Are You a Missionary or Mission Field?

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Enjoy share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and choosing the truth. Podcast network. This is the Truth Network to go to Togo password all right how untrue talk and I'm in a most interesting spot is not like this in Togo, West Africa, is it JJ note no, it's not does not Togo and West Africa. It's a very tropical country. It's a country where sexy consider to be the 11th poorest nation in the world of French-speaking people were 70% of the population is under the age of 30. So really a young people have very vibrant country of very kind people group that you have throughout the world. It's also place that does have its its darkness. It has its place, because it's known, along with Arctic country at a store, but in to be the birthplace of voodoo for the world and so is very dark is in a spiritual sense and we would say the southern area where we work.

9/10 people that we talk to our hearing the gospel for the very first time they're hearing the message of what Jesus did for them 2000 years ago and how he wants to have a relationship with them and so different than here, and yet so many similarities with people you don't know that Togo but in the origins everyone thinks voodoo Haiti. Hades was exported from banana Togo started their part of Africa and worry with an interesting assembled group. Your were on the porch of a place called cupcake cuties and were eating these fabulous doing Huey pumpkin treats and her she's taking you that what is you have your digging. I may have to get a port in her red velvet cake is my favorite. It's amazing with Dr. Hobbs coffee in a state cop's birthday which makes the more special.

Dave Jarrett. This could there be a better way to celebrate inverted and interviewing missionaries taking the gospel people never heard absolutely no real privilege to have you, JJ, and to be here with Brandon all the sick cupcake cuties.

What a blessing and a beautiful day to boot. Rev. Jeff Joshi open to subverting you your thoughts. I sure do know anything about. But I would love learning about what is good, what is there to take us there. So voodoo is a religion except portion of African traditional religion where you have 41 different deities and so people worship out of fear they worship idols that are often represented in each one of their homes. They worship out of fear that their ancestors are going to dictate the present and the future and for the majority of people just like Artie mentioned. I go back to just two months ago. Two months ago standing in a village with some believers who had invited me as they were taking the gospel into this community as I share the gospel for about 30 minutes with some people. There 15 people said yesterday they wanted to turn their back on their ways, their idols that suggested Jesus and a lady stood up and said I grew up worshiping Satan. I grew up in that family.

We didn't know any better. No one's ever told us any differently.

But today I'm deciding to follow God and that was the first day that she had heard a clear presentation of the gospel and so people grow up in the darkness with the oppression with the lack of hope, and that's where Jesus changes everything JJ or in a country where can you give us the breakdown statistically of religions you have some animist Muslims. Obviously some Christians that he always have nominal Christians, you might just by association do some fresh background will not give us the breakdown of what was this religious landscape of the area of whatever of Togo or your Esso. About 50% of the of the country actively practices voodoo and African traditional religion.

You have 20% are Muslim and Islam is going very very quickly from the north to the south and you have about 30% that would crank would claim Christian in some way shape or form say it's fewer than 1/10 people that have even heard the gospel your young man, JJ, and were sit here all of us men of God, owner cupcake cuties brads here.

We got this awesome place here. God bless you my friend Parker's radio partners in special and I got sweet treats like this and tell you what I'm thinking some goodies back to my family. My daughter Joy's birthday.

Things are getting back to JJ. We look at your site was young, Mandy's Shirley, he's an aspiring banker real estate investor in but you and your family which we love you. It's also about as much you like to our national radio show.

Just don't be intimidated by the 200 million people. You can see and suggest right this story about that. You do a great job tells about like how you got caught how you came to Christ and all of a sudden serve the Lord. Maybe not so much the American dream, but that the dream of Christ, the vision of Christ to going all the world.

Acts 18 tells about your part of the narrative, so it actually goes back a generation before my own. When my dad met Jesus down in Jacksonville, Florida, and that Jesus change our family tree.

I jumped on a bus where he was invited to go to church. She invited every single Saturday for a year and finally at the end of the year said fine I'll just go if you'll stop inviting me and that he met Jesus there, Jesus changes family tree and by team by Tiny. In his teenage years he knew the guy wanted to be a missionary to Africa he met my mom who also felt called to the mission field, same place, and I wanted her sitting in a church service were some missionaries come through as they were praying for pilots and nurses to come join us and my dad's a pilot my mom's a nurse and so he's been a church planting bush pilots for purchase. I 40 years now they've done the same thing since I was born so I met Jesus as just a week before turn five and knew that I knew it was clear as could be that I had a relationship with with Jesus never doubted that and had my own aspirations to go fly planes. That's what I want to do by dental planes. Yet he has a plane in West Africa and I thought I wanted to do the same thing, only the commercial route and it was one day when I was 17 years old I was sitting in a in youth rally and I knew very clearly the question that I had to ask was what it's all said and done, is it really can account and and there a lot of ways to count success and there are a lot of ways to count how you want to stack up your life, but I knew that I had to make my count for eternity and so 17. I said all right, absolutely, and I want to go back to Togo.

I love the country that I grew up in. I love the opportunities that I had but I love to see the way gospel. The gospel change people's lives.

I literally grew up where people would knock on the door in the city that I grew up, and we now live about eight hours away and it would say is this the missionaries home. Can I talk to him and in as a young fellow, I say, here goes. Sit over here and let me go get my dad that's the missionary and they say just tell me is there really a God is there really a heaven and how can I get there I grew up seeing that and so when I had to fast-forward my life about a decade and asked the question when it's all said and done, is it really can account. I didn't know a better way to make it count than that and that's why we get to do what we do and it's a privilege. So I'm there in West Africa with with my wife, who also had aspirations of going abroad before we ever met.

We have three little girls for a family that lives on the field and we get to walk alongside national believers and do our best to coach believers as were seeing movements coming to fruition. Got us all lost talkshows here and you guys have a question for JJ Pastor Jeff Dave, this year was Dave the banker we got the loners as cupcake cuties and family. Family business here were in Wahlberg North Carolina on the porch talking to a church planter who Matt McCarthy got a Schenectady's a pastor or church or vertical church or in High Point just a man, a God who just wants to see the gospel go out. I guess the biggest question on my heart is like this one pastor once said, he said, either here or mission field or missionary, and at one point something change in your life you went from saying hey let me go get the missionary all your dad to talk about God being due today said to you. Hey, tell me about God take our all of our listeners herbalist and take us to the mission field. How would you challenge young and old listing right now to start thinking initially and it could just be like across the street and may not be around the world like you're there in Africa is a point where we are intentionally reaching our world everyone the mission field. It does no Jesus. I think it starts with that.

With that understanding that we all have our part in the great commission is an invitation for all of us. It's a co-mission that said that we get to be a part of, and have our part in and then also to help us understand when it when we look at believers in West Africa. It's not just about being a receiver, but we see her stay and send her we go and send were all sender so once we receive the gospel.

It's our responsibility to continue to send that gospel forward to the next people that haven't yet heard and so when people in the village there's there's a new church. It was just pointed this summer and there about 170 people there worshiping Jesus now that have turned from their idols to follow Jesus in relationship with him and two villages up the road. This is all in the last about four weeks now, the two villages of the road, said something happen something change in your village this summer.

We don't know what it is we started asking and we found out you have a church a new church, the only church that's in this village and we think that's what it is. So if that's what change your village. We want you to come to our village as well.

The irony in the situation is that chief of the village is also the witch Dr. he continued on to say, I can tell you right now my children will be able to go to your church and maybe one day I'll even come myself and so it's when you live it out. You live out what Christ has done for you. Your praying actively for opportunities to be able to share and look with other people understand their it's not just in front of us. It is most deftly in front of us is not either or, it's a both and it's also to those that are a step removed that are a little farther away that haven't yet heard is yet we pray for your work is rep of the segment would you pray for leaders. Leaders and resources is what we pray for and and sometimes we feel like were in a season where it's at. We have a need for one over the other and I would most deftly say we need leaders, we need God to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest, and so we need leaders to join us but we are sipping our foster homes coffee enjoying some some sweet treats year on the deck of cupcake. He's in Wahlberg interviewing this guy and not one of us is thinking about this retreat for the coffee. Note no respect or disrespect to your brother here were thinking about going all the world and praying for him for leaders. I would raise up leaders the next generation and quit.

Think could stereotyping our kids into the American dream. And maybe our kids are to be church planters. Maybe orchids are to be like your kids like you work your MK that is now following your parents let you know a nurse in a bush pilot and elegant what you're doing receive your Christ. So thank you for this wonderful testimony. Hey, thank you so much for the opportunity. This is the Truth Network say what would you do if you were a new Christian and you didn't have a Bible like a Woolworth byway from Bible, the international you probably say well and hop in my car I go to Christian bookstore or have one shipped to me one of those port options you can say with the faith. I mean I need to know what it means to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, you know, you would pray that someone, anyone would bring you a Bible and that's exactly the way it is for literally aliens are Christians around the world are part of our spiritual family there new to the faith they want to know what it means to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus but God has them planning were it's very difficult to access the Bible and that's why the Truth Network and Bible league of teamed up to sing God's word to 3500 Bible is believers around the globe. Our campaign is called the world needs the word five dollars.

Since the Bible $100 since 20.

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