Ministry in Christ’s name often entails moments of rousing
success, coupled with some bitter disappointments. That’s the way it is when
you offer the Good News to people with free will. Sometimes they will receive
the gospel gladly; at other times it falls on deaf ears.
Throughout my years of ministry, but particularly in those times
when our best efforts yield meager results, I’ve lifted my spirits by asking
myself a simple question, and remembering the answer. The question is: “How
much is a soul worth?” The answer is, “If it takes all our money and all our
effort to persuade just a single soul to follow Christ, then the investment was
well worth it.” A soul, you see, is priceless.
Still, when I received a report from Glad Tidings India this
past September, indicating that our most recent church plant (funded by last
year’s Luke 19 Project) has yielded only five new decisions for Christ and six
regular worshipers during the preceding four months, I admit to feeling
somewhat deflated. I’d hoped for more.
So what a joy it was last month when I received our third
and final report on the progress of our 2015 church plant. Between September
and December, our church has really turned a corner, realizing 33 more
decisions for Christ, while worship attendance has grown from six to 83. Praise
God. This seed certainly has fallen on good soil.
But that’s not even the best news. Since late in 2015,
several members of Millersville Community Church have felt called to do more.
Some felt moved to quietly give out of personal conviction. Others responded to
the special offering request that went out during the Advent Season. One member
even offered to match everyone else’s donation dollar for dollar.
As a result in 2016 Millersville Community Church has
already be able to fund the launch of two new churches among the unreached
population of India. A pastor has already been assigned to the first of these.
Please Pray for Bhupendra Dubey and for the success of his ministry. A second
pastor should be deployed within just a few weeks.
Pastor Bhupendra is serving Christ in Uttar Pradesh, a state
in northern India where only 0.3 percent of the population is Christian. In
fact, if Uttar Pradesh was its own country, it would have the world’s third
largest unevangelized population. It is also a region of rampant disease and
political corruption, so Pastor Bhupendra has some hard work ahead, and faces
very real dangers.
The latest Glad Tidings newsletter indicates that they have
receive requests for 450,000 English-language Bibles to give to local
worshipers. Many years ago I challenged Grace Church to contribute 1,000 Bible
to Glad Tidings over the course of one year. The members came through and
exceeded that amount in just four months! In light of the ongoing need, this
might be a good time to see how many more we can collect. If you have new or
gently used Bibles that you no longer read, please consider passing them along
to someone in desperate need of God’s
word. You may leave them in a clearly labeled plastic bag in the lobby of First
Campus, the Servant Center at Grace
Campus, or the workroom at Hope.
Peace,
Pastor Bruce
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