Getting the Gospel to People to the Ends of the Earth &
Raising them up to be Oaks of Righteousness so as to Seriously Greater the Earth
And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
I was reading in Matthew the other day where John the Baptist had his disciples go see Jesus and ask Him if He was the One or should they look for another. Jesus’ response was this:
Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Matthew 11:5
Wow. Right up the same alley as all these other miracles is God’s servants showing up to preach the Gospel to the poor.
When we go into neighborhoods, apartment complexes, mobile home parks… we go in with Good News that God has big plans for every single person and because of Jesus it doesn’t matter where you start: God can cause you to become a world-changer; that’s miracle-talk.
I came from a tiny town in Canada. My mother had left my dad when I was 4 so I grew up with an amazing single mom but no dad. We were 5 kids in total. When we left him she moved us from the French part of Canada to an English part. She was showing up in a different province, where they spoke a different language, with 5 kids ranging from 2 to 11, a few suitcases and a few dollars. She worked hard my whole childhood. She’d leave for work at 6pm and get back at 7am. Cooked meals, constantly did laundry, helped us with homework, taught our Sunday School classes, slept and worked.
I am very thankful for my life. For my mom. For the fact I grew up in a house that was holy and where we learned the Bible, lived right and went to church. I had that going for me and it’s been the foundation of why I’m still alive today. However, when I was 17 I started drinking like most everyone else in my town and managed to nearly kill myself before hitting the age of 20. I had lost all work ethic, all self-worth and self-esteem, got kicked out of university, couldn’t keep a job and had zero vision for my life.
God found me in that tiny little town. He sent some people along the way in His loving mercy that gave me different opportunities and shared things with me until I finally opened up and allowed Him to start doing some powerful things in my life. There was an exact moment I remember clearly where a flicker of purpose was lit inside my heart and a desire to do something with my life was rebirthed. God is so good. By then He had put someone in my life that was sharing Truths from the Bible I had never registered and I started my journey of falling in love with God in a very real way. In fact, I fell head over heels in love with Him. His Word became my everything. His Presence became all I desired.
I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I didn’t know He had plans for me. I just knew I was in love and wanted to be with Him all the time. But that’s what happened. He began to birth visions and dreams and gifts inside of me.
Long story short: out of that tiny town, in that dark room where I felt like a complete loser, in my mother’s rented townhouse, has come a man whose now got to work for a number of powerful ministries, got to preach around the country from the tiniest towns, to the largest cities and is on fire with vision and purpose. I now have a beautiful family and get to be a Dad; which is the greatest honor in the world. And now my kids’ childhoods are completely different from mine. They have many advantages I didn’t have. All that because of the power of God. All that because the Gospel was able to get to me.
It’s not because I had the perfect family. It’s not because I had money. It’s not because I did everything right. It’s not because I’m a naturally ambitious or strong-willed person. It’s not because my dad helped me along the way. It’s not because of the city I grew up in or any kind of connections I had. Because I didn’t have any of that… and yet God was able… that’s the Good News to the poor and that is powerful.
Jessica has a similar story of growing up in a tiny town and God touching her life, filling her with a vision and a passion and bringing her around the world. So we both know it’s God’s will and He is able. We know that what He’s done for us He will do for anyone who will call on Him. We are passionate about getting the Gospel to people and letting them know the Good News because we have faith in the power of God.
As much as it’s only the power of God that can open blind eyes, it’s only the power of God that can change a life. His power will visit a young child growing up in abject poverty, with a lineage of drug/alcohol abuse, welfare-mindsets, lack of education and fill them with His power and His vision. He’ll place gifts and callings within them and be with them to grow them up and cause them to change the cycle for their children. He’ll take them from the pit He found them in, grow them up to be oaks of righteousness and seriously greater the earth.
That’s the power of God that we know is available to the kids and families we reach out to. That’s the power of the Gospel. It is miraculous. It is real. It is available. That’s why we’re passionate about getting it to them. They have a right to hear. They have a right to know. There is so much gold out there. It has to be mined. Jesus came to seek and save the lost and sent us all to do the same.
If they never hear, they can never call out and if no one shows up to preach, they’ll never hear. So that’s what we do and that’s why we do it.