Got a Message

Had a neat thing happen at the Call2All Congress this past January. All the attendees were praying over a massive floor map in a prayer time led by Youth With a Mission’s founder, Loren Cunningham. At one point he asked us to stop and ask the Lord to put a specific country in our spirit – one that we had never been to but the Lord wanted us to pray for and engage.

I thought this was a neat little experiment with the Lord so said, “Okay, Lord. I have the faith you will do this. So put the country in my heart.”

Sure enough in about a minute he put an image in my mind of a place on the map, and the name of a what I thought was the country. The image I saw was a large island, and on the northern shore was a small country.

I began to eagerly walk around the South Pacific, assuming this was the right area since there are many islands. Sure enough, I found the image in my head and saw the country on the northern shore of the large island. But the name of that country was different than the name I got from the Lord.

Confused, I sat down at a break in the conference, got on the internet via my phone, and Googled this name. Then the Lord message became clear. He had given me the name of the island and shown me the image of the country on that island that He wanted me to pray for and engage.

I cannot share the name of this Muslim country even on this weblog because it is illegal to convert to Christianity. It is illegal for me to even attend a Christian service.

This country has one of the world’s 639 unengaged, unreached people groups with a population of 100,000+, which means that not only is it unreached, but no one is really trying to reach them.

In early June I will be attending the first international Call2All Congress in Hong Kong. After the conference I am going to the country the Lord gave me! I’ll spend a few days, praying, spying out the land like Caleb and Joshua once did, and meeting with some initial contacts. Pray for me – this is going to be exciting!

Don’t stoop

I was sharing at a Sunday School class this morning at an African American church that partners with NDI. One of the pastors there really has a heart for missions, but is struggling to get the congregation to embrace their responsibility to take part in fulfilling the Great Commission beyond their city.

African American churches certainly don’t hold the monopoly on this lack of mission activity. I have so often seen the philosophy of “let someone else do it.” They’d rather give a small financial gift to send someone or give for a need to be done with it rather than ask the Lord with an open heart what he would have them do.

God calls us to various roles in missions. Some are “go-ers,” some are senders, while others are intercessors. I encourage you to figure out what action the Lord would have you take in regards to missions.

There is a somewhat famous missions quote that I love: “If God calls you to be a pastor, don’t stoop to be a king.” The point is – whatever God calls you to do, make sure you do it above all else and do it with excellence. So make the pledge today:

If God calls me to be (insert your calling), I won’t stoop to be anything else.”

Prayers appreciated

Today was a big day in the life of our family’s ministry. We have begun raising my salary support from friends and family. My wife and I started to send out letters asking people to join our financial support team. Perhaps some of you reading this have gotten the letter. Please pray if the Lord would have you join us in partnership.

It truly is a family ministry for us. In addition to hopefully traveling to Trinidad together next month, we are instilling a heart for missions in our children. We pray at night for those at NDI traveling, which often includes me. We look at maps to see where the various countries are. Nathan has even started helping me get letters sealed and stamped. As they get older, we’ll continue to find ways to do more missions as a family.

We are looking to God alone as our Provider, and believe that He will use many of you to partner with us. So thank you in advance! This is no burden for us; we care about our relationship with you. We have presented the need, but don’t want you to feel awkward. If God moves you to join our financial team, that’s great. If not, our relationship with you is unchanged. Please know that. And let us know how we can pray for you!

41 T-shirts

When it became hard to shut the drawers on my dresser, I began to wonder to myself, maybe I should get rid of some clothes – expecially T-shirts. I get them as gifts or if I buy them myself, I rarely spend more than $5-$10.

To my shock and embarassment, I had 41 T-shirts!

In particular there were five white shirts I use as undergarments, seven with NDI on them to use on casual Fridays, maybe a dozen I wear when I know I’ll get dirty, four that are coach’s uniforms, and the rest are a hodgepodge of sports themes and just plain colors.

Living in the richest country the world has ever seen, I hadn’t thought twice about how many T-shirts I have. It’s an afterthought. Now, knowing this ghastly total, I am quickly deciding which to give to Goodwill, which to keep, which to throw away, and which to give to my wife for her workouts.

It’s amazing to have all this stuff I just don’t need and not give it a second’s thought. The Bible tells us our heart is where our treasure is. Apparently mine takes up two drawers in my dresser collecting dust.

Welcome!

I wanted to switch from having a website I didn’t keep up with to a blog that I did. We’ll see how that goes!

My name is Joseph Williams and I am the CEO of New Directions International, an evangelical mission organization that targets unengaged, unreached people groups (UUPGs) around the world to help reach them for Christ. This is in obedience to the Lord’s command to go and make disciples of all people groups so that the Great Commission can be fulfilled.

I will be using this blog to publish my thoughts on this and other subjects, as well as give updates from my life and ministry. Enjoy!