I had some exciting things happen in April, but that didn’t include doing my taxes, but other than it was all good. I hope all of you remembered to do your taxes, as unpleasant as that may be. Anyways, early in the month I drove over to Cocoa, Florida. I visited some Overland staff because the founders were leaving to Mozambique in just a few days, so I and a few others went to see them off. While I was there, I received a call from one of the Overland staff. She is the head of the MPD department. MPD is the Ministry of Partnership Development that helps process us at the fundraising stage. I am currently in that MPD stage. She was calling to tell me that I am going to be in Zambia for the month of June. Just for June. This does not mean I am fully-funded, but they thought it would be good for me to go. I am very excited! I have been doing a lot of the logistics for planning this trip. I have my ticket booked now. Next month I don’t think I will have a newsletter coming out, but in July I will. So the next newsletter should be in July. Then all of you will be able to hear of the mighty work God is doing in Zambia!
Speaking of “mighty work.” I have this friend who I have known for about a year who comes from a long history of brokenness. Almost anything terrible you could think of has happened to this person. They were raised in the religion of the Norse gods. Something not very common, and quite different from what we are used to. Many times they have come to me broken, pouring out basically all the trauma in their life. I have tried to serve as an encouragement in pointing them to Jesus. I have shared about how Jesus has had an impact on my life and how he has healed my brokenness. A few days ago this person came back to me again pouring out their life and once again I pointed them back to Jesus and in that conversation they gave their life to Jesus! I was so happy and still am! I have been waiting for this moment for so long. The reason I titled this newsletter Good News is because, not only do I have good news, but another soul for the Kingdom has been won by the Good News.
“Let me remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good news that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you – unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and He was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.” 1 Corinthians 15 1:1-4 NLT “This is real love – not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” 1 John 4:10 NLT. I simply told the Good News and let God do the work. We are to be God’s ambassadors, ministers of reconciliation, and His witnesses. I speak for my God as an ambassador, I minister the Good News, and tell the truths of His life changing power. There is a strategy in the Kingdom of God for winning souls and that strategy is to preach the Good News, because in doing that you speak real love... unconditional ever-accepting love of God. There are two things God taught me that I will forever hold dear and will be my strategy for the growth of His Kingdom. Now, I do not say that He taught me as something that is light. It is not simply a revelation, but it is so much bigger. The two things He taught me are: what real love feels like, and how to truly express that love to another. That is all I know how to do. Knowing the love of God is the single most greatest tool in the Kingdom of God. Nobody can ever take it away from. What makes it ironic is that you can’t keep it to yourself. You have to give it away. The infinite love of God will forever pour out of you. “But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak His name, His word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!” Jeremiah 20:9. When God speaks His message through you, you cannot keep it in. His message is the Gospel – the Good News. Now go speak of the love of God. The disciples of God will be known for their love, that is because we have been taught real love!