Worship

“Good News” by Bryan and Katie Torwalt

Scripture

“And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.'” -Luke 10:2 (ESV)

A Recent Journey of Faith

I just returned from taking a team of 12 to preach the good news in the most remote villages of this South Asia mountain region. My heart was stirred to a new level of deep compassion as I reached the end of the trip. I saw the Holy Spirit move like I have never seen in my lifetime, with scores of salvations and unfathomable healings and miracles. It was glorious, and the Lord poured out anointing on our team in a fresh way. We really carried new wine and new oil in an even greater authority! But at the end of day four as we experienced significant suffering, sitting with destitute and forgotten people, I wondered to the Lord, “How much longer can I do these trips?” My heart was breaking. I was all poured out, and the days were long with ministry. Demon-possessed people needed deliverance; spiritually dead people needed resurrection; and the physically broken needed healing. I have led six Extreme Teams over the past three years, but this one was in a space entirely of its own.

It was day four, and we followed the river to a village that only had access to the rest of the area for six months of the year. Otherwise, the river flowed so fiercely that people were unable to cross into other villages. That meant that in a medical emergency or food shortage, these people were stuck. The government refused to build a bridge to this community. The poverty was overwhelming to me that day. These people had nothing. They were stuck entirely and in every way.

There was not one believer there or anyone who cared to go there. After sharing the gospel to this village, we asked the locals if there was anyone sick who we could pray for. They directed us to a paralyzed woman across the river. As a team, we decided that no one would come here again so it was our opportunity to go and pray for her and bring Jesus to her.

After crossing the river, this was the sign to her village. She was considered just a “backward class” and discarded by the rest of society.

Upon reaching this paralyzed woman, we were undone by the level of rejection from her community. She was all alone to fend for herself. A thatched roof would not keep out the rain during the rainy season. Dirty brown water filled her drinking cup. She was fed scraps that no one wanted.

Positioned next to the stall of cows, she sat in utter hopelessness and despair, waiting and longing to die. One thing I do know—she never had eight Christians in her little hut praying for her and bringing her Jesus. And in He came with the gift of her eternal salvation. As we prayed and pulled Heaven down for her healing, we envisioned her running out of that dilapidated hut so that the entire village could be saved. God had a different plan, however, that we could not see in that moment.

But we left trusting that His character is good and unchanging even though the paralyzed woman did not walk. One thing we know is she went from death to life. God will always be glorious, for that is who He is!

“The motive is this, ‘Oh! that God could be glorified, that Jesus might see the reward of his sufferings! Oh! that sinners might be saved, so that God might have new tongues to praise him, new hearts to love him! Oh! that sin was put an end to, that the holiness, righteousness, mercy, and power of God might be magnified!’ This is the way to pray; when thy prayers seek God’s glory, it is God’s glory to answer thy prayers.” -Charles Spurgeon

The Current Challenge

We are faced with a grim reality in America as less than half of Christ followers know the Great Commission. Churches are moving further and further away from caring about a global mission focus. The great American dream is sweeping both the church and the culture. We are becoming more and more myopic in our viewpoint and less and less concerned with those around the globe who have never heard the name of Jesus. More than 3 billion exist in this demographic. How do we wrap our hearts and feet around this reality?

“Today, many fallen aspects of culture impact the Christian mindset and permeate the Church at large. Our practices, judgements, and beliefs sway to social pressures, often giving way to the world’s breed of groupthink.

Could this be one of the reasons why over fifty-percent of professing Christians do not know what the Great Commission is, why evangelism is going out of style, or why so few believers thrive on mission today? Or more broadly, why so few answer the call of Christ to cross cultural, geographic, and/or linguistic boundaries to publicize the name of Jesus in foreign lands? After all, the collective social codes of behavior pay little respect to such radical expressions of love for Christ. …

But when we downplay God’s mission, our sight grows myopic, and our worldview becomes ethnocentric. We no longer see the expansive fields that are ripe and ready for harvest—either at home or abroad.” -David Joannes, “The Mind of a Missionary”

We are in a critical moment for the Bride of Christ. Jesus is setting a new normal before us where the Bride of Christ is going to naturally move in signs and wonders. This will confirm the gospel to those who need to experience the power and presence of Jesus. The gospel will be demonstrated and proclaimed in tandem to a mighty harvest waiting to be harvested. Intellectualism without wonder will be a thing of the past. But more must take hold of this reality and run to the harvest fields. We need more workers in the field! We need more to raise their hands and say, “I will do whatever it costs to take the gospel wherever God sends me.” Jesus’ prayer for more workers 2,000 years ago is just as critical now. I have seen it with my own eyes. There are people in places longing for a message of hope and salvation.

A Question of Legacy

If we don’t go, who will? If we don’t tell them, who will (Romans 10:14-15)? If we have life, it is ours to give away, not hold onto in self-preservation. When I wrestled deeply if I could continue these Extreme Teams, the next day, my heart was undone. With every person I encountered, I had to fight back tears. I woke up that day crying tenderly in my sleeping bag and felt the Lord shifting my heart in even deeper compassion and compulsion. I must go. While I have life and strength, I must go.

My urgent plea is not only to my own heart but to yours as well. If you are reading this and you aren’t in the grave, you must go, physically and/or spiritually. Workers need resources, and they need prayer. Each one of us can do something to get more workers in that harvest field! The days are urgent, and the need is compelling. Would you ask the Lord today to send you as a worker into His harvest field? Would you ask Him to reveal your part in fulfilling the Great Commission to the ends of the Earth?

“At the culmination of the ages, people from every corner of the globe will be present before God’s throne. What part will you play in ushering the nations into His throne room? Recognizing that praise from all nations is, in fact, the reward of Jesus’ suffering, are you prepared to do everything in your power to make Him known in the world?” -David Joannes, “The Mind of a Missionary”, emphasis added