Réveille… (Part 1)

“Réveille” - from the French word for "wake up"

Greg & Carol

Feb 1, 2022

My passion in a nutshell:

Advocating for global kingdom workers.
Advocating for taking the Gospel mandate as literally as the Apostle Paul did.
Advocating for long-term, full-circle disciple making and church planting, both in the United States and abroad.
Advocating for a commitment in sending and supporting churches that at least approximates the commitment being lived out in the people who represent them around the globe.

Our mandate comes from above… and it is clear:

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.” (Acts 13:47, ESV)

Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. (John 4:35, ESV)

And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2, ESV)

and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation. (Romans 15:20, ESV)

And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”(Acts 14:23, ESV)

William Carey is known by some as the father of modern missions. Born in England, born in poverty, the son of a cobbler, he ended up spending his life as a missionary in India. His team’s work on Bible translations, printing, and dissemination of the Gospel is a story worth retelling.

Reflecting on our attempts to fulfil the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), he summed it up this way:

They are inconsiderable in comparison of what might be done if the whole body of Christians entered heartily into the spirit of the divine command on this subject. Some think little about it, others are unacquainted with the state of the world, and others love their wealth better than the souls of their fellow-creatures.
An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians. William Carey.

Timely words… Actually, they were penned in 1792. I wonder what he would say today?

Adoniram Judson traveled a different road through intellectual skepticism and atheism before surrendering to Christ. In February, 1812, he and his wife, along with three others, were the first foreign missionaries to set sail from American shores. They spent a little time with William Carey and his team in India before the British-ruled territory forced them to move on. They ended up on the shores of Burma (today it’s called Myanmar)

In order to become an acceptable and eloquent preacher in a foreign language, I deliberately abjured my own. When I crossed the river, I burnt my ships.
https://www.wholesomewords.org/missions/bjudson32.html

The Burmese language wasn’t written. It was more than a challenge to find tutors to help him learn. Can you imagine what it took to start from scratch, work out an alphabet, compile a lexicon and begin translating parts of the Bible?

People said his writing in English was always crisp, but after several years he struggled to put more than a couple of sentences together for English conversation.

“When I crossed the river, I burnt my ships.” Where is that spirit today?

Some might say, “Well, not everyone is meant to go far away.” Agreed. But some are. My gut tells me that with the present state of affairs in the world… with as enormous as the need is for the Gospel… a lot of people who should be going have decided to stay home.

Some might say, ”Well, going is not my gifting.” Agreed. Going isn’t a gifting. It’s a command. You respond to a command by obeying it. You respond to the command to go by going.

How far have you gone to share the Gospel with someone who didn’t know what you were talking about?