Thursday, November 22, 2012

IS SACRIFICIAL MISSION GIVING WORTH IT?

In 1962 Don Richardson, his wife Carol and their 7 month old son arrived in what was then known as Dutch New Guinea, to begin work among a violent, canabalistic, head hunting tribe called the Sawi.

The task before them was great because the Sawi language did not exist in any written form. They would have to learn the language by living with the people and slowly accumulate a vocabulary while at the same time giving the language a written form. This was difficult, discouraging and time consuming work but necessary before they could even begin to translate Scripture into the Sawi language for evangelism.

Their task was complicated by the constant tribal wars that kept the young missionary family in a continual state of danger. Not only was their task complicated by danger, but even after Don had reached a level of proficiency in the tribal language, so that he was able to present the story of the betrayal and crucifiction of Jesus, he was confroted with a seemingly insurmountable problem involving their perverted system of moral values. A world view that made Judas Iscariot the hero of the crucifiction story.

The amazing story of how God enabled Don to overcome this problem and give the gospel to them in a culturally relevant way is chronicled in his book intitled "PEACE CHILD". I would encourage anyone who has never read it to buy it TODAY and read it.

He has authored several other books among which are "LORDS OF THE EARTH" and "ETERNITY IN THEIR HEARTS". These books have for many years helped to fuel my passion for missions.

Eternity alone will reveal how many missionaries have been compelled to go to the unreached, difficult places and people groups because of Don's example and writings. To me, Don Richardson is a gospel hero. As a young man reading his books, I never would have dreamed that one day I would have the opportunity to meet him. However, in God's goodness and providence, not only will I be privileged to meet Him as an instructor here at the CPCP, but he is scheduled to share a meal with Jan and me in our home.

By way of concluding my ramblings, I'd like to ask my readers a question: Is it worth it to sacrificially give to missions? Before you answer, watch this recent video of now 77 year old Don Richardson and his sons returning to visit the Sawi tribe 50 years after Don first brought the good news to this once sin-darkened area.

Never the Same from Pioneers-USA on Vimeo.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

PRAYER AND PRAISE UPDATE: Garry & JAN WEAVER



We greet our friends, supporters and prayer partners from the Tex-Mex border. Jan and I trust that our great King is blessing and prospering you in your faithful service to Him. He alone is worthy of our life’s devotion.
These are exciting times at the CENTER FOR PIONEER CHURCH PLANTING in Los Fresnos, Texas. The founder and president of TO EVERY TRIBE, David Sitton has been greatly moved by the words of Jesus found in Matt. 9:37-38: “…The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” The words ‘send forth’ come to our English translations from the greek ‘ekballo’ which means to forcibly expel. One example would be like a bullet fired from a gun, or another example could be a spear launched by the arm of a strong man. We are to pray that the Lord would send laborers forth in this way into His harvest. This is the reason for the “Ekballo Initiatve” which has become one of the driving forces of our mission.
At the CENTER FOR PIONEER CHURCH PLANTING, we are seeing this prayer answered repeatedly and in many ways. The Lord of the harvest has entrusted us with the training of many of these laborers as they prepare themselves for effective missionary service. They will be the gospel “spearheads” in parts of the world where the gospel of Jesus Christ has never been preached.
As the Director of Field Training, I oversee the hands-on, practical training of these young men and women. As I am with them daily, and as I lead them into Mexican villages for ministry, I am constantly amazed at the level of spirituality and commitment they display as well as their willingness to daily lay aside the pleasures and treasures of a comfortable, affluent lifestyle in order to reach the unreached for Christ. Although many of them are going to far off places where they will have to learn some impossible, indigenous language, they still are giving themselves to learning Spanish in order to be effective missionaries in the Mexican villages in which we are working.
I want to thank you who pray and give so that we can serve these missionary interns on a full time basis. I can’t possibly tell you what an honor it is to partner with you in training and equiping the next generation of pioneer missionaries.
Please continue to pray for God’s provision and protection for us as we focus on this great push toward getting the gospel to every tribe, people and nation before it’s too late.
All on the altar,
Garry and Jan

Friday, November 09, 2012

JUST IMAGINE

Just imagine a kid who unexpectedly encounters a group of super-heroes. Men and women who have been gifted with amazing abilities. Real people that exercise their unique and specialized powers to keep evil at bay and advance good in the world. Then imagine that this group of heroes asked the kid to come and hang with them.

The kid = me (I'm not a kid physically, but spiritually).
The heroes = everyone else at TO EVERY TRIBE and the CENTER FOR PIONEER CURCH PLANTING.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Prayer and Praise Update from Garry and Jan Weaver


The time has flown by and we are already into the 2nd month of classes at the CENTER FOR PIONEER CHURCH PLANTING. This has been an exciting place for Jan and me as we have been privileged to meet and fellowship with some of the most passionate and dedicated missionaries we have ever known.

Although they are students (We call them interns) enrolled in the CPCP training, I do not use the term missionaries loosely when I refer to them, for they are already immersed in missionary activity. We have already divided them into church planting teams and sent them into some of the most dangerous areas of Mexico to begin, and in some cases continue the process of earning the right to be heard in their places of ministry.

They earn the right to be heard by serving the community, building relationships and showing genuine love for the people as well as seeking opportunities to proclaim the gospel of Christ. I am so impressed with the boldness, passion, self-forgetfulness and joy with which they eagerly embrace the mission.

It is such an honor to be able to serve them by helping them prepare to go to unreached people groups in places where preaching Jesus could easily cost them their earthly lives. They each are aware of this possibility, but to them, Jesus is worth it!

While I have been busy identifying places for our teams to minister and helping them plan their trips and strategy as well as making sure every individual and every vehicle is properly documented and equipped, Jan has been helping Bob and Mary Warman along with Donna Fleming in the TO EVERY TRIBE finance office. With the ministry growing so rapidly, keeping track of each missionary’s, each intern’s and each staff member’s individual support is a monumental task.

We want to thank you for your prayers and your financial support. We are acutely aware that without your help, we could not be involved in this great work. Please keep us lifted up before the sovereign King of glory , asking that He would use us and supply for us in a way that will bring maximum glory to Him!

All on the altar
Garry Weaver,
Director of Field Training: Center for Pioneer Church Planting

Saturday, September 29, 2012

ARE THE HEATHEN HUNGRY FOR THE GOSPEL?



As a Baptist intimately involved in missions, I have heard this assertion made on numerous occasions: “The people in (you supply the name of the country) are hungry for the Gospel.” This claim is most often made in the hope of encouraging people to give financial support to a missionary or to a mission project. The missionary often backs his claim with pictures of people eagerly accepting tracts, or he tells of the numbers of professions of faith he has had in evangelistic outreaches while on the field. Since faith missionaries are always in need of support, he seeks to put an image in the minds of his audience of multitudes of previously un-evangelized people clamoring for the Good News of salvation.

I don’t mean to sound cynical here, but I think that the statement mentioned above, if examined by the Scriptures will be seen to be false. Let me say right up front that I DO believe:
A) That the Gospel is to be preached to everyone.
B) That Jesus has sheep in every people group and every language group. They are His sheep, and when they hear His voice, they WILL come to Him.
C)That there are times when the Spirit of God begins to work within a people group, through the faithful preaching of the missionary so that numbers of people are swept into the Kingdom of God in a very short time.

However, I am compelled to say that both Scripture and my own experience disproves the assumption that unregenerate men are hungry for the Gospel. The Word of God is clear that men in their natural condition are “…dead in trespasses and sins…”(Eph.2:1). Jesus said ″No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him…” (Jn.6:44) Also in Romans 3:11, Paul quotes Psalm 14:1-3 and 51:1 when he gives this Divine assessment of man in his natural condition: “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Since the Word of God is our final authority, these passages make it abundantly clear that even though many will be eager to accept a free Gospel tract, their attitude toward God and His Gospel may well be a different matter.

In my own personal experience, I have seen how this false assumption has been perpetuated. In January of 1984 I moved my family to Mexico to work with some veteran missionaries who had been on the field for a long time. They already had a large work going, so we were able to start to work immediately with them. They were good and sincere people. They loved the Mexican people and sacrificed much in order to bring the Gospel to them. I do not criticize them personally, however I am critical of their methods.

Being located in the northern part of Mexico, this work was easily accessible to church groups who wanted to visit a missionary and experience, first hand, what goes on on the mission field. When a group of visitors would come, the lead missionary would plan the time so that there would be very little time for rest. He would always make plans to take them to a village where we had never been before. This wasn’t difficult because these remote villages abound in Mexico. He would always take a film, presumably to make it easier to get permission from the village leader to have a service there. We would go around to all the houses witnessing and inviting the people to the evening service. The missionary would begin the service with a ‘thank you’ for allowing us to have the meeting and for coming. Then he would start the movie (The Life of Christ or The Burning Hell or something similar). At the mid point of the movie he would stop the projector and tell the people that a pastor from the United States was going to speak to them about the Gospel. The Preacher would step forward and preach in English as the missionary translated the message into Spanish. This order was strategic in that the people wouldn’t leave because they wanted to see the rest of the movie. When the preaching was concluded, the missionary would restate the Gospel, then ask: ” How many of you want to go to heaven when you die?” Or, “How many of you want to be saved?” Usually a large number would raise their hands, sometimes the whole bunch would.(Even Catholics want to be saved and go to heaven when they die.) They would be divided into groups and be instructed to repeat a prayer after the missionary. To the missionary’s credit, he did say,”If you meant that prayer you are saved.”

While this is happening, the visitors are walking in the clouds. The pastor is thinking,”Man! I preached and a whole village got saved! That would never happen in the U.S. Just wait till I tell the folks back home about this.” He, along with the rest of the group go away with the sincerely held but erroneous impression that this is the common every day experience of the missionaries in that place. He then goes back home and tells his Church and everyone he knows: ” In Mexico the people are hungry for the Gospel. We need to get all our resources channeled into this work because they are getting the job done!”

What this poor mistaken pastor doesn’t know is that a few days later, when a rookie missionary such as myself, would go back to that same village(without films or gringos) to follow up on those professions of faith; it was almost impossible to get even one or two to come together for another preaching session. What happened? They had seemed so eager at the first presentation of the Gospel. Why aren’t they as enthusiastic now?

There are many minor reasons why they aren’t willing to continue in their profession of faith. Some of them, no doubt, only came because of the novelty of the situation. They lived lonely, difficult lives normally and this was a welcome diversion from the daily grind. Others probably made a profession of faith simply because it seemed everyone was doing it. Still others assumed that we were preaching the same thing that they had always heard. After all, we used the same terminology and names that their religion used. However, when they told their priest about what they had heard and done, and learned from him that it was not consistent with the teachings of Roman Catholicism, they abandoned their profession.

Those are minor reasons. The main reason, however, is that they had not been enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to who Jesus really is and what He demands. They had not been convicted of their wretched and hopelessly lost condition. They had not been irresistibly drawn to Him by the Spirit in repentance and surrender to His Lordship. There is no substitute for that! That only comes through faithfully praying for His power and anointing, and by the faithful proclamation of His Gospel, which is “…the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes…” (Rom.1:16)
I don’t like to say it like this, but I feel that I must. Both the villagers and the visitors became unwitting participants in the perpetuation of a false assumption. The assumption that it is much easier to “get people saved” in foreign lands. The reason many missionaries encourage this falsehood is financial.It speaks of quick results. That is what we want in our American Churches, and we will pay well for them. The truth is, that even on the foreign mission field, they need the same patient teaching, the same convicting work of the Holy Spirit, the same miracle of grace that so-called ‘Gospel hardened’ Americans need.

. I will close this article by sharing with you my reply when people have asked me about how the people respond to my ministry on the mission field. I say:”They normally respond to my preaching exactly like Adam and Eve, after they had sinned, responded when they heard the Voice of God in the Garden of Eden: They try to hide in their own religion. Every once-in-a-while, though, He will follow them and call them to Himself.”

Sunday, May 13, 2012

A TRIBUTE

This year, Jan and I will celebrate 40 years of marriage. For 38 of those years Jan has been a mother. For 13 years she has been a 'Nana', and for 34 years, she has been a preacher's wife.

If I had to pick one word to describe Jan as a mother, the word would be 'selfless'. When it comes to her children, she is defensive, opinionated, fearless and totally forgetful of herself. Although the children are all married with families of their own, she still never goes into a department store without looking for something the kids or grand kids could use.

The word that would best describe her as a grandmother would be 'available'. Though she has been limited in this respect because she has been forced to live far away from most of the grands, she is always ready go when needed. She'll haul 'em, keep 'em, feed 'em, clean 'em, and doctor them whether they need it or not.

As a preacher's wife, I call her 'faithful'. She is faithful to the Lord as His servant. She is faithful to me as a loving and caring wife. She is faithful to her family as a Christian mother.

However, there is more to her faithfulness in ministry that I need to mention. Because of her determination to go with me wherever I felt the Lord directing me, she has not always had an easy life. The last 14 years at Way of Life Baptist Church and a brief space here and there, she has had a little stability and we've had a decent income. But here is where the true faithfulness comes into focus, she has always been willing to leave it all behind for Jesus.


We are closing in on the 60 year old mark, and while many (if not most) Americans our age would be making plans for financial security and retirement, she is making plans to walk away from financial security, and she is trading retirement for re-fire-ment. While some would be trying to get nearer their families, she is preparing to move further away form even the nearest ones. She is willing to do this because God has opened a new door of ministry for us. To her, Jesus is worth it.


I have to admit that it hurts me a little to see her going through her earthly possessions, deciding what she can keep and what she can let go. It hurts because I know that she deserves much more than she has ever gotten out our relationship. But she has never asked for more. She is not sad nor disappointed as she leaves these things behind...She is excited. She is faithful.


On this Mother's Day, I want to say thank you, Jan. I love you. And please remember that you have an "Inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." (1Peter 1:4)

Saturday, April 14, 2012

BOOKS THAT HAVE ROCKED MY WORLD !!!


I have always been a lover of books. As I have indulged this passion over the years, there have been many books that have greatly impacted my thinking, and by extension, my life and ministry. The last few years, however, God has providentially brought some books into my life that, along with His Word and His supernatural working in my heart, have shocked me and rocked me to the core.

I would like to encourage you to read every one of them. Just a word of caution, though. A stick of dynamite wouldn't do to your life what these books will do!

Here is the list. (Note) The last book on the list is not the last one I read, nor does it come last in terms of impact. However it is the book that, added to the weight of the others, God used to bring me to a place I've never been before, spiritually. NO TURNING BACK!

Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

Let The Nations Be Glad
by John Piper

Radical by David Platt

Heaven by Randy Alcorn

Peace Child by Don Richardson

Lords of the Earth by Don Richarson

Bruchko by Bruce Olson

Reckless Abandon by David Sitton