0% Chance

When you present the gospel to someone, what's the percentage chance that you can convince them to follow Christ?  

Honestly, if you would have asked me a few years ago I would have thought I had a small, but yet some chance, maybe 10%-20%.  After all, I can relate to the average American, contextualize the gospel, speak their language, and use apologetics. However, the more and more I share the gospel to the Antandroy the more and more I realize the smaller and smaller chance I've got at convincing anyone, whether Antandroy or American.

I know I'm stating the obvious, "Sunday School Answer," by saying this, but here it goes:

I've got 0% chance at changing anyone's mind about following Christ.

In fact, in my own ability, all I've got the ability to do is look ridiculous to those that are lost.  Thousands of people have already looked at me as ridiculous and they think I'm wasting my time.  Plainly, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."  1 Corinthians 1:18

This work relies completely on God! 

Situation after situation, person after person, when I open my eyes to the cultural differences, language abilities, and more importantly deep lostness, I'm brought to my knees with one prayer to the God of all power, "Abba, these people have 0% chance at turning and believing without your work in their lives.  I will plant and water, but you must make them grow!"

It's when I'm staring into the eyes of an old man that has worshiped his ancestors all his life and taught his grandchildren to do the same, that I say, "Father, I've got 0% chance at convincing him without you!"

It's when I'm speaking like a 4 year old to 100 lost villagers that I pray, "Father, I've got 0% chance at convincing them, but I will faithfully share the gospel as best I can and trust the power of your word!  Convict and save them!"

It's when the fact that I'm a foreigner screams, "I'm rich and here to bring you money" louder than my mouth says, "I'm a servant of God here to bring you the good news of Jesus" that I pray, "I've got 0% chance at getting genuine responses, call out your children Lord!"

And God has been doing just that, calling His children out!

8 months ago we were invited to a village with no Christians.  We arrived in the village to find witchcraft, ancestor worship, and family feuds.  We've visited them several times in which we've: taught them several Bible stories and the way of salvation through Jesus, prayed at their houses, eaten their food, and distributed Bibles.  At the beginning of September we arrived in this same village to find a group of adults teaching the children to sing a worship song to God, symbols of witchcraft becoming less and less, and brothers that have forgiven each other.  This is the power of God, taking a village that was completely lost and worshiping their ancestors to now teaching their children to worship God.  

Our trip to this village in October was even better!  11 people independently stood up and said they wanted to follow Jesus starting that day.  Vows were made in front of the witch doctor and the rest of the village that they would not go to the witch doctor again, but they are following and trusting Jesus from now on!  We have a plan with the believers for baptism in November.  The Lord is up to more that than we imagined and its a beautiful work!

We had a 0% chance at genuinely changing this village, but look how God is transforming it!!

I'm glad that the Lord has brought me to this place of 100% dependence on His power in evangelism. 

I pray you are encouraged to go share the gospel with your network through this story.  It might be that you need to be willing to be called ridiculous and realize that you have 0% chance at genuinely winning that person to Christ without the power of God at work.

Having a 0% chance doesn't mean we don't go and share the gospel, it means we go dependent on and with confidence in our Father.  He is after all, the Lord of the harvest!

For His Amazing Work,

Andrew Snipes

Praise the Lord of the Harvest! Matthew 9:38
Prayer Request:  Ask the Lord of the harvest to bring up a laborer from this group.  He's already provided some women to help lead, now we are praying for a man.  The four men in the picture are the first 4 men to follow Christ in this village.  May He raise a leader from these four men.

Is it worth it? Eternally!

Over the past month I've had many opportunities to consider the cost of this mission.  The question of "Is it worth it?" has come to mind at each occasion, but I want you to know the way God has provided and answered this question repeatedly.
 

A month ago we were on our way back to Madagascar from a vacation with family in the states.  We arrived in country and Air Madagascar was on strike.  For one week in the capital we went to the airport 10 times, stayed in 4 different hotels, made 100+ phone calls, and spent several hundred dollars that we will never get reimbursed by the airline.  In the end, this is the cost of the mission here.  It's not an easy place to get to, and that's one of the reasons for the lostness here. 

While in the capital, we spent time with friends..

A week later, Leah's parents and a team from their church were on their way to the airport in America to come to Madagascar when we called them and said the only way it seemed they'd be able to come to Fort Dauphin from the capital was by a private missionary plane that would cost an extra $5000.  In the middle of wanting to tell them to stay at home, I prayed that someone from their church would give the money for the flight.  One hour later God provided $5000 through a member of their church.  The team used the missionary planes coming here and when leaving.  Worth it for the mission? God said yes and provided the way.

The team in the bush.  God provided the way!

The night before we all loaded up to go to the bush, I woke up throwing up.  This has happened many times being in this foreign land and I always seem to learn something from my Father in the middle of the night.  As I kneeled in the bathroom, God's spirit said to me, "Is it worth it Andrew?"  My reply, "For your name's sake."  Thinking logically we'd wait an extra day in town to recuperate, but in faith of His providence we took off to the bush that morning and the Lord gave me health around lunch time.

 

At the completion of an amazing trip to the bush, with 3 people baptized and 2 people giving their lives to Jesus (both in places with no church within miles), we had one of the trucks break down 10 miles out of a bush town.  We tied a small rope onto the two trucks and I proceeded to pull my wife, her father, and our truck through 30 large mud puddles (several going over our hoods).  When we were pulling into the service station a dog ran in between our cars causing Leah to brake and the rope to snap.  I think it was God saying, "Don't think for a second that it was the rope that towed this truck for the past 45 minutes!"  When God provides like this, I think its Him confirming the worth of the mission as well as His power within it.

Worth it!

A week before the team left we had to ship all of their luggage back to the capital on a 5 day bus because the plane wouldn't hold all of the weight.  However the girls bought so many souvenirs that they were still overweight for the plane and had to leave 35 lbs of their things here with us to ship at a later date back to the states or give away.  As the team was scrambling to cut weight in their carry-on luggage I couldn't help but ask them, "Is it worth it?"  With all they had seen God do in and through them over the past two weeks, their answer was yes!

2 Timothy 2:10 says, "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."

Zaferina accepted Christ as Lord (one of the first people in her village coming from death to life)...Worth it!

Dalaza was baptized and wants to lead others to follow Christ...Worth it!

So, is it worth it?  Yes, ETERNALLY worth it!

For His Amazing Work,

Andrew Snipes

 

The Gray Haired Man: A story for God's glory!

One year ago, I was talking with my mom about everything I had learned at training.  As we spoke about the best way to reach a village with the gospel, a plan for prayer became clear to me.  We could pray that a gray haired man (a leader) would be radically changed by Jesus Christ and that he would be a witness to his community.  We then asked our prayer partners and churches to begin praying for this gray haired man.  From hearing updates from prayer partners, I know many people have continued to pray for God's great work in the gray haired man's life and village.

During our first time to visit villages in Androy land we met a man named Gilbert, who has gray hair.  We've since been to Gilbert's village, Andovoke, about 10 times.  We've been teaching Bible stories, singing, and praying.  We take national believers with us and they help lead our worship service/ Bible study.

Gilbert is 50 years old and has 3 wives and 7 children.  He is the leader of his village.  Like many of the Tandroy people, he does many things for work, like: herding cattle, planting potatoes and corn in a garden, and keeping bees for honey.

Gilbert, his 3rd wife, and his baby boy.

As Gilbert started to grow in his understanding and experiences with God and the gospel, we asked some churches to pray specifically for Gilbert as the gray haired man.

It was within two weeks of asking those churches to pray that we heard from a local believer that Gilbert had decided to accept Jesus as his savior and make Him the lord of his life!

I waited to see Gilbert's faith in action in order to report to our supporters, but it is time for you all to praise God with us!

Here is what I've seen from Gilbert's new life in Christ over the past 2 months:

1) A week after Gilbert decided to follow Jesus, his mother died.  Talk about a trial!  The Tandroy custom of ancestor worship is shown clearly through some of the practices during a funeral.  For Gilbert not to follow the pagan rituals would mean persecution and a seeming disrespect to his deceased mother.  However, despite this foreseen hardship, Gilbert organized a "Christian" funeral for his mother.  We attended the funeral and they had a preacher come to preach and sing all night long!  At night, Gilbert gave Leah and me his house and bed to sleep in and a meal of goat and rice.

2) Gilbert travels a few miles into town to attend church service on Sunday mornings with one of his wives and infant on the back of his bicycle.

3) Gilbert's children that attend school in town, also attend church and children's ministry.

4) When we go to Gilbert's village for worship service and Bible study, he now sings the songs and he has volunteered to pray multiple times.  In fact, he started our time of Bible study in prayer without any prompting a few weeks ago!

5) I brought a coworker that had never met Gilbert before to his village.  As his introduction, Gilbert told my coworker his testimony.  Gilbert said, "I used to have foreign friends, but I like my foreign friends now the most because they teach me the Bible.  I used to be a witch doctor, but now I follow Jesus."

Wow!  Stop right now and praise God for the answer to our prayers and for Gilbert's new life in Christ!

As we continue to go to Gilbert's village and he continues to grow as a disciple of Christ, pray over these requests:

+ Pray that Gilbert takes the next step in discipleship to teach others the gospel and the Bible stories he learns.

+ Pray that Gilbert has wisdom from God for how to approach his 3 wife situation.

+ Pray for Gilbert's three wives.  One does not attend Bible study and another might be consulting a witch doctor still.

+ Pray for the church that Gilbert attends.  Recently the pastor has resigned from the church and we are not sure about the future of the church.

+ Pray for more experiences with God that will grow Gilbert's trust in God.

+ Pray for Leah and I as we continue to teach the gospel in Andovoke and the surrounding area.

Since you've read this story, help us glorify our Father by telling the story of this answered pray to your church, friends, and family!

God is Awesome!

For His Amazing Work,

Andrew

Teaching Gilbert (seated on the log in front) a way to share the gospel with his neighbors.

"that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  Eph. 3:16-19