 Praise God so in the in the early church in the New Testament There's there are several words that are used in description of the the Christians and they are called Christians at first at Antioch They're also called believers and they're called disciples And the word disciple is used much more than any other and As brother Curt mentioned a disciple is one who has discipline and so this is something that I feel like God has been working in my heart But I want a lot more of this in my life my my desire this afternoon is to serve you to inspire you and As a servant leader, I want to do as Jesus did he stooped and washed his disciples feet I want to wash your feet this afternoon. I want to help you Forward I want you to be inspired and so I am not here With the desire to shut people down now, there are things that need to be shut down sometimes in our lives But primarily my goal this afternoon is to inspire you there is There are a lot of exciting things that can be done That can be accomplished by this group of youth Exciting in God's kingdom not easy things But our God is a great God. He's a great King He is the King of kings and his kingdom is the only cause Which will last through all of eternity isn't that exciting to be part of the kingdom of God and the only cause that is eternal praise the Lord So I have a number of copies and I left the stock of copies with the ushers And I'm going to ask the ushers to organize themselves and to distribute those copies and If there's a need for more copies then we will make more copies And I'm going to ask you a favor. Please don't distract yourself by reading the copies Hold the copies. I want you to take them home, and I want you to read them at home But I don't want you to be distracted from the sermon by looking at your copies alright, so to start out with if You have your Bibles there I would like to invite you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy as a foundation as an introduction to this topic of spiritual disciplines Deuteronomy chapter 2 and This is Moses reviewing the Wanderings of the children of Israel and some of you may think the book of Deuteronomy is is somewhat boring But I tell you there's some beautiful things in the book of Deuteronomy We're going to start in verse 1 then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the way of the Red Sea as the Lord Spoke to me and we skirted Mount Seer for many days and the Lord spoke to me saying you have skirted this mountain long enough turn Northward Hallelujah Am I still on? All right Now are the copies passed out is there anyone who did not receive a copy you're not done yet, okay? We'll keep working on that You have skirted this mountain long enough. They went around this mountain now. What is this mountain? We're not going to take the time to read the rest of the chapter But the rest of the chapter describes who is in this mountain He says they're the Edomites and they're your brethren And God has not given you Any inheritance in this mountain I have given this mountain to the Edomites We're in this world, but not of this world. God has not given us an inheritance in this world and So the things that they were in that mountain were not necessarily wicked things They were their brethren, but God had not given them an inheritance in that mountain and God said you've going around this mountain long enough All right now turn and go northward and in the Bible when it talks about northward. It's often Symbolic of turning towards the Lord and towards his kingdom and the things of God and so Some of you have been going around the mountain some of you have been trying to stay out of Worldly things I believe there's a there's a group of youth here that they really have a heart after God I have that assurance this afternoon I believe there are people here who really do have a heart after God But perhaps you haven't been going northward perhaps you've been sort of circling around Just trying to stay out of sin trying to stay out of worldliness and The challenge and the call this afternoon is to Go northward press forward into new territory Some of you do not want to be worldly. I Believe you have clean hands and up your heart You have not lifted up your hands to an idol nor sworn deceitfully Probably many of you are like God described of the seven thousand in Israel. They had not bowed their knee to bail Hopefully your phone has not become your master Hopefully you are not addicted to pornography or wallowing in in these types of things But perhaps you are still going in circles Perhaps you have not entered the fullness of the Canaan land. It is time to turn northward Now the Title the the theme for this weekend is the local church faithful and flourishing and so This is This is Personal but it's also corporate. We want to turn northward Personally but also as as a unit as a group and in our local churches we want to turn northward and we want to Reach new territory. We want to find God's will for us. We want to inherit the promise the promised land All right, so practically how do I do this? How do I quit circling around? How do I turn northward and go and possess new territory? All right, we're gonna take a little moment here. Let's get a raise of hands How many people would like a copy that have not gotten one yet? Okay, with the usher's mind coming up and taking a count and Getting some more copies Or maybe you already have that that count you need a count More copies coming. Thank you brother All right, what does it mean to turn northward and to inherit the promised land? some of that is is is Self-discipline and that word self-discipline we're gonna talk about that just a little bit now if it's self-discipline It sounds like something that I'm doing myself, right? Let's turn to the book of Galatians chapter 5 and we're gonna read verses 22 and 23 This is where the Bible talks about the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5 22 says but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long suffering kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control Against such there is no law now in the Old King James. It says temperance and Perhaps some of you have read that word temperance many times and never really Known exactly what that word means that word temperance literally means self-control I looked it up in the Greek and it's just a very literal translation self control now If it's self-control am I controlling myself? But it says it's a fruit of the Spirit and so it's he is he controlling me or am I controlling myself That's a good question Well, it's both It's my firm decision by faith. I I give myself to God in in a complete Surrender to him by faith But it takes the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to come in and work this in me I don't have the strength within myself. I can't just pull myself up by my own bootstraps We need the empowering of the Holy Spirit But there's got to be self-control in our lives if we're gonna make progress if we're gonna turn northward and Conquer new territory and advance. We will need self-control. We will need self-discipline Perhaps you've been taught that salvation is free Certainly the price for our forget the forgiveness of our sins has been paid only Jesus could do that salvation The forgiveness of our sins is something we cannot earn But Jesus never offered free tickets to heaven Jesus always said that it would cost everything and today it's no different it will cost you everything The brother last evening talked about the Anabaptists They did not water down the message to get more people into their churches They preached the whole word of God They said it just like it says it in the Bible It will cost everything Years ago the Lord opened my eyes to what it was gonna cost At least partially It's gonna cost everything. It's gonna cost Sleepless nights. It's gonna cost fasting. It's gonna cost suffering misunderstanding poverty perhaps But the Lord has promised the most glorious victory in all of time To the the church of Jesus Christ We are promised a beautiful victory at the end we need heroes in our lives the Bible is full of heroes and I've also read quite a bit of history and there are also many more Heroes down through the ages Let's think of a few of them George Mueller the man who had the orphanages in England Hudson Taylor Who started the China inland mission? Everyone has heard of Hudson Taylor right and of George Mueller and perhaps Charles Finney He probably had the greatest impact For good in America as anyone ever has had John Wesley impacted all of England and turned away Kept the country from civil war Charles Spurgeon his sermons have gone all around the world in many of the languages of the world Andrew Murray think of these heroes of the faith. Do you realize that every single one of them if you study their lives? They were tremendously Self-disciplined they had this fruit of the spirit called self-control, but it was not their own strength It was the strength of the Holy Spirit working within them Many of these men spent two to four hours a day in prayer Do you aspire to being a man of God or a woman of God? Or do you just read these stories and and think that was cool and and And go on with your life. I used to read these stories And I would go around telling my friends about what I would read And I would say hey have you heard of so-and-so and what he did and one day God gently said That was great what those men did and so what are you going to do? so one of the things that God has laid on my heart is the need to get up in the morning and have devotions and So those of you who have copies there Hmm on the second page There are three quotes at the top. I'm going to read the bottom one there by E.M. Bounds it says the men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees He who fritters away the early morning its opportunity and freshness in other pursuits than seeking God We'll make poor headway seeking him the rest of the day If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning He will be in the last place the remainder of the day Now when I was a teenager Some of my friends told me that we need to have our devotions in the morning And I said well, there's nothing more holy about the morning than about the evening I could do my devotions in the evening and I was pretty stubborn about that But you know what would happen? I'd come home in the evening after a hard day of work and I'd kneel down beside my bed and put my head down And after a few minutes I'd wake up and I had fallen asleep and it wasn't until I was married That the Lord got ahold of me and showed me that if I'm gonna make any progress in being a man of God I'm gonna have to get up in the morning and spend at least a solid hour with God and do it seriously seeking the presence of God and I Unashamedly tell you that that Those who will make the who will leave an impact in this world and God for God's kingdom They will probably have their devotional time in the morning and it probably will be an hour or more. I am really trying hard to Copy to emulate these great men of God of the past The top quote there says spiritual work is taxing work and men are loath to do it Praying true praying costs an outlay of serious attention and of time Which flesh and blood do not relish and so I want to just make a few more comments about that We need a place and we need a time and So the time we've already talked about that's when you get up in the morning and I know there's no We don't want to become legalistic. I know there are people who have factory jobs. There are people who work at night There are many different situations that we can't put this in a box But the principle is still the same the place so Soon after we were married. We were offered the opportunity of building a house beside our our church building our meeting house and So over the next few years it became my habit to get up in the morning and to go out to the church house and To have my morning devotions out there and that worked out really nice I had the whole place to myself It was quiet and I could walk back and forth Sometimes that keeps me awake if I walk back and forth and then we moved back into the mountains with the Indian people and I no longer had the luxury of a private building to have my devotions in When we moved into the mountains all we had was a tent to live in a one-room tent and so I was trying to figure out where to have my devotions and so the first little while I would go sit in my truck and That just didn't work out too well. I'd struggle with sleep and struggled to stay focused and At the present time the Lord has provided me with with a place A little room that I have and it's really a blessing to have a place And I would encourage every one of you to find a place and a time and stick with it Self-discipline self-control by the power of the Holy Spirit May the Lord bless us in this our morning with the Lord All right on the other page If you flip your page over at the bottom It says the equation is not Information plus inspiration plus willpower equals transformation It takes a life of practice in community by the power of the Holy Spirit Because Jesus goal isn't just to inform us, but to transform us So it's not just making ourselves do it We need the power of the Holy Spirit to make these things work in our lives Alright, so so we talked about the morning hour Now let's talk about several other disciplines in our lives Let's let's go to Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 Philippians 4 8 says finally brethren, whatever things are true Whatever things are noble whatever things are just whatever things are pure Whatever things are lovely Whatever things are a good report if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate on these things Or think on these things our mind we must learn to control our minds and our thoughts and I remember as a young man my mind would wander into all sorts of fantasies and Daydreaming and things like that and the Lord convicted me that I need to think on things that are true Learn to bring your mind into Subjection to the Holy Spirit the next one. I want to talk about is Let's go to 1st Corinthians chapter 10 and we're going to read verses 6 through 10 Now these things became our examples talking about the Israelites to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as They also lusted and do not become idolaters as were some of them as it is written The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play Nor let us commit sexual immorality as some of them did and in one day 23,000 fell nor let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents Nor complain as some of them also complained and were destroyed by the destroyer Now all these things happen to them as examples and they were written for our Admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come so We started out talking about this mountain that they were just circling around and During that time. These are some of the things that happened to the Israelites and so we have five things that they That they fell into The first one is lust Lusting after after food in particular It's been a concern of mine to hear American youth going on long Discourses on what kind of foods they love and what kind of foods they hate and I can't stand So-and-so's burgers and I just love so-and-so food. That's that's what the Israelites were doing right there If we're gonna become a useful vessel in God's kingdom, we've got to get away from lusting after food We've got to be thankful for the food that God gives us we always Thank the Lord for the food before we eat and then we sit there and grumble about it. That doesn't make any sense The Lord told the disciples that when they go out preaching the kingdom He says eat whatever is set before you and the Lord laid on my heart when I moved into the mountains with the Indian People to always eat whatever is set before me. I would go into their homes and they would serve me Strange foods and maybe the plate wasn't clean or the cup wasn't clean And I tried to make it a practice of always eating what was set before me with thankfulness not doing it with a grumbling heart and If you grumble about the food and if you reject your mother's cooking or your wife's cooking You will make very poor headway and becoming a vessel of God Learn to never grumble about the food That's what the Israelites did and they And and the Lord sent serpents among them God does not take these things lightly Idolatry Okay, so we don't have idols right? What about your vehicle? What a young man? What about your truck out there polishing it up on Saturday afternoon? Is that your idol? What about your face? How long do you spend in front of the mirror admiring your face and fixing your hair? sexual immorality So many men have fallen into sexual immorality Just heard of a tragic case recently of a Of a man and woman in the same church. It's probably into immorality Sometime do a study on this look through the Bible and look how many men were caused to stumble by a woman Now I praise God there's young ladies here that and sisters here that I believe are are a help to their husband But there are so many women who were not a help to their husband Eve was not a good help to Adam Abraham with Hagar Peter Denied the Lord when us when a maid servant talked to him on and on and on Young men you must be strong I Praise God for the young men who are strong and for the for the women who are Ideal helpers for their husbands, but be very careful Don't play with these things They tempted Christ They complained I want to tell a little story of a young man that went hiking with me We were hiking We hiked for several days actually And it got dark on us. We were we camped out along a little stream in a little flat area And we laid down in our sleeping bags there our blankets whatever we had and it was Getting dark so we laid out there. It was a peaceful quiet evening along beside a stream there And we went to sleep the stars were shining overhead About midnight it started to sprinkle and I woke up with raindrops on my face and I pulled the blankets over my face and I just hoped that it wouldn't keep raining and it didn't it's did quit raining And I went back to sleep again About two o'clock. I woke up again, and it was raining this time a little harder And again, I pulled the blankets over my face, and I just hoped that it would quit raining And it didn't it kept on raining, and it got harder and it rained harder And I was just hoping that the blankets would keep out the water, but they didn't and pretty soon the water started coming up from the Bottom and the first thing I knew I was completely soaked and the young man that was with me I think he was about 16 or 17 years old and and he was in the same situation It was an area that we didn't know But before we'd go into bed. We had seen a little tumble down Farm shed not too far away. So we went over there Found this little shed about three-fourths of the roof had caved in and in the one corner It was still dry so we crawled in there and One blanket was not as wet so we wrapped ourselves in the one partially dry blanket and just shivered With cold and so we started singing and we sang for a long time We had several hours till morning and we couldn't sleep the rest of the night the next day we built a fire dried everything out and hiked all day That young man 16 or 17 years old Never said a grumbling word that whole trip not a single complaint ever He didn't grow up in a Mennonite home He grew up without a dad a broken home. I don't think ever knew his dad grew up in the city in a completely heathen home and A Christian pastor reached out to them as a family and he became a Christian gave his heart to the Lord at 13 years of age and by 16 He was out preaching trying to start a church and Today he's living in the mountains there with the Tadumata people and he's very very active in Kingdom work Never murmur never grumble They say that John Wesley took young men with him on his travels if a young man ever grumbled John Wesley did not invite him back We're talking about disciplines The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt. They had a slave mentality after they came out of Egypt They were no longer slaves, but they still had a slave mentality a Slave typically is depended on man lacks vision Typically is unthankful and Is a grumbler The Israelites had a slave mentality it got him in trouble God had to eradicate a whole generation and bring the next generation in and So what were they doing during that time? They were circling this mountain Going around and around some of you have been going around and around Let's get up and March. Let's go forward. God has great things for us in his kingdom some more disciplines Money many years ago Soon after we were married. We had some changes in our financial situation and I ended up starting opening up a small carpenter shop. I didn't have customers and I didn't have much experience in exactly the line of work that I was doing. We went through a number of years of Scarcity But during that whole time the Lord laid on my heart the verse in Romans where it says oh, no man anything By God's grace we never got into debt Learn to handle your money With God's grace if you can't handle your money wisely with Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit God will probably not use you greatly in his kingdom Years later my carpenter shop was doing much better And I started looking around the other carpenter shops and they were expanding they were hiring workers They were going to expose getting orders and turning their carpenter shops into factories And I started thinking about turning my carpenter shop into a factory and God said no don't You just keep working by yourself. I have something Ahead for you After another year or so the Lord opened the door for us to go to a completely unreached area and It's not been easy back there But I tell you what that has been absolutely amazing to bring the gospel to people that never heard the gospel before and to see people who were completely Lost in drunkenness and in drug addiction and immorality and in witchcraft to see the Lord change some of those people's lives To see families transform and to see a church rise up out of that It's been beautiful, but I had to make decisions before that I was the Lord had me in a school before that and part of that was learning to discipline myself So that God could use me in the future and that's that's what I want to stir your hearts with there is so many Beautiful things out there that God can do with you, but you will need to prepare for that You know, I was thinking there's a number of men that are Alive today that are I would say heroes in my life older men That have spent a lifetime of serving God of preaching the gospel working in missions And what is really interesting to me is what age those men set their course Many of those men set their course at about 13 or 14 years of age Now some of those men are in their six or in their 70s maybe 80s and they're still Burning with a passion for God, but those men set that course when they were about 13 or 14 years of age now God can save people on their deathbeds. God has used many older men and women They've gotten saved in their old age praise God for that but The ones who have gone out and done the most many of them set that course at a really young age. I Challenge you with that Let's go to 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life That he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier If you're gonna be a soldier in the kingdom of God, you must not entangle yourself with the affairs of this life 1st Corinthians 9 verses 24 through 27 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run? But one receives the prize Run in such a way that you may obtain it and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown Therefore I run thus not with uncertainty thus fight I not as one who beats the air But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection less when I have preached to others I myself should become disqualified the apostle Paul believed in Disciplining his body Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do. Let's do all to the glory of God learn to eat and drink to the glory of God recently there's a man that Actually, it's the man who invited me into the mountains there a Christian brother but I guess he didn't understand the dangers of Not taking control of his eating and he he had a I guess he would say an addiction to soft drinks and He ended up getting diabetes and passed away a few months ago. I Would say he pretty much killed himself by drinking coke Whether we eat or drink let's do all to the glory of God. I Know that an intake of Soft drinks Jesus said whatever goes into the mouth doesn't defile the person We're not gonna lose our salvation by drinking coke But I tell you what you probably if you have a coke addiction. You probably will not be very useful in Extending the kingdom in a very major way At an iron Judson was a young man who moved to Burma years and years ago Suffered incredibly he was very disciplined and at the end of his life. He said You know, he said the cost was a lot greater than I expected But he said the fruit was beyond my loudest dreams. I could act with that with my work in Mexico Yes, the cost has been probably more than I Calculated as a young man But the rewards not just not just the amount of souls that have been saved but the the rich Spiritual experience that I've been able to walk in Has been great has been beautiful Let's give ourselves to the work of the kingdom Now what what is God calling us to? Many of you probably have grown up in a shelter at home Maybe have not traveled the world. Maybe don't know what's out there in the world But I just want to give you a few Things to think about William Kerry said to know the will of God. We must have an open Bible and an open map How can we know about the needs of the world if we never Make ourselves aware of the needs Someone else said facts are the fingers of God When we know the facts we know about the suffering and we know about certain people groups and we know about conditions God uses those things to touch our hearts and to Make us feel a need to go feel the compassion. Let's turn to Proverbs 24 and we're going to read verses 11 and 12 Deliver those who are drawn toward death and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter If you say surely we did not know this Does not he who weighs the hearts consider it and he who keeps your soul? Does he not know it and will he not render to each man according to his deeds? Many of us don't know about all of the needs and the situations around the world We don't know about all the unreached tribes and we don't know about all the horrible things that are going on in this world But we cannot wash our hands and just say oh, I didn't know about it We have got to inform ourselves We've got to go out and find out where the needs are and there's probably big needs in your hometown There's probably needs right around you. I remember as a young man doing construction work And we were working on an apartment building and on the top floor the third floor that apartment building There was this old man I think he was probably the loneliest person I ever met in my life and to this day I think of him from time to time. I wish I could have done something for that old man But they're living right around us right here in Pennsylvania. That was in Pennsylvania. So How much do you want to get done in life? How far do you want to go? Do you want to dream big do you want to attempt great things for God? Discipline yourself right now learn self-discipline, but not self-discipline in your own strength Self-discipline self-control in the power of the Holy Spirit start by getting up in the morning If you get up in the morning and spend the first hour with the Lord in sincere Bible study and in prayer I can pretty much guarantee you that God will begin to use you in some way in his kingdom It won't be easy, but God will use you. Let's think about a cause a Cause is something around which a group of people gather and they want to accomplish something There are many causes in this world some good and some bad Where I live there's a drug cartel Their cause is control and money Young men join that cause they pick up a machine gun join that cause and they lay down their lives for that cause I Think most young people want to be part of something that's bigger than themselves Something that they feel like it's worth laying down their lives for Those young men are completely deceived and let us stray Many young men have laid down their lives for a cause in this world some sort of a political cause Many young men have gone to war and laid down their lives, and they'll do it many young Anabaptist youth have suffered Accidents and perhaps laid down their lives for sports. I see that people young people are willing to suffer and lay down their lives Are you gonna do it for your sports? Are you gonna do it for a political cause? Or are you gonna do it for Christ? All the other causes are gonna pass away Everything is going to pass away except the kingdom of God Daniel 244 is one of my favorite Bible verses and In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom Which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever Praise the Lord This is the only kingdom the only organization the only cause the only thing that's gonna last for eternity Invest everything into the kingdom of God give it all you've got. I Don't care if it takes Suffering and giving our lives for this if this is worth it. I Preach this in Mexico. I tell them the gods God has promised to come back for his people and then I go home and I think wow How sure am I that this is really gonna happen? I know the Lord promised it But you know is this really sure and then I think I have chosen to give my life for this cause I have given Everything basically for this cause myself and I invite you to do the same Let's give our lives for this cause We must be willing to lay down our lives I've never had to lay down my life But I thought I was going to one time several times. I Remember one time I was out Praying at about four o'clock in the morning On the sidewalk of a city of a town Young man walked up to me and pulled a pistol out and cocked it and pointed it at me I thought this was it But you know We're part of something that's bigger than ourselves Something that's eternal Let's fight for this cause. Let's give everything for this cause. There is so much to do All right, this is all I have and So take these copies home with you. Is there someone who did not get a copy raise your hand real high? All right, good. Take these copies home. I just want to explain something yet Not all of these quotes on here are by Christian people All right, there's quotes on here by Benjamin Franklin, for example Why did I put that on here? Do you realize that there's a there's a lot of teaching out there nowadays and in Christian circles that teaches us that We as Christians don't have to Put forth any effort. It's all free gift and you just sit back and just and just coast your way into heaven The sons of this world Jesus said many times are more wise than the sons of light There are business people out there. They realize you can't just coast along in business You have to put forth effort. Some of those men have made more progress in their world than we have in our kingdom and so may they In some way inspire us But but this is obviously not the Bible take these quotes home read over them and and let these things Inspire us so to end this I would like to ask us all to stand to our feet and Let's take our copies and let's read this poem by Amy Carmichael It's the last thing on your copies and let's just read this out loud in unison From prayer that asks that I may be Sheltered from winds that beat on thee from fearing when I should aspire From silk and self. Oh captain free thy soldier who would follow thee From subtle love of softening things from easy choices Weakening's not thus our spirits fortified not this way went the crucified From all that dims thy Calvary O Lamb of God deliver me Give me the love that leads the way the faith that nothing can dismay the hope no Disappointments tire the passion that will burn like fire Let me not sink to be a Claude make me thy fuel flame of God Praise the Lord you can be seated and it was a strong struggle in my life And I was stubborn but the Lord won and Thanks to my parents who helped me. I gave my heart to the Lord surrendered my life to the Lord at 13 years of age About a year later. I was I started doing construction work. I Was part of the school system that I was part of they did not provide any higher education than that and so I was expected to go to work at 14 and The first job that I worked on the Lord convicted me so powerfully of the need to share the gospel with the owner of that Property and and I I didn't do it and I felt so bad and I wept and I repented but but the Lord got a hold of me with a It was just a powerful grip that I need to share the gospel and the Lord showed me that if I was going to refuse to share the gospel With people I had no reason to think that I would make it to heaven And that was a very very powerful thing that happened in my life And so from then on I would put gospel tracks in my pockets and I would pass them out at work When I was 21 years of age I felt a desire to Pursue something across The seas or some sort of cross-cultural foreign mission work So I talked to my parents about it and that was really interesting All I did was mention it to my parents and and just door after door just swung open and there was a brother in the church that gave me a list of contacts I Contacted three people in Mexico one brother Responded and invited me to come and At that point I wouldn't say that I was really that spiritual I did not have a very disciplined life in in my morning devotions and all of that But I had a sincere heart and I believe that I had surrendered everything to the Lord and so I remember traveling to Mexico and I had committed to go for at least one year and As I was on that trip Towards evening the Sun was going down and It was the desert down there in the south of the United States And I thought oh, no, what am I getting myself into a whole year and and no possibility of marriage And I was already 21. I thought wow, this is gonna be a long year And I said Lord I surrender if you want me to be single the rest of my life I will submit to that and I will be happy and I really meant it A Year-and-a-half later. I married my wife. She was born and raised in Mexico from Mexico part of the little mission church there and so we lived in that area for 10 and a half years and At that time I spent the first year or so learning Spanish and And we started doing outreach in the area around there So we had different mission projects that we tried Not all of them were very successful We went to a village. We traveled about an hour across the mountain to a village and We did that every week for four years and they told us they didn't need us to come back and that was the end of that and The Lord has taken me through a number of deep valleys Emotionally in church relationships. I Don't know why I've had to go through all of that perhaps. I've been a hard learner. I don't know My wife almost died three times with pregnancy related issues and Anyway 15 years ago the church wanted to send us to the To an unreached area with the Taro Mada Indian people so The Lord had done a lot of preparation in our hearts a Few a number of years before that one of the things I this is one thing I really do want to share is The Lord put in me just a tremendous hunger and thirst to know God and to feel his presence and to have his Holy Spirit flowing through me and I you know before that I would share the gospel and I'd talk with people and There wasn't always much response and I thought if I could only explain it better if I could just be more clear and explaining the The plan of salvation or the gospel message They would surely understand and surely they would give their hearts to the Lord and a little by little I began to realize that no it's not about logic It's about the Lord touching their hearts And I began to realize that what they need is for God to get a hold of their hearts and convict them of sin And I really really had this intense desire to be a vessel that God could use and I began to do just a lot of Fasting and praying I would get up in the night and just walk out on the road and just pray and cry out to God and God is good. God does hear and answer prayer and So the day came whenever the church wanted to send us to the mountains with the Indian people and So we moved into the mountains. We had three we had four small children and We could not find a house to live in no one trusted us. They would not rent us a house. I tried Renting a house nothing was available. So finally we built a tent and we lived in that tent for three and a half months A storm came through and I think we were really in danger of our lives at that point but the Lord protected us sent his angel to keep us and Many times over the years the Lord protected us in miraculous ways from from death Many many things I could share One one outstanding situation was a young man who How would I tell this story? So there was there was a sort of an extended family. There were the first Converts and he was married into that family, but he didn't he didn't accept the gospel. He was against the gospel and At one point I invited a number of them to go along out to a different area to work And so they went along and he wanted to go along too His name was porfidio and so he went along and so every evening I had Bible studies with them and He never made any profession or act didn't act interested or anything and Probably a year went by And one day I was coming home Driving home back there on those dirt roads and I was still about an hour from from home and there were a lot of the village people were out fixing the road with picks and shovels and At night they just slept out there in there on the ground And so I stopped in to give the one man some groceries that he had ordered and this porfidio came out And he said could you pray for me? He said I can't sleep. He said I haven't slept for three nights He said there's voices keep talking to me and and just telling me all sorts of Crazy things. He said I can't sleep. I said sure. I'll pray for you so I put my hand on his shoulder and prayed for him and Went on home next morning at seven o'clock. He was at my house and he said could you pray for me again? I said what happened last night? Well, he said the voices left, but he said they came back again I want you to pray for me again. I Said I can pray for you, but I said tell you what porfidio you're gonna have to become a Christian and get baptized. I Don't know why that was I guess what the Lord put on my tongue at that point I said you're gonna have to get baptized. He said that's what I want And I was I was really surprised anyway He went got his wife we got a translator and explain his wife didn't speak Spanish and so we explained the plan of salvation to them they prayed and The following Sunday, I believe we had a baptism and he was completely miraculously delivered from from schizophrenia Later he was in a in a accident in a bus accident. He'd gone out to work and the bus was coming back and it Slid down a mountain and he was killed We don't know why Those kinds of things happen, but I still am so happy with for that story that testimony of what God did in his life and So every one of the people who are part of our church now We're at one time well completely lost in alcohol drugs immorality witchcraft A few years ago our church had church service had just dismissed and we have a fellowship meal after every service And we were getting ready for the fellowship meal and this drunk Staggered into our group there and started talking to the brothers of the church And he had long hair he had not taken a bath for a long time And he was completely drunk and he was talking to the church brothers And it was just astounding to look at the difference between the church brothers and him The church brothers were all bathed They don't have Expensive clothing they're poor Maybe old clothing, but they were clean every one of them was clean had a their face washed And were sobered in their right minds And suddenly it hit me every one of those church brothers used to be exactly where that drunk is today And they're all at a beautiful testimony of God's saving power So it's been a long journey, but we've been blessed and It certainly hasn't been All of it isn't to my credit my wife has done a lot of Sharing the gospel with the women She has a lot of Bible studies with the women She has put forth an incredible amount of effort in learning the language because most of the women don't speak Spanish and so she's had to learn the indigenous language and God has been good to us. Thank you