One of my greatest joys in this work is the friendships that I have with coworkers — People who are pursuing discipleship and church planting in their own contexts.
God has been moving recently in Oregon, and I’ve been honored and blessed by being able to coach a few laborers there. Two of those faithful practitioners are Russ and Joe, friends who had ministered in the same church together for a long time. Each of them, over the past few years, has been dramatically influenced by the vision of raising up disciples who make disciples and planting churches that plant churches in very specific segments in their State. Their hearts are to see “No Place Left” where the gospel has not reached those segments.
Russ and the Beard Oil Guy
One of Russ’s favorite places to love people and share the gospel is a public open-air market in his hometown. He goes there often to offer prayer for people and engage in spiritual conversations with them. One of the regulars at the market is an older gentleman who has a booth from which he sells beard oil. I didn’t know this, but there are actually beard contests, which Russ has entered and won! That beard oil vendor was a sponsor of the contest, and he and Russ became friends. Russ has prayed regularly for his family, his business, and his personal life.
This same man has a son who has struggled through the years with substance abuse, losing jobs, and going in and out of prison because of choices that he’d made. Russ’s simple, loving approach to befriend this vendor and love him in tangible ways is the core of what we do in the NPL context.
Joe and the Man Inside
Joe has a different strategy to reach “No Place Left.” He’s had a heart for the men and women in all of the jails and prisons in Oregon. I’ve written about his work before. It’s amazing the way God puts incredible people into his life, often very supernaturally.
Joe continues to be faithful in pursuing inmates for Jesus. He’s been specifically praying for inmates with whom he can share the gospel, disciple, and train to reach their peers inside the prisons. Recently, Joe was introduced to a young man who is what we would call a “person of peace.” That’s a person open to those of us who reach out to them. Not only do they receive the message of the gospel, but they also embrace the mission of all Christians to make disciples. They invite their friends, relatives, and acquaintances to hear the Good News with them. In this case, it was the young man’s fellow inmates.
Joe told me about John, the person of peace inside the prison. He’s one of those articulate, strong leaders who has responded to Joe’s leadership in his life by sharing the gospel and reaching others “inside.” Very recently, this young man received some very discouraging news about his sentence. He found out that he’s now facing 10 years in prison instead of the three years he had originally anticipated.
This affected him deeply for a few days, but God did a work in his heart, and he surrendered to this new sentence. He told Joe that he’d been praying for God to use him to make disciples, and to be effective in the ways that Joe had been training him. His promise to Joe:
You have me as a partner inside for at least 10 more years!
Last week it was my privilege to meet with Russ and Joe, along with a team of workers/practitioners banded together to reach Oregon. Our time with one another included sharing strategies, stories, and prayer requests.
As Joe told his story to the team, he mentioned John’s name. “Could it be?” Russ thought. Russ wondered how Joe’s guy in the story could have the same name as his beard oil friend. As they discussed it further, they realized that they had been ministering to both the father and his son, with neither of them realizing it until now!
Our God is an awesome God who pursues people through faithful servants like Russ and Joe.
Amazed By Jesus
JT
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