Snoopy’s Bull’s Eye

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I saw a Snoopy cartoon not long ago where Snoop was shooting with his bow and arrow at a wall. He would then run to the wall and paint a bull’s eye around the spot where his arrow had landed. Charlie Brown, looking on, asked him what he was doing. “This way I never miss!” was Snoopy’s response.

So in missions (and life), what is your target? Is it fixed? Or can we move it at will?

It is easy to do like Snoopy. What I mean is to rejoice in what we have accomplished in a way that makes whatever we accomplished exactly what we were aiming for. So we’ve got a legitimate business going in a creative access country…so we’ve built some strong relationships with some higher-ups in the community…so we’ve had a lot of opportunities to share the Gospel to a nodding listener over a cup of tea…so we’ve become an insider in the culture and learned the language with great skill…so we’ve been able to help a village build a school or put in a playground or dig a fresh water well…so…so what?

All of that is good but the One who sets the bull’s eye has already written it down plainly. As a missionary (or a Christian in general) we have a few in concentric circles that our Boss has already laid out:

Big Circle: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations

Small Circle: Start churches with all those who believe (baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit)

Smallest Circle: Teaching them to obey all things whatsoever I (Jesus) have commanded you.

So here are some penetrating questions to ask your would be Snoopy’s (missionaries or self, in fact):

How are you doing at getting the Gospel out in a way that some are responding?

How are you doing at gathering believers and baptizing them into a church?

How are you doing at training the believers to be faithful? to be men of God? to be preachers and pastors?

If you’ll ask yourself these questions honestly, you just might save yourself a lot of misguided target practice.

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Would you go to church tomorrow if…?

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This week a loaded up my car with preachers (I love doing that) and we (all five of us) drove three hours away to a small town to meet a national believer. When we pulled into this picturesque town I was immediately taken by their vast views of the snow capped mountains in the distance past the brown hills spotted by green shrubs in the arid landscape. It is the kind of place you can breathe deep (even with half a lung =).

We spent four hours that day in this man’s one room home without moving except to eat a snack his dear wife brought. He told us the story of the last years of police antagonism and attacks from radical Muslims. This man has been a believer for ten years and is one of the few believers who has the great privilege of having a Christian wife. During his first few years as a believer he was tested in his faith by his unbelieving family. This is a common trial all Muslim background believers must go threw.

The last two years, however, have been a trial on all sides. He and his wife have both been arrested, questioned, and threatened on multiple occasions. As the unofficial leader of the small house church in his town he was singled out for the worst of the treatment. One thing that struck me as I listened intently for those four hours to his enthusiasm for Christ was the comparison between the three still attending his church and the average church attendee at an American church this weekend.

You see, this man had about 14 people in his church gathering weekly and claiming to be believers. During the week three years ago the police came to his house, arrested he and his wife, and threatened them. They both stood strong in the face of this pressure. At one point he told the police, “You can cut off my head and I will still worship Christ. You cannot stop me from being a Christian.” They asked him if he was meeting with Muslims and shaking their faith. To which he replied, “We meet to study the Bible in my home. You are welcome if you’d like to come.”

The Sunday following this conflict with the police his congregation when from 14 to 3! He is not discouraged, though. He claims that God is using this persecution to reveal who are the real believers in Christ. He compared it to the fire that cleanses gold.

So how about you? If you knew that the police would be watching you tomorrow as you go to church? If you knew that they might arrest you? If you knew that they would try to ruin your business or your job? If you knew that you would get death threats? Would you still go to church tomorrow? If you were put to the same test, where would you come down on it?

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Best Day yet of 2012

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“What was the best day of last year at work?” That’s a good question to ask yourself to know what really gets you excited about what you do.

For me, Tuesday was the best day of this year so far. So if you want to know what a “best day” looks like for me, a missionary, an aspiring leader trainer, and a church planter, here it is:

*I left the house at 8:30 after spending reading two chapters in my Arabic Bible. God filled me to the full with words from Galations.

*I headed to a nearby city  to meet Bible requestors with three guys in my car: Suffian, a national believer that I have been training for four years who is now pastoring, B., a recent Bible college graduate serving a year-long internship with us, and R., a South American pastor turned missionary now creeping up on one year in the country. Just that car full is a lot of fun.

*Throughout the day we met up with five new people who had asked for a Bible. We took turns in pairs of two. Two of the three had large beards and were prepared to argue. One girl brought her sister and defended the popular religion but was very kind. One brought his friend and they argued the typical points but conceded all of them finding them indefensible. The last one was an former atheist who said he wanted to believe in God but just not the God of the Koran. For all of them it was the first time they had ever seen a Bible. Suffian declared Christ to all of them answering every question from the Word with the power of a real preacher.

*Between these meetings we visited the house of a 29 year old young man named Sayeed. We had met Sayeed two and a half years ago and given him a Bible. Suffian had gone through five salvation lessons with him and he had made a profession of faith. He started coming to church but then I had to leave suddenly and our resources were stretched thin and caused us to have to stop meetings there for over a year. We spent about an hour with him at his home.  Though we hadn’t seen him in over a year he showed us his Bible that he is still reading and expressed a desire to meet again with believers. It was great to see this first convert that Suffian led to Christ continuing in his faith.

*Between meetings I was able to talk with B., the intern, for a couple hours in total. We talked about how to train and disciple. He is a sponge for this stuff.

*R, the Latin American missionary, shared his testimony in Arabic with one of the contacts. We started this initiative to mobilize Latins five years ago and it is now giving fruit.

*After the meetings I met with a young national believer that is beginning to train for ministry. He went over with me what he had done while I had been gone. He is heading up a Bible study this Saturday in his hometown and had made more meetings to give out Bibles.

*I arrived home about 9:30 pm and checked my email. Twenty new Bible requestors from Morocco had been sent to me by our coworkers in Lebanon. I responded to emails before I went to be from a former intern planning a survey trip this summer. Another initiative we started 5 years ago that is just now giving fruit in full time missionaries coming to this country where we were the first Independent Baptist missionaries.

So, wow! Fruit was blossoming all over the place and new seeds were planted with fervor from encouraged sowers. That was my best day yet this year. I just hope that it doesn’t keep the top spot long.

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