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Jesus has told us to go into all the world and to preach the Gospel and to make disciples. |
Here's what our missionaries have to say |
Mario and Rose Bruno- church planters in Italy Hello, What’s in a cup of coffee? Usually just coffee but it can be a visible expression of the effect of the gospel in the people who hear or read it. Because I am at the subway (Metro) stations early in the morning, a number of people want to buy me a coffee. It is their way of saying “thank you” for the evangelistic flyer I give them every week. I think this is, in part, what Jesus taught with the parable about yeast placed in dough for breadmaking. Once place there the leaven disappears from sight. Yet it is accomplishing its purpose—quietly and unseen, with no fanfare, no brilliant display, nothing to draw attention to itself. In a somewhat similar way, even the evangelism I do may seem quiet and simple. The results will become evident in time. As Paul expressed it: “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything” for it is “God who gives the growth.” Jesus takes the real burden, the heavier load to be carried when we are yoked to Him. One man, after taking the evangelistic flyer, came back to ask what I thought about “the Jesus presented in the apocryphal gospels.” He then pulled out of his briefcase the book he was reading on the subject. That led to a 15-minute discussion with his promising to continue at our next meeting. My usual response to such “promises” is not to be surprised if they keep them and not to be disappointed if they don’t. Another man asked if I would have a coffee with him because he wanted to talk to me. It turns out he had been reading the gospel message each week for a number of months. He just wanted to tell me how surprised he was that, in his words: “the pastor of an evangelical church would be on the streets so early in the morning trying to reach lost sheep for the Lord…our priests would never do such a thing.” We continue to have coffee and talk. He accepts the authority of Scripture but as yet does not want to leave his present way of life to follow Christ. Not all church planting situations have the luxury of being able to send away leaders to a Bible school or seminary for training for an extended period of time. They are responsible for their families and the church where they minister and so cannot leave their work. Leadership training, therefore, is done locally, in the churches, and usually to small numbers over a long period of time. Alfredo and Enrico are two such men. One is a butcher who works from 4 am to 4 pm, 6 days a week. The other is a baker who works from 6 am to 8 pm, 5½ days a week. Even though they work long hours to support their families God has placed a desire in their hearts to learn God’s Word to be able to teach it to others. Over a number of years, in weekly Bible studies on specific books of the Bible, their knowledge of the Word has grown to the point where their sermons are a real source of encouragement to the hearers. You may ask: When to they study and prepare their sermons? They give up some of their sleep time. It is either late at night or rising an hour or so before they normally do for several weeks for each sermon! Let me share an illustration I found in a book by Peter Lewis. “Some years ago my wife Valerie and I were reading the Valentine messages in The Times—with a good deal of amusement, I must say. There was one, however, which has lived with us. It was not from a lover to a lover but from children to their parents, and it read simply but unforgettably: ‘The rebels failed; for our Utopia was the home we fought to leave.’ That is the truth about our human race, which fought to leave God for freedom and progress only to find its freedom frustrated and its progress hampered by its own sinfulness. Our determination to seek and build other utopias—ideological or material—have all ended, and must all end, in failure and unfulfilled longing. Only our home in God, reconciled and obedient for ever, is a real and sufficient utopia for us, for we were made for Him.” Thank you for your partnership with us in the cause of Christ. May God's grace be upon you. Mario and Rose |
Ninswaliki 66 10 January 2010 Nampula, Mozambique Dear Praying Friends, “Boas Entradas!” (good entries) is the typical new year greeting in Mozambique. If you are seeing someone for the first time since December, an obligatory greeting in January is to ask, “How did you enter?” We entered well this year, and we are still in that phase of searching and praying for what God would have us do in the coming year. Letters from us have been scarce in past months, and that is not from poor health or for lack of things to say, but for a certain amount of uncertainty about the future while we undergo transition here in Mozambique. Our family is doing well. In November Susan and I went to Kenya for leadership meetings and a retreat for directors and their wives. The meetings were held not far from RVA and also coincided with the end of their school term. And so, we were able to spend two weekends with our children, to get to know their teachers, hear the Christmas concerts, etc. It was wonderful. We have missed so much of our children’s lives while at school and it is a pleasure to get a quick glimpse into that world. And we are so proud of them. Andrew’s first semester away from home was a challenge, but he is doing well, has grown much taller than me, can beat me 7 for 7 in ping pong and play the trumpet like a pro. Emily is a beautiful young lady, full of life and love for adventure. This semester she will go to Uganda for a day of rafting on the Nile. We had a good break with them, spending the first ten days in Balama, going over the Meetto translation of Ephesians. Laura and Mary spent Christmas with Grandpa Iseminger. Every time I talk to him on the phone he tells me how much he enjoys having them with him. Mary is in her third year of nursing and Laura graduates from Houghton in May. Lord willing, Susan will go back for the graduation. Just before Emily and Andrew departed for school we took our little boat sailing in Pemba over new year weekend; a memorable event. The first day we chased down a pod of dolphins that was feeding on a shoal of bait fish. Tuna and wahoo were also feeding, accidentally launching out of the water in their feeding frenzy. The dolphins were more dramatic in their broaching, almost poetic. They obviously have more fun than the tuna who are just there for the lunch. The second day there was a high wind and heavy sea and both Emily and Andrew were anxious to get out into the waves with our little boat. It was a new experience for them to be on the open sea and see nothing but heaving waves which alternately obscured the horizon for their height. It was glorious… but oh, for a more stable boat! To be honest, we begin this year very tired. The month of December in Nampula was hot and humid, the rains came in fits and starts, and now in the new year we’re still waiting for the cooling clouds to come to stay. We are looking forward to a six month furlough later this year, but finding a replacement is proving difficult. While continuing to increase in translation production as well as open new translation programs, we are also reducing in the number of missionaries on the field. More Mozambicans are involved in more roles of leadership and management and we are so thankful for them. The challenge is to train adequately and then to alter our administrative structures to accommodate them. And in all of this, we thank you for standing with us in the battle to see the Word of God translated into the languages of Mozambique. Pressing On, John I. |