The Real Deal

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service."

-Romans 12:1

Mission's Life:

In 2010, during our first stages of mission work to the Amazon, I had an opportunity to meet a truly solid missions family. If you have ever been to Brazil to visit us, odds are, you also had that opportunity. Saturday we had plans to go out to the village this family lives in to help out with the boat they use in their ministry. Sadly, some things came up on their end, and we were not able to go this weekend (we try to go out every weekend, when possible.) Since I do not have a story to share for this weekend, I would like to take the opportunity to introduce to you the Wilson family, the vision God has shared with them, and how God is fusing Liz and I's ministry with theirs.

This is Wilson and his family Lalita (Wife) and Noah (Son):

In 2004 Wilson decided to heed the commission God has placed on all Christians to GO and MAKE disciples. Wilson worked as an extremely skilled mechanic earning a solid wage in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest and most progressive city.

Sao Paulo:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo

His wife Lalita worked as a teacher. Together, they had a well-established income living the "good life" in a city as modern and advanced as New York, NY. I am not sure of every detail and step it took Wilson to get to where God called him; I just know he was obedient to the call on a large scale. When you meet a guy like Wilson, you really have to step back and think about the seriousness of Jesus's command is in Matthew 28. This man uprooted his family, leaving behind their house and security of life to move into the jungle and establish a ministry that would make disciples, teach, preach the gospel, baptize, and essentially participate in the furthering of God's kingdom.

Wilson's vision is amazing, and the heart he has for God that drives him is largely unseen in today's world. In a nutshell they started a church in a village called Caicaua in 2004 under a thatch canopy. Only a couple of people showed up and stuck around, but they remained faithful. The vision was (and still is) to plant a church in a large Riberino village, build a physical space to use as a hub for reaching the surrounding communities which are only accessible by boat, creating a sustainable model to give the villagers access to education (largely to teach them how to read), and make disciples who, in turn, would follow a similar model. Pretty much the Great Commission :)

Since 2004, their outreach has grown exponentially. In ten years they have planted a church with over 150 participating members, they have established a boat ministry taking the church to more than six villages (the furthest being a 4 hour boat ride) on a weekly basis, they have built a missions base where short term missions teams from all over the world come to participate in the ministry, and built a library and school for folks of all ages to learn to read and write so they can study the Bible on their own.

As I mentioned earlier, we have the opportunity to visit Wilson and serve in this ministry on a regular basis. Saturday before last I had a chance to sit down with him over a cup of coffee and just talk about life in a Proverbs 27:17 kind of way. One thing he told me stuck with me and really bothered me, a lot. Essentially, he said I don't understand. I don't understand why people don't support God's work like they used to. We are here serving His kingdom for His glory. It makes me sad there are people who know the needs of God's kingdom, but turn a blind eye.

I just sat and listened as a servant of God willing to do what most refuse, in a house without energy, yards from the Amazon River banks, poured out a sincere heart of a word indescribable in either Portuguese or English of the reality of Christians participation in God's Kingdom. We have forgotten what sacrifice is. Merriam-Webster defines it as, "the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone." More importantly, the Bible defines it in Hebrews 13:15-16 as, "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." The examples of sacrifice in the Word of God are abundant. Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service." It is not even that we must kill ourselves in obedience to sacrifice as a member of the body of Christ- simply live it. Sacrifice hurts. It takes from us what WE want, and hands it to another, this prayerfully, to the glory of God. Imagine, as you sit in acknowledgement of God Almighty, can you honestly say you have seen sacrifice. The truth is we have masked true sacrifice for something appeasing. We call going to church over watching a football game a sacrifice, while our brothers on the mission field go without food. We get in one of our cars, while our brothers paddle a canoe to far away villages- because the boat is broken, and there are no mechanics on the river. We ignore others as we converse on our smartphones, while our brothers sit months with little to no communion with the body of Christ (meaning us as Christians). We do not know sacrifice. Accordingly, the Word tells us not to neglect this, we should obey.  

August 1-10 we have a team from Charleston Southern University coming to lay the groundwork to expand the work in Caicaua. It is a business as missions team composed of a business development team and a Vacation Bible School team. Pray for the team as they prepare their hearts and minds to adhere to God's calling for them in Caicaua!