Why Laborers? That was the question being asked at the Navigators new staff retreat earlier this month. We started by looking at Matthew 9:36-38, the passage in which Jesus famously says, “the harvest is ripe, but the laborers are few.” 3 thoughts occurred to me as I considered this question…
1) The harvest requires laborers. Someone must do the reaping.
2) As John Piper put it “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Therefore, we need laborers to help bring the most people possible into a place to be able to worship Him.
3) We only become who God desires us to be as laborers for the harvest.
As we read over those verses in the English Standard Version of the Bible, two words leapt off the page at me: “pray earnestly.” I’ve never been much of a “prayer warriors.” I know some and they are amazing to me both for their passion to pray and their endurance. Yet, the word for me was loud and clear: pray earnestly for laborers. Jesus didn’t say to the disciples “go recruit laborers.” His first priority was to pray earnestly. As fellow disciples, please join me in praying earnestly that God will raise up laborers for the harvest around the world from our internationals students at UT. Pray also that Acts 1:8 will be true for these students. Pray that the power of the Holy Spirit will enable them to be God’s witnesses to the ends of the earth.
Thank you’s
* Thanks to Kevin, Jacob, Will, Dale and Greg who came out to help us fix the structural problems with our carport.
* Thanks to God for 3 additional financial partners in the past month.
* Thanks to the Couple with Young Children class at Fellowship for their support of our ministry and of our family.
Additional Prayer Requests:
* Pray for our international friends who face challenges such as cultural adjustment, studying in a second language, homesickness, etc. Pray that they will draw near to God as they navigate through these challenges.
* We are praying for 20 additional monthly financial partners to join us this summer. Please pray that God will raise these people up to invest their resources to make an eternal impact - especially in this time of high gas prices and inflation.
* Satan does not like what we are doing. Realizing the truth of Ephesians 6:12, pray for us as we face the schemes of the enemy. Thankfully John 10:10 and 1 John 1:4 are true.