The More You Walk in God’s Power, The More You Become Aware of Your Dependence on God!

In our last post, we talked about brokenness and walking in God’s glory. This brokenness is an attitude of humility in which we depend completely on God to do what we cannot do. Humility is not only helplessness in our own power, but it is trusting God to rescue us and give us his power when we can do nothing of ourselves. God gives grace (power) to the humble.

John 15:4-5 No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Humility depends on God’s power, not on your own ability. Many people are involved in religious activity in their own ability, and they have no notion of their need for God’s power. All they accomplish is with mere human ability. Then there are people who God’s power is flowing through. Think of Heidi Baker. Thousands of churches, blind seeing, deaf hearing, and people raised from the dead.

You would think that those who are lacking power should be the most desperate and understanding of their need for God’s empowerment. And that people who are living lives of miracles…at least they are experiencing much more than others do, so their need is not as great.

But it’s the opposite. The ones who God’s power is flowing through the most are the ones who are most aware of their need. People like Heidi Baker are the ones who cry aloud “Help me Jesus! I can’t go on without you! I can’t do this if the Holy Spirit doesn’t move!” I am not talking about knowing our “need” as if we were lacking anything in Christ, but about knowing our dependence on the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. It is about knowing that mere human strength is not enough. This is the same attitude of humility that Jesus had. Although he was Heir to heaven’s riches, he could do nothing of himself and had to fully depend on the Father, so he cried out with loud cries and supplications.

God Breaks His People’s Hearts To Reach The Lost

There is often weeping, wailing, and brokenness preceding revival and great missionary movements. God breaks people’s hearts for the lost. It is a supernatural compassion, groans that go beyond words, and God uses it to release his power. I’ve experienced this at missions conferences and at the Voice of the Apostles conference in the past, and I’ve been praying for it among the young people in our missions group. It’s holy. Sometimes I pray, “Jesus, if you want to cry through me, here I am.”

Well, our group had a missions conference and I saw the Lord answering my prayer. I was all tears most of the time. And many of the young people were weeping with Jesus’ compassion for the lost. I was also happy that the guest speakers were three true apostles (people sent by Jesus) who were reaching some of the most unreached people in Brazil. They didn’t call themselves apostles, but that is what they were.

You see, at the first event of this missions group that I went to, before I was even a part of it, they had a false apostle as the guest speaker. He was the same man I mentioned before who said “God hates you if you aren’t tithing.” There are many false apostles, and the Bible commends those who recognize and discern between the true and the false. Many people have a religious idea of what it means to be an apostle, but it just means to be a servant sent by Jesus. “Missionary” is a translation of the word “apostle.” False apostles seek their own honor and want people to serve them. Brazil has many false apostles. True apostles are servants of all for the sake of Jesus Christ! I was so happy that the guests at the conference were true apostles laying down their lives with hearts broken for the lost.

Although much of Brazil is extremely well-evangelized, there are three large groups of people in Brazil that are considered largely “unreached.” Many people have never heard the gospel message. These are the indigenous people, those living in the sertão, and the ribeirinhos. The speakers at our conference represented two of these groups.

The Sertão

The sertão is a large semi-arid region covering several states in the Northeast of Brazil. It suffers from prolonged droughts and is known for the poverty and suffering of its inhabitants. Many people are bound in idolatry and spirit-worship. When we were in the region for a short time with my mother-in-law, she needed to use the bathroom on the way. There was nowhere to go, so we stopped at a house and offered them a little money to use their bathroom. But they didn’t have a bathroom! They were quite embarrassed. Their bathroom was a bucket in the backyard, which they allowed her to use for 10 reais! There are children who eat only once a day. There are young children who prostitute themselves for as little as 1 real (20 cents) in order to eat. Incest and sexual abuse are rampant. This is the region my friend Reinhard is moving to in order to rescue kids. He said he cried until he could cry no more when he saw the situation.

Pastor Alex is a missionary who moved to the sertão and is serving the whole community. (See his Instagram here.) He recently had a well drilled-about 100 meters down- to bring water to the community, and he is building a swimming pool for the kids. He has built houses for many families. He hosts a community meal for the children and brings food to families. He is involved in agricultural development, using hydroponics to grow lettuce and other crops. And he is bringing the gospel to people, breaking vicious cycles of sin and death. Transformation is happening in a community that was hell on earth for many children. But this needs to be reproduced in many other places! In Alex’s words, “We don’t have tithes on the sertão!” It’s not a place to be “successful in ministry” according to worldly standards. It’s a place to give your life. Alex has a broken heart, full of love and compassion, and he was sobbing almost the whole time he spoke.

I remember reading that Brazil was the #2 missionary-sending country in the world, after the United States, which was #1. But most of its missionaries were going to the United States! Not many want to go to the sertão, and those who do are not usually highly honored. But they are honored in heaven!

Our friend, Pastor Kleber from Brasilia, is going on a trip to the sertão in November. He had me pray for the pastor there on the phone and his whole body caught on fire with God’s glory! Kleber told me that this pastor’s family thought he was crazy when he moved to the sertão to bring the gospel there. We are going to send Bibles and food with Kleber and contribute a little to the trip. I was going to go along as well, but I couldn’t take off any more time from work! I just got back from preaching in another state, and I had to take off several days to do so. And we are going to visit the United States for Thanksgiving. It will be the first time my two daughters and my parents have ever met in person! My oldest daughter is 9 years old and has never met her grandparents except for talking on the phone!

The Ribeirinhos

Leandro and Alcir were the other speakers at the conference, and they both go regularly on trips to the Ribeirinhos for a few months at a time. (See Leandro’s Instagram for pictures)The Ribeirinhos are people who live by the rivers in the very north of Brazil. It’s hot, and they wear little clothing! If you bring bottles of cold water, people treat them like gold! They drink by dipping their cups directly in the warm river, and they’ve never had a cold bottle of water! Water-born diseases and parasites are rampant. The rivers are their roads, and they go from one place to another on boats. As in the sertão, there is lots of poverty, and incest is rampant. It’s common for parents to sell their children to be raped. And many people have never heard the gospel!

I sat at the table with Leandro and Alcir and listened to the conversation. Some others were asking questions. I heard Leandro say several things that I have learned from those wise and experienced in missions and church planting, but which are very difficult for people in our institutional churches to understand or accept! Leandro said “We don’t come bringing religion or saying we’re going to plant a church. We bring the gospel and let the gospel bring the transformation.” He explained how others had come with religion and built churches and instead of transforming the culture, they ruined the culture. If they were to say “we are here to plant a church,” people would think it was that whole story happening again, which brought religion and division to the community instead of bringing Jesus. (Of course, Jesus can be divisive! But all too often we impose a heavy burden of our religious culture on others which is an unnecessary stumbling block to keep them from coming to Jesus. Many things we think are Christianity are just our religious culture.)

Alex also described how incest has become normal to the Riberinhos. They go there and they see the father taking the daughter aside and they know what’s happening. But what can they do? People say “Why don’t you denounce it? Why don’t you talk to the police?” But even though it’s illegal, the reality is that the police chief has the same thing going on in his home. So they protect each other and nothing happens.

So what can the missionaries do? Love the people. And share the gospel and let the gospel break the vicious cycle passed down from generation to generation. Leandro says “The father gives his life to Jesus, and he stops abusing his children. The cycle is stopped. And the culture begins to be transformed.” We share the gospel and we trust the Holy Spirit to bring the transformation through God’s word.

Our missions group was going to go to the Ribeirinhos with Leandro and Alcir, this year, but the trip was postponed to later and then again to next year due to weather conditions. I mentioned this to you guys before and I wanted to do everything possible to go, but we haven’t been able to yet.

Jesus’ Heart is Full of Compassion!

The whole conference was full of tears, and this was an answer to my prayers. People are empowered by the Holy Spirit when supernatural compassion comes on them in God’s glory and they weep. The fields are ripe for harvest!

Near the end of the conference, at the dinner break, we started praying and people were being healed and feeling God’s fire come on them. And after the conference was over, I ended up praying for two of the missionaries. They felt God’s glory like a weight and God’s fire come on them, and I encouraged them to step out in ministering healing with evangelism. I was thankful that even though I still haven’t been able to go in the same way they are, God was able to impart something to them through me.

Will you pray with me for the unreached people of Brazil?

Jesus, send me! Send us!