In the book, Ripken and Lewis share the compelling stories of believers who have lived through persecution for their faith.  Despite great hardship, these believers and their churches seem to thrive in a way our American church can hardly relate to.  It leads one to think Jesus really meant it when he said, “Blessed are you when you are persecuted.”  These believers see God move in ways that seem to come straight from the Book of Acts.

Our usual inclination when we hear of persecution is to resist it, to fight against it and to try to stop it.  We feel like persecution is abnormal and that we should pray that God will remove it. However, in his travels, Nik has come to the conclusion that “the primary cause of ‘religious persecution’ in the world today is people surrendering their hearts and lives to Jesus.” If he is right and that is true, it has great implications for us and our faith.  It means that our obedience to Christ to go and make disciples will lead to increased persecution. Persecution is the normal consequence of our obedience.   Could it be that those of us who experience little persecution may not be much of a threat to the enemy?  If we are not making disciples, there is no reason for the enemy to bother with us. When we put our own reputation, comfort or safety ahead of sharing Christ, we miss the purpose God has for his church.  ”Believers who do not share their faith aid and abet Satan’s ultimate goal of denying others access to Jesus.”

Maybe avoiding persecution should not be our highest goal.  ”If our goal is reducing persecution, that task is easily achieved.  First, just leave Jesus alone. Second if you do happen to find him, just keep him to yourself. Persecution stops immediately where there is no faith and here there is no witness. The reason for persecution, then, is that people keep finding Jesus – and, then, they refuse to keep Him to themselves.”

When believers are obedient and the church is growing, there is often persecution. In his travels, Ripken has learned much about the effect of persecution on devoted followers of Jesus. “I understand that one of the most accurate ways to detect and measure the activity of God is to note the amount of oppression that is present. The stronger the persecution, the more significant the spiritual vitality of the believers.”

The point is not to seek persecution for persecution’s sake or to stop working for justice in the world.  The point is to realize that Jesus meant it when he commanded us to go and make disciples.   And he told us that it  would lead to persecution.  The promise for us in that persecution is that he will be there with us.  And that is how we should pray for our brothers and sisters enduring persecution in the world today. Pray that they would remain faithful and know the presence of the Lord continually, even in their suffering.  And for ourselves, let us pray that we will be faithful witnesses. Let us be willing to share Jesus across the street and around the world, even in the “hard places”. And when that leads to opposition, as it invariably will, let us also walk in faith, knowing that as we obey, the Lord is with us, too.

All quotations from Ripken, Nik. The Insanity of God. 2013, B and H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN.

I wanted to pass along a few prayer requests for the trip.

1. The dates of the trip are May 7-15, 2013.
2. Pray for all our connecting flights.  (Lex to Chicago,  Chicago to Houston & Houston to Pt. of Spain in Trinidad)  With all of the Government cuts in air traffic control, there is some concern about making flight connections.
3. Pray for Bob Stanko, Linsay Ward and myself as we lead the team.
4. Pray that God will work in and through the girls soccer team from Asbury University on this trip.
5. Pray for me as I speak at a Leadership conference for Pastors while I’m on the Island.
6. Pray for me as I will have a heavy speaking load of preaching and teaching every day with the team.  Pray that I will teach with clarity what the Lord wants me to teach & preach.
7. Pray for my family while I’m gone. (Cheryl, Joshua, Allyson & Aaron)
8. Pray for divine appointments as we are taking Bibles with us for Bible distribution.
9. Pray for good weather so that we will be able to do the outreach and soccer camps that we have planned.
10. Pray that God will be glorified as GO and help fulfill the Great Commission.

I will be posting pictures and updates each day on Facebook if you want to keep up with our team.

Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Bert Jones

He has also had a unique opportunity, working with several companies providing leadership training for them.  As usual, the staff at GO is working hard to develop more partners as well as bringing more people on staff at GO international.  Bert is excited about connecting with the Francis Asbury Society as a covenant evangelist. The purpose of Francis Asbury Society is to spread the message of Scriptural Holiness around the world.

The Jones family has an exciting opportunity to travel to Kenya the first week in December, as Bert will be preaching at the African Gospel Church Annual Conference where they are expecting 2,000 people to be present.  Please be praying for Bert and his family as they prepare and raise the funds for this trip.

Cheryl as usual is not only keeping up with the Joneses but also making sure that the Joneses keep going to where they are scheduled. She is enjoying her job at The Early Learning Village as kindergarten instructional assistant as well as her new position as an interventional teacher.   She is thankful for a year without anyone graduating as that will change next year when Josh will graduate from Asbury University.  Cheryl is looking forward to the summer and is hoping to participate in the Erie City Rescue Missions’ Art and Sports camp in July as well as traveling with Bert to some of the camp meetings.  Please be praying for Cheryl as she juggles being a mother to 3 very active kids and the wife of an evangelist as well as working at The Early Learning Village and keeping her family happy and healthy.

Josh is finishing up his junior year at Asbury and has some exciting activities ahead.  His major is media communications, with an emphasis in audio.  Josh has enjoyed hosting a radio program this year on Thursday nights on WACW, the official Asbury Radio station.  They had quite a following to their weekly call in radio show that aired on the Internet each week.  He recently had an amazing opportunity to participate with a friend on a movie in which he was the sound designer.   This film was accepted into The Highbridge Film Festival, which is a very high honor for an Asbury student.  It was on a “media comm. high” for him to see his name at the end credits of the film.  Josh is also waiting to hear if he was chosen to work at the Winter Olympics in Russia next year.  Asbury students are the only students invited to participate for this honor.  Josh being a senior next year has a very good chance and will hear the verdict this summer.  He is also gearing up for an internship in Nashville next semester where he will expand and perfect his passion in audio.  As for the summer he is hoping to find a job to get some cash for all of the awesome things he has in planned.  Be praying for Josh in this season in his life as he participates in these opportunities and begins to think about what comes after graduating.

Allyson is just completing her freshman year at Ohio Christian University, and she has really enjoyed her experience at OCU.  She worked in the Admissions office on campus and really loved meeting and welcoming new students as they came on campus.    Allyson recently participated on the mission trip to Trinidad and was thrilled that she got to experience the trip with her dad, brother, and cousin.  Not only was her time in Trinidad amazing, but also during that trip God reaffirmed her calling to be a teacher and work with children.  Allyson is studying early childhood education, hoping to teach overseas after she graduates.   In Trinidad she taught all of the lessons each day during Bible school to the children.  She absolutely loved this opportunity.  Allyson has some fun events coming her way this summer, as she will be traveling with a group of OCU students ministering in different churches and camp meetings.  She will also serve as an intern at Erie Rescue Mission in June and July.  She will return to OCU in the fall for her sophomore year, where she will be a small group leader for some of the girls on her hall. Be praying for Allyson as she continues her college career and pursues God’s will for her life.

Aaron is finishing up his freshman year at BUAC and is “studying like a boss,” for finals.  He is ready for summer so he can have some chill time.  Next week, Aaron will participate in his first school musical production called “West Side Story.”  He is planning on going to a lot of concerts and participating in the mission trip with the Erie City Rescue Mission with his mom and sister.  In June he will turn 15 and is excited that he will be that much closer to getting his driver’s permit.  Aaron continues to get taller and has set his sight on being the tallest member of the Jones family.  He has already passed Josh, Allyson and Cheryl in height and is running in second place to his dad.  Aaron loves to read and will be spending most of his summer in the pool or with a book in his hand.  Be praying for Aaron as he has his summer adventures and as he continues his high school years in the fall.

Thank you for your faithful prayers, interest and support for our family as we minister through GO InterNational.  We are blessed to have wonderful people just like you standing beside us as we help people develop and pursue their passion for fulfilling the Great Commission.  If you would be interesting in scheduling Bert to come speak at your church, please email him at ceo@gointernational.org or call the GO office at 859-858-3171.

God bless

The Jones Family

Thanks

Bert

I’ll be teaching lesson 14 this Sunday on the campus of University of Kentucky.  The lesson is on Church Planting and reaching the Peoples of the world.  This is the 3rd lesson that I have taught in the Perspectives Course.   I also teach lesson #4 and Lesson #15 in the course.  If you are hosting a perspectives course in your area and need a speaker on one of these areas– email me at ceo@gointernational.org

Pray for our time from 2:00p.m. to 5:00p.m. this Sunday with the students at the University of Kentucky.

Thanks

Bert

When I got to thinking about the prospect of telling stories, I had a profound thought:  Jesus loved to tell stories.  Anytime He could, he would share a parable with people that taught them of God’s love.  To this day, Jesus is still the best storyteller, touching people’s lives with stories He told 2,000 years ago.

As Christians, we are supposed to model our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Master Storyteller.  You might think that you don’t have a story to tell, but you do.  Everyone has a story, that Jesus himself is writing.  Let Him hold the pen and write the pages of your story.  There will be times you’ll want to erase a part of your story or there might be twists and turns you never expected and you just don’t know what the next chapter should be.  When that happens all you need to do is look to Jesus, The Greatest Storyteller of all.

God Bless,

Whitney