Maybe Not Exciting on Paper

As I write this post I am sitting in a building with a dirt floor, covered in dirt and mud, wearing clothes that have been soaked by rain and sweat for the past three days, and eating food cooked over a fire for every meal.  And I am so happy about it.  I am happy because this is one of the most momentous occasions in missions here in Panama, and not just within YWAM.  

Missions organizations tend to have an Achilles heel, and it is a big one.  The weakness is that because of the rush, and excitement to fulfill the great commission, there is a massive tendency to go into a place, get some people to make a commitment to Christ, and then move on to somewhere else.  Discipleship is often left behind in favor of numbers.  What you end up with are hundreds, if onto thousands of new converts who can't tell you any more than there was a guy named Jesus who died for them, and they accepted Him into their hearts.  And yet they continue in their same lifestyles, same witchcraft, same idols and sins, no real transformation in their lives or cultures.

We in YWAM Chiriqui have been called to what may seem like a less glamorous, less exciting road on paper.  It is slower no doubt.  However the road we are taking is the road that produces fruit that lasts, something quite elusive these days.  We have launched a ground breaking ministry model here in Central America and many other parts of the world.  Instead of a quick and easy ministry model that allows for exciting newsletters and stories of explosive numbers, we are running with the tortoise and taking one week of every month for at least a year with a group of Ngobe students to teach them Biblical Principles and attributes of God.  They will be trained to multiply this same model, and take it to other villages where true disciples with be raised up rather than become mere statistics

These will be many months of sweat and mud and stinky latrines, but the weight of glimmering jewels that are these Ngobe Christians that come out of it will far out weight any discomfort we feel along the road.  It may not sound exciting on paper, but I assure you the Kingdom of God is tense with excitement to see what is coming.