7.15.2010

this is an emergency

Unreached.
More...unknown.
These are the concepts that caused my heart to break yesterday.  As of a year ago, I had never heard of Cape Breton Island.  I did not know that on one side of their island, there were 22,000 people and only 275 believers.  That is 1.25% believers.  There are three "evangelical churches" on this side of the island.  One started by Margaree Baptist (the church we are working with) and including itself.  How desperate are we for the glory of God to spread among all nations and people groups?  Do we even know the full reality of the unreached and unknown people groups out there?  How many more Cape Breton Islands are there in the world?  The reality of this is breaking my heart for the lost of this world.  And who are we?  That we have hundreds of churches in one town when billions of people around the world have never heard of Christ.  Do we understand this?  Why does this not bother all of us more? 

The past few weeks have been a rollercoaster of emotions for Jeremy and me.  Jeremy's grandfather passed away last week and gave us a sad reminder of the cost of missions.  Jeremy was close to his grandfather.  I told him that day, "You might have the looks of your other grandfather, but you had the character of this one."  We could not go home to be with his family, yet fully knew and understood that God has us here right now for a reason.  And our Lord has provided unbeliveable strength to my husband this past week as he preached about discipleship and the sacrifice needed to follow Christ only days after his grandfather passed away. 

We have both been praying continuously since we got here.  The word "isolated" fills almost every sentence when you talk with someone about their relationship with Christ.  They do not see many believers coming here.  And when they do, you are welcomed with open arms willing to embrace a brother or sister and joyful to see that there are others out there who worship the same God they do.  We take it for granted...having so many believers surrounding us.  They were shocked when we told them how we attend a 4,000 member church, but that it is one of hundreds of churches in our area and probably not the biggest.  They responded:  if only half of the believers in your area would go out, the gospel would spread dramatically and it could radically change their island.  If only ten or fifteen families or missionaries moved to this island, the island would be changed. 

And they understand that the only breakdown in missions is when people do not speak the gospel.  And they pray for their own church to be disciple-makers, but they are still in the process of training their own people. 

We drove the Cabot Trail last week.  I kept telling Jeremy that I think this is what heaven will look like and that I will one day see Jesus on top of one of the clifts and He will embrace me with a warm embrace as the cool wind covers both of us.  It was breathtaking.



The scenery could not have been better, but people asked us what we thought of the trail when we got back and we continued to say, "It's gorgeous, but every town is so far away from the next and the people on the far side of the island are so incredibly isolated."  It took us about five hours to get around the whole trail.  There are a couple of believers on the other side of the trail who would have to drive at least three hours to get to another believer.  

This trip continues to not be close to what I expected, but it is turning into something much greater than I could have thought.  I am learning that God requires much more out of us if we are to follow Him.  I am learning that the rest of the world (even a developed, English-speaking country) is vastly different from the southern United Stated as far as Christianity goes.  And I am learning that His plan for all nations to glorify Him involved us spreading His name among all nations.  

I have not listened to Leeland's "Tears of the Saints" in quite some time.  I listened to it almost every day my freshman year of college and am sure I drove my roommate crazy with it.  I also burnt myself out on it.  But this week, I could not get it off my mind.  This is an emergency.  People perishing without knowledge of their God and no hope of hearing about it is an emergency.  God not receiving glory from those for which He died is an emergency.  My prayer this week is not that God would just bring you to Cape Breton (although, it would be great if He sent you here), but it is that we (as believers in the US) would open our eyes to the lost world...those unreached, those we have never even heard about...and that this would grip our hearts and burden us to a point of going out to seek them.  Cape Breton is just one island that is unreached and unknown.  How many more people are out there who we have simply not heard about?  The thought is overwhelming.  

Father, that we would want the world to glorify You because You are worthy.  Give us eyes to see the lost around us and a burden to seek those who have never heard.  Let us not hoard the gospel to ourselves, but want to tell it to those who are separated from You.  Let us see that we play a part in Your plan of making disciples of all nations...all of us.  You deserve the glory You are due. 

7.05.2010

the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few

the drive:  long, exhausting, adventureous, and hilarious.  jeremy and i had a unique trip up the east coast.  sometimes we would go crazy from sitting in the car for so long.  we laughed, we talked, we sang at the tops of our lungs.  we divided up the drive by going to d.c. for four days so mr. simpson could go to washington, stopped in augusta, maine, in time to make the midnight showing of "eclipse" and sleep, then continued until we got to cape breton.  although, we did make a pit-stop on the way: 
that's right....carlo's bakery.  an hour and a half wait for some yummy pastries.  this little detour later caused us to get stuck in new york traffic for five hours.  what an experience...but well worth the trip. 

the carmichael's:  while in cape breton, we are staying with two of the most amazing people in the world.  sharon reminds me of my grandmother on my mom's side and jimmy reminds me of my dad.  both incredibly caring and so hospitable as they gave up their home to us this summer.  they are feeding us well and making sure that our every need is met.  amazing people showing us the love of Christ through their servanthood. 

cape breton:  i know i have mentioned before the amount of belivers to non-believers in cape breton, but let me just say that it is a lot worse than i thought.  "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few" is the perfect phrase for this island.  these people speak english, live in a developed country, and most have never heard the name of Christ.  the beauty of this island is unspeakable:
jeremy and i have gone to the beach almost every day since we got here.  the high cliffs mixed with the beautiful ocean makes for an enjoyable scene as we pray for the island and the people here.  after talking with both the pastor and his wife, hugh and tracey, and the outreach pastor and his wife, pierre and marie, we have come to a conclusion that this island needs more believers to come here and devote their life to spreading the gospel among this island.  we will be utilizing all of our resources in spreading the word about this island as well as working on a project for hugh that will include ethnographic research to be used in their own ministries as well as in requesting more help. 

imagine a place with ten or more communities and each community holds about 2000-4500 people and in some communities there may be 120 believers, some 60, some none.  If this were occurring in the south in the u.s., many churches and people would flock to this area and begin to plant churches here.  we need to broaden our vision beyond our comforts and our borders and begin to reach out to a lost world.  if a few couples or families would move here and dedicate their time to reaching out to people and discipling people and pastoring new churches, the gospel would spread.  the harvest is ready.  and this is not a hard island to live on.  it would be perfect for the outdoorsmen/women.  the churches here are extremely friendly and welcoming.  please begin to pray with us about getting the news of this island spread so believers may know about the urgency of this place.