{"id":1658,"date":"2015-08-20T21:30:37","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T02:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/?p=1658"},"modified":"2015-08-20T21:30:37","modified_gmt":"2015-08-21T02:30:37","slug":"if-you-want-to-boast-boast-only-about-the-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/2015\/08\/if-you-want-to-boast-boast-only-about-the-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"If You Want to Boast, Boast Only About the LORD"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

A group of the children in Javier and Cristina’s church in Solidaridad<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEvery time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart\u2026 There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears \/ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and<\/i> perfecting and<\/i> bringing it to full completion in you. \/<\/span> It\u2019s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you \/ and to have this confidence and<\/i> feel this way about you all. \/<\/span> My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality \/ because you have me in your heart and<\/i> I hold you in my heart as partakers and<\/i> sharers, one and<\/i> all with me, of grace (God\u2019s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing). \/<\/span> All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!<\/p>\n

\"Alicia

Alicia holding vacation Bible school in the Tenec village of San Antonio Huichimal where they minister weekly<\/p><\/div>\n

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish \/ and<\/i> that your love may abound yet more and more and<\/i> extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight \/<\/span> and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush \/ so that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and<\/i> approve and<\/i> prize what is excellent and<\/i> of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and<\/i> pure and unerring and<\/i> blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor<\/i> causing others to stumble]. \/<\/span> Live a lover\u2019s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul; \/ and<\/i> may you abound in and<\/i> be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [that His glory may be both manifested and recognized] \/<\/span> making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"The

The little children’s work in the very poor village of Buenos Aires. This is where Javier and Cristina have a feeding program and outreach every Saturday morning<\/p><\/div>\n

I trust that my rather free blending of Philippians 1 verses 3 – 11 from \u201cThe Message\u201d (MSG) and the \u201cAmplified\u201d (AMP) versions of the Bible has not offended you. But when I read these verses recently I knew that this is how I feel about my brothers and sisters who are laboring in the ministry, and who we have left behind in Mexico. And: \u201cAs the Scriptures say, \u2018If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.\u2019”<\/i> 2 Corinthians 10:17 (New Living Translation).<\/p>\n

It is then in the Lord that I will boast!<\/p>\n

My heart is full of pride and joy when I speak with, and receive ongoing ministry reports from the national leaders and directors of the ministry that Theresa and I were able to be such an intimate part of for the past years in Mexico. Receiving emails and ministry news from Javier Santos, Mario and Janny, Aminadab, Armando and Alicia, and others of the national leadership who are laboring so faithfully and loyally in the ongoing work makes every tiny bit of \u201cinconvenience\u201d that Theresa and I may be facing this year seem barely worth mentioning, and my heart bursts with pride and delight in what God is doing through them.<\/p>\n

In this blog I feel that it is appropriate to boast freely of what God is doing in, and through<\/p>\n

\"Alejandra

Alejandra teaching vacation Bible school at the little children’s church in thier home<\/p><\/div>\n

these brothers and sisters in Christ. As such, I will focus on snippets and pieces of emails that I have recently received from some of them. Please rejoice with me in what God is doing through these faithful brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n

Javier Santos recently wrote: \u201cIt is a pleasure to write to you, knowing that the God of Israel is always with us, and that we have a living hope that he will come to those who with longing expectation wait to meet him who gave his life for us.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week I have been working more intensely in the area of academics with Armando and Alicia. [Steven\u2019s note on this: This is the young couple who are the first disciple \/ leader trainees at the Casa del Obrero Missionary Training Center. They are being mentored one-on-one by Javier, and he is pouring his life into their spiritual growth as well as practical leadership training at the present time. You have read about them in former blogs]<\/span>. To date we have finished the coursework on Church History, Pastoral Counseling, Hermeneutics, Introduction to the Bible, The Life of the Old and the New Man, Missionary Orientation and Missiology, and The Pentateuch. I am now beginning them on new material in order for them to finish with their first year of academic work in November. We are now beginning Personal Evangelism, Systematic Biblical Theology, a study of our local Huasteca region and its people groups in light of specific Missiology and Mission Outreach, Christian Ethics, A More In-depth Study Through the Bible, etc. I want to have Armando and Alicia complete twelve courses by November. At that point they will spend a month in practical, hands-on missions practice by planting a church in one of the villages in the Huasteca.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Children's

Children’s vacation Bible school at Mario and Janny’s house<\/p><\/div>\n

[Steven\u2019s note: When I asked Javier about this month of missions practicum, and in which village he felt that they would be concentrating on in a church-plant, his answer was that he had no idea \u2013 this was to be their church-plant, and as such, it was their responsibility to seek God in this themselves. Incidentally, Armando and Alicia are already responsible for a new church planted in the little Tenec village of San Antonio Huichimal. Although they did not begin this particular work alone from its inception, Armando was involved with it\u2019s beginning from day one and onward].<\/span><\/p>\n

Javier then continues:<\/span> \u201cOf course, we are also not neglecting the work on the farm, and three days per week are dedicated specifically to the farm work. However, because of the heavy rains this year which have kept us off the land we have been able to hit the academics very intensively as well. Also, since all of the land is currently in sugarcane we don\u2019t have too much work directly on it at present, but we are expecting a lot of work in November [Steven\u2019s note on this: ie., at the time of the winter harvest. Assuming, that is, that the weather allows for harvest at that time. As you will remember from the past blogs, the harvest that should have happened in the beginning of this year was lost]<\/span>. We are also waiting until things dry a bit so that we can finally begin working on the septic tank. Up until now, with the extremely wet year we have not been able to begin on it at all. But we have been blessed, and God has enabled us to advance in his work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Happy

Happy children are receiving Bible teaching and love at Janny’s home<\/p><\/div>\n

I want to point out that Javier is also a full-time pastor of a little church in the community of Solidaridad. He is mentoring young men from his congregation in personal evangelism on a weekly basis. Being hands-on in his training style he goes into the surrounding communities every Monday evening with them to show by personal example. He is also personally ministering in at least four mission church plants which he began; he is a teacher at two Bible Schools; he and his wife have a children\u2019s feeding ministry and church in a little squatter village outside of Cd. Valles; he is the full-time director and administrator of the Missionary Training Center farm; he is personally mentoring Armando and Alicia; he is managing his own small acreage outside of town; and he is a full-time husband, and the father of three growing boys. His hands are very full.<\/p>\n

I also want to mention something else about Javier and Cristina. Years ago, before he came to the Lord, Javier began training in university as a lawyer. When the Lord got a hold of his life he felt that this was not the direction that God had for him. He has had numerous business opportunities offered to him over the years but has felt that this was not the direction that God was leading him either. Javier and Cristina are servants and givers \u2013 giving much, much more back into their little church than they ever receive \u2013 both financially and spiritually. They have been purposefully teaching their congregants what it means to give \u2013 to tithe generously \u2013 with no thought of return. They have done this primarily by personal example rather than through Bible thumping. Cristina also holds down a house cleaning job outside of the home, not only to help to make ends meet financially and to be able to place food on the table for the family, but also to teach the women in their church to become proactive in seeking to bless others, and not to sit silently victimized by poverty. She has also begun sewing classes and a sewing cooperative in their home in order to help other women learn a trade in order to bring in an income as well. Theresa was able to supply the sewing machines for this cooperative.<\/p>\n

\"This

This picture was taken in the Bible School office of some of the directors and teachers along with several Bible school students and a some visitors from Oklahoma<\/p><\/div>\n

This summer Cristina and Alicia and other women from their little church have brought week-long vacation Bible school programs into a number of surrounding villages (I know of Solidaridad, Buenos Aires, San Antonio Huichimal, and Colonia Lazaro Cardenas, but there may also be other communities that I am unaware of). All of the expenses involved in bringing these vacation Bible schools, as well as in running the ongoing feeding program in the little children\u2019s church in the squatter\u2019s village is coming out of giving from the very poor little church of Solidaridad where Javier and Cristina minister, or directly from Javier and Cristina\u2019s personal giving.<\/p>\n

Javier and Cristina owned an old, very decrepit car, but about a month ago it broke down not to be revived again. Truthfully, it was costing them much more than they could afford to try to keep it alive for the past years, but they had no choice. Most of the places that they minister are miles apart, and many times the only alternative is by foot. However, now they have no choice. In town they can use the public buses, but this also makes full-time ministry difficult when places, especially the missions, are miles apart. It also gets to be expensive when there are five of them in the family that need to travel. However, the ability to replace the vehicle is completely outside of their finances. The car that they had, as beat-up a piece of junk as it was, was purely a gift from God for them for the years that they had it, and beyond another outright miracle they will not be able to replace it. When I spoke to Javier about this his response was that God will provide, and that sometimes it is in hard times that we learn best what God desires to do in our lives.<\/p>\n

As far as the other national leaders: Dr. Mario and Alejandra (Janny) are working hard and faithfully in their areas of ministry as well. Dr. Mario, a doctor of anesthesiology in two of the local hospitals, is barely able to sleep because he is holding down two jobs. Besides this he and his wife Alejandra are planting a children\u2019s church and feeding ministry in their home for the poor street children in their area of the city. They have converted part of their home into a church where the children meet to receive both spiritual and physical care. Since the children\u2019s work began about a year ago some of the parents, especially some of the mothers also come to the services to be taught. Because of his intense work load at the present time Dr. Mario has not been pursuing the expansion of the Project L.A.M.B.S. program at the moment. However, his desire continues to be to extend it throughout the region. Nonetheless, at present, they feel that they need to pour themselves into the children to whom they minister.<\/p>\n

Alejandra (Janny), Dr. Mario\u2019s wife, is the full-time director of the Light of the Nations Nondenominational Bible Institute. Besides being the mother of two very active and growing young boys and running a children\u2019s church and feeding center from their home, she teaches full-time and directs the Bible Institute. Besides this she has continued to direct vacation Bible schools in their area of the city this summer. Her very capable hands are very full as well.<\/p>\n

Aminadab (Ami) is the vice president of the Bible Institute and full time Bible teacher. She is a well trained and capable administrator and teacher. Ami was one of Theresa\u2019s exemplary students in the sewing school, and it was to her and her husband Juan that Theresa handed over the Phaff sewing machines from the school in order for them to continue on with the sewing classes as a ministry tool. At present, because Ami is expecting their first baby in about a month, her sewing instructing and classes have become limited to being done in their home. She wrote to me to let me know that as of the 15th<\/sup> of August she would be taking time off from teaching in the Bible Institute for some months. Also, with the birth of the baby they would need to put the sewing ministry outreach on hold until the new year. Nonetheless, she is continuing to teach the adolescent Sunday school classes in their home church, and her husband Juan is ministering with a pastor friend of theirs in a near by village called Pujal on Sunday mornings.<\/p>\n

The purpose of my boasting, however, is not to spectacularize these faithful men and women, but to magnify the Lord who is at work in them. I also want you to know that the ministry of Voice in the Wilderness never was dependent upon Theresa or me, nor will it ever be.<\/p>\n

Rather, God who has begun a good work will complete it.<\/p>\n

Praise the Lord!<\/p>\n

Your friends and fellow servants,<\/p>\n

Steven and Theresa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cEvery time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart\u2026 There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1668,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions\/1668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vitwministries.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}