The Nations For Christ

The following was written by missionary Ransom Maggard on his blog:

http://thefieldistheworld.wordpress.com

It is thought provoking.

“Why for fifty-four years of my life did no one tell me about Christ?”

This question was asked by a now fifty-eight year old Moroccan as I sat in a Starbucks in Washington, D.C.. He leaned over the table slightly and his still thickly accented English asked again, “Why for fifty-four years did I sit in darkness?”. I was in Washington tagging along with Aaron and we were meeting this Moroccan to talk to him about some of the work he did now on a Christian Arabic satellite program. As we sat together drinking our coffees (mine), espressos (his), or frappuccinos (Aaron’s) he gave us his testimony. When he came to America in June of 1998 he was living with an American family. He was a Muslim. They were Christians. During the month of Ramadan he would fast and pray five times a day. The Christians he lived with would say ”I respect you so I wont talk to you about religion.” Four years later after the Moroccan was saved, he confronted this man about his ”respect” and told him “You are not a good Christian. You never told me.” As I sat there listening to this man it became real to me something that I would say as I would travel and talk to people about missions; the reason they dont know is because we wont go. The reason this man had been in the U.S. for four years before he became a Christian was because for four years no one spoke to him about Christ-in a “Christian” nation! How much greater is the need in countries where there isnt really any Christian presence? I wonder how many Moroccans, how many Albanians, how many Sri Lankans, how many Americans could stand and point a finger at me and say “You are not a good Christian. You never told me.” Why did this Moroccan sit for fifty-four years in darkness? Because we didnt bring the gospel to him. In II Corinthians chapter four Paul is exhorting the church in verse one “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, (3.6-ministers of the new testament…that the spirit giveth life) as we have recieved mercy, we faint not;” Paul is saying “Keep at it!” He says why in verse three “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:” He says “If we dont share the gospel, if we hide it away, the lost are the ones that suffer!”. As your read this today I hope you will ask yourself this question, the question I asked myself as I heard the Moroccan’s question in Starbucks: What will you do TODAY to bring the Gospel to someone who otherwise would never have it? Will they continue in darkness because of our inactivity? Or will we bring them the Gospel? Will our light be hid to them that are lost?

In my last blog, I forwarded a request for prayer for a man named Aaron who works as a missionary to Muslims. He had been coughing up blood and had to return to the United States for medical treatment. The doctors have discovered a tumor in his lung causing the bleeding; but, praise the Lord, it is not cancerous! Aaron will have to have surgery to remove it, and will have to remain in the United States for about three months. Please continue to pray for him. 

-Stephen

This week Bro. Tony Howeth was in Northern Ireland preaching for us. For several months, the church has been working with the teenagers in our neighborhood. Every week, the Gospel is faithfully preached, but on Friday night, decision time came for nine teenagers. After the message, there was deep conviction of the Holy Spirit, and the teens who usually can't wait to leave stayed and listened to several of the workers as they shared the good news of Jesus Christ. By the end of the evening, nine had trusted Christ as Saviour!

In addition to these nine, on Wednesday evening, a man who has been attending the church for two weeks with his wife and baby girl came to the house after the service. I talked to him for about half an hour and he decided to trust Christ as his Saviour. He had been under conviction for two weeks. Please pray for David as he grows in the Lord!

We praise God for all that He is doing at Faith Baptist Church. Pastor Martin Wickens and the members of Faith have prayed and worked very hard for this, and we pray that it continues. 

-Stephen  

We have added the latest sermon in our Prophecies of Daniel series, being preached in Northern Ireland at Faith Baptist Church. This sermon talks about what's really important in life. You can listen to "The Ancient of Days" by clicking here. 

Have a blessed day!

-Stephen

We have uploaded a new sermon in our "Prophecies of Daniel" series being preached at Faith Baptist Church in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. It is called, "Daniel vs. the Lions." 

You can listen to it from the link here. 

-Stephen

We have just published the first message in our series,  "Prophecies of Daniel" on the subject of "A Stranger in a Strange Land." This message was preached on Sunday night at Faith Baptist Church in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. 

You can listen to it or download it by clicking here. 

Hope you have a great day!

Stephen

We have launched a new website to promote our upcoming Sunday night sermon series here at Faith Baptist Church in Northern Ireland. It is called PropheciesofDaniel.com. Check it out. By the way, if you received an email yesterday with part of a sentence, sorry. It was a work in progress that I didn't mean to publish. Take care. -Stephen

Dear Friends,

New Support, Souls Saved

For the last several months we have been able to participate in several missions conferences and share the ministry in churches in Georgia and Tennessee. We have gained new support and met new friends. I have also been able to preach in jail and prison and we praise the Lord for over 14 salvation decisions.  

New Book Available

Our new book, Hope: God’s Shelter in the Storms of Life is now available. You can see a free preview of it online at: TheNationsForChrist.com.  

Upcoming Trip

On December 31st we will be flying out of the country to go to Northern Ireland for four months. During this time, we will be overseeing Faith Baptist Church in Newtownabbey while pastor Martin Wickens is in the United States raising additional support. We believe that God has opened the door for us to be able to have this time of training and  internship in preparation for our own church planting ministry on the Island.

Thanksgiving

April and I were able to spend this Thanksgiving with our relatives in Tennessee and Florida. We had a good time of traveling and visiting. We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday as well!  

May God bless you all. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. 

Yours for Christ’s Kingdom, 

Stephen Baker

Psalm 126:5,6

This week we are praying for the people of:

Burma

Location:

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, between Bangladesh and Thailand

Area - comparative:

slightly smaller than Texas

Population:

47,373,958 

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 62.49 years 

male: 60.29 years 

female: 64.83 years (2007 est.)

Religions:

Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Muslim 4%, animist 1%, other 2%

Languages:

Burmese, minority ethnic groups have their own languages

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write 

total population: 89.9% 

male: 93.9% 

female: 86.4% (2000 est.)

Government type:

military junta

Internet users:

31,500 (2005)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 1, FM 1, shortwave NA (2004)

Slavery:

Burma is a source country for men, women, and children trafficked to East and Southeast Asia for sexual exploitation, domestic service, and forced commercial labor; a significant number of victims are economic migrants who wind up in forced or bonded labor and forced prostitution; to a lesser extent, Burma is a country of transit and destination for women trafficked from China for sexual exploitation; internal trafficking of persons occurs primarily for labor in industrial zones and agricultural estates; internal trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation occurs from villages to urban centers and other areas; the military junta's economic mismanagement, human rights abuses, and policy of using forced labor are driving factors behind Burma's large trafficking problem tier rating: Tier 3 - Burma does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so

This information comes from the World Fact Book. 

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html