On Expedition +

…BUT WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The context this statement was that a rich man had just walked away sad after Jesus told him to sell his possessions and come and follow him.

The rich man put hanging on to his wealth above following and receiving eternal life through Jesus (see Matthew 19:16). The disciples were astonished, thinking that wealth was a sign of God’s favor and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus’ answered that like a camel passing through the eye of a needle (a sewing needle) that with man it was impossible (we can’t save ourselves). He added, however, that “with God (because of what Jesus would accomplish) all things (eternal life and salvation) were possible.”

In the past several months, we have seen “with God all things are possible” take place through our Divine Expedition training teams in Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Brazil, and Uganda.

NICARAGUA

American fire captain Tom Vos and two El Salvadoran pastors, Carlos and Luis, made several 12-hour bus trips to Managua, gathering a group of 40 Baptist pastors who want to be Divine Expedition trainers. The goal is for these 40 Nicaraguans to become Lead Trainers and return home with Phase 1 (“Your Rescue”) for their churches. 

ETHIOPIA

After a two-year pause because of the pandemic and political unrest in the country, Richard Wallace, Mike Davis, and Phil Graf traveled to Addis Ababa. From there they drove five hours to Hawassa and conducted a Divine Expedition Phase 1, “Your Rescue,” with 54 ministry leaders.

Because they met in a rural retreat center, there were no people nearby for the training outreach exercise to share the One Sentence Gospel: “I was lost. Jesus rescued me. He can rescue you too.” Phil challenged them to make a phone call to someone they knew instead. The result was that twenty-three people asked Jesus to “rescue them” and be their Savior! 

MOZAMBIQUE

The all-Brazilian (Brazil South) team travelled to Machava, Mozambique and taught all four phases of the Divine Expedition (three nights for each phase). They also conducted a couples’ evangelistic dinner, a coffee for pastors and missionaries to introduce the Divine Expedition, and spoke in three services to share Jesus with people who live at a garbage dump. In addition, they conducted a service just for women, a service for teens, a service for children, and a soccer tournament for boys. 

A “Best Moment” was that during Phase 2, “Your Heart,” many people wept loudly from the pain of being abandoned by their parents, crying that they were orphans. When the Divine Expedition team went to hug each of the participants, the Mozambicans themselves joined in, crying together over the painful memories. It was a powerful moment as God brought healing and transformation.

At the end of the training and ministry, they celebrated by giving certificates to the 60 people who completed all four Divine Expedition phases of training. 

In next ministry update I will tell about training in Sierra Leone, Uganda, Brazil north, and Guatemala. The vision we have of equipping leaders to multiply movements that reach people for Christ, make disciples, develop leaders, and reproduce churches is talking place because of God’s grace and power. If it just depended upon us, it would be impossible…but “with God all things are possible.”

Thank you for being part of it with us.

With much gratitude,

Linus for the Global Training Network Divine Expedition team