As always, we need God's help.

The beginning of our house church movement is modest. I don't mean numerically, though. We are actually ahead of our planned growth (you'd probably need to read our strategy document to understand that statement). The numbers are modest too, of course, but what I mean has more to do with Jesus' parable of the mustard tree. Granted, our work is hardly comparable with the kingdom itself, but I see in Jesus' teaching a principle that gives me courage. By modest, I mean fragile, humble, by all accounts and appearances insignificant. As I pray for the two men who have begun following Jesus alongside us, I have to wonder what was in Jesus' heart as he prayed for his chosen ones; overeager Peter, ambitious James and John, conflicted Judas, and the rest. What dared he hope as he asked God to strengthen their hearts and open their eyes? Our discipleship process is very much modeled on Jesus' ministry. The hope is that slow but intimate and constant discipleship will produce faithful, equipped Christians. Naturally, this means that the the growth curve will stay shallow for a long while. Choosing this path causes the whole teaching section of the parable of the mustard tree (Mk. 4) to be so poignant for me.

Jesus' use of parables, often difficult to understand, raised a question: Why do it the hard way? Isn't there an easier way to communicate, a quicker way to get results, a more dynamic way to start? Imagining all the options available to Jesus, I have to assume that there was. Yet, he had to force the point. The growth of the seed depends entirely on two things, neither of which is the sower: the soil and God. Jesus quite clearly lays the burden upon the hearers first. What kind of soil are they? Then he clarifies a vital point. There is a process of growth that the sower can never hope to control. Paul, an avid student of Jesus, later took up this idea and clarified that it is God who causes growth (1 Cor. 3:3-7). And so it is that what may appear to be a modest beginning will become the biggest plant in the garden.

By prefacing church news this way, I mean to point out what I believe is at stake in the every-day. I do not live in anxiety as a seed-sower, because I know where growth comes from, and that I should never judge a seed by its size. I do find that prayers for my young brothers can be agonizing, though, because fragile things break. Even the Messiah had an 8.3% attrition rate. Even as I say that tongue in cheek, it is a thought both comforting and terrifying. Some, after receiving the message with joy, quickly wither under the scorching heat of hardship. Others grow up amidst the worries of the world, the glitter of wealth, and the hunger for more, which strangle them to death. I say with sadness that these things are no less real for any of us than God is.

Jose Luis and Emilio live in an economic reality that acts like a vice, crushing them between hardship on one side and seduction on the other. Both men work like beasts of burden because they have to and because work is the only hope the world offers of better things. Both live under constant stress and fatigue. Perhaps you can empathize. I hope, however, that you can see what is at stake. Our prayer for them is not that they merely find an easier life. Our prayer is that their faith survive and they press on to maturity in Christ, though great pressures rob their time and energy and peace.

Emilio has turned in his resignation. Though unemployment and underemployment are far higher here than in the worst of circumstances in the U.S., he is so disrespected, overworked and underpaid that the burden has become too great. I personally can't believe he's endured it this long. He does not have another job lined up, but there is a possibility. Jose Luis has been looking for another job for months. He works on a stressful and demanding quota/commission system. He wants a situation that will allow him to give more time to God and family. We cannot but support that desire.

Please pray. We know that many of you are lifting similar prayers for yourselves and your loved ones, and we join our voices to those as well. May God bless you all and grant you peace.