I’m writing from the sky—on a flight from Hong Kong to the U.S., returning from the launching of 150 new church-plants in Central Asia!
I always wish you could be with me for ministry events like this, but on this one, I felt it even more deeply than most. We’d heard great things about this field’s potential . . . but this was beyond our imagination!
I recorded a two-minute video—you can see it on our YouTube page—reporting on what we accomplished this week. I stood before a “foothill” – This foothill was a mere 8,333 feet above sea level! But when you look into the clouds and see white above the clouds, you do a double take—because the white above the clouds has peaks! That’s when you know you’re beholding something you’ve never seen before!
In this country I saw high, higher, and highest. But the greatest heights were spiritual heights! The biggest thrills weren’t the thrills of a tourist. The greatest thrill was to see that the people who live here, at the “roof of the world,” were ecstatic about the spiritual breakthroughs that you are bringing to their country!
Peter Block says the only vision capable of capturing the imagination is a vision of greatness. A vision of progress won’t do it and neither will a vision of excellence. He says the way you know you’ve captured the imagination is when people hear an idea and reach the conclusion that the idea before them is exactly what’s needed. Their instinctive response: “That’s it!”
We saw it this week in the field. I spoke to the church-planter candidates about how to turn the tide on evangelism—by meeting a community’s felt needs with the love of the Lord. Every face lit up. They were amazed, astounded, awakened, and joyful! A bubbling up of revival emotions!
How awesome to see how God has given us the privilege of living in the truth of Ephesians 2:10: joining Him in such wonderful works which He prepared before the foundation of the world— that we, along with the local believers, should walk in them!
Look at this extraordinary mission field to which the Lord has led us. . . .
I was intentional about getting the “top to bottom” view. What’s happening with the people there? It was the bottom view that brought me to this field—and from there, the Lord has revealed great spiritual heights, pointing our eyes to eternal, heavenly goals. I’ll tell you the end from the beginning: We can make a BIG difference for the people there.
Just a couple simple but powerful examples:
Even before we began to interview candidates, I visited a typical village. We stopped at a small watering hole, where three young sisters were filling a few small containers. Their plastic pitcher scraped rock at the bottom as they tried to fill it. They would then pour their meager yield into a three- or four-gallon container. Then the girls filled two two-liter bottles, with “Mountain Dew” labels still visible, followed by two smaller Pepsi bottles.
That would have to hold the whole family until the next day!
The village pastor told us that this tiny watering hole is the only water supply for 250 families—the entire community.
The people throughout the valley seem to be living in a primitive stage of human history. The local name of their tribe translates to “river dwellers.” Tragically, though they live in a river valley, the river is so contaminated they can’t use the water from it!
In the church, I mentioned that we’ve sunk more than 100 wells in another country. The people lit up! Can we get a well? they cried.
It was a surreal moment. Imagine: You are literally just 30 minutes from a major modern city—yet you feel you’ve stepped back hundreds of years in time!
I saw a woman in her 60s gathering straw to feed her family’s water buffalo cow. Her husband? He was passed out, dead-drunk, in the grass . . . a sad poster child for the national pandemic of alcoholism and gambling. These twin maladies devastate families, condemning them to poverty, as the “head of the house” gambles away the meager resources produced by their micro-farming activity.
But there is hope. We’ve witnessed it.
Our friend Elliot in Spain has rescued tens of thousands from drugs and alcohol, prostitution, and a myriad of other vices. His ministry in Spain proves the principle that God has declared from the beginning:
- Mankind can be more than “salvaged”; mankind can be saved—and restored to the lofty purposes God has established since the beginning. Redemption is more than capable of bringing people into the blessing of a right relationship with God, and with the high purposes He intends for us all!
As our plans for this field came to light in our meetings, I felt the beautiful potential was the best news of my whole week. But from the perspective of the church-planters and national leaders at our conference, it’s the best news in decades.
- To go to the villages with the love of the Lord to provide water wells . . .
- To launch education and feeding programs to express the love of the Lord . . .
- To plant churches and bring life and hope and light to communities that have struggled for centuries . . .
- To make a way for God’s Word, God’s love, God’s provision to bring the people to a moment of realization—“That’s it!” . . . to realize that this is not just a “feeling,” this is a faith working plan to revolutionize their lives, for today and for eternity! . . .
There is no describing, no comparing, the thrill, the joy, the satisfaction of sharing in this breakthrough moment for the people!
The few Christian pastors have struggled to get people to give up on their sterile religions and their faith in millions of gods. But these same pastors have now told me, again and again: If we launch this ministry strategy, the parents will be the ones sending their children! They will see the great worth of what is being offered, and they will not want their kids to miss out on it.
Response to our “Evangelism Through Education” strategy (ETE) was so powerful I called our partner who founded ETE in another field, and told him everything I was witnessing here. He was astounded that I was in “next-door”. “If I had known you were so close,” he exclaimed, “I would have flown up there to be with you!” (he has a “day job” as professor of English literature in a university. I assumed he couldn’t get time off.)
So, at lightning speed, arrangements and connections have been made. He will come here and help to teach our “Bible Training Center for Pastors” curriculum (BTCP). He’ll serve as consultant for Evangelism Through Education in this field.
We can now believe God for miracles in Central Asia like we’ve already witnessed. . . .
He remembers how God started us in another field with 50 kids in Education through Evangelism (ETE)—now there are 500 kids in the program. We’re training 100 church-planters in BTCP. This summer, 300 teachers will minister to 5,000 kids in VBS.
God’s approach to our small ideas is unchanged: take the loaves and fishes, settle the multitude, multiply the resources, feed the masses!
- The whole thing we’re doing with children began with one couple who saw their way clear to set up a program for 50 kids.
- Then, more members of their family got involved, and we were able to do more.
- Then, others like you got involved—and the program has grown to 10 times its original size.
- Next year, in the southern region alone, we’re preparing for 1,000 kids! And now . . . the new field’s 150 churches want to replicate the teaching and wells programs.
I don’t think the Lord’s arm is too short to handle it. The only question is, will we let God do this work through us?
We should start with prayer, and we should truly expect God to bring us His own ideas, His own strategy—and show us the way! I KNOW HE CAN. I KNOW HE WILL. I think we need to move out in faith and watch Him lead the victory train! Don’t you agree?
A few weeks ago, after I had prayed for some time, I talked about the new field with Manny III, and mentioned it also to our ministry board. I sensed that the time was ripe and the time was NOW. This was my message: “I think we have reached the moment. We need to start now. I am making plans to go, start, and get going.”
Two hours later, Manny III brought phenomenal news: “I just heard from a church in Birmingham. They’ve committed the initial funds. They said, ‘Go start already!’”
Dear friend! God is alive and well and He is at His work to this very moment as you read these words. Jesus declared it: “My Father is at His work until now and thus I work” (John 5:17). We don’t speculate what might or might not work and fret about it. We find out where God is working and join Him there.
I see people in many of life’s situations holding out until the “perfect time.” Every moment that arrives, they wonder if it’s perfect enough. They keep waiting and analyzing—and the right moment for action never seems to arrive.
It’s like watching the stock market. I’m waiting for the market to hit a certain number. But then the market hits the number and you sweat the obvious question: Is it going to keep going up?
➢ But with God, there is NEVER A BAD MOMENT. He guarantees our investment. With Him, every investment has eternal potential. Our faith isn’t placed in earthly investment vehicles. Our faith is placed securely in the work of God and the eternal rewards He offers.
Go for the rewards that will last for all of eternity! Let me hear from you quickly! Thank you! God bless you!
Joyful in His Service,
Dr. Manny Fernandez
P.S. World Link Ministries won’t show up on the New York Stock Exchange. Don’t look for us every day in your financial futures app. But partnering in this ministry offers you, every day, treasures in heaven by God’s estimation. Please join Him again today in this proven-powerful work of evangelism and compassion.