NehemiahTeamsPH: THE CALL has a COST

To which call will your heart respond to?

“Nobody stood and applauded them

Coz they knew from the start this road would not lead to fame

All they really know for sure was Jesus had called to them

He said, “Come follow Me” and they came

With reckless abandon they came.

Empty nets lying there at the water’s edge

Told the stories that few could believe and none could explain

How some crazy fishermen agreed to go where Jesus lead

With no thought of what they would gain

For Jesus had called them by name.”

This is a song from Steven Curtis Chapman. I think this is would be AOT3’s theme song. As I ponder on the lyrics of this song, I can’t help but think of the mission heroes – Amy Carmichael, Lottie Moon, James O Fraiser and many others – who could have had easier, wealthier, possibly could have had fame but did not because they responded to the call.

this is Mho

I have my own mission heroes – mentors in life and ministry who I met because they did the same, they came. There are also a number of friends who are even younger than I but have left their nets to follow Him wherever He leads. I think of Mho. I think she is just 23 years old. She graduated top of her class on Development Communications. Her short film in college ranked top among all the entries. She is the only believer in her family. She came to faith not more than 5 years ago.

Mentored by the Holy Spirit through mission minded people from Common Ground and church, her eyes were opened to the Command to all nations and the lost in the world. She joined Nehemiah Teams in 2012 and served with us in different ways before and since. God then placed a particular country in Asia in her heart. She adjusted her life considering that she may leave any time soon. She researched, equipped herself and looked for opportunities to go while she serves locally through her work and church ministry. She even applied at a mission agency sending people to that country!

Late last year, a clear word from the Lord came. But it was to a different county, another people group – people groups. But it was clear. She left her work, sold pickled papaya to raise part of her support, made little bears out of towels for ministry partners who committed to join her in her journey, and in a few months, she was set to go!

Great, right? Of course! But this was not easy. Don’t just look past the situation with her family. She is the only beliver and the only one who had finished college! And just with in the past month and a half, 4 of her close relatives have died, all of them were unbelievers. Now, add that to the weight of what is already hard to do. Could she have misheard God?

She is not the only one who is going through this, who has gone through something like this and have yet to go through this – the tearing apart of heart for the need of those you love that is right before your eyes, and the command to go to the multitudes going to eternal death because they never even had the chance to hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a reality, a price to pay for following Christ.

Mho wept with her family and again, followed God to S.E Asia to serve there for a year.

a drawing illustration of the Nehemiah Teams vision

You may say, “I have not heard the call.”

the Rescue. a mobilization exercise

Here it is : Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.¹⁹Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,^[a]baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Here is the need:

4.1 billion people are unreached; 350 million people are unengaged

That is His call. What will you do?

To which call will your heart respond to?

from one of the hikes to Brgy. Bandera

We here are just in the beginning of our journey. We each have paid some price for obeying and we pray that as we continue on this training, as we continue to sing this song and be elsewhere in the next months and years, we would be wholly devoted to live and to die for the sake of His call.

We will abandon it all, for the sake of the call

No other reason at all but the sake of the call

Wholly devoted to live and to die

For the sake of the call.

Philippians 1: 20-21

- Cecil

Here are some photos from AOT 3. in the coming days, articles from these leaders will be posted here.