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As we began to receive reports of the destruction, response encountered the Gospel. As a small group of them were
to the needs was already in progress. Local church pastors walking and praying through the day’s assignment, a young
began putting together teams that made their way to boy emerged from the underbrush and approached one of
the worst-hit areas with skill sets in construction, electrical the young men. In the crisis of an unguarded, very God moment,
engineering, medical response, providing water and emergency the young boy began a conversation with one of the young
supplies, hospitality in providing safe recovery areas, meals, men participating in the prayer trek. Amazingly, as the boy
etc. Several churches across the disaster areas were set up began to speak to him, the young man responded in the
as provision stations to accommodate those who had lost so boy’s language. They spoke for a few moments as the others
much in the storm. stood some distance away. After a few moments, the boy
What often emerged from the devastation was a response motioned for the young man to stay and he would return.
of compassion and caring for those affected by the storm. As the boy left them, the others came alongside of their
Ministry rose in many of these regions providing a fresh prayer partner and asked when he had learned the language.
revelation of the Gospel of Christ. Challenges provided The young man said he didn’t speak the language. They
opportunities and refocused ministries on how to do ministry asked if he had understood the boy, he had not. They asked
in a shifting and crisis-centered community. As truckloads of if he knew what he had said, he did not.
supplies were transported into the affected areas, the compassion In a few moments, the young boy returned with one of the
of Christ revealed was not based on the name of the local elders from his people. The elder communicated with broken
church, rather on the Lord responding to the needs of others. fragments of words in their language. He questioned them
The other response came from local pastors and churches about what the young man had said to the boy. The young
who came with supernatural financial gifts to supply these man asked what the boy had told him and he responded that
ongoing opportunities. In the early days, even before we he had told him the young man said they had come to build a
had a grasp of the degree of damage suffered, local church well to provide clean water for his tribe; to provide a school
congregations were reaching out to their family in the US where the children of the tribe could learn, and assist with
and across the world. One of the great blessings of our infrastructure to benefit their way of life. As the conversation
fellowship is the relationships we share with one another. progressed, it became clear that the Holy Spirit had used the
During the response, the Lord led us in the global task of encounter between the young prayer participant and the
sharing the whole Gospel to the entire world. small boy to lay the foundation of a complete mission strategy
Two international leadership meetings late in the year in which to provide a witness of compassion and an opportunity
reflected a refocus of providing ministry in a crisis-shifting to reach them with the Gospel.
environment, recognizing the collision of a fresh revelation of At the completion of the prayer trek, the sponsoring mission
the Gospel of Christ and the constant changing world climate agency returned to the area to put in place every directive
(politically, financially, and meteorologically). of the ministry outline according to the direction of the Holy
Early last year in prayer in the Upper Room in the International Spirit. They also presented the Gospel of Christ as the foundation
Offices, I was seeking direction from the Lord concerning of the support. The entire tribe received the Gospel.
a fresh move of the Holy Spirit in my ministry and a new When we read about the outpouring at Pentecost in the
strategy in leadership concerning global missions. Tarrying book of Acts, we sense an urgency in the supernatural
in quiet prayer, His response began preparing me for what empowerment to evangelize the world. Part of that urgency
was to come through three directives: hear, discern, obey. was a sensitivity and gifting of power to be at the right place,
Often, the challenge can be just to hear. This requires a at the right moment—like a roof top experience when Gentiles
readiness to slow down and silence the urgent tasks and seek you to share what the Holy Spirit has given (Acts 10).
routines that are screaming for attention. The charge to hear It encompasses the same mission strategy the Lord spoke to
came with the challenge to listen with vulnerability. I was me earlier this year: hear, discern, and obey.
not to listen to my own hopes, dreams, or directions, but to At every crisis moment, God has positioned someone who
listen for the voice of the One who calls to service. is listening and discerning. Positioned, the Holy Spirit opens
However, to hear with the sense of complete vulnerability our senses to have the mind of Christ and move in complete
and openness, to comprehend the magnitude of greatness obedience to His directive. Only the Holy Spirit can take the
being imparted, requires a willingness to stop and linger in Word spoken in human weakness and carry it home with
His presence. The directive to discern was an invitation to power into the mind, the heart, the conscience, and the will
clearly identify the call and to recognize the cost required to of the hearers. The prophet reminds us, “Not by might, nor by
respond in complete obedience. It is only in these moments power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty” (Zachariah 4:6).
of anointing before the Lord that we witness that same spark As the world continues to experience global shifting, may
that rises from generations past, “Here am I, send me.” we be so positioned and empowered by the Holy Spirit that
Some years ago, I heard the mission testimony about a the Lord may lead us to service and connection in the global
group of young people who had committed to a prayer trek task of sharing the whole Gospel to the entire world.
through a non-Christian nation. Within this nation were several
known unreached tribal people groups who had never

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