Category Archives: Mission field news

16 tons, what do you get?

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When I was a kid, there was a pop song whose words mystified me. My dad explained that it was about an American coal miner trapped in debt slavery to the mining company he worked for. The company owned the grocery store where he bought food, and his wages were set so low that he could never earn enough to escape his debt.

The refrain went like this:

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don’t you call me, ’cause I can’t go—
I owe my soul to the company store.

My dad’s explanation was a real eye-opener for an eight-year-old. It was an inflection point in my growing awareness of basic economics and the harsh realities of this world. The singer laments that Saint Peter shouldn’t call him home to heaven because he still owes not only his bill but, in a sense, his very soul to the company store.

Bonded labor in that form no longer exists here in the United States, as far as I know. But severe poverty, often driven by heartless mercantilism, has been a reality for people throughout history. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, written in 1939, was a blistering critique of the conditions farm workers faced in California at the time—working for 25 cents a day, barely staying ahead of starvation.

In recent months, I’ve learned about a man in his late forties who has essentially been enslaved for the last 27 years. He works in a brick-making company, often putting in 14-hour days. He earns just $3 a day, in a country where that amount buys very little.

Like the song above, he owes his soul to the company store. Legally bound to his employer until his debt is paid—a debt he can never repay at such wages—he lives in a hopeless cycle. He has a wife and three children, is illiterate, and his health is failing. He is also a Christian living in a non-Christian country.

And here I sit—my air conditioner is humming, my stomach is full from a nice lunch, and I just finished my afternoon coffee. Yet my heart is troubled, because the gulf between my comparative wealth and this man’s crushing poverty feels like an unspeakable unfairness. We often say, “We live in a fallen world,” and sometimes we catch a glimpse of the depravity and injustice that are all too common.

So, what can I do? What do I plan to do? First, I can write this and share it with you, my friends. I can ask for your prayers—not only for me, but especially for this exploited man and his young family. You don’t need to know his name or his country to lift him in prayer.

And for me personally: please pray as I research and take steps toward finding ways and organizations that can help this man pay off his debt and free him from the hopeless bondage he has endured for so long. It can be done. There are ways. True, it won’t change life for the hundreds of thousands of similar Christian families trapped in the same system of “bonded labor”.

But I can still help this man and his family. I’m sure not rich but I do have enough to try at least to buy this man out of utter literal slavery and into some form of labor that will lift them up to a more endurable daily existence.

The Bible says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,’ when you have it with you” (Proverbs 3:27–28). And of course, there are countless more verses that carry this same truth.

I personally believe in both a social gospel and a personal gospel. Jesus “went about everywhere doing good” (Acts 10:38). At times, I feel overwhelmed and crushed by the injustice and falsehood that seem increasingly pervasive. Yet the Lord continues to show me things I can do personally—things that matter and make a difference.

Maybe I can’t right all the wrongs that glare at us daily.. But I can still do what I can. As the Lord said of one woman: “She has done what she could” (Mark 14:8).

 

Thinking about El Salvador

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I’ve been thinking about El Salvador. Anybody else? The huge prison there and the hundreds of those recently deported from the USA to prisons there, with possibly more to come. Jesus said that He was “…in prison and you visited me.” So folks said, “When were You in prison and we didn’t visit You?” And Jesus answered, “In as much as you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40)

But some would say, “Mark, those are criminals! Gang members!” And others might respond, “They are someone’s son, brother, or dad.” There’s just something about the love of God and the truths of Jesus. They strongly call us to something higher than the present putrid stench of politics that too often drags us down to the worst in humanity, no matter our race, nationality, or status.

So I’m wondering, does anyone know of anyone in El Salvador who has any ministry in the prisons there? It could be local folks or foreign workers. There’s no doubt that those deported to that prison are really suffering there. Has anyone tried to visit? To bring whatever aid and cheer they are allowed to?

I’ve worked in prisons and refugee camps in Eastern Europe and did programs there for the prisoners. They are rough places and the degradation is often unspeakable. But “the greater the darkness, the greater the light.”

I’m reminded of someone I’ve worked closely with in recent years, who has been vital to my video ministry, who was in prison in their country some years back. Then they were visited by some local Christian workers while in prison. They had a miraculous transformation through the grace of God and they’ve gone on to a very beneficial Christian ministry in their non-Christian country.

Right now, the world feels so overwhelming that many of us are tempted to freeze in fear and consternation. But of course the Lord Himself doesn’t freeze up. Instead, He continues to guide and prod us along towards worthy actions that we can take to be like the woman Jesus referred to, “She has done what she could”. (Mark 14:6)

And certainly at this moment, with all the thousands of people being extradited abruptly out of America, often to prisons abroad, it just seems like there should be some of us making an effort to visit those folks, to render Christian love and aid at a time when those poor souls must be bewildered beyond belief.

So, I just wanted to share what has been on my heart. But, honestly, does anyone out there know of any prison ministry going on in El Salvador currently? If there was ever a time when the love of God should elevate us above the Godless, Christless rancor of the political present to where we could try to be the only hands and the only feet that Jesus has in this world, to get in touch with those poor young men and to show them the Love of God, well this seems to be that time. God help us, “the best ability is availability”.

Me and USAID

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I woke up before dawn today, reflecting on my experiences with USAID. I was at the western tip of Indonesia twenty years ago today, in the aftermath of “the Christmas Tsunami”, which claimed the lives of 155,000 people in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province.

At the time, I was an aid worker at a large, makeshift refugee camp north of the city, alongside three friends. We were doing what we could as translators for a group of Korean doctors who had just arrived to assist in the chaotic aftermath of the 9.2 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the Acehnese coast.

I had brought a video camera with me and was capturing footage while I helped at the camp that morning. I later compiled a video of the events, which you can view on YouTube here. I recommend jumping to 15:02 in the video. The next 2 minutes there shows what I experienced with the United States aid agency USAID that day.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of excitement as people pointed to the sky. A large helicopter, with no markings, began circling low over the camp. It then landed about 100 yards away and began unloading boxes. In the video, you can see dozens of Acehnese people, along with a tall Texan friend of mine, rushing toward the helicopter to investigate.

I’ll never forget the overwhelming sense of pride I felt when I realized it was a US Navy helicopter, stationed on an aircraft carrier off the coast, unloading boxes of supplies from USAID. Young men from the camp began collecting the boxes that had been dropped from the helicopter and bringing them back to the main tent. Camp elders later distributed the aid to families of the thousands of survivors who had gathered there in their time of need.

The helicopter had no markings because Aceh province had been embroiled in a violent civil war for years. I assume the US forces wanted to avoid being identified or misunderstood in their motives. However, the aid boxes were clearly marked with “USAID,” making it evident that the US military and government were working to alleviate the suffering of the people.

Later, I learned that US helicopters were continuously ferrying doctors up and down the coast, as nearly every bridge had been destroyed by the tsunami’s three 90-foot waves.

This morning, as I thought about the current controversy surrounding USAID in the United States, those memories came flooding back. There’s a massive shake-up underway in Washington. And while I believe much of it is necessary, I also find it personally relevant, given my own experiences abroad as a Christian aid worker, often in refugee camps and orphanages.

I vividly remember the pride I felt when I saw my country’s military providing crucial aid in the wake of one of the worst natural disasters in the last century. It was a moment that reminded me of what I hope my country stands for: genuine, selfless altruism and “loving our neighbors.”

The Bible is full of calls to this kind of action. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget seeing my country represented in such a profound way, both on the ground and in the air, at the moment when help was needed most.

My belief is that the activities of USAID should not be eliminated in the ongoing government reorganization. Whether on an individual level or a national one, caring for the poor and those affected by disasters should be a fundamental part of our lives. You don’t have to be a Christian to believe in this.

In the Bible, God told Jeremiah to “root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down.” But He also told him to “build and plant.” My hope is that in this new wave sweeping our country—and even the world—we won’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. In our zeal to eliminate the bad, we mustn’t stop loving our neighbors, even sacrificially. Jesus said that the greatest among us are those who serve others.

Make America great again? I’m all for it. As Jesus said, “Whosoever will be great among you shall be your servant.”

(An added afterthought from a few days later)

Perhaps a major factor is that my experiences in Indonesia with the USAID happened 20 years ago during the time George W. Bush was President. In recent times Progressive wokism has evidently permeated the organization and skewered it into something totally different from what it was.

 

A class at the camp of the saints

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I’ve just gotten back from a trip to northern Europe to see my kids and then a wonderful few days in Romania, at a get-together of Christian disciples, mostly East Europeans. I was asked if I would share a Bible class with the ones there and I was glad to do that. But I didn’t really know what I would share.

And then, as it happens in many situations, “It shall be given you in that hour what you shall speak” (Mark 13:11). Often the Lord can lead you to share on a subject that you had not planned to speak about. And it’s usually important to assess who your class is. Are they new to the faith? Mostly in need of the basics and fundamentals?

But when I was in Romania last week, it was almost the opposite. Nearly everyone there was a veteran of the faith, discipleship Christians who were often teachers themselves and mostly well versed in the milk of the Word, and even a lot of the meat. So I felt led to talk to them about things that I probably wouldn’t have to a different audience.

I’d been asked to share something on the subject of Bible prophecy and possibly where we are in the scheme of things, as Scripture portrays the playing out of human history leading up to the end of this age and the second coming of the Lord.

Most of the people at this get together had already viewed my video series on the prophecies of the Old Testament prophet, Daniel. So, all in all, it was rather like trying to teach a class to those at a somewhat advanced level of their Christian experience.

I know some of you were praying for me and I do believe the Lord was hearing and answering those prayers in the lead-up to that class. Thanks so much; the Lord really came through, perhaps more than I was expecting.

Before the class, I felt led to pull together a list of blog articles that I’ve written over the last 10 years or so, touching on some of the most common questions that people have when it comes to the subject of what Jesus was referring to when He told His disciples, “If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself…” (John 14:3).

And I should mention that for Christian disciples at the stage these dear ones were, classes like this are not for just accumulating knowledge. A fundamental goal for discipleship Christians is to be able to “give an answer to him that asks you” (I Peter 3:15). A verse that speaks of believers in the final days before the Lord’s return says this: “And they that understand among the people shall instruct many.” (Daniel 11:33) So, knowing how to “answer every man that asks you” is fundamental for those who truly want to serve the Lord.

I’ll include here some of the articles that I shared with these ones, primarily related to questions people have about the return of the Lord. Often you can hear folks say, “Oh, no man knows the day and hour.” Somehow many end up coming to the wrong conclusion about what the Lord meant there. Here’s an article I wrote about this that I shared the highlights of with my friends. https://www.propheciesofdaniel.com/no-man-knows-the-day-and-hour/

A similar thing people say on this subject, and they quote Jesus, is this: “It’s not for you to know the times and seasons…” It seems that often they are coming to conclusions on that verse that are not what it originally meant. Here’s an article I wrote about that. https://www.propheciesofdaniel.com/not-for-you-to-know-the-times-and-seasons/

And you may have heard someone surprisingly tell you something like, “Oh, Jesus actually returned to the earth in 70 AD!” How can you factually and tactfully reply to someone who is saying that? I shared this article with my friends on this subject and how they might respond.  https://www.propheciesofdaniel.com/jesus-returned-to-earth-in-70-a-d/

A question for many was, “How close are we?” “Can we tell in specifics how much longer it will be?” Big subject, big questions. Here’s what I shared about this, perhaps one of the articles that has been discussed the most,
https://www.propheciesofdaniel.com/whites-eyes/

Some there were curious to know what things are like in the States currently and how the culture wars here and the social tension is affecting Christian values and the cause of Christ. I shared with them an article about my own experiences here over the last year or so involving the local school district I’m in and the battle there for the hearts and minds of the young people who go the schools near me. Here’s an article I shared with my friends about that. https://markmcmillion.com/checking-your-local-school-board/

There were lots of other things we talked about but perhaps this will give you an idea of the class I shared and what folks there were interested in. All in all it was a really wonderful time to be away in the mountains of Romania and to be in fellowship with like-minded Christians who are endeavoring to serve the Lord and feed His sheep. I hope this is a blessing to you, thanks again for your interest and prayers.

Your friend,

Mark

PS  You might be interested to know what the atmosphere and mood was at a get-together like this of dedicated East European Christians. Seven years ago I was living in Romania and went to a similar gathering. Here’s an article I wrote about how that was.

https://markmcmillion.com/at-the-camp-of-the-saints-part-1/

Restored!

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I’ve had quite an adventure with Facebook recently. And there’s been a surprisingly happy ending. It started nearly 3 months ago when, out of the blue, Facebook notified me that they’d “paused” my ability to use Facebook advertising. I still had my account and could communicate with everybody. But my ability to post weekly ads on Facebook, to “boost” the videos and articles I’ve done, was stopped.

As some of you know, I’ve done a series of videos on the prophecies of Daniel in English and afterwards 3 of them have been done in 14 other languages. This is all part of a Christian ministry the Lord as led me into, to “feed His sheep”, as He told us to do. But primarily the method I’ve used to propagate these videos and blog articles to many countries has been Facebook.

At first it didn’t bother me as I’ve had things happen before with Facebook in the last 7 years I’ve been boosting videos with them. At those times, I complied with what they asked and things were resolved in a few days. This time it looked to be the same. They said there appeared to be some anomaly with my payment method and they were pausing my account for my protection. They told me a few things to do, which I did, and I waited for it all to work out. Days passed and I wrote again. They wrote back, basically asking me to be patient. Days turned into weeks.

And perhaps I should explain why this began to get personal to me. Everyone talks about identity nowadays. So many now say, “I identify as a …”. OK, I identify as a Christian missionary. That fundamentally is who and what I am. And I’ve been thrilled over recent years to see how the Lord has made it so that I’ve been able to make these videos and articles and then to be able to publish them to a worldwide audience. There’s been nothing commercial in this; I’ve never monetized the material. But it’s been deeply rewarding to know that there have been a lot of people who’ve viewed the videos and shared them with others.

For this cause, it sort of began to get to me that this means and method of making the videos available worldwide had suddenly stopped. It was soon into the second month of not hearing back from Facebook. And, yes, thoughts did begin to arise in my mind. Had Facebook cut me off? Was my material too radical, had my local activities somehow raised red flags?

At length I began to explore some companies that are specialists at resolving things like this. Basically it comes down to finding some way to communicate with a business so big that they do virtually everything through algorithms and it’s almost infinitely difficult to contact a live person. I talked to one specialist and he mentioned that I’d perhaps been “shadow banned”, a new word to me. It seems it’s a little like what I wrote about in “Ghosted”. Sometimes you just get cut off or cut out by a person, or a company, and you never really get a straight reason why.

But when I looked again at the message Facebook had sent me, it didn’t come across like that. They said it was some payment issue, some kind of glitch that could be easily resolved if perhaps some human being just looked at it all briefly. And just to mention it, during this time Facebook has been going through a major internal restructuring and has laid off thousands of staff. This may have been a factor in what happened to me.

I was into my second month of not hearing from Facebook. Meanwhile I was praying desperately and asking others to do the same. And the Lord really answered and came through, here’s what happened. Over twenty years ago I was on one of the many mission fields I’ve been on and part of what I did there was to teach Bible classes and do home school teaching to the children of fellow missionaries there.

One of my students was a young lady, 12 years old at the time. I’ve kept in contact with her mom over the years and a month or so ago she mentioned that actually her daughter now lives in the same city as me and that she’d like to meet up with me, if that could work out.

So we met up and it was great to see her again, now all grown up. We talked for hours and she mentioned in passing that she’d worked for one of the largest technology companies in the world. So I shared with her what had happened with me and Facebook, mentioning to her that it seemed like I’d perhaps been “shadow banned”.

It was something she knew something about. And then she told me she had a friend who works at a company and that perhaps she could talk to him about my problem. Bingo!! Well, it wasn’t bingo right away but it was a glimmer of hope that I’d not had till then. In a few days she contacted me to say that sometimes these things really almost never got resolved. But that there were ways for ones on the inside to sort of “push people up the queue”.

Long story short, within a week or so I began to get feedback from Facebook that I’d not received up till then. And within about 10 days, everything was resolved! Now that may not sound like much of a miracle to you but for me, it was a pretty big deal. I’m now back to doing my weekly Facebook ads to countries and language groups around the world and it’s just a huge relief to be restored to the place I was 3 months ago, to be able to continue to minister in the way the Lord has provided for years now.

I really did get hit with a lot of conspiracy theory thoughts while this was going on. And I’m not discounting that nefarious stuff goes on all the time. But in this case it’s just been so encouraging to see the Lord come through with one of His “tricks” , putting me in contact with someone who knew someone who was able to do what needed to be done, when all other avenues had failed.

I hope that’s an encouragement to you. Even in this increasingly clouded and techno-dominated world of now, the good God is still able to intervene and fix things when it’s according to His will. Glory to God!

Seeing light through the mists

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Without God, life can be like being nibbled to death by ducks. The enemies of our soul want to exhaust you and wear you down with distractions, vanities, “rabbit trails” and meaninglessness. Without God, you ultimately crumble, surrender to the fog and become numb within the mists you’ve come to live in. Certainly, this is not the will of God.

But then tonight, it was like a fresh wind from God that blew through the house. We watched the movie about the “Free Burma Rangers”. It’s the story of a man from Texas who was raised on the mission field of Thailand but then felt led to become a soldier. After having become an elite “Rangers” member of the US military, he felt the call of God to use his training and Christian/military background to help the marginalized peoples of Burma.

It specially spoke to me as this man, with his wife and 3 children beside him, has lived a life of zealous Christian discipleship which has been similar to what I’ve experienced at times in my life on the mission field.

This movie touched me on so many levels. While I‘ve not had exactly the same life as this man and his family, I could very much relate to their commitment to the Lord and their willingness to put their lives on the line for Him in very extreme situations in the hinterland of Myanmar (Burma) for years and then in northern Iraq at the height of the ISIS threat there.

It made me reflect on where I’m at now. I’m still amazed at what the Lord has done in the last year to make it possible for me to get the first house I’ve ever owned in my life, against the backdrop of a crazy housing market in central Texas at this time. Plus the Lord has put me together with a couple I met barely a year ago who now rent two rooms from me here who I get along with very well and with whom I share a background of Christian discipleship faith. So “the Lord has done great things for us, whereof we are glad.” (Psalm 126:3)

At the same time, this movie about these dedicated people at the very front of Christian discipleship in Burma and Iraq helped remind me to not “sit at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1), as is so normal and acceptable to do here in Christian circles in America. The movie reminded me of my calling and background, my experience and all that the Lord has invested in me and all I can still be used by Him to do, if I will be cautious to not get comfortable and settled in this present wonderful situation I’m in.

Desperation often brings on a clarity that comfort and ease really doesn’t. There’s so much confusion and vanity that every person here in my country is mightily assailed by every day. It’s like living in mists that effectively obscure spiritual realties. So we can end up quibbling about trifles while the starkest realities of the spiritual world mostly escape us in all the Babylonian chatter of our daily lives.

But this movie tonight about this dear, precious man was a bit of a shakeup and a reminder of my calling and life up to this time. Jesus said, “No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) Or it’s like the old prophet and the young prophet (Kings 13). The young prophet was really going great for the Lord. But then he took time out to rest under the shade of a tree, in direct disobedience to God, and this was his undoing.

One of the greatest dangers to Christians in my country is the incredible surge of sickening swill and sludge that flows at us night and day through every organ of the media. It’s virtually all tainted, brackish and deeply polluted by any number of agendas and outlets, trying to sell you their viewpoint or product.

Strange as it may seem, counter-intuitive as you might think it to be, those dear people in the jungles of Burma or the poor souls who were assailed for years by ISIS in Iraq and Syria had a leg up on many of us here. Because they didn’t have to try to sort out reality from fiction. The enemy was right there, real and clear and in their faces, ready to literally kill them physically right then.

It wonderfully concentrates the mind in situations like that. I haven’t experienced it a lot but I definitely have from time to time in my encounters on some far flung mission fields. It quickens you, clears your mind and mostly gets you very desperate as you are face to face with forces greater than you. And you realize perhaps as much as ever before how very much you desperately need at that moment the presence and power of God. Or you may die in the next minute. [Here’s an article I wrote about when I was about to venture into a city on the Syrian border when ISIS was at its peak and how desperate prayer was a life or death matter.]

But are most people in my country experiencing that right now? No. Sadly another manifestation of Satan assails them and for the most part utterly defeats them: lulling distractions, “the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25), meaningless political debates and diverse vanities that suck the air out of our lives and the clarity of the Spirit out of our hearts.

It was a real wake up call for me tonight to watch “Free Burma Rangers”. I’d better not get drawn in to the allurements and futility of “this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4), but instead keep my eyes on the Lord and my commitment to His cause.

 

Empty Fields

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In early September I was alone, far off in a vast field of grain on my birthday, in eastern Norway. Suddenly, all that I saw around me took on a deeper meaning and spoke to me.  A large harvester combine stood alone in a half harvested field. Someone had started harvesting but then stopped. I looked at the ripe golden grain waving in the field, with storm clouds on the horizon. But no one was there. I was struck with sadness and I think this must be how the Lord often sees things in this world.

Jesus told His disciples, “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:35) And He was not talking about wheat, barley and rye. He was talking about the harvest of souls, the multitudes who were ready to come to Him and the kingdom of heaven. But they needed someone to gather them in, to lead them to salvation in Jesus and nurture them in the new life prepared for them.

I didn’t start crying that morning but I easily could have. Where were the laborers? Someone had walked off and left the crop in the field. And sadly this is exactly how it is right now in the lives of many laborers, as well as many fields all over this world.

I felt so very thankful, on my birthday, how that the Lord has presevered me over many years, not just physically but also He’s somehow kept my faith from being snuffed out and I’m still involved in sowing, reaping, harvesting and feeding His sheep, now (thank you, Jesus) in many countries and many languages by means of web sites, videos and cyber space.

It’s all by His grace. But also I could have given up many times. I could have shrugged my shoulders, figured I’d done enough, and turned to enjoy the rest of my life in my home country, eating barbeque, drinking beer and watching the games.

OK, sometimes I do those things. But my vision, goal and passion are still what they have been over many decades: to be of service to the Lord in winning souls and feeding His sheep. But I know of many fields like I saw on my birthday, standing in the sun but with no laborers. There was even a huge machine nearby that could be used. But no one was there. Jeremiah said one time, “The summer is past, the harvest is ended and we are not saved.” (Jeremiah 8:20) What a sad verse.

I believe “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”. I think we are called to not only believe in Jesus but to serve Him. And that doesn’t mean voting for the correct political party. That means to feed His sheep, to nourish His little ones, to do all we can to witness, win souls and take care of the results. Not to leave fields of grain waving unto the horizon until they turn rotten in the encroaching winters.

I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable here but maybe I should say more since that is what I feel I was hearing from the Lord that morning. Are you a harvester who has left the field? Do you know how to share the gospel with others, to lead people to Christ, to feed His sheep? Are you still doing that?

“Well, Mark, I’m old. I did that for years but I got tired. People were not nice to me, they didn’t appreciate me, my family mocked me for doing that and even some of the ones I worked with on the field were mean and false brethren. So, no. I’m not interested in that anymore.”

Sadly I believe there are a lot of folks who think that in their hearts, even if they don’t say it out loud. Or maybe you are saying, “But Mark, I’m not a missionary like you have been. I just go to church on Sunday, listen to the sermon and then try to be a nice person. Isn’t that enough, Mark? It’s not my responsibility to witness to others, is it Mark? That’s our pastor’s job.”

All this would seem to be logical, reasonable and acceptable until we look at the words of Jesus. It says of Him, “When He saw the multitude, He was moved with compassion upon them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) He was just as human as any of us. But Jesus’ heart stayed fixed on the love He had and the vision He had of the lost, despairing humanity He saw before Him. And most of you reading this have that same Jesus in your hearts right now.

Yes, you may have labored faithfully years ago in some fields, witnessed and won souls to Christ and fed His sheep. But the need is still very much there.

Even the methods have gotten easier in some ways. I’m finding that some of these extremely difficult fields that would be almost impossible for me to visit safely are now actually open through the internet. And I’m finding young people of those nations and languages who are longing to know more about the things of God, if only someone will explain it to them.

Maybe this is a sad article, you say. Not really uplifting and encouraging, as you were hoping it would be. Well, God does encourage us and uplift us. But also He can at times plead with us and implore us to not leave our plows in the field, as Jesus talked about in Luke 9:62. “No man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

And I should certainly add that “the field” doesn’t have to mean some distant foreign country. For most of us, the field is right where we live, the lives we interact with each day or those we can come in contact with in our personal witnessing. These are the ones we should see as our field that we are called to labor in.

Every single one of us is so very needed by the Lord in His service, to lay down our lives and take up our cross and follow Him. “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few. Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.’” (Matthew 9:37 & 38)

It was a sad birthday picture that the Lord brought meaning to on my walk that morning. So few are laboring to bring in the harvest of souls who wait for the message of salvation in these, their times. Abandoned fields, abandoned harvester combines and evidently lost harvests. Please pray that He will quicken the hearts of the harvesters (maybe you?) to return to their callings and jobs. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:29)

Back in Brazil

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When people ask me, “What’s your favorite country that you’ve been in?” I’ve often said “Brazil”. I was here 20 years ago and now I’m back to do recordings for the video series I do. It’s a funny feeling, almost like meeting a girlfriend from your past that you actually really liked and hit it off with but somehow it just didn’t work out. Still, you parted as good friends.

Twenty years ago Brazil virtually amazed me as one of the happiest, friendliest, most sincerely Christian places I’d ever been in. It was almost like, “What can I do here? I think almost everyone is saved, filled with the Holy Ghost and rejoicing in the Lord.” Of course I knew it wasn’t really, totally like that. But it was striking how many people in Brazil had a real peace and joy in the Lord.

So, like meeting that girlfriend after 20 years, you wonder how it will be and how she will be. And of course, Brazil, like the hypothetical girlfriend, has changed. The country had years of what can be called Leftist leadership which ended up not turning out very well. Recently they’ve followed the pattern in countries around the world in electing a Conservative, pro-business president.

Still, I definitely can feel that tingle and aura I felt here before. Meeting old friends from earlier times, seeing how they’re doing, how they’re keeping the faith and dealing with the vicissitudes of life, it impresses me how their spiritual roots remain deep in the Lord. There’s like a depth and stability about the people here that I don’t often find other places.

But there are still big problems. One of the main ones is simply armed crime. “Stick-ups”. There’s a large class of very poor people and often crime seems to them to be the only solution. So you pull up to the stop light with your window down and the guy comes up to you with a gun. He’s say something like, “Sir, I’m sorry. Give me your money or I will shoot you.” Some folks even have $50 or so they keep in their car for these emergencies. You give it to the guy, he thanks you, apologies again and you drive off. And then sometimes it doesn’t work out as nicely and simply as that.

This is not a panegyric for Brazil. The heart of man is the same the world over and people have sin in their lives and heart, everywhere. And yet, as the Bible says, some peoples and nations stay closer to the Lord. There is “an evil and adulterous generation” (Matthew 12:39) as Jesus said of those who were in His times. But then David said “God is in the generation of the righteous” (Psalm 14:5).

My impression is that Brazilians in many ways are still holding on to the faith and truth that they have in the Lord perhaps better and more faithfully than some of the other modern nations of the world. And so the Lord can and does bless them for this.

There’s just something about genuine faith in God, or the lack of it. It even says in the Bible, amazingly, about Jesus, “He could do no might works there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:58) The Son of God Himself was hindered by the unbelief He encountered. But equally and conversely, He often eliminated all but only His most believing disciples from some place before He raised the dead or did other miracles. And this works on a larger scale. “Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34)

Here in Brazil there’s just a lot of faith in God and love for the Lord. Yes, there is stark poverty, crime, and violence as well as endemic illiteracy. And yet…, and yet there are these other more ethereal intangibles in the way of faith, joy and warmth that are so often noticed and appreciated by people like me who come from afar and who sense that these rather heavenly essences are strong here.

Well, the recording I came to do has been going well and I’ll soon be on my way again. I don’t really have any great lesson or teaching to share in this post. I just try to keep friends aware of what’s going on with me from time to time and that’s what this post is.

I guess we all know things about ourselves to some degree, our strengths as well as weaknesses. And I think the thing is, the people of Brazil are perhaps strong in areas that I don’t feel are my strong points. So often things come down to the heart and soul, not the mind. I find people here to have a pretty good mix of those three, heart, soul and mind. They seem to be relaxed but at the same time not really lazy.

Therefore it’s almost a little like going to a kind of school of life here for me , while also being idyllic in climate and geography. Forgive me if I’m just being too positive. There definitely are problems here but also it’s got a touch and taste of heaven that I don’t often find in other places.

Elections in Sweden

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There will be elections here in Sweden in a few days. Much of the nation is caught up with it as seemingly fundamental changes are in motion here, as they are across Europe and in the USA as well. Answers and explanations that were taken as givens for generations in Sweden, and in other countries in Europe, are now being seen to no longer be sufficient for these times. Political parties that dominated the landscape for decades are crumbling or in disarray and new movements and forces seem to have better answers and explanations for the challenges that have arisen in recent times.

And of course, if you’re reading this in the States, this can all sound familiar. For the last 100 years in America, the only two political choices have been “Democrats” and “Republicans”. But what do those words mean now? And the same kinds of questions without answers are on the minds of people here in Sweden and in Europe. “Left”? “Right”? “Neo-Nazi”? “Feminist”? “Social Democrat”? “Conservative”? “Liberal”? For very many, those words are much more fudged and hazy than they’ve almost ever been before.

Bob Dylan once sang, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” But I think that, in these times, many folks would be more than glad to find a competent and prescient “weatherman”, someone to make sense of these times, to rise above the petty and false in order to bring order out of chaos and wise explanations that ring true and break things down to simple clarity.

I’m personally trying to find clarity, through prayer and God’s Word, but also from competent, objective commentators in media sources worldwide. But it does look strongly like a storm is upon many nations , “the sea and the waves roaring and men’s hearts failing them for fear of those things which shall come to pass.” (Luke 21:25 & 26)

Confusion mixed with fear is a horrible thing. Of course those here in Sweden, as well as those in most of the rest of Europe and in North America, know virtually nothing of fear and confusion compared to the ones I met on the Turkish-Syrian border now almost 4 years ago, in Reyhanli. Friends I spoke to there had had barrel bombs dropped on their house and so had fled their country, as have millions of Syrians in these last years. We, the blessed in the West, have known no war in our lands since before I was born after World War II.

But still, there is much confusion in these times, and fear. The United States is now said to be more divided politically than at any time since the Civil War that took place between 1860 and 1865. I’ve sat in adult Sunday school classes in Texas where the discussion was on ways to openly, militarily defy and oppose in armed combat the United States government. There’s an underlying tension that has become the order of the day in America now. No one really knows where things will go and how things will develop between the increasingly strident extremes of Left and Right, Progressive and Conservative.

For me, the greatest call of allegiance in my heart is to Jesus Christ and His coming Kingdom on earth. That’s my sheet anchor of truth, morals, ethics and priorities. And some would say then that of course that means that you must fully put yourself down on the side of Right wing American political forces. You must be at the forefront of the cultural battle that rages and even be willing to “take up arms to take back our nation.”

But I’m not. Right wing American politics is just as laden with sin as is the Left. Different sins, certainly; but the quantity is about equal. So I don’t believe political activity is what Jesus Christ is leading me to do. Sometimes the very best any of us can do is just to “be still and know that I am God”, as the Lord told David in Psalm 46:10. If we do enter into unprecedented times, if some kind of social upheaval takes place in American or even other countries in the next months or years, my personal opinion is that the best thing I can do is to “dwell in the secret place of the most high” and “abide under the shadow of the almighty”. (Psalm 91:1) If a state of siege or martial law sweeps these lands, more than ever people will need friends to show them that there’s a greater stability and verifiable truth in the eternal God of Abraham and in His risen Son, Jesus of Nazareth. “Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound.” (Romans 5:20)  “God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” (I Corinthians 14:33)

These are confusing, troubling, changing times and so much that seemed to be foundational is now found to be shaking or already destroyed. All the more then should each person cling to the greater truths of the Bible that says, “When my spirit is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is greater than I.” (Psalm 61:2) “God is our refugee and strength, a very present help in the time of trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.” (Psalm 46:1 & 2)

“Kiss the crucifix!”

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My Bulgarian friends know a high school student who told them he always wears a crucifix because he’s not ashamed of his faith. But also he sometimes holds out his crucifix to Muslim high school students and tells them, “Kiss the crucifix!” And he told my friends, if those people don’t kiss the crucifix, he pulls his knife on them!

I had such a mixed set of emotions when I heard of this. And it all has really stuck with me. For one, I sort of admire any young man who’s not ashamed of his faith in these so bedarkened days in Europe. In some places it’s even illegal to wear a crucifix anymore in this part of the world. But this young man is evidently bold and unashamed of being a Christian. God bless him for that.

However, many of us would draw back at some of the steps he’s taking to spread the faith. Religious coercion has a long sad history, both the Christian and the Muslim kind, and it’s certainly not the way Jesus taught His followers to win people to God’s ways. In fact, when you sort of take it apart, what this dear young man has been doing reminds me of the verse that says, “They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” (Romans 10:2)

My impression, when knowing a little of the background, is that this young man is trying to do what he feels is right. And there probably is some sincerity in his efforts to win his Muslim classmates to faith in Christ. But also, most of us know that kissing a crucifix isn’t going to save your soul. And pulling a knife on those who won’t kiss the crucifix isn’t going to compel them to receive the truth and love that Jesus shared.

But all this really did get me thinking. It’s like the verse I’ve shared a few times, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) Did this young man really think that getting his Muslim classmates to kiss his crucifix was going to save their souls? My sad guess is that the young man himself probably has only a faint concept of salvation in Christ and even less an idea of how to win the lost to Him.

Last Sunday I was speaking to the church here that I’ve spoken in a few times before when I’ve visited Bulgaria. The story of this young man caused me to wonder how much folks actually understand what it means to be saved and to become a “new creature in Christ” (II Corinthians 5:17). So I spoke to the ones on Sunday about this local young man’s attempts to compel his non-Christian classmates to become Christians by this outward act of kissing a crucifix. And we went over such basic verses about salvation as Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your house.”

I mentioned to the ones here that it was the wise witnessing of some teenagers nearly 50 years ago who showed me from the Bible the plan of salvation. I just can’t get it off my mind that this Bulgarian teenager here was, in his quirky way, trying to stand up for Jesus and even win others to the Lord. And yet he was so uninformed about how to go about it that probably little if any good was done. And perhaps it even offended and stumbled those who he evidently compelled to kiss the cross around his neck.

My, oh my, how much sound and basic teaching is needed about such crucial, fundamental subjects as salvation itself and how to share the truths of God with others. Jesus even said, “Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be full.” (Luke 14:23)  But we can be certain that Jesus never meant us to use the threat of violence to compel souls to receive the Lord. And the Lord didn’t push outward rituals like kissing a cross to be a substitute for opening our hearts to Him and His truth in order to receive the saving power of His grace.

It all reminds me of a haunting series of verses that often came to my mind back when I was a young Christian, from Amos 8:11-13. “Behold the days come says the Lord that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread or a thirst for water but of hearing the word of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.”

How heartbreaking that is and it’s not just something that happened in the time of Amos. So many today die without a knowledge of God or instruction in His ways. Do you know the basics of salvation and how to share it with others? Are you feeding His sheep and pouring out the spiritual riches you have with ones who have so little and are hungering and thirsting after righteousness? May God help and have mercy on us all.