December 9, 2025 • 42 mins
What if missions felt less like pressure and more like partnership with the Father? We open Scripture in Romans 10, then show how grace—not guilt—can send, equip, and sustain real work in hard places. From a CarePoint in Cuyotenango, Guatemala to pastors’ networks in India, a growing Bible college in Nepal, and a grassroots movement in Pakistan, you’ll hear how small, faithful steps turn into lasting change when the Spirit leads.
In Guatemala, Children’s HopeChest empowers kids and families with tutoring, talent nights that celebrate gifts, and women’s basket-making courses launched with local partners. In India, a coffee shop friendship grew into conferences and translations of Simple Grace in Hindi and Telugu, helping leaders shift from rule-keeping to relationship with Jesus. Nepal’s Evangelical Christian College—born during lockdown—now trains dozens of students and pastors for church planting, proving that courage and clarity can thrive even under pressure.
Pakistan may be the most unexpected door of all. After a young leader translated Simple Grace into Urdu, Many pastors in Karachi gathered to learn and connect. The team now serves rural Sindh, where villages welcome teaching on the gospel of grace, supported by practical love like clean-water wells that cost about $150 each. This is missions that honors people, builds trust, and makes space for the good news to be heard.
Our strategy stays simple: listen to God’s word, walk by the Spirit, and act from relationship. No arm-twisting. No plates passed. Just a clear invite to pray, give, or go as the Father leads. Want to take a next step? Scan the QR codes, learn more about each partner, and ask God how you can participate. If this moved you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review to help others find these stories of grace on the move.
Check out website for the new Missions Page. onetwochurch.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:53):
All right, so today we're studying, well we're not
studying, but we're we'relooking at it's our 2025
International Missions Week.
So we're gonna be talking abouta bunch of stuff.
But I want to start in the Wordof God and just give you a
little bit of context.
In Romans chapter 10, verse 14and 15, it says, How can how
then can they call on the onethey have not believed in, and
(01:16):
how can they believe in the onethey have not heard?
And how can they hear withoutsomeone preaching to them?
And how can anyone preach unlessthey are sent?
As it is written, how beautifulare the feet of those who bring
the good news.
So this verse teaches us thatit's it's vital, it's important
(01:39):
to send and support those peoplewho are called to share the
gospel.
You might call themmissionaries, you might call
them just whatever you want tocall them, uh, but there are
people who have been sent allaround the world, uh near and
far, it doesn't have to beanother country, it could be
anything, uh, but they're calledto share the the gospel.
(02:01):
And so what this says is that weall are partners in every gospel
work going on around the world.
Every single one of us.
So even though if you have nevergone to share the gospel, if
you're a believer, you cansupport that work in many ways
(02:21):
and be part of it.
In fact, God says that He willshare the rewards with everyone
who supports missionaries.
So the rewards, whatever rewardslook like for what they uh
achieve or the people they leadto Jesus, we can share in that
by our prayers and whateverother support we offer uh to
these missionaries.
(02:42):
And so um the entire body ofChrist is on the same mission.
Some people are called to pickup and move, sacrifice, and
other people are called to stayand send.
And today we're gonna be talkingmostly about that sending part
because I don't think many ofyou are planning on picking up
and moving to Pakistan.
(03:05):
If you want to, let me know.
I got a guy.
But and the reason why this allmatters is because we've been
learning about the new covenantof grace.
Okay?
And in grace, supportingmissions is vitally important
because we are participating inGod's work of reconciliation and
(03:25):
sharing his love and his gracewith others.
God has enough grace to forgiveevery single human being on this
entire planet.
It's not difficult for him.
It's not twisting his arm.
He has enough grace to forgiveanybody.
He has enough grace to forgiveall sin, all the terrible stuff
that they're doing in NorthKorea.
(03:45):
He can forgive, he can wipe itout, he can restore them.
All the terrible stuff.
You pick the place, you can pickAmerica if you want.
We need missionaries too.
Right?
All right, so with grace, whatwe do is we are working together
to make Christ known, to tellpeople about God's free grace,
(04:06):
and so that's what themissionaries are doing.
Okay, so I want to give areminder, because if you
remember last week we talkedabout, we talked about giving.
Okay, so does this go with lastweek?
Well, a little bit, but I wantyou to remember that everything
we talk about today, so we'regonna talk about different
opportunities that you can haveto participate in different
(04:26):
missions around the world.
Um remember that this is allbetween you and your father.
So I am not asking you to give.
Remember, I said I'll never askyou to give, we'll never we
don't pass the plate, we don'tever ask you to give.
I trust God to provide for myfor me, because I'm kind of like
a missionary.
Okay, and as a church, we'regonna trust God completely 100%.
(04:48):
We're never gonna ask ormanipulate anything.
If you ever want to participatein what we do as a church or
other missions, you have to gohave a conversation with your
father.
Because we're not earningblessings here.
You're not you're not more lovedif you give, you're not less
loved if you don't.
You have a father who loves youand he's gonna inspire you.
(05:13):
I hope that today you hearsomething that inspires you
deeply in the heart, and thenyou have a conversation with
your father and say, Father, howwould you like me to participate
in that?
And he can tell you what thatlooks like, whether it's praying
for them, having conversationsand spreading the news about
(05:33):
them, or whatever other way hemay help you.
Okay, so we're gonna look atfour different ways that you can
participate.
And the first one is calledChildren's Hope Chest.
We got some videos that we'regonna see.
So uh before you start thevideo, we're we're be patient
(05:55):
with us, we're working throughsome some stuff here.
But basically, I've beensponsoring a child through
Children's Hope Chest forseveral years now.
And it's at a location calledCayutengo, Cuyotang, Cuyo
Tenango.
It's a city in Guatemala, andthey're called Care Points, and
(06:16):
uh so it's basically this thismission organization goes and
they sponsor kids and then theybuild a little community thing
that you're gonna see.
Um, so I've talked to them andthey have set aside a little
area of the work that they dofor our church to be the partner
of.
So it's not actually thesponsoring the kids part, but
they have some other additionalparts.
(06:37):
So we're gonna be as a church,we're gonna be supporting this
work down there, and they'regonna be doing a tutoring center
and some other educational stufffor the kids there in Cuyo
Tenango.
I said it right that time.
And um, so I'm really excited,and and this can involve we may
go on trips down there.
(06:58):
They they have trips that theyset up all the time, and so we
may do trips to go down thereand visit and help them with
certain specific things.
Um, so with that said, let'sbegin with this conversation or
this uh this video.
SPEAKER_03 (07:16):
Children growing up in poverty in Guatemala are
facing difficult situations.
Violence, crime, drugs, gettinginvolved in a gag or being
trafficked.
We see families struggling withthe same issues generation after
generation.
(07:36):
What earth we as body of Christare here to tell families you
can break that cycle.
SPEAKER_06 (08:05):
This is our house.
Most of the children come from areally uh vulnerable situation.
We have a cross report, tinwalls, but we have electricity.
Yes, I like my house.
They don't have access to foodsecurity, good education.
Most of the children will leaveschool at sixth grade.
(08:28):
They have a hard time leaving.
SPEAKER_03 (08:32):
And it is like a ripple effect.
If you transform the life of achild, you can transform the
life of their families and oftheir communities.
SPEAKER_02 (09:35):
Cool.
So I've I've met the people thatrun this place, they're actually
based in Colorado Springs, andso Alt Ket, uh, he's he's from
um Ethiopia.
And anyway, I met him inColorado Springs at a coffee
shop, and this is how God likeput this together in my life.
So I met him and then we starteduh chatting, and uh I learned
how they do their ministry, andI was just so so impressed.
(09:58):
Like, you know, when you uh youyou other uh children's
sponsorship organizations, theydo it a certain way, and it's
not bad, but you choose thechildren.
But the way they do it is theyput the American families and
they give you a packet, and thenthe children choose you, and and
then you build a relationship.
So when I when I started uhsponsoring uh the guy, the the
(10:20):
little guy who who we sponsor,his name is Josue.
And really funny story.
So when my son Jordan startedkindergarten, uh he he goes to
school and comes home, and we'relike, who's your best friend?
And he's like, Josue.
And we're like, you mean Jose?
And he's like, No, it's Josue.
And I like we're like, Jordan,no.
(10:41):
We've never heard that namebefore.
Obviously, you're justmispronouncing it.
It's Jose.
And he's like, No, mom, it's nodad, it's Josue.
We didn't believe him for liketwo months, right?
And we go to meet his teacherfor parent-teacher conferences,
and she's like, Oh yeah, hisbest friend Josue, Josue.
And I was like, Oh, we're sorry,buddy.
(11:02):
So, and then our kid ended upbeing named Josue.
So that was a really funnystory.
Um okay.
Uh this is a this is a littleinformative kind of interview
that they did with uh the thelady up there in the top is the
is the one in charge of thespecific care point, the
specific city that we're gonnabe supporting.
(11:23):
Uh so I want to play thisinterview for you so you can
just kind of get someinformation here.
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
There you go.
All right.
Hola, friends, we are so excitedto be together for this update.
Turning it over to Mafa inGuatemala.
SPEAKER_00 (11:41):
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Uh, we thank God um for thisopportunity um to see everything
that is happening at theCuyotenango Care Point, um,
where we work with um so muchlove to um bless the community
and also to contribute to thephysical, the cognitive, the
(12:05):
spiritual, and social-emotionaldevelopment of the children who
are part of the option program.
Um it brings me with uh greatjoy to share with you today some
of the recent activities uh thathave taken place.
Um I will like to begin withthis much anticipated event, the
(12:27):
talent night.
This is a day where the childrenuh they were able to showcase
some of many of the gifts thatGod has given them.
Um there were performances inscene being, dancing, drawing,
among other talents.
They had a panel of judges thatum awarded the top three places
(12:52):
in each category, and all thechildren were encouraged to
continue developing and usingtheir abilities and their gifts
to serve and bless others.
It was a night filled with joy,with gratitude, and unity.
In September, we celebrateindependence.
(13:15):
This is a time when schoolsorganize many activities to
express the pride of beingGuatemalan.
Despite the challenges ourcountry faces, we firmly believe
that Guatemala is a country fullof opportunities and wonderful
(13:37):
people who are eager to thrivein life.
Um, as every year, the CarePointum had a special event with the
children in the tutoring programto recognize those who have
excelled academically in theirschools.
They were recognized uh fortheir efforts and the
(13:59):
dedication, and also they wereencouraged to continue being
role models for others in theircommunity.
Um as part of the economicempowerment initiative, uh we
have started a basket um makingcourse thanks to the partnership
(14:23):
that we have with the Ministryof Um Agriculture.
Um, it's called MAGA.
This project will benefit 25women, including uh mothers of
the children at the CarePointand also other um community
members.
This training will be um carriedout in two phases.
(14:46):
The first one that will belasting one month.
Um it will have uh weeklysessions focused on learning the
technique, and also the secondphase that will also last for
one month uh will be led uh byone of the participants and will
be focused on uh improving thetechnique and also gaining
(15:09):
business knowledge.
This uh this project is a clearexample of women's empowerment
and community involvement.
Um, the participating women arecontributing um to purchase some
equipment that they will beusing while the MAGA is
(15:31):
providing the point person thatis leading the training and
HopeJess is supporting with thematerials.
Um in addition, the CarePointhad um a meeting with the
leadership team.
Uh, we believe that a true andlasting transformation happens
when the community takesownership of the process and the
(15:55):
local leaders um step up and uhthey participate in shaping
their future.
Um in this group we have um arepresentative of the parents,
we have um the CarePoint staffand leaders, and also members
from the COCODE.
Um, the COCODE is the CommunityDevelopment Council, and this
(16:17):
meeting um stressens our workand reinforce our commitment to
the holistic development of thecommunity.
Um lastly, I want to share withyou that this month during the
parenting school, um, theycelebrate uh Family Day.
(16:37):
It was a very special time wheremany families they gathered to
share meaningful time together.
Um the word of God wasn't here,uh they had a lot of activities,
they had competitions, they uhsome of them they won some
prizes, um, they also hadpinatas, and and of course at
(16:59):
the end they enjoy uh adelicious meal.
It was a very special moment uhthat strengthened uh both family
and community bonds.
And um for um us is always uhvery important to share our
gratefulness to all our prayerfriends for your continued
(17:21):
support, uh, for your love andfor your prayers.
May God bless each one of you.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02 (17:29):
All right, woo.
You can close that one down.
All right, so we're gonna put upa QR code now.
Um, and so if you would like toget uh connected uh with them or
find out more information, thisQR code is gonna take you to
their website where you can umuh find out more information.
So I'm gonna put it up at theend also.
(17:50):
So I want to see everyone withtheir little cell phones out.
I want to see your get yourcamera and scan it, and at least
you'll have the website in therein case you think about it later
and you want to go check outwhat they're doing.
Um so as a church, we're gonnasupport them a bit.
Um, but you can also supportthem if you would like uh and be
part of praying and getting theupdates and stuff, at least
(18:12):
getting the information would besuper important.
Okay, so we're gonna move onnow.
Um so I am very, very passionateabout international missions and
uh specifically ministry, and soI actually want to share with
you guys that I have anotherministry that I I run, and uh
it's called Simple Grace.
Um the website issimplegrace.life.
(18:34):
And that as a church, we willnot support simplegrace.life
because I run both of those andit's like total conflict of
interest, okay?
So we're not gonna do that.
Um, but I'm very passionateabout what we do, and so I want
to share it with you in case youwant to uh see what we got going
on.
Uh and these next three arethings that I'm very, very
(18:56):
passionate about, and they'rerelationships that have sprung
out of this ministry that I'vebeen doing for about three years
of training pastors and anddoing these um this missions
work uh that I've been doing thelast three years.
And so the person I want to Iwant to talk to you about is in
India, okay?
So this is my buddy uh Vibov, hegoes by Sonny, uh, but his name
is Vibov Kapoor and his wifeMukta.
(19:17):
And uh love them.
This is actually in my old frontyard in Denver.
And uh we so he's from India.
I met him in another coffeeshop, and uh there's a lot of
coffee shop ministry thathappens in my life.
Um so we met and then developedthis relationship, and I I ended
(19:39):
up disciple.
He's he's a pastor from India,and he actually moved to America
to be a missionary here inAmerica to tell us about Jesus.
Okay, so he started 11 churchesin India and two in South
Africa, and then God called himhere to America.
Uh but God shut down kind ofwhat he was doing, and then we
met and and then I taught himabout grace and the new covenant
(20:01):
in a way that helped him deeply,and then it ended up I was able
to train the 53 pastors thathe's in charge of over in India
and South Africa.
I was able to help uh teach themin a course, and that has grown,
and now I'm doing a bunch ofministry.
So uh I I don't know if youknow, but I wrote a book called
Simple Grace, and uh so it'sit's kind of a uh it helps you
(20:26):
understand how grace works inministry, and and so it's really
helpful for pastors.
And so what we've done is isthat book, they actually
translated that book into Hindi,and through another set of
circumstances, uh it's also beentranslated into Telugu, which is
a uh a language in Middle India.
(20:46):
Hindi is the language of all ofIndia, but there's a lot of
languages over there, it's verycomplicated.
So, anyway, the book's beentranslated.
You can go to the next picture.
And so what we've done is we weactually distribute the book and
then do these um theseconferences.
So there's my book in Hindi.
Uh and that's him actually inIndia.
(21:06):
Uh and they we've done pastors'conferences over there.
So I'm sharing what I'm doing inIndia.
Uh if you want to know more, youjust go to uh my website, which
is simplegrace.life, or justcome and talk to me about that
one.
Uh you can do the next picture.
Um this is them actually passingout the different copies of of
(21:27):
the book.
Um go ahead and the nextpicture.
Okay, so there's a QR code to myor that's that's a pretty cool
picture of Hindi writing, whichI think is pretty cool.
And uh yeah, there's the uh QRcode to get to my my other
(21:48):
website of things that I'mdoing.
Okay, next is Nepal.
So another connection that I'vemade, and um my book has been
translated into Nepalese also uhbecause through this
relationship, so basically I gotconnected somehow with this
Bible college called theEvangelical Christian College in
(22:10):
Nepal.
And somehow, again, I'm now aprofessor there, and I teach
twice a week, the kids via Zoom,and then somehow I got in roped
into uh teaching the pastors.
So they have a network ofmaster's level pastors, and so I
I train them every week onThursday mornings also.
(22:33):
Um, so I've become heavilyinvested in this Bible college.
Um the kids are just amazing,and they're very focused on
church planning.
So in Nepal, there's not enoughchurches for for the people,
there's not enough pastors, andso that's what I do is I train
pastors in this this work.
So I'm gonna share with you thisthis couple videos, so go for
(22:56):
it.
Alrighty, so um, I love theseguys.
I I as I watch through thatvideo, I I can pick out all the
different faces because I'veseen them like fall asleep in my
classes, so I'm like, hey.
Um yeah, so uh, but the guy whoruns the Bible college, he
wanted to um I I told him Iwould be sharing with you guys,
(23:17):
and he wanted to specifically uhsay something to you guys.
So this next video is him thathe wanted to just share with you
guys.
In three weeks.
Good morning.
SPEAKER_04 (23:31):
Uh this is uh Reverend Dr.
Benjamin Kakar, the founder ofEvangelical Christian College in
Kathmandu, Nepal.
It's my honor to greet you andbring greetings on behalf of
Evangelical Christian Collegefamily all the way from Nepal.
(23:57):
This is a great honor to shareabout our Bible college before
you.
Evangelical Christian Collegewas established in 2020,
February.
So while we start even uh startthe the COVID was also starting
(24:20):
at the same time.
So we were facing uh challengesfrom the COVID-19 and also we uh
were very much uh much indifficult time.
Even though there was adifficult time, God really
helped us to continue to runthis Bible college in in Nepal.
(24:41):
At the beginning we were havingonly 12 students, but at present
we have 57 residential students.
Out of 57 students uh thiscoming year, 22 will be
graduating.
ECC already graduates two batch.
So two batch students, 32students were graduating.
(25:04):
So out of 32, uh 16 students areinvolved in church planting area
in different parts of Nepal.
And eight of them are working assome of the teaching staff and
the head of the faculty in theEvangelical Christian College
here.
This is my uh humble prayerrequest.
(25:27):
Please continue to pray to usand join your hand with us to
carry on God's work in Nepal.
Especially I want to say thankyou to Reverend Son, who played
a very vital role to teach ourstudents online.
And I do humbly request uh toReverend Son, please uh make a
(25:52):
time to continue to teach andprepare many Nepali Christian
leaders so that they can go anddo the church planting work.
This time I want to take theopportunity to greet you and
wish you happy Merry Christmasand New Year to all uh church
members and leaders of uh uhReverend uh San who take care of
(26:17):
the church.
Thank you so much.
May God bless you.
SPEAKER_02 (26:21):
Good morning.
So this is uh there you go.
Uh yeah, you can don't have tocall me Reverend San.
Uh but I love those guys,they're really fun.
Okay, so we have the QR code uhfor this ministry as well uh
that we'll put up now, but we'llalso put it up at the end.
(26:42):
And I want to see all yourphones snap in pictures, please.
Very important.
Okay.
The last one is um the work thatis being done in Pakistan.
And um we call this work ShalomHarvest.
Uh that's that's what theywanted to call it.
And I am actually so excitedabout the work in Pakistan.
(27:05):
So quick story, I I wrote mybook and and made a website and
then had this um contact me formon the website for people to get
in contact.
So um the only message I'vegotten in four years on that
contact form that wasn't spam,how to reach a million YouTube
subscribers or something likethat.
(27:27):
Uh the only true legitimatemessage I ever received was from
a 23-year-old man in Pakistanwho said, Hey, I read your book,
it changed my life.
I'd like to translate it intoUrdu and use it as our as a
church training tool out here.
So I was like, dude, awesome,I'd love to meet you.
(27:49):
So his name is Jerry, and we umstarted a relationship and
started I I started meet withhim all the time.
I met his pastor, I startedmeeting all his friends, and we
we did that translation work.
And what God has done throughthat relationship uh has just
absolutely blown my mind.
So in the city of Karachi inPakistan, it's a it's it's a 10
(28:11):
million people in the city.
There's a grand total of 80pastors in that city.
And they're all, I mean, smallchurches, because it's a it's a
Muslim country, right?
Except in the in the ruralparts, it's actually Hindu.
Uh there's Hindu areas, whichwe'll talk about in a minute,
but they don't um they don'tmix, they they hate each other.
(28:33):
Okay, there's a lot of wars andstuff.
So the Christians are evensmaller, it's like a very small
point.
In in southern Pakistan,northern Pakistan, there's a big
place called Pen Punjab, andthere's a lot more Christians
there, it's maybe like fivepercent Christians, but down in
Karachi, it's like nothing.
So it's 80 total pastors.
Well, we got the book translatedinto um um Urdu, and we threw a
(28:54):
party on the rooftop of this ofthis building to uh and we
invited every pastor, it didn'tmatter what denomination or
whatever, we invited all 80pastors uh to get a free copy of
the book and to just celebratewith us, and 50 of them came.
And from that, we've been ableto work with those 50 guys and
continue that relationship.
So for the past couple years,I've been discipling them in
(29:15):
small groups, and we still arecontinuing to do that.
Um, and then we're also nowplanting more churches and doing
more work out in the it's calledSindhi S-H-I-N-D-I, uh, which is
a rural part of Pakistan that'sHindu, not Muslim.
And so they have like nobody,but you're gonna see some some
(29:36):
videos and talking.
So uh go and play the first umthe first video.
SPEAKER_05 (29:40):
Hello inshalloom, I'm Jerry, and I'm here in uh
Tundowul Amali, a city of Sindh,Pakistan, and we are in Prayam
village.
Uh you can see in the blue dressa man out there is Brother Alji,
who is a converted Christian,and our coordinator along with
(30:01):
him, Pastor Khalilanjum is here,and from our team, Brother
Andrewson and Pastor James ishere with us.
And we just reached over here uhtwo hours ago.
We had a wonderful lunch withthem and they serve us, and uh
in the evening we will set upfellowship meetings over here,
(30:26):
and we also have a secondfellowship meeting, a prayer, a
fellowship meeting in themorning tomorrow, and then we
will leave tomorrow in themorning.
So keep us in your prayer andpray for us that Lord keep using
us for his glory and we proclaimthe gospel for every part of
(30:49):
this province and all over inPakistan.
Thank you.
Hello inshallah.
SPEAKER_02 (30:56):
We'll go to the next video now.
SPEAKER_05 (30:58):
Hello, good afternoon.
I'm Jerry from Krachi, Pakistan,and we are proclaiming uh the
good news, the gospel of graceover here.
And we have been uh here inTundogala Amali.
It is a rural village based inTundogala Amali, and we have
(31:19):
been here from two days uh withour uh friend, with our beloved
brother, brother Alji, and I amthankful for all of his
accommodation.
We have set up uh uh twofellowships, two prayer
gatherings over here.
Uh one was today in the earlymorning, and uh one was
(31:44):
yesterday night in the evening.
We have shared dinner with themand we had a great conversation
uh descriptively about thegospel with uh Alji and with his
father Pastor Chankar.
Uh and also I want to thank youand I'm grateful for Brother
(32:08):
Pastor Chon from USA.
Uh he is our partner and we arethankful for the curriculum of
Simple Grace and for all thefinances and resources he does
for us, he has done for us.
Uh we already have a Urduprinting of Simple Grace, uh,
(32:30):
but we are planning to do uh thetranslation in Sindhi language
and because these tribes uh theycan understand Sindhi language.
So like uh uh minister like Aljiand Pastor Chankar, they can
preach uh the gospel of grace totheir congregation, and this uh
(32:55):
visit perspective is only uh toencourage those pastors uh who
have a congregation because theyare a pastoral and they are
doing a pastoral ministry, butthey do not know the
denomination and do not know thescriptures very well.
So, yes, we will continue to uhteach and guide them, and you
(33:17):
can see Algi is coming fromthere in the blue dress.
Uh we are thankful for thevisit.
SPEAKER_04 (33:27):
So navigated after that.
SPEAKER_05 (33:31):
He is brother Algi, our coordinator, and to
accommodate us, we are thankfulfor him.
Thank you.
Hello, good afternoon.
I am Jerry uh from KrachiPucket.
SPEAKER_02 (33:45):
Okay, so there's a bunch more pictures that they're
just gonna kind of flow through.
Um, Isaac, mute the rest of thembecause there's some of them
that have some sound, but wedon't need uh to hear that
sound.
Um so just kind of go throughthese kind of slowly as we go.
Um so this is them doing uh likea conversation with this tribe,
and this tribe wants to hearabout Jesus.
(34:06):
They're like, tell us aboutJesus.
Uh they they're very friendly,they want to hear about it, and
so here they're having aplanning meeting of actually how
they're gonna um uh share, talkabout Jesus and do their
meetings, and they're actuallyworking on translation.
Um, there is a translation ofthe Bible, but they need to get
do some more work on it.
(34:27):
Um so what I love so much, soI've known Jerry since he was
single, he he was like 23, andthen for the past two years,
we've been uh just spending aton of time together and working
on translation and working ondiscipleship.
Um and he's actually uh he was aworship leader, he was just a
worship leader at their church.
Um but since he's learned aboutgrace, like how we've talked
(34:49):
about grace for the past umsince I've been here also, um,
he he's been given all theseopportunities to preach.
So all these churches keep beinglike, come talk to us about what
you're talking about, becauseit's crazy.
Because over there and in allthe other parts of the world,
when the church went over theremany years ago and said, uh,
this is how you follow Jesus,they said, Here's all the rules
you have to follow.
(35:09):
And as we've learned, rulesdon't change people, and
religion doesn't change people,only a real relationship with
Jesus changes people, and that'scalled grace.
And so you know all in all thesecountries that we're doing this
work, it's mind-blowing to themthat when you tell them that
they're actually free and thatJesus uh can control their life
(35:31):
and live their life throughthem, and they can be holy and
righteous without laws and rulestelling them what to do, but
through that relationship withJesus, which is what we talk
about all the time too.
It's what the church needs tohear, both here in America and
around the world.
And so that's what we got goingon.
You can switch over to the nextthing.
That's them working on on uh thespecific um translation work we
(35:52):
got going on here.
So the way that they're gettinginvolved here is they're
building wells, and you guyshave heard that they need clean
wells, right?
Well, get this.
It costs$150 to drill a well andall the materials and labor.
That's it.
(36:13):
$150 for everything.
Um, and so what I'm so excitedabout in this ministry is this
is no one is doing any ministryhere.
This is gonna be our like ourthing.
Um nobody, there's not anotherlike mission organization going
to this group of people.
(36:34):
Um, so this this is our group,and they don't have another
group like us that's gonna besupporting them.
So I am very passionate aboutthis one specifically mostly.
Um and so the the they'll useour funds to drill drill wells
and to distribute informationand and help missionaries be
(36:55):
supported, and uh give themBibles, both Urdu Bibles and
Cindy Bibles, and so it goes topurchasing that and then paying
for their tribal travel andsafety when they're there.
Um now here's the thing, you youcan't give directly to them
because there's a special waythat we are have to do that, and
so we're gonna be doing that asa church.
(37:17):
So I think this this QR codegoes to our church.
So if you want to participate inthis ministry, um we will be
doing that as a church alltogether, and it's a very
specific way that we need to dothat.
Okay.
All right.
Um it's it's the heart.
(37:38):
I hope your heart was movedtoday.
I hope that one of these thingsthat your father kind of touched
your heart and said, Isn't thatspecial?
Isn't that cool?
Isn't that neat?
And so I hope that that's that'sum happened for you today.
But I want to share just acouple more scriptures with you
just to encourage you.
(37:58):
Um when we talk about gettingthings done in the church, how
does that happen?
Does it happen with our effort?
Does it happen with our money?
Does it happen with our time?
Those things can be involved,but it's always with the heart,
and it's by something called thespirit.
And so I want to read this verseto you.
This was just in my my readingthis week uh from Isaiah 59.
(38:19):
It says, As for me, says theLord, this is my covenant with
them, my spirit who is upon you,and my words which I have put in
your mouth shall not depart fromyour mouth, nor shall the mouth,
nor the mouth of yourdescendants, nor the mouth of
your descendants' descendants,says the Lord, from this time
and forevermore.
So when I read that read thatscripture, I was deeply moved
(38:41):
and encouraged of like, what isthe plan here, guys?
What are we doing?
We are gonna study God's word,we're gonna let God's word be
the main thing, okay?
And then we're gonna be filledwith his spirit, we're gonna
walk in his spirit, and that's aheart connection with Jesus, not
a religious thing, right?
Well, you can you can bereligious and that's not the
(39:04):
spirit, but you if you have arelationship with God, that is
the spirit, that's how thespirit works.
So when we're thinking about howthings get done, we're gonna
study the word and we're gonnaworship God from the heart.
We're gonna connect with himfrom the heart.
That is our strategy.
Like that's that's how this isgonna anything we do, that's how
it's gonna get done.
(39:24):
And then if you you link thiswith what we see in Zachariah
chapter four, it says this.
He said, How how am I gonna getthis, build this wall, build
this temple?
He says, So he answered and saidto me, This is the word of the
Lord, like we just read, right?
To Zerubbable, not by might norby power, but by my spirit, says
(39:45):
the Lord, of hosts.
Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbable, you shallbecome a plane, and he shall
bring forth forth the capstonewith shouts of grace, grace to
it.
So God just lays out howeverything gets done in his
kingdom.
He speaks a word, his word givesthe promise and gives the
(40:06):
direction.
Then it's not by might, that'strying how strong we are, or by
power, it's not by how mucheffort we put in, it's not by
how much money we give, it is bythe spirit that anything
valuable happens with us throughus.
It has to be by his spirit.
And it doesn't matter how greatthe challenge is, it can be a
(40:29):
great mountain, he says, butbefore Zerubbabel, it will be a
plane.
So it can look like a greatmountain.
Oh, we can't change Pakistan, wecan't bless Nepal, we can't
administer in Guatemala.
We can't look at we're just alittle group of of people.
But he says, No.
If you add grace to theequation, it doesn't matter if
(40:49):
it's a mountain, it'll be aplane, it'll be flattened, it'll
be taken care of.
Care of.
God takes care of things by hisgrace.
And his grace works by theSpirit of God.
That's the Holy Spirit in yourheart, in your life.
So this is what we're learningis this is all about
relationship with God, not aboutwhat you do, what you sacrifice,
(41:10):
what you give.
Those are religious things.
It has to be by the Spirit,which is relational things.
It's got to be relationship.
We cannot just raise money andskip the relationship.
You can't do it.
It won't matter.
I know that there are people outthere that are super good at
(41:30):
raising money.
A, I'm not one.
I was I was uh I was theexecutive director of a
nonprofit for a couple years.
And part of my responsibilitieswas raising money, and I failed
really, really bad.
And I'm terrible at doing that.
But I know my father, and myfather has always supplied
(41:53):
everything I needed andeverything that was needed for
the ministry.
He opens the treasuries ofheaven to bless us uh
abundantly, and that's his plan.
He wants us to be his childrenthat ask him and receive from
him, and then give what he givesus for the purpose that he um
(42:14):
gives it to us.
Uh so it has to be relational.
I just want to encourage youguys, your life matters.
This week, as you're going aboutyour your week, remember your
life matters.
What you do matters, and most ofall, your relationship with God
is more important than anythingelse.
(42:35):
So get alone with your heavenlyfather.
He wants to talk with you, hewants to connect with you.
I heard someone say this morningthey they spent the whole day
yesterday just just in silence,just kind of chilling.
And I was like, oh, I bet thatwas good.
Your father loves for you tojust get alone and spend time
(42:57):
with him.
So give him what he loves, whichis your heart, and watch what he
does with the rest of your weekthis week.
Amen.
All right, so today we're studying, well we're not
studying, but we're we'relooking at it's our 2025
International Missions Week.
So we're gonna be talking abouta bunch of stuff.
But I want to start in the Wordof God and just give you a
little bit of context.
In Romans chapter 10, verse 14and 15, it says, How can how
then can they call on the onethey have not believed in, and
(01:16):
how can they believe in the onethey have not heard?
And how can they hear withoutsomeone preaching to them?
And how can anyone preach unlessthey are sent?
As it is written, how beautifulare the feet of those who bring
the good news.
So this verse teaches us thatit's it's vital, it's important
(01:39):
to send and support those peoplewho are called to share the
gospel.
You might call themmissionaries, you might call
them just whatever you want tocall them, uh, but there are
people who have been sent allaround the world, uh near and
far, it doesn't have to beanother country, it could be
anything, uh, but they're calledto share the the gospel.
(02:01):
And so what this says is that weall are partners in every gospel
work going on around the world.
Every single one of us.
So even though if you have nevergone to share the gospel, if
you're a believer, you cansupport that work in many ways
(02:21):
and be part of it.
In fact, God says that He willshare the rewards with everyone
who supports missionaries.
So the rewards, whatever rewardslook like for what they uh
achieve or the people they leadto Jesus, we can share in that
by our prayers and whateverother support we offer uh to
these missionaries.
(02:42):
And so um the entire body ofChrist is on the same mission.
Some people are called to pickup and move, sacrifice, and
other people are called to stayand send.
And today we're gonna be talkingmostly about that sending part
because I don't think many ofyou are planning on picking up
and moving to Pakistan.
(03:05):
If you want to, let me know.
I got a guy.
But and the reason why this allmatters is because we've been
learning about the new covenantof grace.
Okay?
And in grace, supportingmissions is vitally important
because we are participating inGod's work of reconciliation and
(03:25):
sharing his love and his gracewith others.
God has enough grace to forgiveevery single human being on this
entire planet.
It's not difficult for him.
It's not twisting his arm.
He has enough grace to forgiveanybody.
He has enough grace to forgiveall sin, all the terrible stuff
that they're doing in NorthKorea.
(03:45):
He can forgive, he can wipe itout, he can restore them.
All the terrible stuff.
You pick the place, you can pickAmerica if you want.
We need missionaries too.
Right?
All right, so with grace, whatwe do is we are working together
to make Christ known, to tellpeople about God's free grace,
(04:06):
and so that's what themissionaries are doing.
Okay, so I want to give areminder, because if you
remember last week we talkedabout, we talked about giving.
Okay, so does this go with lastweek?
Well, a little bit, but I wantyou to remember that everything
we talk about today, so we'regonna talk about different
opportunities that you can haveto participate in different
(04:26):
missions around the world.
Um remember that this is allbetween you and your father.
So I am not asking you to give.
Remember, I said I'll never askyou to give, we'll never we
don't pass the plate, we don'tever ask you to give.
I trust God to provide for myfor me, because I'm kind of like
a missionary.
Okay, and as a church, we'regonna trust God completely 100%.
(04:48):
We're never gonna ask ormanipulate anything.
If you ever want to participatein what we do as a church or
other missions, you have to gohave a conversation with your
father.
Because we're not earningblessings here.
You're not you're not more lovedif you give, you're not less
loved if you don't.
You have a father who loves youand he's gonna inspire you.
(05:13):
I hope that today you hearsomething that inspires you
deeply in the heart, and thenyou have a conversation with
your father and say, Father, howwould you like me to participate
in that?
And he can tell you what thatlooks like, whether it's praying
for them, having conversationsand spreading the news about
(05:33):
them, or whatever other way hemay help you.
Okay, so we're gonna look atfour different ways that you can
participate.
And the first one is calledChildren's Hope Chest.
We got some videos that we'regonna see.
So uh before you start thevideo, we're we're be patient
(05:55):
with us, we're working throughsome some stuff here.
But basically, I've beensponsoring a child through
Children's Hope Chest forseveral years now.
And it's at a location calledCayutengo, Cuyotang, Cuyo
Tenango.
It's a city in Guatemala, andthey're called Care Points, and
(06:16):
uh so it's basically this thismission organization goes and
they sponsor kids and then theybuild a little community thing
that you're gonna see.
Um, so I've talked to them andthey have set aside a little
area of the work that they dofor our church to be the partner
of.
So it's not actually thesponsoring the kids part, but
they have some other additionalparts.
(06:37):
So we're gonna be as a church,we're gonna be supporting this
work down there, and they'regonna be doing a tutoring center
and some other educational stufffor the kids there in Cuyo
Tenango.
I said it right that time.
And um, so I'm really excited,and and this can involve we may
go on trips down there.
(06:58):
They they have trips that theyset up all the time, and so we
may do trips to go down thereand visit and help them with
certain specific things.
Um, so with that said, let'sbegin with this conversation or
this uh this video.
SPEAKER_03 (07:16):
Children growing up in poverty in Guatemala are
facing difficult situations.
Violence, crime, drugs, gettinginvolved in a gag or being
trafficked.
We see families struggling withthe same issues generation after
generation.
(07:36):
What earth we as body of Christare here to tell families you
can break that cycle.
SPEAKER_06 (08:05):
This is our house.
Most of the children come from areally uh vulnerable situation.
We have a cross report, tinwalls, but we have electricity.
Yes, I like my house.
They don't have access to foodsecurity, good education.
Most of the children will leaveschool at sixth grade.
(08:28):
They have a hard time leaving.
SPEAKER_03 (08:32):
And it is like a ripple effect.
If you transform the life of achild, you can transform the
life of their families and oftheir communities.
SPEAKER_02 (09:35):
Cool.
So I've I've met the people thatrun this place, they're actually
based in Colorado Springs, andso Alt Ket, uh, he's he's from
um Ethiopia.
And anyway, I met him inColorado Springs at a coffee
shop, and this is how God likeput this together in my life.
So I met him and then we starteduh chatting, and uh I learned
how they do their ministry, andI was just so so impressed.
(09:58):
Like, you know, when you uh youyou other uh children's
sponsorship organizations, theydo it a certain way, and it's
not bad, but you choose thechildren.
But the way they do it is theyput the American families and
they give you a packet, and thenthe children choose you, and and
then you build a relationship.
So when I when I started uhsponsoring uh the guy, the the
(10:20):
little guy who who we sponsor,his name is Josue.
And really funny story.
So when my son Jordan startedkindergarten, uh he he goes to
school and comes home, and we'relike, who's your best friend?
And he's like, Josue.
And we're like, you mean Jose?
And he's like, No, it's Josue.
And I like we're like, Jordan,no.
(10:41):
We've never heard that namebefore.
Obviously, you're justmispronouncing it.
It's Jose.
And he's like, No, mom, it's nodad, it's Josue.
We didn't believe him for liketwo months, right?
And we go to meet his teacherfor parent-teacher conferences,
and she's like, Oh yeah, hisbest friend Josue, Josue.
And I was like, Oh, we're sorry,buddy.
(11:02):
So, and then our kid ended upbeing named Josue.
So that was a really funnystory.
Um okay.
Uh this is a this is a littleinformative kind of interview
that they did with uh the thelady up there in the top is the
is the one in charge of thespecific care point, the
specific city that we're gonnabe supporting.
(11:23):
Uh so I want to play thisinterview for you so you can
just kind of get someinformation here.
SPEAKER_01 (11:30):
There you go.
All right.
Hola, friends, we are so excitedto be together for this update.
Turning it over to Mafa inGuatemala.
SPEAKER_00 (11:41):
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Uh, we thank God um for thisopportunity um to see everything
that is happening at theCuyotenango Care Point, um,
where we work with um so muchlove to um bless the community
and also to contribute to thephysical, the cognitive, the
(12:05):
spiritual, and social-emotionaldevelopment of the children who
are part of the option program.
Um it brings me with uh greatjoy to share with you today some
of the recent activities uh thathave taken place.
Um I will like to begin withthis much anticipated event, the
(12:27):
talent night.
This is a day where the childrenuh they were able to showcase
some of many of the gifts thatGod has given them.
Um there were performances inscene being, dancing, drawing,
among other talents.
They had a panel of judges thatum awarded the top three places
(12:52):
in each category, and all thechildren were encouraged to
continue developing and usingtheir abilities and their gifts
to serve and bless others.
It was a night filled with joy,with gratitude, and unity.
In September, we celebrateindependence.
(13:15):
This is a time when schoolsorganize many activities to
express the pride of beingGuatemalan.
Despite the challenges ourcountry faces, we firmly believe
that Guatemala is a country fullof opportunities and wonderful
(13:37):
people who are eager to thrivein life.
Um, as every year, the CarePointum had a special event with the
children in the tutoring programto recognize those who have
excelled academically in theirschools.
They were recognized uh fortheir efforts and the
(13:59):
dedication, and also they wereencouraged to continue being
role models for others in theircommunity.
Um as part of the economicempowerment initiative, uh we
have started a basket um makingcourse thanks to the partnership
(14:23):
that we have with the Ministryof Um Agriculture.
Um, it's called MAGA.
This project will benefit 25women, including uh mothers of
the children at the CarePointand also other um community
members.
This training will be um carriedout in two phases.
(14:46):
The first one that will belasting one month.
Um it will have uh weeklysessions focused on learning the
technique, and also the secondphase that will also last for
one month uh will be led uh byone of the participants and will
be focused on uh improving thetechnique and also gaining
(15:09):
business knowledge.
This uh this project is a clearexample of women's empowerment
and community involvement.
Um, the participating women arecontributing um to purchase some
equipment that they will beusing while the MAGA is
(15:31):
providing the point person thatis leading the training and
HopeJess is supporting with thematerials.
Um in addition, the CarePointhad um a meeting with the
leadership team.
Uh, we believe that a true andlasting transformation happens
when the community takesownership of the process and the
(15:55):
local leaders um step up and uhthey participate in shaping
their future.
Um in this group we have um arepresentative of the parents,
we have um the CarePoint staffand leaders, and also members
from the COCODE.
Um, the COCODE is the CommunityDevelopment Council, and this
(16:17):
meeting um stressens our workand reinforce our commitment to
the holistic development of thecommunity.
Um lastly, I want to share withyou that this month during the
parenting school, um, theycelebrate uh Family Day.
(16:37):
It was a very special time wheremany families they gathered to
share meaningful time together.
Um the word of God wasn't here,uh they had a lot of activities,
they had competitions, they uhsome of them they won some
prizes, um, they also hadpinatas, and and of course at
(16:59):
the end they enjoy uh adelicious meal.
It was a very special moment uhthat strengthened uh both family
and community bonds.
And um for um us is always uhvery important to share our
gratefulness to all our prayerfriends for your continued
(17:21):
support, uh, for your love andfor your prayers.
May God bless each one of you.
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02 (17:29):
All right, woo.
You can close that one down.
All right, so we're gonna put upa QR code now.
Um, and so if you would like toget uh connected uh with them or
find out more information, thisQR code is gonna take you to
their website where you can umuh find out more information.
So I'm gonna put it up at theend also.
(17:50):
So I want to see everyone withtheir little cell phones out.
I want to see your get yourcamera and scan it, and at least
you'll have the website in therein case you think about it later
and you want to go check outwhat they're doing.
Um so as a church, we're gonnasupport them a bit.
Um, but you can also supportthem if you would like uh and be
part of praying and getting theupdates and stuff, at least
(18:12):
getting the information would besuper important.
Okay, so we're gonna move onnow.
Um so I am very, very passionateabout international missions and
uh specifically ministry, and soI actually want to share with
you guys that I have anotherministry that I I run, and uh
it's called Simple Grace.
Um the website issimplegrace.life.
(18:34):
And that as a church, we willnot support simplegrace.life
because I run both of those andit's like total conflict of
interest, okay?
So we're not gonna do that.
Um, but I'm very passionateabout what we do, and so I want
to share it with you in case youwant to uh see what we got going
on.
Uh and these next three arethings that I'm very, very
(18:56):
passionate about, and they'rerelationships that have sprung
out of this ministry that I'vebeen doing for about three years
of training pastors and anddoing these um this missions
work uh that I've been doing thelast three years.
And so the person I want to Iwant to talk to you about is in
India, okay?
So this is my buddy uh Vibov, hegoes by Sonny, uh, but his name
is Vibov Kapoor and his wifeMukta.
(19:17):
And uh love them.
This is actually in my old frontyard in Denver.
And uh we so he's from India.
I met him in another coffeeshop, and uh there's a lot of
coffee shop ministry thathappens in my life.
Um so we met and then developedthis relationship, and I I ended
(19:39):
up disciple.
He's he's a pastor from India,and he actually moved to America
to be a missionary here inAmerica to tell us about Jesus.
Okay, so he started 11 churchesin India and two in South
Africa, and then God called himhere to America.
Uh but God shut down kind ofwhat he was doing, and then we
met and and then I taught himabout grace and the new covenant
(20:01):
in a way that helped him deeply,and then it ended up I was able
to train the 53 pastors thathe's in charge of over in India
and South Africa.
I was able to help uh teach themin a course, and that has grown,
and now I'm doing a bunch ofministry.
So uh I I don't know if youknow, but I wrote a book called
Simple Grace, and uh so it'sit's kind of a uh it helps you
(20:26):
understand how grace works inministry, and and so it's really
helpful for pastors.
And so what we've done is isthat book, they actually
translated that book into Hindi,and through another set of
circumstances, uh it's also beentranslated into Telugu, which is
a uh a language in Middle India.
(20:46):
Hindi is the language of all ofIndia, but there's a lot of
languages over there, it's verycomplicated.
So, anyway, the book's beentranslated.
You can go to the next picture.
And so what we've done is we weactually distribute the book and
then do these um theseconferences.
So there's my book in Hindi.
Uh and that's him actually inIndia.
(21:06):
Uh and they we've done pastors'conferences over there.
So I'm sharing what I'm doing inIndia.
Uh if you want to know more, youjust go to uh my website, which
is simplegrace.life, or justcome and talk to me about that
one.
Uh you can do the next picture.
Um this is them actually passingout the different copies of of
(21:27):
the book.
Um go ahead and the nextpicture.
Okay, so there's a QR code to myor that's that's a pretty cool
picture of Hindi writing, whichI think is pretty cool.
And uh yeah, there's the uh QRcode to get to my my other
(21:48):
website of things that I'mdoing.
Okay, next is Nepal.
So another connection that I'vemade, and um my book has been
translated into Nepalese also uhbecause through this
relationship, so basically I gotconnected somehow with this
Bible college called theEvangelical Christian College in
(22:10):
Nepal.
And somehow, again, I'm now aprofessor there, and I teach
twice a week, the kids via Zoom,and then somehow I got in roped
into uh teaching the pastors.
So they have a network ofmaster's level pastors, and so I
I train them every week onThursday mornings also.
(22:33):
Um, so I've become heavilyinvested in this Bible college.
Um the kids are just amazing,and they're very focused on
church planning.
So in Nepal, there's not enoughchurches for for the people,
there's not enough pastors, andso that's what I do is I train
pastors in this this work.
So I'm gonna share with you thisthis couple videos, so go for
(22:56):
it.
Alrighty, so um, I love theseguys.
I I as I watch through thatvideo, I I can pick out all the
different faces because I'veseen them like fall asleep in my
classes, so I'm like, hey.
Um yeah, so uh, but the guy whoruns the Bible college, he
wanted to um I I told him Iwould be sharing with you guys,
(23:17):
and he wanted to specifically uhsay something to you guys.
So this next video is him thathe wanted to just share with you
guys.
In three weeks.
Good morning.
SPEAKER_04 (23:31):
Uh this is uh Reverend Dr.
Benjamin Kakar, the founder ofEvangelical Christian College in
Kathmandu, Nepal.
It's my honor to greet you andbring greetings on behalf of
Evangelical Christian Collegefamily all the way from Nepal.
(23:57):
This is a great honor to shareabout our Bible college before
you.
Evangelical Christian Collegewas established in 2020,
February.
So while we start even uh startthe the COVID was also starting
(24:20):
at the same time.
So we were facing uh challengesfrom the COVID-19 and also we uh
were very much uh much indifficult time.
Even though there was adifficult time, God really
helped us to continue to runthis Bible college in in Nepal.
(24:41):
At the beginning we were havingonly 12 students, but at present
we have 57 residential students.
Out of 57 students uh thiscoming year, 22 will be
graduating.
ECC already graduates two batch.
So two batch students, 32students were graduating.
(25:04):
So out of 32, uh 16 students areinvolved in church planting area
in different parts of Nepal.
And eight of them are working assome of the teaching staff and
the head of the faculty in theEvangelical Christian College
here.
This is my uh humble prayerrequest.
(25:27):
Please continue to pray to usand join your hand with us to
carry on God's work in Nepal.
Especially I want to say thankyou to Reverend Son, who played
a very vital role to teach ourstudents online.
And I do humbly request uh toReverend Son, please uh make a
(25:52):
time to continue to teach andprepare many Nepali Christian
leaders so that they can go anddo the church planting work.
This time I want to take theopportunity to greet you and
wish you happy Merry Christmasand New Year to all uh church
members and leaders of uh uhReverend uh San who take care of
(26:17):
the church.
Thank you so much.
May God bless you.
SPEAKER_02 (26:21):
Good morning.
So this is uh there you go.
Uh yeah, you can don't have tocall me Reverend San.
Uh but I love those guys,they're really fun.
Okay, so we have the QR code uhfor this ministry as well uh
that we'll put up now, but we'llalso put it up at the end.
(26:42):
And I want to see all yourphones snap in pictures, please.
Very important.
Okay.
The last one is um the work thatis being done in Pakistan.
And um we call this work ShalomHarvest.
Uh that's that's what theywanted to call it.
And I am actually so excitedabout the work in Pakistan.
(27:05):
So quick story, I I wrote mybook and and made a website and
then had this um contact me formon the website for people to get
in contact.
So um the only message I'vegotten in four years on that
contact form that wasn't spam,how to reach a million YouTube
subscribers or something likethat.
(27:27):
Uh the only true legitimatemessage I ever received was from
a 23-year-old man in Pakistanwho said, Hey, I read your book,
it changed my life.
I'd like to translate it intoUrdu and use it as our as a
church training tool out here.
So I was like, dude, awesome,I'd love to meet you.
(27:49):
So his name is Jerry, and we umstarted a relationship and
started I I started meet withhim all the time.
I met his pastor, I startedmeeting all his friends, and we
we did that translation work.
And what God has done throughthat relationship uh has just
absolutely blown my mind.
So in the city of Karachi inPakistan, it's a it's it's a 10
(28:11):
million people in the city.
There's a grand total of 80pastors in that city.
And they're all, I mean, smallchurches, because it's a it's a
Muslim country, right?
Except in the in the ruralparts, it's actually Hindu.
Uh there's Hindu areas, whichwe'll talk about in a minute,
but they don't um they don'tmix, they they hate each other.
(28:33):
Okay, there's a lot of wars andstuff.
So the Christians are evensmaller, it's like a very small
point.
In in southern Pakistan,northern Pakistan, there's a big
place called Pen Punjab, andthere's a lot more Christians
there, it's maybe like fivepercent Christians, but down in
Karachi, it's like nothing.
So it's 80 total pastors.
Well, we got the book translatedinto um um Urdu, and we threw a
(28:54):
party on the rooftop of this ofthis building to uh and we
invited every pastor, it didn'tmatter what denomination or
whatever, we invited all 80pastors uh to get a free copy of
the book and to just celebratewith us, and 50 of them came.
And from that, we've been ableto work with those 50 guys and
continue that relationship.
So for the past couple years,I've been discipling them in
(29:15):
small groups, and we still arecontinuing to do that.
Um, and then we're also nowplanting more churches and doing
more work out in the it's calledSindhi S-H-I-N-D-I, uh, which is
a rural part of Pakistan that'sHindu, not Muslim.
And so they have like nobody,but you're gonna see some some
(29:36):
videos and talking.
So uh go and play the first umthe first video.
SPEAKER_05 (29:40):
Hello inshalloom, I'm Jerry, and I'm here in uh
Tundowul Amali, a city of Sindh,Pakistan, and we are in Prayam
village.
Uh you can see in the blue dressa man out there is Brother Alji,
who is a converted Christian,and our coordinator along with
(30:01):
him, Pastor Khalilanjum is here,and from our team, Brother
Andrewson and Pastor James ishere with us.
And we just reached over here uhtwo hours ago.
We had a wonderful lunch withthem and they serve us, and uh
in the evening we will set upfellowship meetings over here,
(30:26):
and we also have a secondfellowship meeting, a prayer, a
fellowship meeting in themorning tomorrow, and then we
will leave tomorrow in themorning.
So keep us in your prayer andpray for us that Lord keep using
us for his glory and we proclaimthe gospel for every part of
(30:49):
this province and all over inPakistan.
Thank you.
Hello inshallah.
SPEAKER_02 (30:56):
We'll go to the next video now.
SPEAKER_05 (30:58):
Hello, good afternoon.
I'm Jerry from Krachi, Pakistan,and we are proclaiming uh the
good news, the gospel of graceover here.
And we have been uh here inTundogala Amali.
It is a rural village based inTundogala Amali, and we have
(31:19):
been here from two days uh withour uh friend, with our beloved
brother, brother Alji, and I amthankful for all of his
accommodation.
We have set up uh uh twofellowships, two prayer
gatherings over here.
Uh one was today in the earlymorning, and uh one was
(31:44):
yesterday night in the evening.
We have shared dinner with themand we had a great conversation
uh descriptively about thegospel with uh Alji and with his
father Pastor Chankar.
Uh and also I want to thank youand I'm grateful for Brother
(32:08):
Pastor Chon from USA.
Uh he is our partner and we arethankful for the curriculum of
Simple Grace and for all thefinances and resources he does
for us, he has done for us.
Uh we already have a Urduprinting of Simple Grace, uh,
(32:30):
but we are planning to do uh thetranslation in Sindhi language
and because these tribes uh theycan understand Sindhi language.
So like uh uh minister like Aljiand Pastor Chankar, they can
preach uh the gospel of grace totheir congregation, and this uh
(32:55):
visit perspective is only uh toencourage those pastors uh who
have a congregation because theyare a pastoral and they are
doing a pastoral ministry, butthey do not know the
denomination and do not know thescriptures very well.
So, yes, we will continue to uhteach and guide them, and you
(33:17):
can see Algi is coming fromthere in the blue dress.
Uh we are thankful for thevisit.
SPEAKER_04 (33:27):
So navigated after that.
SPEAKER_05 (33:31):
He is brother Algi, our coordinator, and to
accommodate us, we are thankfulfor him.
Thank you.
Hello, good afternoon.
I am Jerry uh from KrachiPucket.
SPEAKER_02 (33:45):
Okay, so there's a bunch more pictures that they're
just gonna kind of flow through.
Um, Isaac, mute the rest of thembecause there's some of them
that have some sound, but wedon't need uh to hear that
sound.
Um so just kind of go throughthese kind of slowly as we go.
Um so this is them doing uh likea conversation with this tribe,
and this tribe wants to hearabout Jesus.
(34:06):
They're like, tell us aboutJesus.
Uh they they're very friendly,they want to hear about it, and
so here they're having aplanning meeting of actually how
they're gonna um uh share, talkabout Jesus and do their
meetings, and they're actuallyworking on translation.
Um, there is a translation ofthe Bible, but they need to get
do some more work on it.
(34:27):
Um so what I love so much, soI've known Jerry since he was
single, he he was like 23, andthen for the past two years,
we've been uh just spending aton of time together and working
on translation and working ondiscipleship.
Um and he's actually uh he was aworship leader, he was just a
worship leader at their church.
Um but since he's learned aboutgrace, like how we've talked
(34:49):
about grace for the past umsince I've been here also, um,
he he's been given all theseopportunities to preach.
So all these churches keep beinglike, come talk to us about what
you're talking about, becauseit's crazy.
Because over there and in allthe other parts of the world,
when the church went over theremany years ago and said, uh,
this is how you follow Jesus,they said, Here's all the rules
you have to follow.
(35:09):
And as we've learned, rulesdon't change people, and
religion doesn't change people,only a real relationship with
Jesus changes people, and that'scalled grace.
And so you know all in all thesecountries that we're doing this
work, it's mind-blowing to themthat when you tell them that
they're actually free and thatJesus uh can control their life
(35:31):
and live their life throughthem, and they can be holy and
righteous without laws and rulestelling them what to do, but
through that relationship withJesus, which is what we talk
about all the time too.
It's what the church needs tohear, both here in America and
around the world.
And so that's what we got goingon.
You can switch over to the nextthing.
That's them working on on uh thespecific um translation work we
(35:52):
got going on here.
So the way that they're gettinginvolved here is they're
building wells, and you guyshave heard that they need clean
wells, right?
Well, get this.
It costs$150 to drill a well andall the materials and labor.
That's it.
(36:13):
$150 for everything.
Um, and so what I'm so excitedabout in this ministry is this
is no one is doing any ministryhere.
This is gonna be our like ourthing.
Um nobody, there's not anotherlike mission organization going
to this group of people.
(36:34):
Um, so this this is our group,and they don't have another
group like us that's gonna besupporting them.
So I am very passionate aboutthis one specifically mostly.
Um and so the the they'll useour funds to drill drill wells
and to distribute informationand and help missionaries be
(36:55):
supported, and uh give themBibles, both Urdu Bibles and
Cindy Bibles, and so it goes topurchasing that and then paying
for their tribal travel andsafety when they're there.
Um now here's the thing, you youcan't give directly to them
because there's a special waythat we are have to do that, and
so we're gonna be doing that asa church.
(37:17):
So I think this this QR codegoes to our church.
So if you want to participate inthis ministry, um we will be
doing that as a church alltogether, and it's a very
specific way that we need to dothat.
Okay.
All right.
Um it's it's the heart.
(37:38):
I hope your heart was movedtoday.
I hope that one of these thingsthat your father kind of touched
your heart and said, Isn't thatspecial?
Isn't that cool?
Isn't that neat?
And so I hope that that's that'sum happened for you today.
But I want to share just acouple more scriptures with you
just to encourage you.
(37:58):
Um when we talk about gettingthings done in the church, how
does that happen?
Does it happen with our effort?
Does it happen with our money?
Does it happen with our time?
Those things can be involved,but it's always with the heart,
and it's by something called thespirit.
And so I want to read this verseto you.
This was just in my my readingthis week uh from Isaiah 59.
(38:19):
It says, As for me, says theLord, this is my covenant with
them, my spirit who is upon you,and my words which I have put in
your mouth shall not depart fromyour mouth, nor shall the mouth,
nor the mouth of yourdescendants, nor the mouth of
your descendants' descendants,says the Lord, from this time
and forevermore.
So when I read that read thatscripture, I was deeply moved
(38:41):
and encouraged of like, what isthe plan here, guys?
What are we doing?
We are gonna study God's word,we're gonna let God's word be
the main thing, okay?
And then we're gonna be filledwith his spirit, we're gonna
walk in his spirit, and that's aheart connection with Jesus, not
a religious thing, right?
Well, you can you can bereligious and that's not the
(39:04):
spirit, but you if you have arelationship with God, that is
the spirit, that's how thespirit works.
So when we're thinking about howthings get done, we're gonna
study the word and we're gonnaworship God from the heart.
We're gonna connect with himfrom the heart.
That is our strategy.
Like that's that's how this isgonna anything we do, that's how
it's gonna get done.
(39:24):
And then if you you link thiswith what we see in Zachariah
chapter four, it says this.
He said, How how am I gonna getthis, build this wall, build
this temple?
He says, So he answered and saidto me, This is the word of the
Lord, like we just read, right?
To Zerubbable, not by might norby power, but by my spirit, says
(39:45):
the Lord, of hosts.
Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbable, you shallbecome a plane, and he shall
bring forth forth the capstonewith shouts of grace, grace to
it.
So God just lays out howeverything gets done in his
kingdom.
He speaks a word, his word givesthe promise and gives the
(40:06):
direction.
Then it's not by might, that'strying how strong we are, or by
power, it's not by how mucheffort we put in, it's not by
how much money we give, it is bythe spirit that anything
valuable happens with us throughus.
It has to be by his spirit.
And it doesn't matter how greatthe challenge is, it can be a
(40:29):
great mountain, he says, butbefore Zerubbabel, it will be a
plane.
So it can look like a greatmountain.
Oh, we can't change Pakistan, wecan't bless Nepal, we can't
administer in Guatemala.
We can't look at we're just alittle group of of people.
But he says, No.
If you add grace to theequation, it doesn't matter if
(40:49):
it's a mountain, it'll be aplane, it'll be flattened, it'll
be taken care of.
Care of.
God takes care of things by hisgrace.
And his grace works by theSpirit of God.
That's the Holy Spirit in yourheart, in your life.
So this is what we're learningis this is all about
relationship with God, not aboutwhat you do, what you sacrifice,
(41:10):
what you give.
Those are religious things.
It has to be by the Spirit,which is relational things.
It's got to be relationship.
We cannot just raise money andskip the relationship.
You can't do it.
It won't matter.
I know that there are people outthere that are super good at
(41:30):
raising money.
A, I'm not one.
I was I was uh I was theexecutive director of a
nonprofit for a couple years.
And part of my responsibilitieswas raising money, and I failed
really, really bad.
And I'm terrible at doing that.
But I know my father, and myfather has always supplied
(41:53):
everything I needed andeverything that was needed for
the ministry.
He opens the treasuries ofheaven to bless us uh
abundantly, and that's his plan.
He wants us to be his childrenthat ask him and receive from
him, and then give what he givesus for the purpose that he um
(42:14):
gives it to us.
Uh so it has to be relational.
I just want to encourage youguys, your life matters.
This week, as you're going aboutyour your week, remember your
life matters.
What you do matters, and most ofall, your relationship with God
is more important than anythingelse.
(42:35):
So get alone with your heavenlyfather.
He wants to talk with you, hewants to connect with you.
I heard someone say this morningthey they spent the whole day
yesterday just just in silence,just kind of chilling.
And I was like, oh, I bet thatwas good.
Your father loves for you tojust get alone and spend time
(42:57):
with him.
So give him what he loves, whichis your heart, and watch what he
does with the rest of your weekthis week.
Amen.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.