Our missionary team has been meeting on Sundays to celebrate the Lord’s day together. We started out working through The Story of Hope Bible study, but after about three months we decided that it would be better for one of us to preach each week. Alfredo started out with the preaching responsibility for the first month, and this month I’m preaching.
I have been enjoying preaching a series on idolatry. Last week we studied Psalm 115 (Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory…), and this week we’re going to look at Jeremiah 17 (Cursed is the man who trusts in man…). I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the study time, and I think that preaching is something very special because the preacher always learns more and meditates more on Scripture when he’s preparing a message than at any other time.
I’ve also seen how changing locations and cultures allows me to gain new insights into God’s Word. For example, in Jer. 17:6 the LORD talks about how the person who trusts in man will be like a shrub in the desert. Now, we don’t live in a desert, but for the first three months it barely rained here. I’d never lived in a drier place. Most of the vegetation was brown. I had several occasions where I walked a long distance without drinking water, and those experiences help me understand what the text is saying.
The other blessing has been to see how the preaching is such a vital part of a missionary team. I hadn’t thought about it, but you really miss hearing the Word “preached” on a regular basis if you don’t have that opportunity. The preaching has been a good way for God to encourage us in the struggles of daily ministry in a new area.
We’re looking forward to recording the messages too, so that more people can hear them on Internet. We’ve had several people write us with spiritual questions because of our presence on the web, and there really isn’t near the quantity of good resources in Spanish on the Internet. If you have any Spanish-speaking friends, please direct them to the site of impactobiblico.com.
