Agua Viva Ministries, 71 Byrd Road, Mebane, NC (2026)

The most important thing that we do is share the truth about Jesus Christ, the Savior, with individuals in a personal way. We have learned that before we can be effective with our verbal witness, there must be a degree of trust between us and the ones with whom we are sharing. This trust, or in some cases, mere curiosity, is developed through humanitarian efforts such as medical clinics, education

, well drilling and bridge building. And though many of our efforts improve the physical lives of these Indians, these things have no meaning unless there is a change in their spiritual lives through Christ.

10/06/2023

September 2023 newsletter

Hello Friends. It is a privilege to be able to address you once again. I am presently in Costa Rica but hope to return to the U.S. in about a week. During one of my trips into the jungle, I had the unfortunate circumstance of acquiring an unwelcome resident in my gut. We normally take great care to avoid such circumstances, but sometimes it is simply unavoidable. The resultant disagreement between the previous long-standing residents and the newcomer was an incongruity in the extreme. So much so, I found it ill-advised to venture very far or very distant from the commodities of the house. However, due to the amount of time I found myself sitting in thoughtful contemplation, I was able to give some considerable reflection as to the content of this letter. I pray it becomes apparent.

It has now been 30 years since we were granted nonprofit status from the federal government. My first trip to Costa Rica was in 1989. Invited by a friend to go for a week and help with a project in which he was engaged. Similar, I thought, to the previous year when the same friend invited me to help with a project in Jamaica. The similarities ceased when I boarded the plane to return to the U.S. I was drawn back to Cost Rica time and time again, inexplicably, until in early 1991 God showed me that my calling was to the jungle of Talamanca and its people.

In 1993, you (the donor) became involved. It was a turning point of tremendous importance. One that I completely failed to realize at the time. The truth is, I did not have the spiritual capacity at the time to realize or understand it. Before your involvement, God had confronted me one evening unexpectedly and delt with me in no uncertain terms about my relationship with Him. His only direction to me, “Go home.” Get up, leave the job I love, that I had studied hard for 3 years to get and all the security it held and go home with no further instruction. The voice of God is compelling and without hesitation, the next day I resigned my job and prepared to go home.

My first couple of years of coming to Costa Rica were all self-financed. I’d work several months in construction and then off to Costa Rica. Work a couple months, then off to Costa Rica. Everything was just great. I love working, so no problem there. And on top of that, I didn’t have to depend on anybody. You know, I’m a good red-blooded American, self-sufficient, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, self-made kind of man. I had plowed my way through college twice. I had done things people didn’t think I could do. So, my natural attitude was, “Just point me to the problem Lord and turn me loose.” He could have pointed me to the problem very easily if He had just dropped a mirror in front of me. I had not yet totally arrived at the understanding there is nothing God needs me to do and what He required of me was simply nothing more than obedience.

God began to open my eyes to His calling for me. The more my eyes opened, the more my ignorance was revealed. Maybe some help and guidance would be in order. I wrote every pastor I had supposedly been shepherded by from the age of 15. Not even one offered any guidance, in total my supplication was ignored. God laid before me the question, “Are you going to trust me or men?” As I mentioned, this is where you entered the story. With the nonprofit established, I concentrated on ministry and left the finances to God. In the early years we would do fund raisers in an attempt to encourage donors, they proved minimally successful at best. Over the years the donor list would grow and contract, the names on the list always changing. God was teaching me to trust Him. Walk towards the thing that is sat before you. You don’t have to know why or how. In fact, you can’t know why or how. That’s the point. That’s what is required for faith and trust to grow. Faith is the evidence of things NOT seen.

For thirty years, every month has been the same. What comes in each month by donation is spent each month on previous commitments, current ministry or new outreach. There is no such thing as a rainy-day fund. Besides, in ministry, every day is a rainy day for someone in need of help or comfort. So that you might have some context as to the depth of our active donor list, the following is the number of donors per month from the past year:
September ’22……………………13 individuals…………………0 churches
October ’22……………………….7 individuals………………….1 churches
November ’22…………………….11 individuals…………………1 church
December ’22…………………….12 individuals…………………0 churches
January ’23……………………….10 individuals…………………1 church
February ’23………………………9 individuals………………….0 churches
March ’23………………………...11 individuals…………………0 churches
April ’23…………………………..8 individuals………………….0 churches
May ’23…………………………..12 individuals…………………2 churches
June ’23……………………………7 individuals…………………0 churches
July ’23……………………………10 individuals………………...0 churches
August ’23…………………..……12 individuals…………………0 churches
It is by no means a large group of people from which to draw resources. But I believe asking the seemingly impossible is God’s favorite thing. It is truly eye-opening when one sees what God will do in response to obedience.

I hope to be clear in what I am trying to communicate. Admittedly, I have at times been accused of being somewhat obtuse in my reasoning, an occurrence which I am trying to avoid. I am most grateful for your participation in this ministry. Your support of this ministry has been multiplied into aid and comfort and ministry to multitudes of people. The sum total of which only God is aware. But here is what I’ve discovered. God did not need me in Talamanca. The people of Talamanca did not need me to come here. The ministries that were already present and those that came after my arrival did not need me to come to Talamanca. The primary beneficiary of my being in Talamanca is me. Why might you ask? Because it was an act of surrender and obedience in the face of impossibilities and illogic. Follow along with me please.

At the age of ten I recognized my propensity for sin. I came to understand such as a 10-year-old can, that Jesus had come to earth and died to pay for my sin. I embraced that fact and as the years past, I slowly accumulated knowledge as to what that meant. What I failed to grasp was that I am a slave. In our culture, that word carries nothing with it but negative connotations. Slavery is very bad. Slave masters are worse. Then, one day I was reading Paul. He said that we, who trust in Christ, were slaves. That we had been bought with a price. Ok, if I was bought, from whom was I bought. Well, I had belonged to Satan because of the power of sin. Christ paid the price of that sin through his death and set me free from Satan’s chain that bound me. But Christ bought me. I now belonged to Him. He is now my master and Lord. I became in essence chained to Christ. I was set free from Satan, not set free to my own devices. I was now bound to Christ. That is where freedom truly exists. But we don’t always recognize that at first.

When my boys were little. We often flew back and forth between the U.S. and Costa Rica. Every time we went through an airport, I had a little harness and leash I would put on each one of them. I’m sure some people would think I was cruel to have them trussed up like little dogs. But I knew the great anguish we would both be feeling if they got separated from me, even for a short while. It was for their good pleasure though they didn’t know it at the time.

Whom the Lord sets free is free indeed. What wonderful words. Some take that to mean we are free to decide our own way. To reason out what is best for us. They take it to mean we are free to choose our own way to serve our Lord. They will decide what they’ll give, where they’ll go, what they’ll do, how much they’ll risk and how much discomfort they’ll endure. I suppose that way of thinking is fine if you believe that God doesn’t really care what you do, as long as you do something. Erroneous thinking in my opinion. In fact, the night God confronted me in Virginia Beach, His question to me was, “Why have you never asked Me what I want you to do?” When Paul lay blind on Strait Street in Damascus, God sent Ananias to restore his sight and to tell him what great things he was to suffer for the cause of Christ. God has a plan for each of His children.

The last thirty years have been difficult no doubt. But what I’ve wanted to demonstrate is that it is difficulty with purpose. So that by the chain that tethers one to Christ (The Son who purchased us), one might be pulled closer and closer into a relationship with Him. Bonds of relationship aren’t strengthened in ease and comfort. Bonds of relationship aren’t strengthened by having your will bent through circumstance. A slave can resist the chain and fight against it. A slave can accept the purchase in fact but deny it in principle. A slave can try to go his own way. But the one thing, the only thing that brings true freedom to a slave is pure obedience to his master. Do you want to be bound in relationship with Christ as a brother? Do you want to know freedom from fear and worry? Do you want to smile when surrounded by and assailed by injustice? Then the prescription is obedience. It is all God ask of us. Be obedient. But obedience is a choice. Many people won’t ask God what He desires because they don’t want to have to make that choice. But there is no greater joy in this world than asking, listening then obeying. Regardless of how logical or seemingly ridiculous, easy or seemingly impossible, obvious or far-fetched the command. God’s intent is to grow your trust and faith in Him. To make you fit for the Kingdom.

Our work of constantly endeavoring to be a good Samaritan to whom ever God brings to our path continues. And it continues with joy and enthusiasm. Thank you for your most welcome support.

May God’s richest blessings ever be upon you.

05/04/2023

April 2023 Newsletter from John.

Hello Friends. It is a pleasure to greet you and have the opportunity once again to share with you briefly about our ongoing work in Talamanca. I would like to apologize beforehand if some of what I write sounds redundant to you. My goal in writing these letters is to help you understand, in as far as possible, the calling and outreach of this ministry. It is an important effort, remembering that your financial support is what makes the outreach possible. The task, however, is considerably difficult. I lot of which I write, most of you, though through no fault of your own, have a limited frame of reference for understanding. If I write about building a bridge for a tribal people in the middle of the jungle in the most remote part of a third world country and you interpolate all that entails by what you know from living in the most advanced country in the 21st century, your perceptions and conclusions will necessarily be erroneous. And I will have failed. Hence, the somewhat redundant nature of my letters.

After spending the early part of the year in Costa Rica, I returned to the States the first week of April. It was an intensely busy time. Little things like water rationing by the town so that it was only available a couple hours a day complicated matters. However, it is with great pleasure that I tell you we made tremendous strides in regard to the hangar construction. It is now in very workable condition for flight and maintenance operations. The walls are complete, providing relief from the nuisance and damage of many nesting birds. The doors and windows have been constructed and installed, thereby increasing overall security. Electrical wiring, including the much-needed lighting, has been installed. Bear in mind, the majority of the time, I find myself engaged in the work alone. Funding restraints require that all the work is done by me or with volunteer labor. It is a welcome respite when a fellow missionary can find time to lend a hand.

One area in which I must hire help is that of an aircraft maintenance. After many heartbreaking discouraging delays, we were finally able to begin the work of restoring the helicopter to airworthiness status. It has been 10 years since the helicopters were purchased and 7 since they were shipped to Costa Rica. I’m sure you remember the saga of all that transpired. The work necessary to return the helicopter to flying condition is going to be more extensive in both time and money than I had originally hoped. The good news is that both the aircraft mechanic who I hired and the inspector who made the initial inspection were very impressed with the overall condition of the helicopter and with the detail of the maintenance logs. Especially in light of the fact it had not flown in 10 years. I hope to continue the required maintenance outlined by the inspector upon my return to Costa Rica the first of June. The maintenance outline includes the removal, cleaning, preservation, and replacement of pretty much every bolt on the helicopter. It is for all practical purposes a complete disassembly, inspection and reassembly.

Also, during my recent time there, I was able to visit and do a site study for another bridge project. This bridge will be in an area along a different river system than where I am accustomed to working. The location is in a critical area that is heavily trafficked. A school is located very near the crossing so lots of children must use the cable car that is now present. The cable car is poorly constructed, very dangerous and has resulted in both injury and death. In addition, though the car traverses the actual river, which is about 300 feet wide, it does not traverse the entire river bed. Therefore, when the river is even moderately flooding, it becomes impassable. It is a difficult location for building a bridge due to multiple factors and no one has been willing to attempt the venture. I have begun a preliminary design and hope to be ready to start construction by year’s end.

All these things; hangar, helicopter, bridges may seem on the surface to be unrelated to the spreading of the Gospel. My dear friend David and his family are involved, and have been for many years, in translating the Bible into several Indian languages; as well as, preparing reading and study materials in those languages. They hold Bible conferences and are teaching in the Indian language. You may say to yourself, “now that’s more like it, that’s spreading the Gospel.” I’ve asked myself the same thing and wondered why God would call me with my obvious lack of missionary training. I can do none of those things. There is no disputing that I’m no theologian. I’ve never been to Bible college or seminary. But I do read on occasion and have some small propensity for analytics. More importantly, God has dealt with my lack of faith. Please indulge my attempt to illustrate the possible reason for my calling to this ministry. Add possibly the reason for yours.

We are told that as Christians we are many members forming the body of Christ and Jesus is the head. Surely God used the analogy of the body with instructional intent. The following is the road its pondering has taken me down.

Some one throws a ball at your nose. What course of events follow? Do the individual body parts call a committee meeting to discuss the best possible course of action relative to the available resources. Do the eyes suggest that the legs move the feet in order to take a step in one direction or another? Does the elbow, being normally outspoken, question which direction might be the most advantageous? Maybe the knee, having suffered previous injury and not caring to move, suggests the stomach muscles cause the body to bend at the waist to avoid the face being impacted by the ball. Of course not. What might happen is more along these lines. The eye focuses on the ball and forms an image. But the eye knows nothing about velocity or distance or direction. Even if it did, it has no means of communicating such things to other body parts. The eye simply sends the image to the brain. The brain processes the image and then knows the speed, distance and direction of the approaching ball. From this information the brain tells the shoulder to lift the arm. It tells the wrist to rotate the hand. It tells the hand to open the fingers. Each individual body part response to the command of the brain. It does so immediately without knowing or questioning why. The palm then informs the brain upon impact and the fingers are commanded to close. A bleeding nose is thereby averted.

God told the prophet Isaiah, “my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." There you have probably the greatest understatement of all time. I would say that your thumb would have a better chance of knowing what your brain is thinking than we have of knowing anything about the mind of God apart from what He has told us. Christ is the head of the Church. He asks one thing of its individual members, obedience. He doesn’t ask us to strategize or calculate the best way of allocating resources or to judge what is or is not effective ministry. He says, “Listen to my voice, follow me and be obedient.” If God calls your name and tells you to leave your home to perform a task in a place you don’t think you’ll like, you can ask why, but you had better do so as you walk along the road that leads to where He told you to go. Jonah did not and he found himself sleeping with the fishes. If God calls your name and tells you to sell all you have and give it to the poor and follow Him, you can ask “where will I live”, but you had better do so when you are handing over your last dollar to some poor stranger. There was a rich young ruler who did not, and he walked away from eternal life still wealthy but eternally lost and sad.

How do I know hangars, helicopters and bridges are a means of spreading the Gospel? Because it is the place to which God has led me since He called my name. When people learn we have a hangar and helicopter, their response is often, “wow, that must be awesome.” The truth is, those things have not made my life easier or more pleasant. The road in fact has been very rocky, hard and lonely at times. I have some ideas, but I don’t know how God plans to use those helicopters. I am profoundly ignorant of exactly what God is doing, how He plans to continue doing it and what the result will eventually be. But my obedience does not require that I know any of those things. Because I always return to the fact, His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. What I do know is that it is beautiful to have God do things in your life that you know are impossible for you alone to accomplish. I have done things in Talamanca that only the hand of God could have wrought.

I will end this letter as usual, with a heartfelt yet inadequate expression of my deepest gratitude for your support of our work in Talamanca. Opportunities for sharing the Gospel are inexhaustible, desire to set about the work is always resolute, the weak variable in the formula is funding. It is also the variable that is totally outside our sphere of influence. So, when God touches the heart of someone with the desire to bring comfort to Talamanca through our ministry, I am at a loss to express my gratitude. And I am especially grateful for those who would shoulder the burden and take up the cross of sacrifice for Talamanca. It is so very seldom we get to see self-sacrifice demonstrated.

May God’s presence be real in your life. May you find comfort and purpose all your days. And lastly, I will leave you with this admonition from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as recorded by my favorite physician, Dr. Luke. I have often felt he wrote it down just for me, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

06/20/2022

June 19, 2022

Greetings to everyone.
It is my sincere desire that this letter finds you enjoying a rich relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I find myself in the tropical muggy environment of rainy Costa Rica as I write it. Regardless of where I write, my own ineptitude at writing creates quite the struggle. I have often wondered if anyone was really interested in reading what I take time to write or if it is simply an exercise in futility on my part. Be that as it may, I’m going to give it another try and trust that the Spirit will make clear my intent.

Since January, I have been eager to get one of our helicopters back in airworthiness condition after the extensive damage they suffered at the hands of Custom officials. Before we can proceed with that though, it is essential that we completely close-in the hangar. Without doing so, it is impossible to keep birds from nesting inside the building. The roof trusses are full of nest. That many birds are making a mess of anything parked below them. We have begun that work and have almost completed one gable end.

After multiple site visits, months of design work, time invested building construction jigs and the actual construction of crossbeams and floor panels, the Indian Association which requested that we build a bridge over the river Pacuare decided they did not want to proceed with the project.

I will take a little space here to briefly mention two of my favorite subjects. I do so because it has been your generosity that made possible everything I have touched in the last 30 years. It being Father’s Day, I take the liberty of mentioning my two sons. John Paul finished his program at Liberty University and is in the process of taking his FAA Airframe and Powerplant license exams. He was also recently promoted to specialist in the NC National Guard where he serves as an Apache helicopter mechanic. In May, James graduated from Burlington Christian Academy. New roads lie ahead for both boys and I covet your prayers on their behalf.

If I may, I would like to share with you a struggle that I’ve faced for a long time. Since being chosen and called to this life as a missionary, I have often been asked to explain just what sort of missionary I am. A clear-cut easy to understand definition has always eluded me. I am not a pastor, nor equipper of national pastors. I am not a church planter, though I have attempted it with less than spectacular results. I am not a Bible translator nor missionary doctor. The list of things I am not is very long. So how do I clearly express my calling? What follows was my attempt to arrive at an explanation.

I started by contemplating the things I have done the last 30 years. 1) Built and/or repaired houses, school buildings and churches. Including the design and all phases of construction. 2) Designed and built milking parlors, farrowing stalls and other livestock facilities to match environmental and economic constraints. 3) Organized medical clinics and carried doctors, dentists and nurses into remote highly inaccessible locations. 4) Personally provided medical aid to multiple hundreds of individuals.
5) Organized veterinary clinics in remote locations. 6) Personally provided medical aid to livestock.
7) Designed and installed solar panel power in jungle schools and homes. 8 Designed and built a micro hydro power generator for remote home and church. 9) Dug wells in remote jungle locations.
10) Provided clothing and essential goods during and after emergency situations. 11) Built and hung cable cars over dangerous river crossings. 12) Designed and built suspended bridges at strategic river crossings. 13) Had people in need living in my house for extended periods of time. 14) Loaned personal vehicles and tools to people in need. 15) Received people asking for help into my house at all hours of the night and day. 16) Designed and built a biodigestor system to provide light and cooking gas in a remote location.

In the midst of all that, endeavoring to make sure the recipient understood the act of grace was an expression of the Gospel and a gift from God. No one has ever paid a nickel for my help. This was by no means an exhaustive list, but I asked myself, “now what kind of missionary does that sort of stuff with no apparent central focus?”

God was not long in answering my question. I was reading the 10th chapter of Luke and all of a sudden there was the answer. A man started on the 24-mile seven hour walk east northeast from Jerusalem to Jericho. Somewhere along the way, he was attack, robbed, severely beaten and left for dead. Sometime after that, a priest on the same road saw the man and passed by him on the other side. What did the priest see? Did he really see the man? No, what he saw was an obstacle to his agenda, a distraction from his desired outcome for the day. So, he removed the obstacle from his path by crossing to the other side and continued unmolested on his self-determined plan. Sometime afterward another man approached. Like the former, he saw the man and determined that the risk/benefit to him stopping was not in his favor. So, the Levite passed by on the other side, none the poorer and schedule intact. It is worth mentioning that both these men were of a religious nature, being involved in the work of the Temple and presumable a countryman of the victim.

Later, another man made his way along the same road. This a man of different culture and belief. A man who would have been despised and hated by the Priest and Levite. He saw the wounded man and his first reaction was to have compassion. A different reaction from the Priest and Levite who only saw a distraction and obstacle to their desired course. We are told this Samaritan went over to the man and without hesitation put his own agenda aside. The purpose of his trip, whatever it was, would have to wait. For whatever reason the Samaritan had some type of cloth material, oil and wine with him. He cleaned, dressed, and bound the wounds of the victimized traveler. He picked up the wounded man, put him on his own animal and took him to an Inn. There the Samaritan’s care continued as he nursed the stranger through the night. The next morning, before the Samaritan got back to his own agenda, he made sure the stranger’s care would not be cut short by lack of financing. He not only left money with the Innkeeper, but also instructs him to do what was necessary to ensure his recovery and the Samaritan would repay him.

That in a nutshell has been my ministry. A fulltime Samaritan. Since 1990, I have made plans and established agendas, but nothing wrote in stone. My life has been marked by interruptions and dealing with other people’s problems. I never know when someone will show up at my door or call me on the phone or maybe I’ll just run into them on the street. It has not been easy calling. Actually, had not God empowered me, it would have been impossible. In the American mindset, a person’s time and space is sacrosanct. We work hard at keeping it from being invaded and we often do not take it well when either one is violated. We don’t mind giving a little of our time and money, but we desire it to be at our own convenience. We have priorities and we don’t want them shuffled around, even by God. I believe that is why so many times we make plans without ever consulting Him.

A fulltime Samaritan. Someone available. Someone willing to be available. Someone willing to not let earthly things get in the way of heavenly things. Many things came into focus when that dawned on me. The Priest and the Levite were religious, but they weren’t available for God to use. They had their own agenda. When I first started this ministry, people would tell me, you need a 3-year plan, a 5-year plan and a 10-year plan. That way you’ll know where you’re going and how you’re doing. I could never make myself do that. I didn’t know how to do that. I was trying to listen to God and discern what He wanted me to do. He hardly revealed things 3-days ahead of time much less 5-years. That’s how I learned to trust Him. By focusing on Him and not some agenda or timetable I brilliantly came up with.

I am of the opinion that no one can understand grace until it is demonstrated towards them. That’s what the Samaritan does. He demonstrates grace and that leads to saving grace.

Let me close as always by thanking you for your faithful support. I am most grateful. I have lots of plans and many things I would like to see happen. They are as always in the hands of the Almighty.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
Proverbs 19:21

John

12/05/2021

November Newsletter from John

Greetings to everyone. I am hopeful this letter finds you well and enjoying the holiday season. As I write, we have just celebrated the American tradition of Thanksgiving. The long-practiced tradition of setting aside a day to remember those things for which we ought to be thankful. Its inception was Christian in nature, in that it was a remembrance of those things which had been received from God’s hand of provision and not a celebration of those things we had wrought by our own industriousness. Also, this past Sunday was the beginning of the Christian liturgical calendar. The first Sunday in Advent, that four-week season leading up to the celebration of the birth of Christ. We celebrate not only the 1st advent of Christ as He came in human form to walk among us savior, but furthermore we anticipate His 2nd advent when He will come again to walk among us as King.

As I contemplate the multitude of things received from the hand of God for which I am grateful, each one of you who support the work of this ministry come to mind. You have not only made it possible for us to minister in various ways to thousands of people over the past 30 years, but also have provided for my needs and the necessities of raising two sons. Those two sons, incidentally, being another reason for gratitude; John Paul, a student at Liberty University and James Edgar, a senior at Burlington Christian Academy. You all are the only source of the funds that we have at our disposal. The magnitude and effectiveness of our ministry in many regards is determined by what God sends us as it passes through your hands. What we have in our hands was at one time completely under your control. We did not and could not possibly earn it from you, it was freely given without compulsion. You can see why I would harbor a profoundly deep appreciation and gratitude for your part in our ministry. It is my sincere desire that God grant you an understanding of what your effort means to us and the people of Talamanca.

In Costa Rica, we continue to work on the longest bridge we have attempted to date. It will be about 280 feet from column to column and over 320 feet from anchor to anchor. Building bridges in the jungle is a complex, dangerous, and expensive undertaking. It has been over two years since I made the first site survey of the area to begin my feasibility study. My initial design of a bridge that would allow for 4-wheeler traffic, as requested by the local Indian association, had to be scrapped because the materials expense was going to be too great. My subsequent design will only allow for either horse or motorcycle passage. We are currently building the floor system offsite, which consists of a group of subsets; vertical hangars, crossbeams and floor panels. Hopefully, in the spring, we can begin the onsite construction of the bridge columns and anchors. There is nothing else, of a physical nature, that we could do that changes an area and the lives of the people more profoundly, than building a safe secure bridge.

As you may or may not know, the past five years have been the most difficult and discouraging years since my first arrival to Costa Rica in 1989. It began in April of 2016 when our helicopters were impounded by the government less than 48 hours after their arrival at the port of Limón and a high government official made the baseless accusation that they were intended for the illicit drug trade. January 2020 arrived before I was once again in possession of them and by then they had suffered a great deal of damage rendering them far from airworthy. Also arriving in January 2020, all the difficulties associated with the covid pandemic. The past five years have been marked by personal loss and disappointment. A decline in funding has resulted in a curtailment of ministry efforts in certain areas and those I am able to pursue are more difficult. However, those circumstances have not been without their instructive side. It seems that now-a-days a lot of preaching focuses on prosperity. How “good” things are going seems to be the test for whether a ministry is being blessed by God or it is simply an effort of man. I have often heard, “Oh, things are not going so good with them, God must not be in it.” There is that tendency to believe, when things deviate from the planned outcome of our own design, God must no longer be blessing our effort.

God’s Word illustrates a different lesson. I have come to realize that every circumstance in life is a test. Poverty is a test. Prosperity is a test. Difficulty is a test. Ease is a test. Sickness is a test. Health is a test. In the eternal sense, it does not matter our present circumstance. King Solomon made clear, all that we have and do in the worldly realm is vanity. What matters in the end is how we respond to our circumstances.

In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus gives an illustration of a man tested by prosperity. He was a rich man whose wealth continued to multiply. He was the picture of the American mindset, industrious and self-reliant. A pull yourself up by the bootstraps kind of fellow. How did he respond to his circumstance of becoming even richer than before? He tore down what he had, in order to build back better and bigger, so that he could store for himself all that he had accumulated. And then, he would set back and enjoy the fruits of his labor. Solomon would have said the man’s response to his prosperity was vanity. The assessment of Jesus was a little harsher. Jesus said foolish is the man who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. You would have to say, the man failed the test of prosperity.

Job was another man of great wealth, and he passed the prosperity test. Scripture refers to him, “that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” That same man lost everything, had absolutely everything taken from him in an attempt by Satan to make him curse God. After having accumulated great wealth, he faced the test of poverty, difficulty and sickness all rolled up in one huge exam. All he had left was his attitude, what he could think and speak. Job’s response was simple and Scripture records it,” shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job remained faithful in both his prosperity and his misery. It is interesting to note though, Job confesses to learn things in his misery that he never knew in his prosperity.

Consider also that great man of faith, the apostle Paul. There were times in his ministry that might lead some missions committees to conclude that God must not be all in with Paul’s efforts. What were these circumstances that might lead some to question Paul’s calling? Paul himself lists a few in the 11th chapter of 2 Corinthians, “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was ship-wrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from the Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” Did the Apostle believe his circumstances revealed whether God was with him or not? Paul answers our musing regarding that question in the 4th chapter of Philippians, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Paul was strengthened by God’s presence which led to contentment in every circumstance.

Continuing in that 4th chapter of Philippians, Paul expresses his gratitude to the believers in Philippi for their sharing in his troubles. Paul’s troubles were countless. His own personal troubles would have been sufficient. But part of being a missionary is the constant dealing with the troubles of other people. When people need ministering to, it is because they have problems. When they knock on your door late at night, it is because they are distraught, sick or penniless. No one turns to missionaries for help when they are wealthy, healthy, and happy. I am grateful for your willingness to share in my troubles.

I am hopeful that 2022 will bring with it an end to all the problems caused by the response to the covid pandemic. The response, even more than the virus itself, has cause many problems and made already existing problems harder to deal with. I am hopeful that we can begin finally the process of getting an aircraft designated as airworthy and in the air. This will allow a multitude of new ways to minister to people. Many of you may not know, but John Paul has been studying to get his FAA airframe and powerplant mechanic license. By springtime, he should be certified to do the necessary work on the helicopters. If everything goes as planned, he can then begin his pilot training.

As always, I never know what a new month, a new week or even a new day may bring. There are new challenges all the time. Sometimes overnight there is catastrophic change. But my only agenda is to try to remain faithful to the work God sets before me. He will judge rightly as to whether I have been successful or not and there will be no rebuttal. I was called and chosen to fill the place where I find myself. I do not know why. I am only certain that it is not because of my own merit. I serve at God’s good pleasure. If He does not impress upon the hearts of those, whom He has called to help me, I could not do it another day. It is a sure and certain statement; you make it possible.

I thank you for your faithfulness. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas

I will close with two of my favorite verses.

John 1:6
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Luke 9:62
Jesus said to him, “ No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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