2 Timothy 2:2-3 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
In this Biblical text the apostle Paul, as a Spiritual fatherly figure, is exhorting his young spiritual son in how to do effectual Spiritual missionary ministry. Find a faithful man and teach him the same spiritual truths you have heard of me (Paul) and empower him by teaching him the ALL things of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20) then & only then will this man be able to teach others, of his own people also.
This principle has been the heartbeat principle of MTM from the very beginning more than 12 years ago. Teaching native men from all nations the ALL things of Jesus Christ in empowering, facilitating & equipping them to REACH their own UNREACHED peoples. It has been a great joy to my fatherly heart of MTM to see (during this COVID times while international borders are mostly closed) the many sons of MTM rise up to the challenge (in the absence of MTM) and minister both physically & Spiritually to their own unreached peoples of their nations. Blessed be God alone!!!
This same principle that Paul taught Timothy is the heartbeat vision of i58. Their vision is to get these M…. refugees soundly & solidly saved & grounded in Jesus Christ and then sending them to go and preach the gospel to their own language unreached M…. people and plant churches among their own Arabic & Persian M…. people.
What a joy to see this principle actually taking place in our last MTM/i58 partnership ministry time in Chios, Greece. August 18th to October 7th 2021. The brother in the photo below is from Iraq and is an Arabic speaking former M….. but as recently as two years ago converted to Christianity. He really is only a babe in Christ Jesus. In the photo below the 2 M…. women were attempting to defend M…. and defame the scripture. This dear brother preached Jesus Christ to them from their own Quran and their mouths were stopped. Blessed be God. I see this over and over again, where native same language Christians can win their own people to Jesus Christ in ways the foreigner simply is unable to.
This dear Arabic speaking brother with great boldness and passion preached Jesus Christ with perfect clarity to these dear M…. seekersWe also had the privilege to preach Jesus Christ to M…. & Catholic migrants from West Africa in our apartment. The countries of West Africa are Gambia, Senegal, & Sierra Leone and they are all English speaking. This was a great blessing indeed.
One weekend we traveled on a ferry boat to the island of Lesvos. There is a much larger camp of refugees there. i58 has a greater representation of staff working there. We enjoyed our time of fellowship with them and encouraging one another in this challenging work. Raymond had the privilege to bring the Sunday morning message. A timely message on current events and how it fits into biblical prophecy.
