In this episode of the Praying With The Eyes podcast Pastor Jeffrey Meinz and I interview Ricardo Hildago of Pucallpa, Peru about his work among the indigenous people on the Ucayali River, a tributary of the Amazon. Ricardo equips, trains and sends people as missionaries and pastors to remote villages on the Ucayali. As you listen to this podcast you will gain greater insight into what motivates Ricardo for this work, the challenges that are ahead of him, and what mission trips like ours means to this ministry. In the opening segment of this podcast I discuss a blog I wrote entitled, United in Purpose.
Ahuaypa, Peru
This is the picture for today’s podcast. The building in the background is the church that our team helped build. Our basic tasks were to put up the siding and help pour the concrete floor.
Our trip to Peru was sponsored by Lifetree Adventures. Click on this Lifetree Adventure link to find out more about their ministry and the places to which they travel. I highly recommend using Lifetree if you are thinking about such a mission trip.
This is a picture of Ricardo as we were carrying supplies into the Shipibo village of Ahuaypa.
Though complete unity among Christians will not be experienced until Christ returns, we are called to strive toward this unity now.
You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.
“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13 New Living Translation
For some reason we think that divisions among Christians are recent phenomena, or at least the result of the Reformation in the 16th century, when in reality these struggles with unity date back to the book of Acts.
Ahuaypa, Peru
We see the first century Christians wrestling with unity in Luke’s account of this fledgling community, especially as it affected the relationship between Jewish and Gentile Christians.
This battle for unity continued through the early centuries of the church. There were divisions between churches in the east and west. There was division between bishops and their congregations. Councils were held in an attempt to bring unity.
These divisions were often caused by the same thing that separates Christians in the 21st century. They were divided over how to understand the Bible, especially as it relates to the person and work of Jesus.
I’m much more comfortable living with these divisions today than I was earlier in my pastoral ministry because I know the day is coming when God will unite his people ask we are gathered to him on the day of resurrection.
Yet, God calls us to strive after unity even if we might not realize it now. We are called to pray for unity and work toward unity with the Scriptures and message of the cross standing front and center.
My recent trip to Peru was a lesson in this struggle for unity. We built a church building together. We sang together. We prayed together, though in different languages. It would have been easy to let our differences separate us, but the purpose of proclaiming Christ in a remote village on the Ucayali River brought Christians together with different cultural backgrounds.
Ultimately, unity is not something we create, but a gift of the Holy Spirit. Even today, it is our faith in the crucified and resurrected Lord that brings us together.
May we celebrate this unity of purpose even as we anticipate the day when nothing will divide us in the body of Christ.
The US Supreme Court recently ruled that laws reserving marriage to heterosexual couples are unconstitutional.
Matthew 10:16ff reads, “Behold I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves . . . and you will be hated for my sake. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. . .”
Can we find Heaven on Earth?
Lamentations 3:22 reads, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” Writing to this verse, Billy Graham has written that God feels what we feel. If you are indignant at the Supreme Counts decision, imagine God’s indignation.
Cal Thomas writing an opinion column on 8 July 2015, notes the politicization of the Christian as the Morale Majority or Christian Coalition may have failed to remember Christ’s statement, “My Kingdom is not of this world.”
The Bible does not promise us Heaven on Earth, though each of us may at times forget that – I have more than once. Christians are not going to be universally accepted in this world, in this nation, in this state, or in this community. We will be rebels and outsiders because we are Christians, especially when we are indeed Christians.
When we feel comfortable, we are probably conforming to the world and distancing ourselves from God.
Now when I consider that NO nation on earth is truly a Christian nation and that every nation eventually wanders far away from God’s way, it is not surprising that Nations “fall from grace” and are replaced- “moving from one town to the next”.
I fear that for myself, and my friends and family, but that is my will speaking.
So my prayer remains, “Thy will be done. Allow and strengthen me to be a faithful witness. Help me when my fears and my plans do not track with Yours. Protect my family and friends and keep them close to You. Help me remember this earth is not my home – You have a better place for me, and mine who know You!”
Our right response to the Courts action can be aligned with Graham’s end of another devotion, “Thank God for whatever measure of religious freedom you enjoy – and pray for those suffering for their faith in Christ.”
But don’t look for heaven here on earth
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Gerald Givens is a retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel (1969-1991) and contract satellite engineer/program manager (1991-2011). He was born on 16 March 1945, and blessed to be baptized in April 1945, and married to his lovely wife, Karen, on 23 December 1967. He has served HCLC as Lay Minister and member of the Board of Directors. For many years he served with Karen and a third grade and kindergarten Sunday School teacher. Recently he has led numerous Financial Peace University classes and co-chaired with Karen the Holy Cross Momentum emphasis,”SOAR” which was intended to bring Biblically based financial management training to the broader Holy Cross community.
This is a picture of Ricardo as we were carrying supplies into the Shipibo village of Ahuaypa.
