Category: Missions Minutes

by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

I’m reminded of the Wendy’s commercials in 1984 that said, “Where’s the beef?” In the commercial they showed a hamburger, which was made up more with a fluffy bun than the beef. Throughout the whole advertisement an older lady kept saying, “Where’s the beef?”

My question today is, where’s the Bible? Today, we have a lot of fluff being passed off in Christianity, and someone needs to remind us of the Bible. So, I’m asking Christians today, “Where is the Bible?” We have a lot of fluff in our life, and in our home, and even in some of our ministries, but the Lord wants to know where is the Bible?

I would like to share how important the Bible has become to me in my life, home and ministry. I think sometimes we take for granted that God has given us his Word and how important It should be in our lives. Thank God for soul-winning pastors who still believe in going house to house. Back in August 1970, a pastor and deacon stopped by our country farmhouse and led my wife to Christ on a Thursday night. Then he returned the following Saturday and gave me the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I was saved. The greatest day of my life is the day of my salvation. Being guided by the pastor, he showed us the importance of having our own Bible. As a young couple we went to the Christian bookstore and put a Bible on layaway. After a few weeks, we got our 1st copy of the King James Bible. Little did we know that this Bible would play such an important part in our lives all these 43 years of living.

I personally came from a rough background as a child. I came from a broken home and was practically raised on the streets. I always knew that there had to be something better. After reading the Bible and being taught It in Sunday school, and listening to the preaching of God’s Word, It began to change my life. As my wife and I began to apply the principles of the Bible to our lives and our home, God began to bless in a wonderful way. Our love for each other grew stronger and stronger as the years went by, and our marriage has continued to be blessed after 45 years. I can’t thank the pastors and spiritual leaders enough who have always encouraged me to be in the Bible. The most prized possession that I personally own today is my Bible.

It is a great responsibility to rear children for the Lord. There is no way that our children are going to have an opportunity to turn out right without getting them in the Bible. I believe that the most important thing for a parent is to know that your children are going to spend eternity with you forever. The best way for our children to know that they are going to Heaven is to get them to know their Bible. 2 Timothy 3:15 says, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” We have 4 children, and we taught them early in life that they must read their Bible every day. We praise the Lord for the time that they received the plan of salvation and trusted Christ as Saviour. I cannot tell you the joy of knowing that my children will spend all eternity with my wife and I. All of our children have married saved people, and by the grace of God all of our 8 grandchildren are saved and on they’re way to Heaven. My wife and I have always prayed that the Bible would be an important influence in their life’s decisions as they serve the Lord.

We are not going to rear children for the Lord if the Bible is not present in our homes. It is sad today that you can walk into many homes and not find a Bible anywhere. We have replaced the Bible with Xbox’s, Nintendo’s, computers and all types of electronics. Our children and grandchildren spend hour after hour on these things. They begin to think and act like computer games, and we wonder why they end up like they do. We are so worried that our children won’t fit in and have what others have, so we spend more time trying to give them the things of the world instead of giving them a Bible that will make them what they ought to be. Most the time they are never encouraged to spend any time in God’s Word. We wonder why we are losing our children to wayward behaviors; it’s because we have allowed all these outside influences to have more time with them than with God’s Word. Many parents spend more time shaping their children into athletes or helping them chase the American dream than being what God intended them to be for His honor and glory. It’s sad that most young people are more excited about being the next American Idol than being the next servant of God. The main reason that even happens in our Christian homes is that the Bible has not made an impact upon our children’s lives.

I was always taught what you do with the Bible determines what God does with you. If you want God to do something with your children, then get them to do something with their Bible, like read It, memorize It, teach It, and give It away to others who don’t have one.

God has given my wife and I a ministry of getting the Gospel of Jesus Christ into all the world. When you think of it, that is a great responsibility that people from all nations, kindreds and tongues would have an opportunity to hear the Gospel at least once. I’m often reminded as I open my Bible that there are over 3 billion Bibleless people in the world today. They have nothing to compare their false teachings to if they do not have a Bible. The greatest instrument that the Holy Spirit of God has is the Word of God to convict them of their need of a Saviour. I have had many opportunities to travel worldwide teaching and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I’m always amazed when people trust Christ, one of the first questions they ask is, “Can I have a Bible.” They know that they need to learn more about God. What they have been taught in the past has done nothing to change their life. I can’t explain the way people react to getting a Bible. I have personally been able to give away thousands of Bibles in my lifetime.

When I was in the Philippines as a missionary, at one of our Wednesday night Bible studies I was asked by the people of our church if we could give away 50 Bibles on one of our Sundays. The Holy Spirit laid upon my heart to give away my own Bible on the 1st anniversary of our church which was Bible Sunday. It was a blue Bible, trimmed in gold and it was my favorite Bible. I told the people that I would give it to the person who brought the most visitors on Bible Sunday. Two ladies went out and worked very hard to bring visitors for that Sunday. On Bible Sunday the people in the mountains of the Philippines came out in unbelievable numbers. We had 3 services, and 1,109 people came, and we gave away hundreds upon hundreds of Bibles. The exciting thing was that the 2 ladies who worked so hard, brought 160 first-time visitors for that one blue King James Bible. I have traveled to many different countries and spoken to many people from different religions, and the Bible has always been the best promotion to get people to come to church.

I took a mission trip to Thailand. I was asked to go with the missionary to the Burma border to a refugee camp. As I arrived and stood outside the refugee camp, I was shocked by what I saw. There were thousands of poorly made bamboo buildings with grass roofs. As we walked through these homes, I saw poor people with so little. I asked if we could have a Bible study in one of the homes. They gladly received this and gathered 14 people to hear the Bible taught. We used our missionary as the interpreter to speak to these people. After giving a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, these 14 adults trusted Christ as their Saviour. One of the older ladies in this group could speak English. I asked her if there was one thing I can do for them before we left the camp. I knew they had very little material things. They told me that the camp had been there for 14 years, and the previous month was the 1st time they got flour. They have been living on so little, so when I asked the older lady what one thing I could do for her, I was amazed at her answer. Thinking that she wanted something physical or materialistic to help her and her family, she said, “Could you please leave your Bible for me that I may read It to my people?”

I wish the Christians of America could have such a strong desire to know the importance of their Bible. We have taken for granted the opportunity of personally having our own copy of the Bible. America has been blessed with the Word of God. We have It on our iPhone, iPad, iPod and computers, and still give It very little attention. If we would spend more time putting the Bible into our minds and heart, we would be better off. I pray that this article may help you put the Bible back in your life, your home and the place of service that you have for the Lord.

Dr. Steve Heidenreich
http://missionsminutes.blogspot.com

by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

Ruth 2:16, “And let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and rebuke her not.”

Just as Boaz commanded his young men to let fall some handfuls of purpose for Ruth and leave them that she may glean them, we must also let fall some handfuls of the Word of God that others may have them to learn of the Saviour.

Earlier this year I took a missions trip to Panama with the college students from Texas Baptist College in Longview, Texas. Of course, the greatest thing to do on a mission trip is to go soul winning and try to reach as many people with the Gospel. We traveled a long distance to a village that was way out in the back areas of Panama with a national pastor who had planned a service for us that night. We got there a couple hours before the service, so we thought we would go out soul winning and invite more people to attend that service. We had people saved and others ready to come to the service. We had a great service, and when the invitation came other people raised their hand and went forward and received Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

We returned to the hotel that night rejoicing in what God had done, and were excited to do more for him the next day. We decided to go back to the same area to do more soul winning, and to branch out into other areas nearby. We were able to see many more people saved and were able to pass out hundreds of the book of Romans. We came to the plaza of that little village, and as we were busy passing copies of the book of Romans, a pickup truck full of people stopped to get more passengers. We had a young man by the name of Juan who was our main interpreter give the plan of salvation to those in the back of the truck. There were about 20 people who accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. One young man had gotten off the truck and came to me to ask me a question. I asked Juan to interpret for me, and he said the young man was asking me for some of the book of Romans that we were passing out. The young man had been saved in the service the night before. He said he had been watching us lead people to Jesus Christ the day before. He had just watched Juan give the presentation of the Gospel to the people in the back of the truck. He said, “I think I can give the plan of salvation to the people back over the mountain where I live.” The book of Romans that we were passing out had a clear presentation of the Gospel inside. I was so excited to be able to give him the book of Romans, so I gave him a great big stack of Romans to take back over the mountain to his people.

It is amazing how God works when you take the Gospel to other areas. A few hours earlier we tried to go over the great big mountain to be able to take the Gospel to the villages beyond, but were unable to because the van did not have enough power to get over the mountain. We were disappointed because there was a large village on the other side of the mountain, but we were not able to get to it. But, God had prepared a way to get the Gospel to that village through a new convert. It’s exciting to see a new convert that is excited about telling other people about the Saviour that he just received. I was excited about him taking the book of Romans back to his village and his people, but at the same time I was brokenhearted because he had no material or Bibles to help disciple his new converts.

Missions is more than leading people to Christ. It is also providing new converts with a way to learn more about Jesus Christ. It is also providing a way for them to be able to lead others to Christ and disciple their converts. The end result is to plant a church for those people.

Would you continue to pray with me that more people would be willing to go to other countries and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Would you also pray with me as new converts who are excited about sharing the Gospel with their loved ones and others would have an opportunity to at least have the book of Romans with the plan of salvation marked in it, and also have a way to disciples their new converts. Pray that a church will be organized to where they will have their own pastor and a place to worship the Lord.

The mission trip was a great success, and there were over 500 people saved and many thousands of the book of Romans given out, but as you can see, there was so much more that needed to be done.

Dr. Steve Heidenreich
http://missionsminutes.blogspot.com

THE WORLD OF MISSIONS AROUND US
by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

So many times we think that the world of missions is someplace far from us. We must realize that we are standing on the mission field every day. We need to be careful that we are not so interested in reaching people in a far distant field that we ignore the people around us. When Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” He meant everyone around us. Many people will give their finances to see people saved around the world, and never win people to Christ in their own area.

Please allow me to give you a few examples from my personal experience of winning people to Christ around me. As a missionary to the world, God has allowed me to be in many places and be around all kinds of people. Because of this, there is a great responsibility in making sure that the Gospel is given.

As a missionary, I spend a lot of time at the airport. While at the airport I have a lot of time, and of course there are a lot of people coming and going. As I allow the Holy Spirit of God to work in my heart, He is always preparing the hearts of people around me for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have witnessed to many people of different languages and religions from many other countries. God has allowed me to win many of these people to Christ. Of course, there are many people who need the Gospel. One of these was a young military man on his way to be stationed at one of our military bases in America. My heart always goes out to these young military men because when they are shipped out they are put in harms way. We have done a great job in preparing them for the battles they will face, but my greatest concern is that they’re prepared for eternity. I talked with this young man, Jacob, and he allowed me to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him. In about 25 minutes, right there at the airport, he bowed his head and trusted Jesus Christ as his Saviour.

I also spend many days at hotels as I travel across America and around the world. This is another great mission field that is always around me. I have been able to win many of the hotel maids and workers at these hotels to Christ. I also have been able to witness and win some of the other guests to Christ who are staying in the hotel.

One of the most exciting places where God has allowed me to win people to Christ is on the airplane. I told God that I will do my best to witness to the person who sits beside me. It is amazing the people that God has put beside me on the airplane. On one trip I was able to board before many of the other people. As I sat in my seat and wondered who God would put beside me, I saw a rough looking man come down the aisle. This man was big and tough enough that he could probably eat nails for breakfast. Like many of you, I asked myself how I’m going to be able to get past my fear and witness to him. During the flight I was trying to figure out when it would be the best time to speak to him. Would it be during the flight when I had no way to escape, or while we were landing and time would be short, or just wait and witness to him as we got off the plane. The Holy Spirit convicted me that I should witness to him during the flight. As I introduced myself and began to talk to him, I found out that man was on his way to his mother’s funeral.  As I began to show him that God loved him and wanted to comfort him during this time, he began to weep. As I shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him, it wasn’t long before he trusted Jesus Christ as his Saviour. It is always amazing how God brings the right people at the right time that He has prepared for one of His people to share the Gospel with them. Sometimes the most difficult people are the most prepared by God for the Gospel.

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What I’m trying to say is that the mission field is always around you. I preach and teach mission conferences around America. I’m always encouraging people to give so that many people around the world will have an opportunity to hear a clear presentation of the Gospel. Yet, there are many people around us who need to hear that same Gospel. I hope you understand that your family, neighbors and people you work with are just as important as reaching the people around the world. By the grace of God I’ve been able to win people to Christ in the parking lot, at the grocery store, the hospital and in my own backyard.

The greatest blessing of being able to win people to Christ is to be able to win your own children and grandchildren to the Lord. One of the bonuses is not only seeing your children and grandchildren saved, but also seeing them grow spiritually in the Lord and become great soul winners themselves. Many years ago I won my youngest son, Sam, to Christ, and now he is a missionary in the Philippines and God has used him to win thousands of people to Christ.

Would you please allow me to share one great blessing with you about winning people around you? Just a few Sunday’s ago, our church had a special day where every member was asked to bring one person to church. Our church was packed and there were over 100 adult visitors who attended. Our pastor did a great job preaching, and when the invitation was given and many people raised their hand for salvation, my daughter, Sandy went to a lady who had not raised her hand for salvation, but was visiting and began to talk to her. The lady responded to the Gospel and was saved. One of the ushers brought to me a young 17 year-old boy who was not saved, and asked if I would lead him to Christ. I took him down to the front of the church, and on the front row I was able to lead him to Christ. It was a great blessing to see both of these people saved, and also a great blessing to me because my daughter and I were both winning people to Christ. I pray that God would use you and your family to win people to Christ around you.

I want to remind you that there is a world of missions around you. I challenge you not only to be concerned about reaching the people around the world, but also be concerned about the people whom you see everyday and everywhere you go. I know many people will never go to what we call the mission field, but I do know that they are already on the mission field wherever they are, and God has many people around them who need the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Steve Heidenreich
http://missionsminutes.blogspot.com

TRIED FOR GOLD
by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

Job 23:10

I have been serving the Lord for over 40 years. Those years have been full of blessings, and I would not trade Him for anything. I wish everyone could experience what God has done for us in serving Him. Have all of these years been easy years? No; but they have been years of getting to know my Saviour which I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Have you ever been doing the best that you can to serve the Lord, then one day out of the blue comes a very difficult trial? You say, “Lord, I’m trying to serve you and doing the best I can, why is this happening to me?”

While my family and I were on deputation, we experienced one of these trials. There were times on deputation when there were some open weeks of not having meetings. Sometimes the summer months can be a little harder to get meetings because people are on vacation in many churches, and those churches do not schedule missionaries. One summer we had a few weeks open when we needed financing to keep us going. We had opportunity to work in the cornfields detasseling corn. We had to get up early in the morning and be on the road by 4 o’clock to travel to the cornfields. We then spent the next 14 hours working in the cornfields. Of course, during the summer months it is very hot and humid. I always joked if you want to get a great suntan just come and work in the cornfield.

On one Wednesday, as I was working with a group of young people from our church, I was asked, “Are you going to church tonight?” I told them that I always try my best never to miss a church service.

I did not realize on that Wednesday night that my faith would be tried with a great testing. While I was driving to church that night, I happened to see a drunken man come out between 2 cars along the street and quickly disappear. As I got closer to that area the drunken man came running out into the street. I did everything I could not to hit that man. I swerved completely to the left into the other lane, but he kept running towards the car. He ran into the car on the passenger side of the door. I hit him pretty hard and sent him flying in the air. He came down in the middle of the street. I knew he was seriously hurt. I was scared to death that I had killed this man.

When this first happened to me I could not understand why. I asked the Lord, “Why are you letting this happen to me? Wasn’t I trying to set the right example for our young people?”

Scared and confused because of what just happened, I began to look for an answer as to why God let this happen to me. I was on deputation as a missionary to the Philippines and doing my best to provide for my family. I tried to reason with God and thought I was in His will. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out why He lets things like this happen.

The ambulance came and rushed him off to the hospital. Needless to say, I was very shaken and my faith in God was tested that night.

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When I got out of the car, I could see the man was seriously hurt. As the man lay on the street, his body all broken up and blood rushing from his head, I got to my knees and begged the Lord to help me. I prayed, “Lord, if you do not intervene this man might not live.”

The first car to pull up behind the accident was an off-duty paramedic. The driver of the car that pulled up from the other direction of the accident was a registered nurse.

As I waited at the hospital to see if the man was going to live, I asked God to show me why this happened. There will be times when difficulties come in our life, and God will choose to test our faith. God was very gracious and showed me from His Word that He was trying to make me stronger by growing my faith in Him. I always ask God to show me the answer from the Word of God. That night He took Job 23:10 and explained it to me like I’ve never seen it before. Please let me share with you some lessons that I learned that night from Job 23.

First, God never leaves us nor forsakes us. God is always there, no matter what we are going through; and God is always there even when it seems He has left. In verse 3, I could relate with this verse, “Oh that I knew where I might find him!” Then again in verses 8 and 9, the Bible says, “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hides himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:”

Second, there are appointments God has for us that will strengthen us for the future. Nothing takes God by surprise. I learned in verse 14 that He has times like these that are appointed for me. This is one of those times when I had an appointment to have my faith tested that I may grow stronger. God had called our family to be missionaries to the Philippines, and He knew there would be dangerous times ahead. Most missionaries will learn that there will be times in their lives when they will feel that they’re all alone. They will go through trials, and their parents, home church and supporting churches will not be able to help them at that time. But, they learned through past appointments with God that they can solely trust Him. Our first 5 years in the Philippines it seemed like the Devil threw everything at us but the kitchen sink, and it probably went by and we didn’t see it. When we first arrived, there was a revolution going on because of the election of the president. Shortly after that was a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, and then our families went through a series of medical operations. A year later we got the news that my father had passed away and had already been buried before I found out. Shortly after that my wife’s father passed away. Within the next year, my wife had a serious case of typhoid fever and nearly died. I believe that we were able to handle all this because of past appointments with the trials God had for us back on deputation.

Third, we see in verse 10 that God knows the way that we take. When He hath tried us, we shall come forth as gold. If we will stay faithful and trust Him during the times of trials, He will make sure that they will be used to make us more valuable for Him.

When we go through tough times in our lives, we must be faithful and keep our trust in God. We must realize that faith is very important to God! Remember that trials can challenge your faith, but don’t let trials change your faith. Many times challenges will cause some people to decrease in their faith, but we must remember that trials can end in triumphs.

Dr. Steve Heidenreich
http://missionsminutes.blogspot.com

SATAN’S MISSIONS PROGRAM
by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

While I was on a mission’s trip in Guyana, we spent the day out soul winning. It was a long hot day, and we had visited many people in the back mountains. Late that afternoon we returned to the missionaries’ home. As we drove down the road, we came upon a Hindu temple. I was amazed at the hundreds of people I saw in their Hindu dress, sitting on the floor worshiping their statue of a god. As we continued traveling down the road, we came upon a Muslim mosque. There were about 150 men dressed in white on their knees bowing down to Allah. Finally, we came to the missionaries’ house church. He had his pews set up in the carport and down one side of his house. When he held services at the church, hundreds of people came, were saved and some were baptized.

I realized that day that Satan also has a mission program. He has a plan to evangelize the world with his message.The Holy Spirit reminded me of a verse in Psalm 86:8 that says, “Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.” What a thought! I went from seeing a Hindu temple, a Muslim mosque, and then arriving at the missionaries house church and seeing Jehovah God being preached among the gods.

It is amazing to me when I travel around the world and see places and people where there is no access to the Gospel. Satan has already been at work there. Satan has been there and blinded their minds with another god, another spirit and with another gospel. Satan has his own missions program, and he is very aggressive in getting the message of his missions program into all the world.

God is looking for someone today to stand up against Satan’s missions program. Is there anybody today who will say, “I’m going to stand up against Satan’s missions program and put Christ among the gods of this world?”

We must understand God’s missions program is not about videos, pictures and meeting outstanding servants of God. It’s about defeating Satan’s missions program, and it’s not going to wait for us.It’s a real battle for souls and for God’s glory. God’s missions program is not a video game that you play and can start over if you lose. You don’t get a new life when your life ends.

Now, what are you going to do about it? I wonder, is there anyone who will take a stand against Satan’s missions program? How can we defeat Satan’s missions program? We can defeat Satan’s missions program by using God’s missions program through the local church and with His people.

First, let’s put missionaries among the gods of this world.

This is going to take a greater effort in getting more of our people involved in getting the Gospel to where the gods of this world are abundant. We are putting soul winning on the back burner in many of our churches. Because of this, many of our young people are growing up without a desire to obey God’s command to go soul winning.

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Second, let’s leave converts behind to win as many people as they can among the gods of this world.

Let me illustrate by telling you a story about Christine from Guyana. She was a public school teacher who I witnessed to on her way home. That day she trusted Christ as her Saviour. She attended church the following Wednesday night and was baptized. Within the first year of her salvation, she brought over 100 first-time visitors to church. She also led 288 people to Christ in her first year. Her son also became a great soul winner. This happened because I left a convert behind to lead others to Christ.

Third, let’s plant churches among the gods of this world.

Over a year ago we started the Gospel Baptist Church of Dumalag, Iloilo, Philippines. On the first Sunday they had 211 in attendance with 170 saved. This would have never happened if we would not have planted a church among the gods.

Wherever Satan has put his gods, there must be someone putting Christ among them. Just as a missionary in Guyana planted a church that put Christ among the Hindu and Muslim people, so must we aggressively put Christ among all gods of other nations.Sad to say, there are many nations that are still without a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It’s time to take a stand against Satan’s missions program. Don’t ever forget that Satan also has a missions program. He has a plan to evangelize the world with his message.To defeat Satan’s missions program, we must put Christ among the gods of this world.

God is looking for someone today who will stand up against Satan’s missions program. Will you say, “I’m going to stand up against Satan’s mission program and put Christ among the gods of this world?”Will you surrender today to go and put Christ among the gods? Will you get involved and do all you possibly can to make sure that Christ is put among the gods of this world? If you won’t, then who will?

Dr. Steve Heidenreich
http://missionsminutes.blogspot.com

THE LORD IS MY PORTION
by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

Psalms 16:5, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.”

God has blessed my wife and I these many years as missionaries. In the thirty-eight years as missionaries, we have had to learn to depend on God for many of our provisions.

At my ordination service in 1982, Dr. Jack Hyles gave us the verse, Psalm 16:5 for our missionary service. Little did I know that verse would be our anchor for our lives.

 

As missionaries we learned that everyone couldn’t go with us to the field. People who have guided us and invested their lives will not be as available. There were times when technology and places of resources were not within reach of our place of service.

Some missionaries are blessed to have their parents strongly behind them. I praise the Lord for this because it is a great encouragement to the missionary. For a missionary to know that they have parents back in the states praying for them daily is a tremendous blessing. To have parents who are on 24-hour call to help meet a need when difficult circumstances arise is an added blessing. As parents of missionaries ourselves, we know what it is like to have children and grandchildren on the mission field. There are many times we would like to be used to help them, but we are not always able to meet the need when called upon. Thank God that He is able to be the portion that is needed for our children and grandchildren.

Other missionaries are blessed to have a church behind them as they serve on the mission field. Again, this can be a tremendous blessing to a missionary on the field. I thank God for every church that is behind their missionaries and doing all they can to encourage them. I wish we had thousands more of these churches to reach the great demand of getting the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the world.

When my wife and I first started out over 25 years ago, we did not have the access to all those who were mentioned above. We went to the Philippines and started a church way back in the mountains. At that time there was no access to electricity, and that made everything limited in communicating back home.

This is where Psalm 16:5 became a part of our lives. Let me share with you some of the areas where the Lord is our portion.

First, He was our portion in protection. At that time, the communist’s rebels were very active and very dangerous. The Lord led us to an area that was one of the top five hot spots. I knew that God wanted my family and I to start a church in this area. I was told by many that it would be a very difficult thing to do. I was very leery of taking my family back into the mountains to start the church. One night while praying in the back of my jeepney, at 3 am God showed me that He was my portion. When all others are unavailable, He would always be available to take care of us.

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Secondly, He was our portion in times of financial need. I learned a long time ago that God has all the resources to supply our needs. If we’re not careful we will act like an unsaved world in trying to get resources. I am very grateful for all the churches and people who have invested in our lives and ministry. As missionaries we learned that God is our portion when all others are not available and do not have the resources we need. When I was in the Philippines many years ago, the Pepsi Company of the Philippines had a promotion of giving away 1 million pesos underneath one of their Pepsi caps on their bottles. Like everyone else, along with our church members, we dreamed of getting that bottle. At that time I was drinking more than enough Pepsi to have an opportunity to get that bottle, and we had a real need in trying to build a church. All of our church members were hoping that we would have the winning cap. But I was trying to teach our people to live by faith and let God build our church building. After a long period of time, would you know we got a cap with the 1 million pesos on the inside. After praying to know what to do with it God told me not to cash in the cap. God wanted people to know that He could provide the resources to build our church building. When I told our people that I wasn’t going to cash in the cap they thought I was crazy. I told them that I wasn’t going to let the Pepsi Company be known as the one that financed the church building. We didn’t cash in the cap for 1 million pesos. When we left the Philippines, God not only showed us that He was our portion, but he did more than what we could ever imagine as the property and buildings were worth over a few million pesos.

Thirdly, He was our portion during difficult times of life. God allowed us to go through some difficult times while living on the mission field. We must understand that living for Him is not always an easy task, but He always promises never to leave us or forsake us. Our first five years on the mission field would be what some people called very difficult. I think the Devil threw everything at us but the kitchen sink, and that probably went by and we didn’t see it. We entered the country when it was going through a difficult time of reelecting a president. Then we went through a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Within the next few years our family had several surgeries.  While teaching at our Bible college, my son came to the compound to let me know that the Red Cross had been trying to reach me. They were to notify me that my dad had passed away nearly 2 weeks ago. Then within a few months my wife became very sick with typhoid fever and nearly died. Through all of this, the Lord reassured us that He was our portion. There will be times when you feel like you’re all alone and no one really knows where you are and they really don’t know what you’re going through, but He is always there because He is our portion.

These are just a few areas we learned as missionaries to trust God and thank Him for being our portion. As Christians, we need thank God for everyone whom He has placed in our life to help us, but we also must remember that He is our portion. I’m so thankful that no matter where I go and whatever I do for the Lord I can always count on Him as being my portion. Today, so many Christians are worried about the economy of the world. I have learned that, as a servant of the Lord, I don’t live off the economy of this world. I live off Heaven’s resources and I have a God who is my portion.

Dr. Steve Heidenreich
http://missionsminutes.blogspot.com

WATCH FOR THE LAD
by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

John 6

As a young convert, I was at church on a Saturday night cleaning the auditorium for the services on Sunday. After mopping the floor and waiting for it to dry, I went to the altar and prayed for God to use me. I remember hearing the story of the little lad and the five loaves. I asked God to use me like the little lad to help get that breaded life to the multitudes around the world. I didn’t know that night that God would make that my life’s calling! It’s being a lad giving what He has so that the Bread of Life would be given to the multitudes of the world.

 

Now after 40 years this lad has been able to take the Bread of Life to so many multitudes around the world. It began by getting involved in the bus ministry and then being taught how to go soul winning; from the little farmhouse to the city of about 35,000, on to city of Chicago, then to a different state, and finally across a America. God then so graciously allowed me to take the Bread of Life to the country of the Philippines. Now for His Glory I have been able to take the Bread of Life to so many countries around the world. Because of all of this, hundreds and thousands of people have heard the story of the Bread of Life which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and tens of thousands have been saved, thousands baptized and many churches have been started as the result.

I have written this not to think that I am anything, but that there are so many other young people out there who God wants to use. Please let me share a few lessons that I have learned from all of this.

First, there are the lads. So many times in the story we focus on the disciples, but you know who it began with? The lad! We must realize that if we’re ever going to reach a world, young people are going to have to be involved in doing so. I believe with all my heart there are many young people out there who after they are saved have a strong desire to be used to God. After I got saved there was such a strong desire to be used to God.

Second, there’s such a great need for us to prepare those young people to be able to be used by God. Here we have a lad with a lunch who has five barley loaves and two small fishes. Someone took the time to prepare this lad a lunch to follow Jesus. I believe that we are losing many of the young people because we have not taken time to prepare them to follow the Lord. Many Christian parents and Christian leaders spend more time wanting their young people to follow the trends of the world. It’s amazing to me how many Christian parents spend their time teaching their children to learn technology and involvement in sports than teaching their children how to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Third, we need to recognize that our young people have something they can give to the Lord. It is not the size or the value of what we have to give to Lord as much as the willingness to give to the Lord. Like Andrew, we leaders need to notice that our young people have something that could be used of the Lord. I remember being in a missions conference over 30 years ago when a 10-year-old boy surrendered to go to the mission field. He told people that God called him to go to Africa. Many people at the conference did not take him seriously, but God did. I watched a lad grow up and go through high school, and then go off to college with a burning desire to go to Africa. After graduating from college he was accepted by a mission board and went on deputation and then on to Kenya, Africa. After spending many years there and seeing people saved, baptized and starting churches, he was asked to be director of a mission board to help other people to do the same. We need to always watch what God is doing in our young people’s lives.

Fourth, we must never forget the main purpose in which God uses our young people. So many times when we tell the story, we focus on the lad, the five loaves and two small fishes, but that’s not the main purpose of the story. The key to this whole chapter is that Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven. That Bread of Life must be taken to the multitudes of the world.

As I am writing this article, I am in the country of Panama. I’m with a college group from Texas Baptist College out of Longview Baptist Temple. We have just spent the day out soul-winning and passing out over a thousand copies of John and Romans. There were over 100 people who trusted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. If you could just see the look on people’s faces as they received the Word of God and trusted His Son as their Saviour. Jesus spent most of John 6 making sure that disciples understood that He was the Bread of Life. If we really understood that He is the Bread of Life, we would do more to not only reach the multitudes, but also to watch for the lads of this world to give what they have to do the same.

Dr. Steve Heidenreich
http://missionsminutes.blogspot.com

A GREAT OPEN DOOR FOR 2013
by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

One morning when I was having devotions, I was reminded along with the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:9 that God has given a great open door for us to reach the world with the Gospel of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. I have been a missionary for almost 40 years and have seen God do many wonderful things throughout the world. I have been able to travel to six continents and many countries around the world. I have seen God do great and mighty things. Just this past year God allowed me to be involved in starting six churches, and to see thousands of people saved and many baptized. Now, I’m asking God to open an even greater door for us in the year 2013. I want to challenge you to ask God to open a greater door for all of us as we take the Gospel into all the world! For us to take advantage of the great open door, there are some things for which we need to ask God.

 

First, we need to ask God for His Holy Spirit power! After Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, He knew we could not do it in our own power, so He gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us to do the work. I have witnessed to people from many different religions, cultures and backgrounds, and I realize it’s not what I am doing but what the Holy Spirit of God is doing!

Second, we need to pray and ask God for more laborers! Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38) After seeing so many people saved around the world, one of the greatest needs are people to help these new converts grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. So many times my heart has been broken because there was no one left behind to gather these converts so they could be brought together to be discipled and form them into a church.

Third, we must ask God for wisdom in helping to train the nationals to reach their own people. I have had the honor of working with national pastors around the world and am amazed at their sacrifice and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. All they need is an opportunity for more training.

Fourth, we must ask God for help in overcoming the many adversaries that we will face. Getting the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ into all the world is the greatest enemy of the kingdom of the Devil. The Devil has many workers, and sad to say, they are more often committed than most Christians. If we are going to use the great door of opportunity, then we must become more committed in going with the Gospel.

Fifth, we must remember the end result! The end result is that God wants to be worshiped from every kindred, tongue, people and nation. (Revelation 14:6) We are very good at teaching our people to witness and work, but are weak at teaching our people to worship God. Sad to say that the goal of many of our people is to have beautiful buildings, social programs and a big church attendance, and forget that God wants to be worshiped by every creature in the world. Let’s all pray that God will not only give us open doors, but that we will take advantage of them for His honor and glory.

3G Ministries
Dr. Steven Heidenreich

DON’T COUNT GOD OUT!
by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

Jeremiah 33:3
“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

A few years ago I wanted to have a big day in the Philippines. One of the reasons to have a big day is to let people see God work and do great and mighty things. It’s good to remind to people that God is an great Almighty God.

I began to pray and ask God what He would have us do. In the first year of our ministry, God did some mighty things. One of them was that He helped us have 1,109 people on our first anniversary. We had people everywhere standing all around and looking into the building. We also had many people in classes underneath trees. You have to understand, we started the church in an old pig-pen building.  We were able to give away over 500 Bibles that day. I can remember 2 ladies who brought 160 first-time visitors for one Bible.

After praying for a few weeks, I was challenged to double that attendance which meant that our goal was 2,218. I met with the members of the church and we began to plan on how to reach that goal. Remember, the church I started was way back in the mountains and we had to work at finding people. We searched for as many out-of-the-way villages that we could find. To our surprise there were many villages tucked away underneath many trees that we hadn’t seen before.

We started to prepare to put a plan together. I asked many church people to rent a jeep and to bring as many people as they could. When we took the count, we needed to rent over 30 jeeps. You must understand that the only transportation back in the mountains are these public jeeps. That day would be very difficult for the people of the area to go anywhere if we were renting all the jeeps. It would also be a great day of advertisement for our church because everyone would wonder where the jeeps were at.

Our people worked very hard and sacrificed so much for this big day. We heard it was supposed to rain.  Once it rains back in the mountains it makes it very difficult for people to go anywhere. Saturday, the day before the big day, it began to rain. Not only did it rain, but it rained very hard. We continued to prepare for a great day. I can tell you as the day wore on that I was very concerned about the big day. I knew that many of the rivers in the area would swell up and make it very difficult for people to cross. I also knew that many people would be traveling for many hours in big trucks with no covering for them. I began to think that it would be impossible for thousands of people to come in the morning. I spent most of the night listening to the rain hit the tin roof of our house. There were times I would ask God, why would you let it rain, don’t you know we have a big day in the morning?

I woke up early that Sunday morning and it was still pouring rain, but I decided that we would run the jeepneys and do everything according to plan. A couple hours before the services the rain stopped. We already had people on the way from over 2 hours away riding in a big open rice truck. It was amazing to me when they showed up and there were over a hundred fifty people on the truck. People started coming in from all over. All of the Sunday school rooms were full and overflowing, and the church building was packed to capacity. We had people standing all around the building looking into the windows. It was so exciting to preach to so many people. When I gave the invitation there were over 700 people who came forward to trust Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. It was so exciting to see so many of our church people with their Bibles opened and showing others the plan of salvation. An hour after the services were over it began to rain very hard again. I thought it would be impossible to have 2,218 on that Sunday. When the final count came in we had over 4,000 people on that Sunday. To God be the glory for the great mighty things that He can do.

Let me show you some lessons I learned that day.

1. We have to want to see some great and mighty things that God has for us. There are so many mighty things that He has for us that we don’t even know about. The only way we’re going to find out those things is to call upon Him and ask. What great and mighty things does God have for you?

2. One of the great promises of God is that He will answer prayer. So many times on deputation I would call churches and pastors and get either a secretary or an answering machine. When you and I call upon God, He personally answers us.

3. Once you find out that God has some great and mighty things for you, you need to have a plan. Someone once said, “Plan your work and work your plan.”

4. Remember that when you plan to do something for God there will always be some obstacles. Don’t get sidetracked, but remember what God has asked you to do.

5. Always remember that God is not limited. I learned that God can do it in the rain or on a sunny day. God really likes to do what we think is impossible.

I challenge you to call upon God and let Him answer you and show you “great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

WHEN YOU SEE THE GRACE OF GOD…ARE YOU GLAD?
by: Dr. Steve Heidenreich

“And they sent for Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad.” Acts 11:22-23

Those who were traveling preached the Word and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. When the church of Jerusalem heard, they sent Barnabas to see what was happening. When he got there he saw that the grace of God was at work and he was glad.

One thing we need in Fundamentalism is when the grace of God is working in another place other than ours we need to be glad. Many times we have become jealous or envious of someone else when the grace of God is at work in their ministry. I have the opportunity to travel to many places around the world and see the grace of God at work, and I am glad!

I just had the opportunity to go to the Philippines and preach the 25th anniversary of Gospel Baptist Church in Calinog. When I saw that the grace of God was still at work after twenty-five years, I was glad. I can remember when the Lord allowed my wife and I to go there as missionaries and start Gospel Baptist Church what an exciting time that was. Now after 25 years, it was a joy to see many of those who were saved and baptized still there serving the Lord.

Brother Ronnie Howell and I arrived late at night in the Philippines. Early the next morning we caught a flight down to the islands. We then took a jeep back into the mountains. After watching the grace of God at work while we were there, we were glad to be able see all that God was doing.

When should we be glad when the grace of God is at work?

First, we should be glad when the Word of God is preached. When we had our Anniversary Sunday at Gospel Baptist Church, there were almost 1500 people in attendance. After the preaching of the Gospel there were 332 people saved. I have been saved over 40 years and I’ve never gotten over the excitement of seeing people saved. I was personally able to help with the baptism and I was able to baptize 26 people myself. The grace of God is at work through the preaching of the Gospel all around the world and we should be glad. We were able to give away 100 Bibles for those desiring to have their own copy of the Word of God.

Second, we need to be glad when we see a great number of people believe in the Lord. There always has been a great opportunity to go to the public schools and preach the Gospel and see many people are saved. We had the opportunity to go to open assemblies, and then were able to go room to room. Many times I will ask for permission to be able to speak to the superintendent and all the teachers in a room by myself. This is one of the highlights of my trip when I see teachers bow their heads and accept Christ as their Saviour! On this trip we were able to see 2,737 people saved through the public school ministry. We were able to go soul winning many days on this trip. With the help of many other soul winners, we were able to see 1,107 people saved. We then rented many extra jeeps on the Anniversary Sunday and many of these people were able to come to church for the first time.

Third, we need to be glad when we hear that people are being saved somewhere else in the world. Barnabas went as far as Antioch. We need to be willing to go as far as we can with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God has allowed me to take the Gospel to many countries of the world. Watching many of those people in those countries respond to the Gospel will make you glad to be a part of sending it to them. I pray that more of us will be glad that the grace of God is at work in more than just our place of service.

Dr. Steven Heidenreich
3G Ministries