Dear Team,
* Note: I am not mentioning the name of the country I am in, intentionally. If you don't know where I am, reach out to me and I will let you know privately. It is illegal to share the gospel where I am, therefore communication with the outside world about what's going on is limited. It must not be on social media in any way. Keep this in mind as you read. I personally am not in danger, the worst that could happen to me, at least legally, is to get deported. The ministry and for the missionaries I work with however, this is not the case. They could be arrested and disappear if info got out, because of this I must be careful.
*Also, I realize this update is longer than most others. Father led me to share not just what is going on here but also what He has been teaching me. I think it would be very beneficial for you to read this whole update and this is why I have invested so much time writing it. However, if you are limited on time and just want to know what's going on ministry-wise feel free to scroll down until you see the heading titled "Ministry Update".
After a stressful week at home and work Adam, a middle-class man from Flagstaff Arizona, packed up His truck and threw a heavy duffle bag in the backseat. As he pointed his Ford F150 west and began driving, his mind began contemplating his life and today’s plans. Today he had one objective on his mind: to win and to win big. He lived a comfortable life with a paid for two-story house and a maxed-out 401k. He had college savings accounts for his two children, Max his 14-year-old son, and Abby his 16-year-old daughter. All in all, he and his wife Evelyn were financially well off. The problem is Adam never wanted to be “well off”... He wanted to be rich! It was his dream since high school to be filthy rich and live a lavish lifestyle with fast cars and a mansion. Due to his age, he realized that this dream was getting farther out of reach every day. This desire and crushed dream led him into a gambling addiction.
It started small, a $5 scratch-off ticket, a hundred bucks on a golf game, or fifty dollars on an NBA final, but soon it began to grow to the point where he was losing thousands a month playing his favorite game: poker. Sure he had some big wins along the way, be they simply made up for all his other losses. He and his wife were on the brink of divorce over the issue and his kids had become distant due to the fighting of their parents.
As he remembered the words of his wife begging him to stop gambling and threatening divorce if he continued to indulge, he considered turning back, but then he quickly thought of the riches and his poker skills that were going to provide them. “She’ll change her mind when my winnings put her in a new Mercedes.”, he thought and bumped up his cruise control 5 mph faster toward Vegas. Upon arrival, he unloaded his duffle bag containing he and his wife's life savings and walked in the front door of the casino ready to “win big”.
Needless to say, Adam did not “win big” that day. In actuality, he lost big. Not just all of his money, but also his wife and kids. Soon after that, he lost his house in the divorce. Whether he realized it or not he made a decision that day when he unloaded the duffel bag. He, like thousands who suffer the consequences of this addiction every year, had decided that he was willing to risk everything for a chance at “winning big”. One has to ask: “Was it worth it?” I think Adam would give us a resounding “Hell no!”.
Believe it or not, however, there is a man praised in scripture for this type of mentality and behavior! His name is Epaphroditus. Paul writes:
“25 But I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my needs. 26 For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious. 29 Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, 30 because he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service to me. (Phil 2:25-30)
The greek word used here for "risking his life" literally means “to gamble his life”; it speaks of a rash and reckless abandonment of his safety and self-perseverance. Throwing down all that he had with little hope of picking it up again. Epaphroditus like Adam was willing to risk everything, his entire life, for just one thing! What was his one thing? I can tell you it was not “winning big” like Alex, at least not in the same way. Rather, it was Christ Jesus and the work of getting the good news of Him unto all who need it. Epaphroditus considered this reward worth risking EVERYTHING for and did so boldly and recklessly.
In later years, groups of Christians known as the “Parabolani” or “The Gamblers”, which comes from the same word translated as “risking his life”, were known for their work among the diseased and dead. They would help those ravaged by the bubonic plague and they would bury the dead bodies of those taken by illness. They would enter the city everyone was fleeing in hopes of sharing Christ with dying individuals. Others would not do this, but these believers, inspired by the selfless sacrifice of Epaphroditus willingly gambled their lives for the sake of Jesus and His message!
I have been challenged by Father over the last month regarding this topic, and I want to challenge you with it as well. I also want you to know about the next phase of the ministry I will be doing here and how this theme of “gambling” will play out within it. I want to tell you these things so you can begin to pray, both for me, someone buying a metaphorical “$5 lottery ticket” due to my status as a foreigner, and for my native friend and translator who will be gambling his “life savings” if you will. My friend, I will call him “John”, for safety reasons I cannot use his real name, will be “gambling his life” in the most literal of senses. We, speaking of those of us ministering here, are in desperate need of prayer. And quite frankly we, now speaking of the American church, need a kick in the tail and a harder one to the head in regards to this topic. Hopefully, this update will prompt both of these things.
I often go for walks with God since arriving here. This new discipline in my life that has proved to be fruitful. I strongly recommend it. I say "God" instead of Father, Brother, or The Spirit because in every walk I relate with all three. They are a package deal to relate with one is to relate with all. However, each time I usually focus on a particular person of this three-person being. I don't grasp how it all works but I realize when I visit with Father I simultaneously do the same with the other two. For the sake of my human mind though I usually just pick one of them to meditate on, however sometimes I go back and forth between the three. Most days I visit with Father, but some days a guy just needs His older Brother, someone who gets it, someone who's been where I am, someone who has experienced what I am experiencing, and someone who has felt the way I am feeling. These days I spend time with my Older Brother Jesus.
I usually begin one of two ways: if something is weighing heavy on me I spend time telling my Father or Brother what's on my mind. Then I ask, “What am I to make of this?” or “You got any thoughts?” or something else along these lines. Then I shut up and dwell on the fact that He is with me, whichever of the three “Hes” I chose to speak with. Sometimes in a thought a second quicker than those of my own I get a response from Him. Other times, I get nothing. In these times, I simply walk acknowledging that He’s with me, that He cares, and that it's His job to tell me all I need to know when I need to know it and He will do it. I then simply choose to trust Him and walk in silent intimacy recognizing His presence both before me, behind me, and beside me, closer than my very breath. Other times, when nothing particular is on my heart I simply say, “Father what’s on your mind?” Or “Brother do you have anything to say?” or something of the sort. Then I do the same as before, listening and cherishing His person and presence.
On a recent day, I was walking to the gym about half a mile from my house and I said, “Father, how come our relationship is so much more abstract than my very tangible human relationships? How come this is so difficult to grasp as reality and not imagination? Why did you set it up this way? And why do you leave room for doubt in the lives of believers?” I walked the rest of the way to the gym with no reply. As I went through my workout and stretch routine listening to worship music the question was still on my mind.
Afterward, on the way home I realized that the tension of our form of relationship forces me to come to Him with a posture of faith. Each and every time I go for a walk or say a prayer I have to have faith that I am actually able to experience, enjoy, and relate with a God I cannot see. Every time I speak to Him, I have to have faith that, one, He does exist and He wants to relate with me, and two, that the finished work of Jesus really did bridge the gap between me and Him. “Father, why do you have such a… a…, I can’t think of the word but you know it, for faith in the lives of your people?” Now I realize the word I was looking for was the word “affinity” or a synonym thereof. Again, I walked in silence sensing no reply.
Then right as I rounded the corner onto my street a thought I didn't generate came into my mind and it said, “Are you willing to gamble your life away?” I knew exactly what this referred to. The passage mentioned earlier came to my mind. It also addressed the root of my questioning. I had recently begun to get direction from God on the way He’s leading me to spend the rest of my life. He is leading me to devote all of it to “The work of Christ” discipling and teaching and sharing the good news with people with all of my time. This will come with great sacrifices and risk. It will not be an easy path nor a comfortable one and I will have to trust Him to provide for all my needs especially the financial ones in miraculous ways. This will cost me a great deal for the rest of my life here on Earth and I will have to give a lot up. The doubt underlying my previous questions was, “What if I devote my whole life to this cause only to die and find out my faith was misplaced, God didn’t exist and Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead? What if I waste the only years I will ever get?”. The Enemy had planted a lie and Father was asking me what I was gonna do with it. I considered it for a moment. Then, I remembered my life before I started walking in intimacy with Jesus and concluded, “Father if it wasn't for you, my life would be worthless. You are the source of everything worthwhile in my life. I have nothing apart from you. So yes, I'm willing to trust you and throw everything else on the ground in reckless abandon because you Jesus, you are my life!” Tears filled my eyes as I felt my soul jump within me as I pushed all my poker chips to the middle of the table ready to gamble my entire life with no reservations.
That night, Father showed me why He has such an affinity for faith. He didn’t tell me, instead He let me experience the reason on a soul level. Faith forces surrender. It creates a resolve within us to trust Him even when it doesn’t make sense. Then it allows us to experience Him on a whole new level.
My question is this, “Reader, will you gamble your life away for Christ?” This may not look like vocational ministry like me, in fact, it likely won't and that’s completely biblical. (1 Thes 4:11) But are you willing to let Christ use you in your job in any way he leads? Will you invest your free time getting to know Him even if you feel this may be a waste and you'd rather be doing something else? Will you choose to walk in complete surrender of all you have to Him, both time and resources, even though it feels risky? Will you be willing to gamble rejection in order to share with all those you know? Will you risk friendships for the sake of telling them the gospel? Will you gamble your pride and reputation on His behalf? Will you risk being called names or being ridiculed for His sake? Will you “gamble” your life by devoting it entirely to a God you cannot see? If so, you will never regret it like Adam. Instead, you will experience the same intimacy and resolve that comes with faith and trust in Father that Epaphroditus experienced. While the "gamble" looks and feels reckless, rash, and extreme it’s actually a pretty safe bet. While it may cost you everything, your reward is secure and worth everything that you may lose in the process. And your reward is nothing less than Christ Himself who is our life (Colossians 3:4)!
I think this is exactly what our Older Brother meant when he promised:
“If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”
And I think He smiled knowing the life we'd find would be His own.
Ministry Update
Last Monday I rode home from a neighboring city where we helped coach a football (soccer) tournament and I took about 1000 pictures with players and teams. I found out afterward about a rumor that I was a scout from America looking for players so everyone wanted pictures with me thinking I was some big shot former professional player or something I guess haha.
Anyway, as I rode home I began discussing with the man that has become a Father figure to me here. For his safety, I will not say his real name but will call him John instead. John is a believer, a native to this country, and the head coach at our academy. I travel with him, coach with him, visit the homes of players with him, share with him as a translator, etc. As we rode he began sharing his heart with me. He shared that so far he has coached at this academy for 7 months and God has led him to share in a very indirect manner sharing bible stories but changing names, teaching biblical truths without saying “This is from the bible...”, and by simply modeling Christ and loving his players like Jesus. He now feels God stirring Him to switch strategies. He desperately wants them to know Jesus and of course, faith comes by hearing (Romans 10). This open sharing however is incredibly risky. He shared with me the tension between his quiet time in the book of Acts and how God is stirring his heart to share like Paul does but also the reality that he has a family to care for. If he were to get put in prison for sharing the gospel, who would take care of his family? For him as a native sharing comes with a great risk of prison for life or worse. For me as a foreigner, I just get sent back to my country. He gets taken from his family maybe for the rest of his life, and I get sent back to mine. He shared with me those he loves are constantly warning and begging him to be careful with what he says. I also know of huge football opportunities he's given up in order to be involved in this ministry. If he could help it even I wouldn't know but I overheard a phone call with teams in leagues even Americans who don't watch soccer have heard of. He is a severely overqualified coach for what he is doing but does it for Christ not for fame or the money. John is a true "gambler", numbered among the “Parabolani ”.
*This is John and his youngest son. Faces not pictured intentionally.
I then asked him, “John, do you think they would throw you in jail for simply translating what I say? After All, you can’t help what the culturally dumb American does or doesn't say. Your job is just to translate it.” He smiled as I began to express how God was prompting me in the same direction and I had been frustrated with my lack of opportunities to share openly. Every time, I share I have to be very careful because it is always through a translator, so for the sake of the translator’s safety I have to be very tactful in what I do and do not say. However, with John onboard to take risks and push the envelope this would quench both of our thirsts to share in this new manner.
In any evangelism context, it's best to establish relationships and trust and allow people to see Jesus in you as and before you share. This is all the more true in Muslim contexts. Muslim ministry is a marathon, not a sprint and we have approached it this way thus far. Although now, especially John but for myself as well we have established trust, love, and credibility in our player’s lives. They love us enough and we mean enough to them they would not want to harm us in any way. They would never intentionally tell the police but they could always tell someone that would tell them. Regardless, we feel their hearts are ready for open and forward sharing and the foundation for sharing has been properly laid. John and I are ready to “gamble”.
We are still discussing strategies but the Spirit has given us some really amazing ideas we are incredibly excited about. This next month will be a new phase of ministry. It will be risky. It will be aggressive. But it will be full of the name of Jesus Christ! And that name, Jesus Christ, is a dangerous name to leave your lips here. "Jesus" is frowned upon but "Jesus Christ" is a threat. After all, Christ is not His last name its His title. So calling Him this makes a daring statement in strict Muslim cultures. But while it is a dangerous name to say, it is also a lifesaving name to enter the ears of any who will listen. For this reason we must gamble! And I can't wait.
Please pray for 3 things:
For the safety of John and His family. While we plan to use me as his scapegoat, he is still stepping into a massive line of fire and doing a very dangerous task. People who love him constantly warn him not to do this, not to risk it, but he has decided to honor God and not men.
That the hearts of those who will hear the full gospel for the first time will be open to hearing, listening, and accepting.
That I would be in tune with the Spirit while I share and protected from any Enemy forces seeking to distract me.
I love you guys. And I am thankful we are on the same team for the “work of Christ Jesus”. Many of you have already “gambled” your time and resources on my ministry for the sake of Christ. For this, I am incredibly thankful. May God bless you for it.
I urge you to find time every day this week to remove all distractions and go for a walk without your phone. While you do, think about our Older Brother Jesus! Think of all that He is to you and all that you need Him to be. Then remember, He is with you. He is closer than your very breath. He is in you and you are in Him, you can’t get any closer than that. Then simply enjoy His presence and relish the fact that He is everything you need.
He is the one who understands. He gets it. He has lived and experienced all you do. He has known pain on every level. He cares deeply about every aspect of your life. Lean into Him! Tell Him about everything you are going through! He loves you! Put everything you hold dear in His hands, trust Him, and know that He means you well!
And I can promise you when you meet Him like this and continue doing so, He will become a lot more than just your savior. You will find that He is your hope. You will find He is your strength. You will find He is your Friend and Brother, and closer than any human relationship. You will find He always smiles when He thinks of you and you will begin to smile when you think of Him. And most of all you will find Him to be your very life! (Colossians 3:4) And what a life we have to enjoy!
Then with this in mind may it prompt you to “gamble” everything for Him!
He’s well worth it!
- Gage Lynch
