"A Challenge to Re-kindle THE VISION"

Yesterday we "revisited" our vision statement. We try to do this frequently, but we take a day once a year to really focus on it and remind us of our true purpose as Christians. We looked at Jesus' vision for His disciples in Acts 1:8. We talked about how the command was to start in Jerusalem, the capital of the nation, and from there the message would spread into Judea, then up to Samaria and eventually it would spread "to the ends of the earth". We look at how simple multiplication shows us that if each one of us could reach just 4 people a year and we would teach them, 2 Tim. 2:2, to reach 4 a year, the church could EXPLODE in less than a generation! It's exciting to consider the possibilities and to dream big for God. The above picture are the book markers that Chris made to help the congregation remember the vision. The idea was that they could place this in their Bible, on the fridge, in their car or wherever so that the vision would be remembered and not forgotten. There are so many stories in the Bible where the "dream/vision" was quickly lost and/or forgotten by the following generation. Our desire is to share the passion for the Lord with those who are receiving salvation, so that they will continue on in this dream.

About 3 years ago, I was visiting my grandmother Wanda Gary, of course we all call her GIGI. She encouraged me to go through my grandfather's many books and find some that I would like to take with me. I grabbed a few, but one in particular caught my eye. The title alone was exactly what I wanted to learn about it. "Discipling: The Multiplying Ministry" by Milton Jones. If you don't have a copy, FIND ONE!!! It will probably be hard to come by since they are out of print, but there's a good chance your church library has one somewhere collecting dust. The book is genius in it's look at the plan Jesus left for us to spread the gospel "to the ends of the earth". There are multiple examples in the Bible of a man teaching a hand full of men and those men in turn teaching others. Some how that "got by me" in reading my Bible all these years, but this book really helps put all those examples together and shows us the pattern we are to follow.

This plan has been "our plan" from the beginning of this mission effort. We are seeking to work with a "co-leader" that we can teach to do what we do. The idea is that all our activities, responsibilities, and practically everything we do can be reduplicated for the future growth of the church. In other words, if the church couldn't reduplicate an evangelistic "light show" (for example), then we wouldn't do it. If the cost for an event would be too high for the church to attain, we wouldn't attempt it. If bringing in a speaker from the states every week isn't the best for the church or is impossible to be duplicated, we wouldn't consider it. We have made it our goal as missionaries to do things culturally relevant and culturally attractive, so that more souls might be won. Please continue to pray for Leon Sur as we march forward and "recast the vision"!