Touch points
Liz Selzer shares a liberating
approach to relational evangelism.
Amazing love William C. Goold celebrates the
300th birthday of Charles Wesley.
Modern day circuit rider Tina S. Pugel tells about
Wesley Putnam's road to ministry.
Church must support returning soldiers Kathy L. Gilbert reports on
army chaplains' call to the church.
Pastoral leadership and church membership Gregory D. Stover explains why
membership standards matter.
How to become a General Conference delegate Joe Kilpatrick outlines
election strategies for delegate hopefuls.
Aaron Neville's road to redemption Steve Beard profiles a music legend's return to faith.
COLUMNS
Editorial The continuing debate about
membership
Next GenerationThe dangers of transparency
RENEW Women's NetworkRetain the label-before
it's lost
The Great Commission Obscurity and fame
From the HeartMen without eyes
Culture in View The Reaping
News Analysis Has our United Methodist ad campaign ignited any church growth?
In a culture of pervasive cell phone coverage and wireless Internet access, “obscurity” seems to be a word that does not belong. When I hear Christian college students speak of a desire to have maximum impact for Jesus, or when I talk to a pastor who fears being sent to a “backwater congregation,” it is evident that obscure is a word that few people would welcome as the definitive descriptor of their ministry. The word itself is first cousins with remote and isolated, and invokes a sense of irrelevance. Few people aspire to be obscure. And yet, it is in obscure places that one can find some of the most amazing stories of the advance of God’s Kingdom.
Manuel Villar Bedoya lives in the Huanuco region of Peru. He does not own a car and must walk six hours to get to the main road. This is complicated by the fact that he is only four feet tall and walks with a limp. He lives in the same modest house in which he was born 61 years ago, an adobe dwelling that has no electricity or plumbing. And yet, Manuel has planted over 300 churches.
To Arthur Ivey, a cross-cultural worker who serves in Peru with The Mission Society, Manuel is an inspiration. The two have developed a close working relationship over recent years. Ivey describes Manuel’s church-planting method as follows: “Manuel prays and fasts, asking the Lord Jesus where He wants him to plant the next church. When Manuel receives an answer he heads out into the jungle on foot looking for the place he has ‘seen’ while praying. Once he finds it, he prays and fasts for a week in that place. Afterward he asks permission to proclaim the Gospel in the middle of the village. As he preaches, many begin to give their lives to the Lord Jesus. Manual then prays and fasts again, asking the Lord to identify whom He wants to be the pastor of this new work. Then Manuel works alongside the man in his fields, all the while teaching him the Scriptures and discipling and training him for about six months. He then leaves the church with an organized board and a pastor. Manuel will return periodically to check on the new work until it is well established.” No wonder Ivey refers to Manuel as “a living image of the Apostle Paul for me.”
When the Shining Path rebel movement was striking fear in the Peruvian mountains, Manuel continued to plant churches in one of the most heavily terrorist-controlled areas. One evening as he was preaching, the terrorists barged in and began to condemn persons for different “crimes,” summarily executing them on the spot. When they got to Manuel, they accused him of being a coward for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then they shot him in the back of the head and left him among the other bodies.
Ivey picks up the story, “Manuel says he doesn’t know if the Lord saved him or resurrected him, but sometime later he began to regain consciousness. He felt like he was in a cloud and had no idea where he was. He somehow managed to get back to his home, still feeling like he was in a cloud. Later things began to become clear. He cleaned the blood off and went out to begin preaching again.” Ivey continues, “Manuel still has the hole in the back of his head from the bullet entry and does not know if the bullet is still in his head or not.”
Some of the most remarkable events in the advance of God’s Kingdom seem to take place in obscurity. The Great Commission calls for the Gospel to be taken to places where Jesus has been little heard or heeded. Consequently, the would-be herald of this good news must recognize the implicit juxtaposition—even conflict between one’s personal aspiration for fame (the antithesis of obscurity) and one’s desire to make famous the name of Jesus.
God’s ways are not our ways; His fame spreads through the obscure. And the gates of heaven are thrust open by the death of a rural Jewish carpenter.
The Heart of a Missionary... “While I was visiting Peru, Arthur Ivey was telling me about the food and drink in the jungle. One of the drinks is made out of yam, but in one region of the jungle it is made by the yam being chewed up and spit back into the vessel. In a joking way, I kidded Arthur and said, ‘Would you really consider drinking this?’ Very seriously he said, ‘If it would save one person from going to hell I would. I can take medicine to get well from illness, but there is nothing I can do to get someone out of hell.’” –Mission Society staff Larry Williams
Click here to send your response plus the title of this article to us at Good News.