The James Family
James Family October 2015 Update
Hi from Cleveland! We trust you are well. We’ve just started our Home Assignment in the USA -- we'll be here until after Christmas. Thank you for praying for us and our ministry in Bolivia and across Latin America.
In the past 6 weeks I have visited Montevideo (Uruguay), Bogota (Colombia), Santa Cruz (Bolivia), and Loja (Ecuador) meeting key pastors and church-associations about needs they are facing. The overwhelming sense is that the Evangelical church is growing, but that it is incredibly weak and off-track due to a lack of grounding in God’s Word. There is a general respect for the Bible, but people are ignorant of what it says. That’s a recipe for heresy! The crying need is for discipleship. One pastor in Loja told me that he had gotten involved in the Health and Wealth heresy because he wasn’t reading his Bible, and it all seemed to make sense to him. But after studying Romans with us in ESI (Equipping Servants pastoral training) he decided to get serious about knowing God and His will by engaging in a life-commitment of study of the Word. The result is that God is using him to impact an entire denomination of churches in his city.
Please pray for us as we seek the Lord’s guidance about how to expand ESI to impact pastors and churches around Latin America in 2016. Our passion is to honor Christ by helping pastors and church leaders be true to the Scriptures, to strengthen the church and reach the lost.
I’d like to offer you a personal challenge. One of the great things the Lord is doing around Latin America is moving believers to stop walking alone and start walking together with other like-minded believers. In ESI we end every meeting sharing answers to 5 “transparency” questions and praying for each other. Why don’t you do the same now through Christmas – find one or two others, take an hour each week to talk honestly about how you are doing in your own priorities and walk with God.
The 5 questions are:
1. What is the temptation that is most hounding me today? (don’t talk about problems or concerns but about ‘who I really am’.)
2. How am I finding victory over this temptation? (or maybe how I’m NOT finding victory).
3. How is my passion for Christ? (think about the 2 disciples returning to Jerusalem from Emmaus, saying, “Did our hearts not burn within us when we heard Jesus’ words?”).
4. How is my relationship with my spouse?
5. Who did I share the gospel with this week? (This is not a time to counsel or make suggestions, but simply to listen and pray as battle buddies!)
Also, you can see an excellent 2-minute video of pastor Edgar Mamani (Bolivia) sharing his testimony about what God has done in his life. I recommend it. www.EquippingServants.com.
Thank you for praying for us and for the strengthening of Christ’s church around Latin America,
Kep and Debbie