Since March 1985 more than fifty of our church members have been on mission overseas, beginning as team members of various mission organizations. Some of them on teams led by evangelist Steve Ryder, others in teams led by evangelist Stewart Gramenz, and thereafter in teams led or appointed by me. They ministered in India, in Malaysia (Borneo), and in the Republic of the Philippines. My then assistant pastor, Jonathan Vickers, left us and joined Christian Outreach Centre, and served the Lord in his own right in Thailand, together with his wife, Judy, for more than two decades. (With great distinction, I am pleased to add.)
After Borneo and the Philippines, the Lord had led me, usually with Lorraine, to the UK more than twenty times, including seven visits to the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel. We have also ministered in the USA, the EU, and me once in PNG and ministry trips to Japan, and across Australia. All these missions from one church.
I write this to encourage you. my friends, to set your sights on “regions beyond” your own local church, under the direction of your elders and pastors, of course and mission leaders, with a warning that you should never return on your own to the place overseas where you ministered.
I wonder how many more churches during those years encouraged their members to minister abroad. There’s nothing quite like seeing a Christian who possibly never laid hands on a sick person at home do so for the first time beyond their local church — and together with us in praising God after seeing amazing, on-the-spot results!
One new believer prayed for a two-year-old baby girl in the Philippines who had been born blind, and the following morning, the mother brought back her child to show him that she could now see. Like me, the young man had prayed for a long line of people, but he, not me, was the one God chose to do that miracle through, and we all praised the Lord along with him!
When “the balloon goes up” — an old Army term for war breaking out — privates are promoted to lance-corporals and lance-corporals to sergeants. The same takes place in the higher ranks. It has been said that if you are ahead of someone else — even by a short distance — that makes you their leader.
The same applies to Christians who’ve been part of a team that’s travelled overseas. So, if you are one of them, why not dig out all those photos of you from back in the day? You know more than you know, which is a lot more than those who know nothing, and which makes you their leader.
So, having informed you:
“ATTENTION! Report immediately to the person in your church who is in charge of evangelism. Identify yourself, state your experience, and make yourself available for service! Standing Order Matthew 28:18-19. Routine Orders [daily bread] from the Lord are posted daily. These come in the form of specific texts posted directly to your heart as you read your Bible!”
I cannot end this with “As you were!” because if the Lord speaks to your heart about this, you never again will be!