January 15, 2010

Does the New Year and Decade bring us Fear or Confidence?

We are into 2010 which is both a new year and decade so does this bring us fear of the unknown or confidence in our gracious God Who can be fully known and relied upon? The catastrophic earthquake in Haiti shows us again just how vulnerable we are to both man-made and natural disasters which can cause us great fear if we didn't believe in the loving-kindness, mercy, and care of our sovereign heavenly Father.

Jesus predicted accurately in Matthew 24:4-7 that wars, rumors of war, famines, earthquakes, tribulation, hate and martyrdom on account of His name, lawlessness, false teachers and the love of many growing cold will come and they are happening before our very eyes. However, He also said in verse 14 "And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come." (NASB) In other words prior to the end of this age, the gospel must be preached to all nations for a witness. Since the end has not yet come we know that our obligation has not yet been completely fulfilled.

We as followers of Christ must fully rely on Him and His faithfulness to His promises or we will become paralyzed with fear and shrink back from our responsibility to the Great Commission. We live in a very fast changing world but "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever" (Hebrews 13:3 NASB) so we can and must move forward in confidence trusting Him to supply all our needs each and everyday.

As ACTION missionaries we trust the Lord Jesus for our personal and ministry support and He faithfully supplied our needs through His people in '09 and He can be counted on to do the same in '10. To you our faithful supporters and prayer warriors you can say the same about '09 as well as trust Jesus Christ for your personal supply in '10 as well as maintain, if not increase, your support for the missionaries you know and love. We are a team knit together under the mandate to preach the Good News that Jesus Christ is Lord, King and Savior to all the peoples of the earth particularly Filipinos both here and abroad so let's confidently stand on His promises together as we continue to do this again in '10.

Sincerely in Christ,

Jeff Anderson
ACTION Philippines Field Director

 Mavis Orton's Prayer Letter
Mavis operates a birthing home for mothers, including pre-natal and post-natal care just outside of Manila, Philippines

Village Handcrafters
Empowering Churches in Poor Communities through Providing Jobs

 Practical Church Planting
A practical guide on how to plant a church amongst Asia’s urban poor by Terry Williams