It's Good to be home!

Got home last night about 8:30 PM. When I got off the plane in Amarillo I was greeted by Kyra and David running to meet me. Man that is a good feeling. I thank God for the opportunity to travel to Pakistan and to preach the gospel. I also thank God for bringing me home safely and getting to grab up Wendy and the kids and get a big hug when I got home.

As I reflect on this trip I am amazed. I learned so much about Muslims and about Pakistan. The thing that I already knew but was reminded of is this: the harvest TRULY is plentiful. The fields are white for the harvest. Jesus told us this was so and it is. He also told us to pray to Him, the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers into the harvest.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for our trip. God answered your prayers in mighty ways. The neat thing is that prayer for our safety - we will never know what kind of danger He protected us from, but in this instance, ignorance is bliss. Thanks also to everyone who gave financially for this trip. I can tell you that it was invested in a kingdom work that will yield the result of eternal life for many in Pakistan and some day in heaven we will meet with them as brothers and sisters for eternity.

I love you all and can't wait to share the stories of what God has done.

Oh, yeah - thanks for the prayers for Cork. He was doing much better when we split up yesterday. Please pray for David because whatever Cork had, he got in Malasya. He is leaving Bangkok today and is feeling better.

-R

Ramadan

Yesterday was the beginning of Ramadan. This is the fast that followers of Islam observe. It lasts for 30 days and its timing is based on the lunar calendar. It was supposed to start on Sunday, but the moon was not exactly in the right phase, so it began on Monday. Faithful followers of Isalm will not eat during the daylight hours. They have in our hotel room a Ramadan calendar which gives exact times of daylight and dark so that a person can make sure they don't eat during the day.

You cannot buy food during the day - even McDonalds was closed yesterday! Once the sun goes down, they eat. Our friend, Sattar told us several times that he had kept the fast now faithfully for 25 years. Religion.

How cool is this? I had the honor of standing up last night in the ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ! On the first night of Ramadan, I was able to preach that Jesus is not JUST a prophet, He is the virgin born, sinless, son of God Himself. I got to preach the cross and repentance and faith in Jesus. Even as I could hear the Muslim call to prayer in the city of Patoki, I was able to offer an invitation to come to Jesus and trust Him alone. I was able to share the ASSURANCE of our salvation in Christ. So many in this world think that if you are good enough you can go to heaven. Jesus tells us because of His grace He saves us, not becasue of works of righteousness we have done! (Titus 3.5). And you know what? The Holy Spirit was at work in these people's lives and they responded! Hundreds embraced Christ and called on His name to save them. God is SO good. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Today we head home, keep praying for us as we still have many opportunities. I love you all.
-R

Lord's Day

This morning we went to church with our brothers and sisters in Pakistan. David, Cork and I split up and went to three different fellowships to preach. Problem - Cork has Montezuma's revenge (was Montezuma Pakistani?). Please pray for him. I preached at a church of about 100 people. There were three people responding to the invitation.

As I got up to preach, I asked how many people were raised in a Christian home. All of them raised their hands. I asked how many were raised in a Muslim home - none. It seems that the church in Pakistan is a lot like the church in America. There is a Christian culture here and there are very few Muslims who are hearing the gospel and being born again. I realize that it can mean persecution to preach the gospel and to convert from Islam to Christianity, but Jesus would not have told his followers that He sent them out as sheep amidst wolves if it wasn't potentially dangerous (Luke 10).

Tonight Ramadan starts. The faithful Muslims will fast during the daylight hours for thirty days. We are told we will have a hard time finding lunch tomorrow. (It probably wouldn't hurt for us to skip a meal or two!!! :) We watched the Ramadan kick off on TV tonight before bed. There are thousands of Muslims in Mecca praying and walking in circles around the Kabba. So sad, religous people but no relationship with God. Pakistan is a country of Religion. Here you can tell what people believe by what they wear. They all have special holy days and religion is very outward. Pray that the Holy Spirit will bring conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment as He opens the eyes of their hearts to hear the good news of Jesus and be set free from the religion that keeps them blind.

Tomorrow we hang out and go to the market in the morning and then we preach at another crusade in Patoki. Please pray for us that God will draw people to Himself, that the Word would run swiftly and be glorified, for boldness and clearity as we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, pray for open doors and for our deliverance because not all men have faith.

I love you all and wish you were here.
-R

Leadership Conference

Hey everybody - I forgot to give a report on the leadership conference on Saturday morning. We had a good group of 100 - 120 pastors, Bible school students, and church leaders attend the conference. David, Cork and I took turns teaching about ministry and mission. It was a great time and very encouraging to have the discipleship opportunity to equip the church in Pakistan.

WOW!

Do you remember a day when Peter got up to preach Christ to a Jewish crowd and about 3000 were saved? Well I thought of that last night. There were more people at the crusade last night 7000+. There is really no way to know how many, but there were a lot more people.

As we were worshipping I was praising the LORD and thinking that here we are in the ISLAMIC! Republic of Pakistan and there are literally thousands of people who have come to hear the gospel. If we had a big meeting in America we would rejoice but it would not be such an incredible reality as it is in an Islamic republic. God is so good. The Holy Spirit was ALL OVER the place. During the invitation, the people were sitting and the stadium was so full that there was not room at the front to invite people to come forward to respond, so David invited those who were ready to trust Jesus to stand where they were. Several thousand people responded and it was absolutely wonderful.

Here is the reality - there are people ALL OVER the world just waiting to hear the message of forgiveness and grace in Jesus and ready to respond. The Lord Jesus said that if we would follow Him he would make us fishers of men. I got an email from Wendy and she said that my little David caught a two pound cat fish with his Paw Paw in Carlsbad! I pray that he follows Jesus and turns that love of fishing that he has into a love of fishing for men.

Keep praying as we are spreading out to preach in three different churches in Lahore this morning. I love you all.

-R

God is at Work in Pakistan

Wow! God is so awesome. The amazing thing about following Jesus is that you find that God is at work all around you even before you get where you are going! Last night was amazing. There were well over 5000 people in attendance at the crusade and there were too many responding to the invitation to count! Praise God. Here you can see some really interesting shoes that were given to me (Rody) - aparently these are the shoes that a prince would wear. Now I definitely do not deserve to wear them, but I am reminded that Peter tells us we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood! In Jesus we are royalty and we have the privilidge of inviting others to become sons and daughters of the King! He has many new sons and daughters after last night!

Keep praying and seeking the Lord. God is moving mightily in Pakistan. Today, we will be leading a pastors and leaders conference and then back to the crusade again tonight. I love you all and keep praying for us - 2 Thes 3:1-3.

-R

Culture

Culture is a funny thing. The culture a person grows up in is something you don't think about until you are in another one. A fish never thinks about water until he is out of it. We are definitely in a different fish bowl. I grew up in a culture where Christianity is the dominant ''religious' view. Here, in Pakistan, the dominant religous view is Islam. The people here are like fish in water, they cannot imagine something different, just like it is hard for many Americans to imagine anything different from their cultural experience.

The mission, should we choose to accept it, is to live in the culture of Jesus. No matter what the culture is in the place where we live, Jesus tells us that as His followers, we are citizens of His kingdom. Live like it no matter what culture around you says or does. We (David Burk, Emmett Corker, and me) are following Jesus in a Muslim culture. We don't want these people to embrace Western or American values. Our prayer is that they would meet the person of Jesus Christ and embrace this life in Him. I believe that when we follow Jesus it will change the world no matter where we find ourselves.

Jesus said, "I don not pray that YOu should take them our of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. John 17:15-16.

In the world, but not of the world.
Following Jesus
_--R

Culture

Culture is a funny thing. The culture a person grows up in is something you don't think about until you are in another one. A fish never thinks about water until he is out of it. We are definitely in a different fish bowl. I grew up in a culture where Christianity is the dominant ''religious' view. Here, in Pakistan, the dominant religous view is Islam. The people here are like fish in water, they cannot imagine something different, just like it is hard for many Americans to imagine anything different from their cultural experience.

The mission, should we choose to accept it, is to live in the culture of Jesus. No matter what the culture is in the place where we live, Jesus tells us that as His followers, we are citizens of His kingdom. Live like it no matter what culture around you says or does. We (David Burk, Emmett Corker, and me) are following Jesus in a Muslim culture. We don't want these people to embrace Western or American values. Our prayer is that they would meet the person of Jesus Christ and embrace this life in Him. I believe that when we follow Jesus it will change the world no matter where we find ourselves.

Jesus said, "I don not pray that YOu should take them our of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. John 17:15-16.

In the world, but not of the world.
Following Jesus
_--R

Pakistan

Hey everybody! Well I'm in Pakistan and God is good! We have had a great day meeting with our brothers here who are planning the meetings we will be having in the next few days. We also have had a great opportunity to talk with some of the hotel staff. We are learning about the Muslim world and their beleifs. Pray for our Muslim friend Sattar. He is a wonderful man who works here and he told us a lot of what he believes as a muslim. He basically believes that all religious people who are good are right with God and that our faith should show itself in good works. We hope to visit with him more.

I love you all and thank everyone for their prayers. Keep it up!
2 Thes 3:1-3

Rody