The sky is a slate gray, and the rain is falling sideways. At one point the winds were blowing hard enough to knock us down. In the middle of all of this weather, I asked myself, “Why would anyone want to be in Cancun at a time like this?”
Although it might have all of the earmarks of a relief trip, my stay here was in fact about something far more powerful. I was in Cancun last week, braving the bad weather, to support the 3rd World Missions Congress. The purpose of this congress was to increase missions awareness throughout Latin America and to increase Latino involvement in missions from a comparative drizzle to a downpour.
Although the weather had been less than desirable, was beautiful to see the lessons that we are teaching in the Bible School and preaching in churches about missions reinforced in each service. Dick Brogden, A/G missionary and leader of the Live Dead movement in Cairo, Egypt, gave a call for volunteers, saying, “We need you.” Our Executive Director of Assemblies of God World Missions, Greg Mundis, spoke passionately of our obligation to evangelize the world.
What a joy it was to see, at the close of Greg’s message, the dozens of Latinos, many attendees from Mexico, respond to the call to fulfill that obligation. Even more fulfilling was seeing the excitement in the eyes of those with whom I was speaking, some of them my former students, as they talked about what God is doing throughout the world and about how they wanted to be a part.
This event was all about coming full circle in the missions world. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Jesus’ plan for world evangelism is for those who had been blessed by the gospel to be a blessing to others. Throughout this congress, Latinos, traditional receivers of the blessings of missions, have been hearing and responding to this challenge to fulfill their obligation to be a blessing as well.
Let’s pray for an increase in Latino involvement in missions!
- For an infilling of the Spirit throughout Latin America and especially in Mexico. The Holy Spirit is The Spirit of Missions. As we are increasingly filled with the Spirit we will be empowered to do the work of missions around the world.
- For an increased intercession. In Luke 10:2, Jesus tells his disciples to pray for workers, but directly afterwards, he sends out those very same disciples. Increased intercession yields increased sensitivity to the voice of God and the call to missions.
- For the defeat of the poverty mentality. Mexicans give only 7 dollars per church per month to missions. It’s that low not because we don’t have; it’s that low because we’ve believed the lie that says we don’t.
