Jeff Adams

That wasn’t fair last night to say I was speechless and then not be able to tell you much of anything.  So, without compromising security, I’ll do my best to speak in some code to give you an idea of what happened today.First, read yesterday’s post to get a bit of background.

We came here to Mexico City to have a very relaxed open forum with a dozen or so Mexican pastors with whom we have worked for years. These men are mature leaders and each has influence over a sphere of others. Yesterday evening we had a great time talking freely about the challenges of expository preaching.

We woke up this morning expecting to do more of the same. That was until God interrupted our meeting and replaced our agenda. After breakfast I had asked Pastor Marco to share with us from the word. After that we had a season of prayer. Then, some of them had asked me to explain more in detail our alliance to be the friends of the Ks. We can’t post the details on the web as this is something I can only share face-to-face. So, I did just that and then also explained a bit about Project 52.

I reminded them that there are many people who have still never had the opportunity to read God’s book despite having a hunger to do so. Then I introduced my friend Roscoe who shared his desire to engage Latin American churches in helping to provide God’s book to those who are still wanting to read it.

After that I told them that I thought we would have a visit this morning from a man who is from a country where I was in August and who has had an amazing ministry of providing the father’s book to people in a certain country where they speak the language of the books we will be putting together next week. I was just beginning to share some of the stories Roscoe had told me about him and said that it takes a very special person to do what he does. In fact, I said that he must be a bit crazy to do this. Right at point he walked into the room as though on cue.

I’ll call him Melo. I immediately gave him a strong abrazo. It was as though we had known each other always. In a matter of just a few minutes Melo told the story of how the father enlisted him into this very special and dangerous occupation. He shared things with us that stretched our understanding.

It’s very hard to explain what happened next. Let me just say that the Spirit fell on us. Melo’s genuineness and humility were evident to us all. We understood that the father has gifted him in a very special way, and also that he himself is a special gift to the father’s family. Using groups of Latin Americans, over the past few years he had introduced over 60,000 books into this particular country. Some of his experiences sound as though they were taken right out of the book itself.

Latin American men do not cry easily. They did today. Pastor Marco is an invaluable balance for me. Having worked together for so many years we know each other pretty well. I am the eternal optimist and trust people to a fault. He has a basic wholesome skepticism and great discernment of people. So, it was a wonderful confirmation to me when Marco spoke up and said, “I think we ought to put everything else aside just talk about what is happening here.” We all gathered around Melo and prayed over him in a very sweet and powerful time.

Later, the men’s heads were spinning with vision and ideas. I challenged them to do the same thing we are doing next week. As Latinos, they have the chance to actually hand carry some of the books to the destination. One church nearby has ten signed up to make a trip in January. It is quite possible they will carry in their hands books that our hands will put together next week. Is that not fabulous? Who could have orchestrated this except our father himself?

As we talked, I looked across and Melo and asked him how long he would be in Mexico. He replied that he leaves tomorrow.

“Where are you headed?” I asked.

“I’m going to be in the United States.”

“Really? So, what are you doing next week?”

Melo will be with us in the conference. He is so excited. He could hardly contain himself to be able to see with his eyes what we will be doing, something he had not thought possible.

He had been so eager to meet me after Roscoe told him what we would be doing. Roscoe had asked him what was the greatest challenge he had in his work. Without hesitation he said that his biggest problem was not getting willing people or sufficient resources, but simply finding a source for the books. Roscoe said, “What would you think about a local church putting together 52,000 books in a week?”  You might imagine his response.

So, for those of you at KCBT you will be able to meet Melo next week if the father so allows. You will see the man who will carry 7000 of the books you assemble to their destination.

I am excited beyond words. Pray.

The way God works continues to fascinate me. Ever since we said we would be his loving ambassadors to the Ks, it seems that the Holy Spirit has been knitting together this amazing web of contacts and opportunities.

To those of you who have been so faithful to pray, especially during the Tuesday night prayer ministry, I am completely convinced that what is happening is a direct answer to prayer.

Marco and I flew to Mexico City today to be with a group of pastors that we have worked with for years. This is a short trip and we come home Wednesday night – right after many of you unload two trucks filled with Farsi scriptures. Good timing, huh! My good friends  Tony Vasquez and Roscoe Brewer were nearby in a couple of conferences and joined us here today.

Roscoe told me a story about a man who wants to meet me. You won’t believe this one! Unfortunately, I can’t tell you in this forum for his protection and that of others. I hope I can share some of this at some point during the Bible Conference because it is all connected. God’s providence brought Roscoe and Tony to Mexico to a specific place and brought this other man from still another country to the same place at the same time to find out they had a date with destiny. It has to do with our Project 52 and the transportation and destination of the 52,000 copies of the King’s letters that we are assembling. It has to do with a network of Latin American connections that we have been praying for and what is happening now at KCBT. It has to do with a single life that was turned upside down many years ago and has become a miracle. I hope to meet this man tomorrow or the next day. Even if I could tell you, I think I would still be speechless at the way God has brought this all together. Wish I could tell you more. Just keep praying.  Thanks.

Here are some random thoughts going through my head as I finish getting ready to fly to Mexico City early tomorrow to spend a couple of days with some pastors. These are some things I love about Sunday mornings.

• I love looking out my window on Sunday mornings and watching people as they come up the sidewalk. So many stop and then take a good long look at the construction site to see what’s changed since last week. I love watching people help other people. Many of those who pass by my window are coming from handicapped parking and seniors.
• I love talking to people about what parts of the service and/or sermon connects with them. Today in our Nehemiah study I was sharing five practices of men who have a heart to fight.,
• I love meeting people after services in the International Visitor’s Suite. Why do we call it that. Here’s a snippet from today: A wonderful Kenyan lady and her daughter were with us for the first time, introduced to me by a young couple who have visited Kenya and are anxious to go back. We talked about other Kenyans in our church. Remember TK, the Chinese American, Spanish-speaking member of our student missions council who found from a Muslim friend about the needs of Iraqi refugees being processed through a Jewish community center? She is working to set up a program for some of our families to serve as mentors for Iraqis to help them adjust to life in Kansas City and be their friends. As we were talking I heard an “hola” from a young boy who stood looking up at me.  A Salvadoran man had come in with his three young sons to introduce them to me.  As we chatted in Spanish for a moment they were amazed to hear TK jump right in to the conversation.  That’s fun.
• Also in the International Visitors Suite I have a chance to pray with people, like a young man who is burdened for some people that work with him, or a dear lady who is having surgery as part of her battle with cancer this week.
• I also have a chance to hear great stories like that of the young man who recently shared his faith during our last Fabulous Fifth Sunday. Last week he was assigned a persuasive speech for his college English class. He was led to give his speech on the reality of Jesus Christ. The morning of the speech he wrestled with fear and texted a friend who quoted back a verse that I had used this very morning about perfect love casting out fear. Emboldened, he began texting other friends to request prayer and headed out to class. When it was his turn he opened his mouth and stuff started coming out he had not even planned on saying. He shared how his best friend’s suicide had been a life-defining moment for him and transformed his life. A “holy hush” settled over the room.  The professor said that they were going to just be silent for a few minutes before the next speech so they could reflect on what they just heard. He also said that he was going to throw out grading on the curve because no one else could measure up to what they had just heard. Afterward, classmates came and hugged him and shared how what he said was exactly what they needed to hear. Wow.

Life is sweet!

We sometimes refer to ourselves as a church for all peoples. According to the Kansas City Star that wrote a front page story on us a few years back, we rank among the top 2-3% of multicultural churches in the United States.

Our students don’t think twice about someone’s ethnicity, but I’m old enough to remember a time when that was not the case. Sometimes things happen that make me smile and appreciate how God works.

Consider the following chain of events during the past 24 hours or so of life at KCBT. Our mission pastor went to meet with the pastor of a sister church ministering to Nepalese refugees here in Kansas City. Through this contact we now have a Bhutanese pastor as a student in our Bible institute that we call the Shepherds School of Ministry. To this meeting, our mission pastor Jay took with him TK, a member of our student mission council who is a Cantonese speaking Chinese young woman raised in America and who majored in Spanish in college. She is vitally interested in being a link between these two churches in reaching out to the Nepalese and helping them get established in their new home.

As a member of the student mission council, our Spanish-speaking Chinese student is also interested in our church-as-the-missionary project to befriend the B-speaking K people of the Middle East. With this in mind she was very interested when a Muslim friend of hers told her that a Jewish community center is working with a significant group of Iraqi refugees to help them assimilate into their new lives. Now, we are investigating how we might be able to help our Jewish friends mentor them to learn the ropes of living, shopping and working in Kansas City.

This type of thing happens with great frequency and sometimes we just take it for granted. It occurred to me that I really should jot some of these happenings down from time to time.

While this was going on, I was doing a “webinario” live from my office with a group of 15 pastors from Chile to Spain, sharing pastoral insights from the first chapter of Nehemiah. This evening our student mission council met in my office to continue planning for The Summit the first week of next March. Wow. God is at work.

From there I walked into the auditorium for my regular weekly commitment teaching a Bible study to folks from our Hispanic ministry representing at least a dozen different nationalities.  Over the next few days the digital podcast of this study will be downloaded by Spanish-speaking believers from Mexico to Argentina to Australia to Japan to India.

Life is sweet. God is good.

“Dad, you smell like smoke!” said my grand daughter to her father.

David, my son-in-law, had just come in from the grill, having put the finishing touches on some chicken breasts. A close sniff revealed that not only did his clothes reflect the smell of the grill, they also carried remnants of having spent his workday in the presence of some smokers.

It doesn’t take much to smell like smoke, does it? When I spend time in certain restaurants or other environments, I know that my clothes will carry the evidence of where I have been until they are cleaned.

I was sitting at my desk early this morning putting the thoughts of my sermon into mind one last time as LeeAnn walked in to deliver my microphone. This is a ritual for her or whoever is on duty any given Sunday morning, allowing me time to put on and adjust my wireless microphone before heading out to the service.

As LeeAnn was walking out the door, she suddenly turned around and said, “You know, I was reading Daniel 3 the other day and saw something I had never noticed before.”

“Yeah? What was that?” I asked.

She reminded me of how Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been thrown into the fiery furnace. Something had to be powerful enough about their deliverance from that super-heated fire to have resulted in the conversion of the most powerful man in the world at that time, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

When the king peered into the furnace he saw the three Hebrews still alive. Not only did the fire not singe a hair on their heads or burn their clothes, when they came out, they didn’t even smell like smoke.

LeeAnn said that what must have impressed the king was not just the fact that they made it through the fiery trial, but that they did not even have the smell of smoke!That would surely be an act of God!

We all go through trials, believers and non-believers. No one is particularly impressed with the fact that we have gone through a trial, but rather with the way in which we gone through it. When we endure a fiery trial and come out smokeless and full of joy, that is something that demands attention and close inspection.

I thought that was a good way to start my day and also that it was worth passing on to you.