Walking on the water, the next step.
“Lord, if it’s you,” said Pedro, “send me to you on the water.”
“Come,” said Jesus.
Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. But, feeling the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink. Then he cried out,
“Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus held out his hand and, holding him, rebuked him: “You
man of little faith!” Why did you hesitate?
Matthew 14: 28-31
Do you remember that time when Peter asked Jesus to let him walk on water? When I read that story and think about what Pedro did, some things I would like to say to him come to mind:—Oh Pedro, how brave you are! Walk on water? seriously? Wow! I want to do that too, that would be great! Except, Peter, I wouldn’t worry about the wind. Who thinks of the wind when Jesus is in front of him? I would not do that.
When we read the stories of the Bible we can feel very passionate about them, and sure that we would never, ever make the mistakes that some people did, like Peter, especially because we know how they end. “Oh Pedro, man of little faith!” Why did you hesitate? Jesus was there! Of course he could have kept you walking on water if you had trusted him! WITHOUT A DOUBT!
Since we began missionary training until today, our path has been full of experiences that have made us seek God and depend on Him. Some years ago we arrived in the field, Papua New Guinea, and during this time we have learned the culture and the Tok Pisin commercial language, while we serve missionaries who are already working in an indigenous group in different ways. Simultaneously, we live in a community of missionaries from different countries, which means more cultural diversity and another language to learn, English. Those of you who don’t know us well, maybe you think we are very bright, that’s a great impression of us, (you can keep it if you want ), but we can’t fool those who know us well and scratch their heads wondering how we have survived here for so long.The truth is that it is God who receives the glory by being so evident that it is his power that strengthens people as weak as we are to carry out his plan.
After praying for several years for teammates, many of you along with us, God has responded. In our last letter we shared what we were talking with two families about the possibility of joining efforts to reach one of the 850 indigenous groups in this country with the Gospel. Finally, after a few months of talking with them, God has placed in the hearts of the three families the desire to work together in this mission for the next few years.
So, going back to Peter walking on the water, God is leading us to take another step that has more or less the same feeling that Peter had (assuming I know what he felt). We feel very excited, and at the same time terrified. Don’t get me wrong, we are very happy for this answer. This means that we have partners to do the gigantic work of presenting the Gospel to an indigenous group that has never heard it before, but it also means that great changes and challenges are coming., even more. We have to start with the project of building a house, moving to a tribe, learning their language, translating the Bible, teaching them to read, and finally sharing the Good News. So, I think that walking on the water is not only something merely exciting, but it is also the process of knowing the one who calls you and deciding to trust Him , that he can sustain you and lead you to do something that in your strength and according to logic you couldn’t; It means that when the wind blows and reminds you that you can’t, decide to put your eyes on Jesus and trust Him.
Now that we are getting ready to put our feet in the water, we need your support more than ever. We don’t want to get lost in the thoughts of what it means to walk on water, how deep it is or how impossible this is, because we know that by doing so we will simply sink. We want to ask you to pray for us so that our eyes remain fixed on Jesus, so that we can walk by faith and trust in his strength and power; We want our lives to magnify Christ, and to exalt his worth in the eyes of those who are looking at us. Can you please pray for us?
The next step is to choose an indigenous group out of hundreds who have not heard the Good News, only one; and build a houseto live among them. Construction costs are high because all materials have to be transported by helicopter or plane. In addition to this, we will also have an increase in our monthly expenses when we move to an even more remote location, caused in part by the transportation of our food.
Just over a year ago we asked you to join us in prayer for provision for construction costs. We know that God hears prayers and answers. We don’t have the resources to do it, but He owns everything. Thus,We want to ask you to continue praying that God provides for these expenses if it is His will. We also want to ask you to share this news with other churches or people who are interested in missions, so that they have the opportunity to join in prayer and economically if they wish.
We have been very blessed by each of you who during these years have supported us financially and in prayer, God has provided for our family through you and we want to remind you of the words in Hebrews 6:10: “because God is not unfair to forget your work and the labor of love that you have shown towards his name, having served the saints and still serving them. ”
We have prepared a video for you where we talk about who we are and what we do here in Papua, and the challenges ahead. There we share some ways you can support this ministry. We hope it will be useful to better illustrate what we have shared with you in this letter, and that it will also serve as a tool to share with others.
If you want to know more detailed information regarding the construction project, please reply to this email and we will contact you. We will also share more about our teammates in the near future; we are very honored to be able to work with them.
We pray for you. We love and miss you.
Witnesses of a living God,
Isaac, Claudia, Jacob and Emma
Hernández
Join missions in Papua New Guinea. A video about who we are, our ministry and new challenges.
Prayer requests:
We thank God for providing a complete team to reach an ethnic group from PNG.
Pray that God provides the necessary resources to build a house.
For our monthly support, may we be good stewards of resources and may God provide what is needed as our needs increase.
For health. Isaac has had lower back pain for over 3 months, Claudia is still in the process of regulating the dose of thyroid medication and is struggling with some symptoms.
May God guide us in the process of choosing an ethnic group.
Unity in the team to make decisions.
May God take care of our children in the midst of transitions.
For the education of Jacob and Emma, mainly for their walk with God.
May our life magnify Christ in everything we do.
Thank you for continuing to hold the rope!
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