The Least Of These

Today we started our day off by looking at Matt.25:31-46. We focused on “the least of these.” I believe when we think of missionaries and mission teams, we often think of ministering to the real down and outers of society. We somehow romanticize what a real missionary looks like and acts like. Mother Theresa is who comes to mind. And in many instances that is totally acurate. All of the missionaries that I personally know are just common folk like you and me. However, they generally have an extraordinary love for Jesus. A love that manifests itself in ways that causes them to forfeit their own agendas for a higher call. These 13 guys and their families are true blue missionaries. Ambassadors for Christ, yes that is who they are! They don’t think they are, and like me, they don’t fully understand it, but they are missionaries. They all have set aside their own agendas for a higher call. Something bigger than themselves, something that God is doing in their lives, something that will have eternal significance in the lives of those they serve. God’s doing something here! I know it and say it confidently, because that’s the way He is. When we offer up our lives as living sacrifices, we honor Him and He will bless us!


This brief journey has not been without struggle and challenge, but any journey worth taking should have some risk and the challenge is something to rise to. I’m getting to know better and love these brothers in the Lord. Something happens when you join together to do something for God. I think he does this knitting our hearts together. None of us as guys, really care to admit that, but I don’t think any of us would deny it either.
The mission we’ve been on has been high on task. It is a big job and again, God has assembled the right crew for this task. There have been some things I didn’t know before we came though. The largest Wesleyan Church in the world is now Bogotá North. They average over 6000 people per weekend! The Wesleyan Churches of Columbia are among some of the most thriving churches in the world. They have great leadership. That’s where what we’re doing comes into play. The school were we are working is where most of these leaders have attended or will attend. In a sense, we are helping the least of these by helping the school to better equip their students, and pastors through better facilities. We are partnering with some of the best leaders in this region of the world, to better equip pastors, to do what God has called them to do.
What an honor! Praise God and thank Him for His mighty works!
Included in this post are a few more pictures. Randy Davis has snapped some 150+ photos. I have quite a few too, but can only post a few at a time for space and time reasons. The first photo is the view from the 5th floor. There is a spectacular view to the east and all around for that matter. The mountains are amazing. God’s handy work at it’s best!
The next one down is our team, minus Robb Trapp who has become a great friend in these few days, and to whom we owe a great big thank you to for giving of his time to come along, work, and translate for us. Next is a photo of some of the guys doing some of what we all did a lot of, cleaning up messes. What's this, Kevin holding a gun to Clay’s back? Hey wait a minute! I think he might have been trying to keep him from falling off the edge!
This final shot is Scot with our new friend Zabdiel. He is the 14 year old son of a missionary. His english is excellent and he's been hanging out to not only help translate, but do some of the grunt stuff too. Last night some of our new friends, (of whom you will learn more of in tomorrows post) took us on an open bus tour of Bogota. The stop in the middle of the tour was near the top of one of the mountains overlooking the city. We had a great time singing praise songs and laughing 'til it hurt. God is so, incredibly good, all the time...by the way!