The word apostolos means “sent one”. So, from that we derive that an apostle is one who is sent. But, the word apostle also has a range of meanings in the New Testament and we’ll have to begin to take a look at those meanings if we are to understand who apostles were in the New Testament and who apostles are today.

Paul wrote to the followers of Jesus in Corinth and told them that they were ambassadors of Christ (2 Corinthians 5.20). I believe that the description “ambassadors” applies to all the followers of Jesus in all times and in all places. So, there is a sense in which all followers of Christ are sent ones, apostles, though I do not know any text of Scripture that uses the term apostle in reference to all the followers of Jesus. Regardless, that is not how the word apostle is used in Ephesians 4.11-13, as it is clear not all followers of Christ are in view in that description.

We’re really trying to come to an understanding of the meaning of the word apostle in Ephesians 4.11-13, And God gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the followers of Jesus for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

There are some people who believe that the word apostle as it is used in Ephesians 4.11-13 finds its modern fulfillment in the sending of missionaries. They reason that missionaries are the “sent ones” of churches today. Again, they grab the general meaning of the word apostle and try to fit it to the post-Reformation reality of the church. I am a missionary, but I am not an apostle in the Ephesians 4 sense of the word. Where Ephesians 4 is concerned, I am a teacher, but I am also a cross-cultural missionary. Most of the missionaries that I know are evangelists, pastors and teachers, but very few are apostles as we read about them in Ephesians 4 (and I have yet to meet any who are prophets). So, I do not agree with those who see missionaries today as all being equivalent to the apostles that God has given to the church in order to have a complete and healthy church.

We find the word apostle used in many texts in the New Testament, but the word is not always used to indicate the same thing. Let’s look at a few examples.

The word apostle is applied to Jesus in Hebrews 3.1. Jesus was certainly one sent. However, Jesus was not an apostle in the Ephesians 4.11-13 sense of the word apostle.

Jesus chose twelve men to be His disciples. The word “apostle” is sometimes used in reference to these twelve men. The ministry of the twelve and their unique relationship with Jesus leads me to believe that the apostles referred to in Ephesians 4 are not apostles in the same sense as the twelve apostles (and Matthias and Paul). The key to understanding this will be to understand that the New Testament refers to more than 14 men as apostles.

In fact, there are 22 people in addition to Jesus who are referred to as apostles in the New Testament. Here’s the list:

Paul – many Scriptures, but Rom. 11:13 “to the Gentiles”
Peter – many Scriptures, but I Peter 1:1, Matthew 10:2
Andrew – Matthew 10:2
James (son of Zebedee) – Matthew 10:2
John – Matthew 10:2
Philip – Matthew 10:2
Bartholomew – Matthew 10:2
Thomas – Matthew 10:2
Matthew – Matthew 10:2
James (son of Alpheus) – Matthew 10:2
Thadeus – Matthew 10:2
Simon the zealot – Matthew 10:2
Judas Iscariot – Matthew 10:2
Matthias – Acts 1:26
Barnabas – Acts 14:14
James (Jesus’ brother) – Galatians 1:19
Epaphroditus – Philippians 2:25
Andronicus – Romans 12:7
Junia (a female apostle) – Romans 16:7
Cephas – may also be Peter I Cor. 9:5, but is not necessarily Peter
Silas – I Thessalonians 2:6
Timothy – I Thessalonians 2:6

I have no way to speculate about how many apostles actually existed in the New Testament era. I do find the following text to be interesting though.

For I [Paul] delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also (1 Corinthians 15.3-8).

In I Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul refers to Jesus appearing to Peter and then to the Twelve after His resurrection and before His ascension. In the same context, Paul states that Jesus appeared to James and then to all the apostles. Paul stated that Jesus had already appeared to the Twelve and Paul goes on to refer to all the apostles. That he referred to both seems to indicate two different groups. I believe the two different groups are the Twelve (a group of apostles that would include Matthias and Paul) and then the Ephesians 4 type of apostles. I believe the first type is no longer with us, but that the later type of apostles remain and minister among us today.

Please check back soon, as I plan to explain my understanding of the ministry of apostles today.

I have just added an article entitled “Our Mission” to the articles page.

This is an article that I wrote as part of the study on Acts that I use for discipleship, leadership training and training church planters. I find it important for the people around me to understand what is going on in my head when I talk about “our mission” and the work here. It was originally written in Portuguese and I translated it into English to post here.

Since I watched the Verge2010 Conference on the Live Stream, I realize that there are churches and leaders in the US who share many of the same ideas I’ve expressed in this article. However, this is my own explanation of what I believe the Great Commission really means.

You can read the article by clicking this link “Our Mission“. Or, you can read it from the articles page and see what other articles are there too.

Also, I’d like to say thanks to the folks at Verge2010 for making the Live Stream available, and for free at that, to those who could not be there live! That was extremely cool of them!

I went to a non-denominational meeting of pastors a few months ago. The organizers had invited a well known apostle from this area to speak. This man had received the blessing, the unction, of a well known Pastor/Prophet from another country and therefore had gained esteem locally. I’ll refer to this apostle as Apostle X.

Apostle X revealed several things about his ministry while he was preaching. He is the pastor of a large church. He is an evangelist. He has a teaching ministry. And, during his preaching he stated, “The Prophet commands the Spirit.” He was, of course, referring to himself as the prophet who controls the Holy Spirit. Following this announcement, he said, “If you want to receive the unction raise both your hands!” Sadly, almost all the pastors from this city raised both of their hands. Now, let me explain why I find this to be saddening.

And God gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the followers of Jesus for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4.11-13)

The Bible clearly states that God gave these five to the church in order to have a complete and healthy church. Apostle X was claiming to be all five in one person. This goes against what the Bible clearly teaches. It is saddening that he makes this claim, but sadder still that the majority of the pastors in the city where I live and minister do not know the clear teaching of Scripture on this matter.

The claim made by Apostle X – the prophet commands the Spirit – was shocking! Yet, very few of the pastors in the room found it offensive to hear a man say, “I can command the Holy Spirit of God!” Rather, they hoped this was true and hoped that Apostle X would command the Spirit to give them power. They are hungry for what no man can give them.

One of my greatest concerns is that Apostle X may very well have a powerful spirit that he can command. However, no man can command the Holy Spirit of God. Only God the Father and Jesus the Son can command the Holy Spirit.

I found Apostle X to be a very present example of a false apostle; a man who does not understand the New Testament nor how it applies to apostolic ministry today. This is but one example of the misuse, or abuse, of the title “apostle” today.

Nonetheless, I will not allow the misuse, or abuse, of the word “apostle” deter me from seeking the function of the apostle in the church today.

In 2 Corinthians 11.13 we find that false apostles masquerading as apostles of Christ already existed in the New Testament church less than a generation after it began. That did not deter the true apostles of Christ from calling themselves apostles and carrying out their God-given functions within the church.

So, false apostles existed then and they continue to exist today. Our method for determining the true from the false is to test the messages with Scripture. I know four true apostles. In the weeks to come I’ll explain that.

The word “apostle” means “sent one”. Knowing that does not even begin to scratch the surface of what the New Testament teaches us about apostles. Many people are beginning to talk about apostles in the church today and apostolic ministries in the world today. That makes some people a little apprehensive, a little nervous. After all, just what do the folks mean who are talking about apostles and apostolic ministries?

I grew up in Southern Baptist churches – both traditional and contemporary. We had pastors and teachers and occasionally an evangelist. I never gave it much thought. That’s just the way it was and I assumed that was all there was to it. Even in seminary we never really looked beyond that reality of church. Then one day I came across someone teaching about apostles and I really thought they were out of their mind. Imagine having apostles like Peter and Paul running around today writing new books of the Bible and doing miracles. I could not accept it. The canon of Scripture is closed! There will be no more Bible written!

After arriving on the mission field and digging deeply into Scripture to see just what the church of the New Testament was like, I came across a text I had not truly considered before. In Ephesians 4.11-13 we read,

And God gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the followers of Jesus for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

Then I realized what this text means. God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to the church in order to have a complete and healthy church.

I had to ask myself, If apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers were necessary in the First Century in order to have a complete and healthy church, why do we believe that all five are not necessary today?

I have talked about this with many friends and colleagues. I have heard many arguments from theology and church history for why people think they are not necessary. However, I have yet to find any text of Scripture that tells me that some of these gifts of God to the church will cease to exist.

That is the process that I went through to arrive where I am today. I do believe that all five of these functions are necessary if we are to have a complete and healthy church today. I’ll qualify that by saying that I have heard and seen the title “apostle” abused far more often than I have seen it applied correctly. That saddens me, but it does not discourage me from seeking the true and right application of the function of the apostle in the church today.

In the weeks to come I want to continue explaining my understanding of apostles and apostolic ministries. I hope you’ll join me.

Later this week we’ll be launching a new aspect of our ministry here in Joinville. We’ll be asking people to open their homes for teams to come and pray with them. In many places in the world, houses of prayer play a very important role in house church networks. I have not done any research to learn what exactly those houses of prayer entail. In fact, I had heard about two different places using houses of prayer. I thought, “That’s there. That isn’t here.” And, I did not pursue the idea.

After I had let the idea slip into the back of my mind (actually, I had completely forgotten about it), God brought the idea back to my mind. That’s when I knew it was God’s time for houses of prayer here. I didn’t know when, where or how we would start houses of prayer. That’s where it is good to have team members. God was giving those answers to members of our team.

A few years ago, when I was on staff at a church in the US I had a small group that met for prayer. Our prayer time there was developed from a prayer group in which I participated in Bulgaria. The houses of prayer that we begin here will be based on both of those prayer ministries, though it will not be a copy of either. “Prayer is learned by praying.” I do not recall who wrote that sentence, but it is true. So, we want to teach people to pray through houses of prayer.

I’m adding an article to the “Articles” page here on the blog. I wrote it in 2002 and never put it online. However, I’m making it available now so you can understand a little better what I hope God does through houses of prayer. Please read “How Our Small Group Prays” on the articles page or by clicking this link How Our Small Group Prays.

Blessings – Stan

For us, 2009 proved to be an eventful year. We were able to take our vacation in June in the states this past year which was an exciting time for us as well as a good point of transition for our move to Joinville, Santa Catarina. We moved to Joinville in July 2009 and have spent a wonderful time getting to know the city and the people in the region.

Our current job assignment is planting churches in the northern region of Santa Catarina. We have been visiting the various cities in our region and below is a recap of those visits and what God has been doing in each of them.

Joinville is a city of over 500,000 inhabitants with only 6 Baptist churches which together have about 600 members. Of these 6 churches, we have found only 2 thus far that have sound doctrine. We asked you to begin praying for a “man of peace” in this city. A new pastor moved into town around the same time that we did. He heard about Stan and what he was interested in doing to reach the city and he came looking for him. He showed up at our gate one morning and wanted to begin sharing with Stan the vision God had laid on his heart. God began showing him that he would never reach Joinville by continuing to “do” church the way it had always been done. This pastor, Valter, has committed himself to helping begin a house church network in Joinville that will touch the whole world. He and Stan have joined together to teach the existing church how to lead evangelistic Bible studies that will hopefully be house churches one day. Stan began a study series with the church on the Book of Acts to show them what the word “church” really meant in the New Testament. In December, the first training session for evangelistic Bible studies was completed and 9 couples have committed to opening their homes in 2010 for evangelistic Bible studies. One of the things Stan and Valter have been praying about is how to reach the lost in the city when everyone lives behind walls and gates. One way of course is for the evangelistic Bible studies to reach into each person‘s circle of influence. In other words they begin with their lost friends and family. God also answered that prayer in another way. Four schools asked our team to begin ministering to the families connected with the school. This new project will begin in February when school begins again which will give our team access to 3,000 families.

Prayer Requests for the Work in Joinville

1. Pray for Valter and his family. He and his wife have three children. Pray that they will remain obedient to God’s call on their lives and that God will surround them with a veil of protection as they labor for God.
2. Pray for the nine couples who have agreed to open their homes in 2010 to begin evangelistic Bible studies. Pray for the people who will participate and that they will have ears to hear the truth of God’s saving grace.
3. Pray for the church, Aliança, as they continue to learn what church should really be and that they will commit to following God no matter where He leads them in reaching their city for Christ.
4. Pray for the new project beginning in February. Sometimes it is hard to be patient and allow God to open the doors. Pray that our team will be patient as we get to know the families.

São Bento do Sul
We were invited to visit with Pastor Airto to get to know him and his family and the work they do with Igreja Batista de Paz. He too believes that his city will never be reached for Christ if they continue to “do” church the way they have always done it. This church is one of the strongest Baptist churches in northern Santa Catarina and has a very strong ministry to married couples. They began family groups a few years ago where the church is meeting in various homes during the week. They also teach sessions for married couples to reinforce godly relationships and godly obedience. A huge problem in Brazil, even among Christians, is extramarital affairs. Stan has offered to help in any way he can. The pastor is still getting to know Stan so the process is slow. Stan is providing him with his study materials on the Book of Acts to reinforce the idea that we need to take a serious look at what the Bible says about “church.” Pastor Airto has tentatively invited Stan to meet and discuss evangelism, discipleship and small group ministry.

Prayer Requests for São Bento do Sul1.  Pray for Pastor Airto and his family as they move in the direction that God would have them move in reaching São Bento do Sul for Christ. 
2.  Pray for the families that they work with that they will commit themselves to godly marriages.
3.  Pray that a relationship of trust will be developed between Stan and Pastor Airto so that they can partner together in reaching Northern Santa Catarina.

We recently were able to take a trip up into the mountains of Santa Catarina. We were amazed at the beauty and diversity that met us. Many of the cities in this mountain region have Ukrainian Orthodox churches that still hold services in the Ukrainian language. Not only did we find Ukrainians but also Austrians, Germans, Italians and Polish, just to name a few.

We ended our trip in the city of Porto União. We were invited to visit the local Baptist church there. We had a wonderful two days visiting with the church and the pastor. As Stan began to share with the pastor his vision for house churches/simple churches that are culturally relevant and his desire to see people truly discipled, the pastor’s eyes lit up. Pastor Vilmar had already been thinking through and praying through what it would really take to reach Porto União for Christ. Pastor Vilmar said, “The way we “do” church will never reach a city which is technically more culturally European and not Brazilian. It simply is not culturally applicable.”  Stan explained the evangelistic Bible study set and Vilmar explained that he was already using a similar set that he had developed. He had just come from a meeting with the pastors of their Baptist Association who had come to the conclusion on that very day that they needed a better way to equip workers because “church” as they were doing it was not producing equipped followers of Christ. He asked Stan to share his ministry with the church that evening.  Stan shared about evangelistic home Bible studies, simple church, the Acts studies, and his commitment to equipping the saints to plant churches that truly reach the culture. Several people already want to know when they can begin training because they also want to reach their city for Christ. Because it takes us 4 hours one way to get to Porto União, Stan is working with the pastor hopefully to begin monthly weekend trainings early in 2010.

As we were leaving that evening, a young man pulled Stan aside and asked when Stan could begin training him to do this work. The young man is a professional soccer player. He has a burden to reach other soccer players but has had a very difficult time doing so because he said they refuse to step their foot inside a church building. He loved the idea of evangelistic Bible studies designed to reach them in a culturally applicable way and also felt it was the answer he had been looking for because it is something he could reproduce anywhere rather than tying anything to a local church.

Prayer Requests for the Northern Mountains of Santa Catarina (Porto União)

1. God has burdened our hearts for the various people groups we have encountered. Our pray request is that God will open the door to reaching the various people groups living in Santa Catarina.
2. Pray for the training sessions that will begin in 2010 as we train people to lead evangelistic Bible studies that will hopefully transform into simple churches.
3. Pray for Pastor Vilmar as he leads his church to commit to reaching their region for Christ. It is a difficult door to walk through because many times it is just easier to remain where we are comfortable rather than changing the way we do things for the cause of Christ.
4. Pray for China Man, as the professional soccer player is known, that He will continue to follow God’s leading in reaching other soccer players for Christ.

Prayer Requests for the Meadors1. Pray for Stan as he continues to finalize the first series of evangelistic Bible studies and begins working in more depth on the second series. Pray that God will use the people around us to show him where the studies need to be adjusted to reach people in a culturally applicable manner.
2. Pray for the Acts study that continues in one church and hopefully will begin in two other churches in our region in 2010.
3. Pray that we will remain strong and focused as a family and that God will protect us.
4. Pray that we will allow God to lead in all things and remain faithful to his calling. Sometimes it is easy to allow our agenda to get in the way. God has a plan and we need to remember that even when it doesn’t look like we thought it would.
5. Pray that God will begin a house church network in Northern Santa Catarina in 2010.
6. Pray that God will continue to draw Ariana to Himself. She is asking many questions.

Words can never express how much you mean to us and how grateful we are for your prayers, love and support. Thank you for giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering this year. If you haven’t had time to do so yet, please make sure you do. Your gift to Lottie Moon keeps us on the field each year. There is so much work yet to be done and God definitely isn’t finished using us here in Brazil.  Your faithful giving will only not only allow Brazil but the world to hear of God’s saving grace.

We pray that God will bless each of you in this new year. We are excited about what God has in store for 2010.

Blessings,

Stan, Wendy and Ariana Meador

We just wanted to let everyone know that we’ve added an Articles page. On this page we’ll be posting articles that Stan has written. So far, we’ve posted two articles there. The New Testament Concepts of Church and The Challenge of Evangelism in Latin and South America. If you haven’t read them before, I’m sure they’ll be of interest to you.

The Challenge of Evangelism in Latin and South America was posted on the SBC Impact blog. It was also well received and affirmed by numerous colleagues working in Latin and South America. It should be helpful for those planning to work in Rio during the 2012 Olympic Games too.

Since our move to Joinville 3 months ago, we have been doing more observing than anything. Why, because we can’t assume that what we know about planting simple churches where we were will work in the cultural context we find ourselves in now. What we are finding is that even though Joinville was founded by Germans, the city itself is very Brazilian with an international feel to it. Some of the cities surrounding Joinville also have distinct cultural identities.

For the past 5 weeks or so, we’ve been getting to know a house church in a city about an hour from Joinville. In the past, we said that we have experiences from which they can learn and that they have things to teach us as well. This past Sunday they invited us to share the Lord’s Supper with them. It was a great day – we shared a meal together, praised the Lord together, and continued to get to know each other. It has been very good seeing the way they share life together. The leader of that house church was talking with another guest they had invited that day – we were sitting around while the food was cooking. He said something along these lines, “I don’t know Stan yet. All I see is the perfect Stan who comes to visit. The others in house church I know because I am with them all the time.” He was not slighting me in any way, but rather stating the reality of our relationship. Only when we spend a lot of time together, hours a day, week in and week out, do we get to know the real person. This is life together. This is what house church is all about. In fact, it is Christianity as Jesus intended it to be.

In our three visits with this house church, maybe 15 hours together, God has been showing us how He wants us to go about planting simple churches in Northern Santa Catarina. We want to plant organic (Brazilian), reproducing, simple churches through the making of disciples. Do we have it all worked out? No, but we are getting there. God still has a lot more to teach us, but He is answering your prayers already.

We asked you to pray that God would bring us a man of peace in Joinville. We believe that God has brought him into our lives.

About two weeks ago I received an email from a colleague. He had been at a meeting of Baptist pastors. On Friday, September 18^th, he sent me contact information for three pastors in this region who were interested in meeting with me to see if we might be able to work together. To my surprise, the following day one of those pastors (who lives in Joinville) was knocking on my door. I met with him yesterday (Wednesday, September 23).

Normally when I explain house church to members or pastors of institutional churches here in Brazil they look at me with blank stares, as if I were speaking another language. But, I really am speaking Portuguese with them. The blank stares almost always turn into rejection of house church as a valid form of church. Very few Brazilian pastors, in my limited experience, accept that house church is truly church. And, of the few who accept it as legitimate church, none that I know have embraced it as the path they want to follow for church planting. So, I was not overly encouraged going to meet with yet another pastor to talk about reaching Joinville through house churches.

I was well received by this pastor. He truly has a desire to see Joinville reached. He’s been reading a lot about how to go about that task. He already understood that the usual approach of institutional churches in Brazil isn’t going to reach the city – the birth rate minus the death rate is still greater than the growth rate of the institutional churches. So, he had been trying to figure out if the answer would be found in small groups, a cell church model, or even in house churches.

I laid all the cards on the table. I walked him through house church in the New Testament. I explained what I see as God’s purpose for the church and how that is fulfilled in house church. I explained how leadership functions in house churches and house church networks as I am learning it from the Scriptures. There are still a few places that I’m sorting through things, but much of it is coming together. Usually when I lay this all out people just don’t get it. This truly is a different language than the language of the institutional church. Each step of the way he either had already seen what I was explaining in Scripture, or understood it as I was explaining it – the pieces were fitting together, the light bulbs were coming on.

When I finished explaining these things to him, he simply asked how we get from where he is – institutional church – to what we see in the New Testament – house churches networking together to make disciples in cities and regions and among all the peoples on earth. That’s the part I didn’t have an answer for yet. Nonetheless, he wants to walk this path together. He wants to reach Joinville with the gospel of Jesus Christ and he is willing to lay down his traditional ways of doing things in order to accomplish this task. He asked if we could start next week.

I believe God has given us this man of peace in Joinville. But, God did not give us this man of peace until He taught us some very valuable lessons. God’s timing is perfect in every way. This pastor is new in town. God brought him here about two months ago, just about the same time He brought us here. The road ahead will not be wide and smooth, but narrow and rough. But, the burden of my Savior is light and He does not leave me to walk it alone.

Thank you for your faithfulness in praying for us. We will keep you updated as we walk this road.

Blessings – Stan, Wendy and Ariana

For Ariana’s end of school year celebration, she chose to go to the beach.  It was a beautiful day-not too hot and only locals around.  We practically had the beach all to ourselves.  Ariana played in the sand and the water and she and her daddy built a sand castle.   As we were rinsing things off, she looked down and found a sand dollar.  She was so excited.  Below are some pictures of our fun day.

Hello everyone! I hope your week has been a good one.

Last Monday we went to visit with some house church leaders in a city about an hour from Joinville. They had contacted us about 2 weeks ago, the day after I put contact information on the Portuguese language blog. However, we were all sick then. After getting well, we called them and set up a time for the visit.

We spent about 6 hours with them, including a tasty lunch that they served us. It was so very good to talk with folks who understand house church and the struggles that come in Brazil from pursuing that return to the New Testament church. It was a great time of mutual encouragement. They were able to confirm some aspects of the culture in Santa Catarina that I thought might have been different from the culture in Rio Grande do Sul, where we had been working to make disciples and plant house churches. Even though they have been meeting as a house church for a couple of years, they don’t have much experience outside their own house church. Since I have been through thick and thin with several house churches, I was able to share insights into questions they have been struggling through. It was a great time.

In the past, we’ve noticed that a sticking point in developing a house church network was the lack of biblically qualified leadership in the house churches. The Brazilian culture does not lend itself to nurturing the kind of men Paul described to Timothy and Titus. From all appearances and throughout our time last Monday, it is apparent that God has raised up several families in that town who want to be more like Jesus every day, and not just in word, but in deed. This is an incredible answer to prayer. In our meetings last month with our colleagues, this was my prayer request – that God would give us biblically qualified men to lead the house churches.

When we scheduled our visit for Monday, we did not realize that their house church meets on Monday night. That night, the leaders shared with the house church many of the things we had talked about during the day. The information was well received by all.

This small group of believers has a vision that goes well beyond their own group, beyond their own city, beyond their own state, and beyond their own country. They have some ideas about how to develop house church networks that I had not yet considered. And, I have some ideas about training house church leaders that they had not yet considered. So, there are a lot of ways that we could work together in making disciples and planting house churches. I’m not sure exactly when we will visit this house church again. And, I’m not sure what God will do through this connection. But, we are in contact on the phone and by e-mail.

Please praise the Lord with us for His making this connection. Please pray that all involved will be able to discern what God wants to do through us.