Prayer for Native Pastors of Oaxaca

August 2010: Returning To Oaxaca (Short Term Ministry experience)

What drives ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary feats for the Gospel?

 I am reminded of a blind missionary friend who had planted three churches in the remote, rugged mountain villages of southern Mexico! Physical handicap did not discourage, disappoint, disqualify, nor deter this blind missionary away from fulfilling the Great Commission, it only ignited his passion to declare the glory of God, in the face of Christ, to Indigenous peoples enslaved to spiritual darkness. “And the ‘face of Jesus Christ’ is the beauty of Christ reaching its climax in the cross. The bloody face of Christ crucified is the countenance of the glory of God. What was once foolishness to us becomes our wisdom and our power and our boast (1 Corinthians 1:18,24)” John Piper.

The world is not worthy of a blind missionary who gazes upon the beauty, the majesty, the glory, the power, and the worthiness of Jesus Christ! The glory of Christ is found at the cross and the power of Christ is found in the Gospel, but the worthiness of Jesus Christ is only found in a selfless, broken, obedient, surrendered heart. Is Jesus Christ worth more than your possessions, your accomplishments, your pleasures, and your very own life? The Apostle Paul, a man abandoned to the preaching of the Gospel, boldly declared, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).  For most of secular American culture, the cross of Christ is foolishness, and for many American Christians today, the gospel has become powerless and the worth of Christ has diminished! “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” Romans 1:16.

Don’t let the glittering things of this decaying, dying world blind you from seeing the eternal purposes of God! “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,” Galatians 6:14. So what drove a blind missionary to abandon the comforts, the conveniences, and the complacency of contemporary culture, and chose to bring the Gospel to a foreign, hostile, remote, mountain village? Was he driven by guilt, by obligation, by pity, or for the sake of merit? “For the love of Christ compels us…and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again,” (2 Corinthians 5:14,15). It was the love he had for Christ that compelled him to abandon himself to the Gospel! Make the cross of Christ the blazing center of your life through which the glory of God will pierce through spiritual darkness and set captives free through the power of the Gospel!

It’s been a few years since I had visited Oaxaca. I have completed my studies for now, but since I have a short break, I have decided to revisit the mountain villages where I have worked before with various Indigenous pastors and church leaders. I am looking forward to this trip and to see how God has worked among the remote mountain villages of Oaxaca. I will be leaving toward the end of this month, August 2010. So please pray for safe travel, for smooth logistics, for finances, and for health. Also pray for the Indigenous peoples of Oaxaca. They are under tremendous spiritual and social oppression; pray that they will come to know the one true God and that they will make Him known! Pray also for the Indigenous pastors and leaders in these regions. They face constant hostility, persecution, and hardships. Pray that the Lord continue to provide for their families as well. Their sacrifices for preaching the Gospel pales nothing to any sacrifices I know of here in America. Its only the amazing love of Christ that would compel them to operate with such power, conviction, and authority. I appreciate your prayers very much. Thank you and may God richly bless!

In His Amazing Love,

Jeremy Seaton, (Navajo Youth)