Gospel Expectation

As we prepare to share the gospel tonight with close to 30 of our friends at English camp, we agree with this quote from Rolland Allen and share his expectation that when the gospel goes out, it will bear fruit in this world: "St. Paul expected his hearers to be moved. He so believed in his preaching that he knew it was 'the power of God unto salvation.' This expectation is a very real part of the presentation of the Gospel. It is a form of faith. A mere preaching which is not accompanied by the expectation of faith is not a true preaching of the Gospel, because faith is a part of the Gospel. Simply to scatter the seed, with a sort of vague hope that some of it may come up somewhere, is not preaching the gospel. It is indeed a misrepresentation of the gospel. To preach the Gospel requires that the preacher should believe that he is sent to those whom he is addressing at the moment, because God has among them those whom He is at the moment calling: it requires that the speaker should expect a response."  

This quote reminds me of a picture that was taken during our first year of English Camp back in 2007:

There are a lot of great things about this picture.  First of all, you can see Jess Lindgren, our current Administrative Director in Student Ministries who is with us this year on our trip in the front row of this picture, second from the right.  She was in high school when this picture was taken, and her love for Czech has continued to grow since this point in her life.

But there are three other stories that get us excited when we look at this picture.  All of the way to the right in the front row, with Jess's arm wrapped around her, is our friend Babu.  When this picture was taken, Babu did not know Christ.  The gospel was proclaimed in 2007 at this English camp and Babu received Christ. She has been a solid, strong, growing follower of Christ ever since this point.  She shared her testimony with the students two nights ago in our evening session. It was powerful and God has been using it to stir the hearts of non-believers here this week.

At the far right in the top row, just above Babu, you will see our friend Petr.  Petr also did not know Christ when this picture was taken.  He did not believe in the existence of God and did not see the point of such an existence even if it were true.  The gospel was proclaimed at camp in 2007...And again in 2008...And again in 2009...And at many other points in Petr's life after getting connected to the church in Sumperk.  Petr surrendered his life to Christ in late 2009.  He has been soaking up doctrine and clearly growing in his walk with Christ.  He shared his testimony in two parts on Sunday and Monday in our evening session, and God has also used Petr's words in powerful ways this week.

In the middle of the top row, you'll see a 17-year-old young man named Vasek who was at the time a staunch atheist who believed the gospel to be complete foolishness.  Vasek heard the gospel in 2007 and 2008, and was also loved and invested in at the church in Sumperk as he continued to hear the gospel at other various points.  Vasek came to faith in Christ in the fall of 2008. All of a sudden he was reading the Bible continuously, listening to sermons, and reading books that would strengthen the core of his faith. He spent six months with us last fall as a youth ministry intern at New Hope Church. He has been my main translator for the entire week as I deliver the evening talks to students. He is currently working with Petr, Babu, and others who were not believers at our first camp to plant a ministry in Sumperk that is geared for reaching their friends for Christ.  Clearly, the gospel continues to bear fruit and grow in Sumperk.

So please pray for us as we prepare to share the good news of Jesus Christ very directly, boldly, and lovingly tonight.  I'm looking forward to seeing pictures like this one five years from now and hearing stories of changed lives similar to the ones above.  God is at work here. As the gospel goes out, we are convinced that it will continue to do what it is doing in this world--"bearing fruit and increasing" (Colossians 1:6).

Encouragingly,

Jeremy