Super Summertime News!
Graduation Day!
Whatever you think when you hear this phrase . . .
Think again!
I’ve just returned from the grand celebration of our first ever graduation in Venezuela—a class of 90 young leaders in caps and gowns, men and women shedding tears of joy and laughter . . . and gratitude . . . almost beyond believing what was happening to them.
Of course, it’s the end of a course of studies, but this wasn’t really an ending.
And we call it “commencement,” which means starting—the beginning of the career that a person has studied for and becomes equipped for—except . . .
. . . this wasn’t really a starting, either. Because the training you make possible, through your faithful giving, is something more.
- In our training system, you start your ministry the moment you begin to study. Every graduate in that ceremony has already planted THREE CHURCHES. (This is not your grandfather’s university!)
As I addressed the graduates, I congratulated them on your behalf—their accomplishments, by God’s grace, are the product of your harvest investment!
I also pointed out to them how truly unique was their situation: On Graduation Day around the world, most graduates have only hopes and dreams. But our graduates have three established churches—and eternal dividends already recorded in their name because of the souls they’ve led to the Lord!
But these students are not the only church planters at work across the country. Altogether, we have 900 church plants under way in Venezuela!
God used YOU to set all of this in motion!
I wish you could experience firsthand the energy of these graduates—they are mesmerized by what God has done through them—the fact that eternity will be different for so many because of how they have served for these past three years.
The harvest excites their senses and desires! NOW THEY WANT MORE!
They are captivated by the vision. Their only hesitation at the moment is about leaving their first three congregations “safe in the fold” and beginning the next round of church plants. But of course they will soon launch into this new phase of the adventure —to discover that they are not simply planting churches—they have started a movement.
And from that moment, they will never wish to turn back!
This makes me remember a ministry partner to whom God led us in Tamil Nadu, India. His great life goal was to see 1,000 churches planted.
But after a single year of our partnership, there were already 1,000 church plants under way. So he decided to revise his life goal to 5,000 church plants.
Then, disaster. The newly empowered Prime Minister Modi declared that he would shut down Christianity in India by 2020. (I looked for his exact quote, but his original words have been scrubbed from the internet.)
Today the government claims it wants “to protect all religions”—but this is not true. They’ve most famously cracked down on Compassion International, accusing the ministry of “funding religious conversions,” according to the Christian Post. But Compassion International is only one of many groups pressured or pushed out by the Indian government.
Did it “work”? No. The crackdown simply motivated our church planters to multiply their efforts! Those who once wanted to plant three churches now want 30, or 50 or more. The one who wanted 10 now wants 100 church plants. And now, in many cases, we see these passionate leaders approaching the fulfillment of their goals!
Our partner there in Tamil Nadu stopped telling church planters, “Start your churches!” Instead, he began saying, “Start your movement!”
What a thrill to see how productivity is ignited in leaders and begins to fuel the multiplication of churches across an entire mission field!
- We see it happening in Alex, our Venezuela Field Director. He’s already in nonstop dreaming mode! . . .
This is a person who’s been working in ministry for nearly 30 years—since he was in his twenties—yet now he sees himself at the forefront of a movement that can produce more for the Lord and more for Venezuela than any previous efforts he has known.
We’re aiming to get to 1,000 churches planted in his country before the end of this summer!
(Alex was in charge of producing this week’s graduation ceremonies. There were a couple glitches. I had to laugh at his apologies: “Please, don’t fire me for those details. It’s my first graduation!” That’s the last thing that would have crossed my mind! Alex is like a kid who has just been given a new bike—except it’s not a new bike: it’s the key to an explosion of the Gospel in his country—and he’s on fire to ride it until he drops!)
But Venezuela is only one place on the planet where evangelism and church-planting movements are erupting. Some are in unlikely or unexpected regions. One amazing example is in the Middle East.
As I write, another war has ignited for Israel. To be sure, this has been a smoldering fire, seeking the oxygen of opportunity. We are hearing tons of information as the conflict unfolds.
Israel sees the need to seize the opportunity to secure safety for its people before it’s too late. Iranians have been praying for an attack to help them throw off the yoke of oppressive Islamic rules that have held them captive for over 40 years. Others, of course, see the opportunity for their own financial endeavors.
But through it all . . . we see the opportunity for the Gospel!
Our friends with “Iran Alive” have been developing a Gospel movement inside Iran—covertly, of course, so as not to be shut down—or shot down! This movement has produced more than one million converts inside Iran. These believers are praying fervently for the freedom to be a plurality—not necessarily a majority, but an accepted segment of society—like in Western nations.
What we see—every time man’s ways achieve their one-sided objectives—opportunity for the Gospel soars!
- It happened in Cuba when the “utopia” of communism was set up. It opened the heart of Cuba to the Gospel in a revival that has not quit to this day!
- It happened when Hugo Chavez became the absolute power in Venezuela and the country lost its amazing prosperity to a socialist model. It has opened the heart of Venezuela in a mighty way. The harvest is massive.
- And yes, it has been happening in Iran since the takeover of Islamic forces and the imposition of Islamic rule.
When disruption comes, who will carpe diem, i.e. seize the day: not relying on “scheduled events,” but adapting in real time to events and opportunities as they appear and disappear.
Jesus taught this lesson — a lesson for us to grasp at such a time as this:
“The Sons of this world are more astute about their affairs in this generation than the ‘Sons of light’” (Luke 16:8).
A pastor was impressed, years ago, as he toured NASA in Houston, by the impeccable attention to preplanning in the minutest details. Two full years before Armstrong set foot on the moon, they were ready. They already had a clinic for medical observation of the astronauts’ return and quarantine. They even had a dental clinic in case one of the astronauts developed a toothache! The fridge was already plugged in and cool.
But that same pastor suddenly realized, to his great dismay, how random, even haphazard, the planning of the Church was, by comparison. The space agency was astonishingly intentional and prepared. But the Church—a heavenly agency, with a goal of salvation for billions of earthlings—was practically the opposite.
Luke 16:8 exploded in his head: “The Sons of this world are more astute about their affairs in this generation than the ‘Sons of light.’”
We must prepare workers. We must equip workers. We must give attention to detail.
Yes, it’s summertime. A time when life seems to slow down. A family time, a time of vacations, of renewal. BUT the spiritual world has no vacations. Our ministry’s need of God’s protection and provision cannot take a break. Bills must be paid, life’s necessities need to be met.
Summer for many in ministry around the world is a high season of spiritual endeavor. Ministries in some countries actually spike in the summer months. There are dramatic summertime opportunities for evangelism and church-planting that compel us to stay spiritually focused!
To rest in this season would be to miss God-given opportunities.
So I pray you will seize the day—carpe diem—and do whatever you can today to advance the harvest work . . . for the sake of E.R.O.I.—ETERNAL return on investment!
God is blessing. Sometimes the blessings outpace our budget. So please help! Give generously! Pray fervently! Let us be shrewd in our role as SONS OF LIGHT and realize the supreme importance of eternal loss or gain, to stand in the gap, to make an eternal difference between LOSS or GAIN, for eternal souls.
This is God’s plan! You and I are His strategic partners even in the summer!
Rejoicing with the Lord of the Harvest,
Dr. Manny Fernandez
P.S. This year has to be about the busiest I remember, ever! I’ve been on the road every month since January, and the schedule shows no sign of stopping. I need you with me in spirit and in giving. Thank you for understanding the stakes and responding with a heart of compassion for a world in need of Jesus!