A farmer went out to sow and some seed fell on rocky ground! Many years ago missionaries left the UK for the Iberian Peninsula to sow the seed of the gospel. They encountered hard soil, opposition, set back and tragedy. Yet they set their faces like flint towards their God and his Great Commission. Their graves lie in the churchyards of these nations, gathering moss and seemingly forgotten.
Beyond human
eye though, a seed spouts, it pushes down fragile roots through the dry dusty
soil and small shoots appear above ground level. A season of rain and more shoots appear and
what looked forsaken and deserted now takes on the appearance of a garden, a
planting of the Lord.
The huge joy
of seeing what God is about in Spain and Portugal was our privilege last week.
Hundreds gathered to tell their stories of how God was at work, with lives
changed, ministries birthed and churches planted.
Let me share
with you about A Fonte, now led by a 28 year old grandson of one of those first
pioneers. The church has seen 10 people saved this year and they are baptizing
folk most weeks. This is a New Testament community buzzing with life and
reaching out with the love of Christ and believing God for 50 souls by the end
of 2014! Out of their abundance they are reaching out to poorer communities
with a new social project facilitated by a beautiful new mini bus paid for by
Newfrontiers.
I could tell
you of many breakthroughs in other churches, of battles, of amazing friends who
have worked so hard to break up the soils of these nations to the place we find
today. Let Heather give you another story:
"Every year
we have the joy of visiting these folk in Portugal and more recently Spain, and
every year I am struck by ordinary people serving an extraordinary God. Year
after year long, before we came on the scene, these dear men and women have
toiled, living normal life with their children, contending with all the things
the rest of us do. Their reward is not fame or fortune but an eternal reward of
souls reached and lives changed by the gospel. Now linking with small groups
all over the two nations we are humbled by their determination. Portugal and
Spain are beautiful countries famed as holiday destinations - the sunshine, the
valleys, the sea, tasty food and wonderful wine. This time though, we were
struck every day by the scent of flowers - orange, lemon and jasmine blossom as
well as cascading roses. The promise of future fruitfulness was everywhere. With
the heady perfumes even more pronounced as night fell the promise was tangible.
That's how it felt at the conference, God is on the move, it’s a new day for
these nations and one which will be marked by harvest."
So, in
finishing this blog, let me encourage every reader to never give up in their
faithful sowing and praying for a God harvest in their church or nation.
Harvest is God made but we can and must sow and water the seed of the gospel. I
am so often reminded of William Carey–“I can plod. To this I owe
everything.” Plod on all plodders, we
will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
