin the right direction and to keep things moving. Thegreatest thing you can do now is not to talk about whathappened, but to keep it going. But here’s a radicalthought—everyone is waiting for you! So, let’s spendsome time together to see what you should do now.

First, write down the names of the people who went withyou on your mission trip. Then, write down the names ofall of the people who supported you, either in prayer or inother ways, as you went on your trip. Now, imagine justone thing that you can do to continue the work that youdid when you were on your trip. How could you involveyour fellow travelers and the people who supported you?

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If your small group was part of your experience—theysent you, this was a small group trip, or they supportedyou—what could your group do to keep things going?Let’s talk about a few ways that small groups and othersin your circle of supporters can get involved. If your travelteam has not already met to go through this section, callthem and ask them to meet. Go through this exercise as a team. If you were the only one traveling, do this onyour own.

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First, pray for God’s guidance and direction, for Hisstrength and persistence, and for your own faithfulnessand obedience. Then, get out your paper and pen andcomplete the goals on the following page.

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“You can give without loving. butyou cannot love without giving."

–Amy Carmichael, missionary to India

Short-term:

1. What commitments did you make to people during your trip? (List them)

2. Cross off any of these commitments that you have already met.

3. Which commitments are left and who could be blessed by helping you meet them?

4. List each one and put a name next to it. Then describethe commitment to each person listed and ask themto help you meet it.

5. Discuss with them a date that is mutually agreeable for the commitment to be met.

6. Put dates on your own calendar for the commitmentsyou will take, and make sure the rest of the peoplewho are helping do the same with their calendars.

7. Ask one person to be responsible for holding youor the team accountable.

Long-term:

1. What are the most obvious ongoing needs of the work you began during your trip?

2. Which of those ongoing needs would you like God to meet in one year?

3. What steps need to be taken in order to meet those needs and who could be blessed by helping you take them?

4. List each step and put names next to them. Then describe the step to each person listed and ask them to help you. Some steps may require several people and you may need to ask one person to be in charge of the people doing the work.

5. Discuss with them a date that is mutually agreeable for each step to be completed.

6. Put dates on your own calendar for the steps that you will take, and make sure that the rest of the people who are helping do the same.

7. Ask one person to be responsible for holding you or the team accountable.

Conclusion

“Whom have I in heaven but You? Andearth has nothing I desire besides You.My flesh and my heart may fail, butGod is the strength of my heart andmy portion forever.” –Psalm 73:25-26

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” –Philippians 3:14

We have gone on a journey together. It has been a time of reflection and refreshment—a time for re-entry into theworld we left so long ago to go on a mission trip. Duringour last week together, we had a time of recommitment.

May I tell you how honored God must be at your faithfulness? You didn’t just do the trip, you’re living thelife. It has been a privilege to go through this time withyou and to know that you have made your experience anew and important part of your ongoing life.

God’s word helps us to understand that no matter whatwe face, He is with us. And, no matter what happens in ourdaily lives, the destination is worth it.

Thank you for continuing the work that God began in youduring your trip. Thank you for pressing on toward thegoal. And thank you for bringing others with you on thisjourney so that they also can be blessed by the experienceof being used by God in missions.

Can we pray together?

Lord, we are on our knees before You with thanks for Your plan that includes our lives. As Paul told the church in Corinth, now we see as through a glass, darkly, butsomeday we will see You clearly as we stand face-to-facein Your presence. Thank You for letting us see You throughthe work You are allowing us to do. Thank You for seeingin us the people who could be used for Your glory. ThankYou for the prize for which we work and for which we arecalled heavenward. May we be faithful to the work andmay Your name be honored by what You have us do.In the name of Your Son Jesus we ask these things. Amen.

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Missions ManualTo Know Him and To Make Him Known

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