"We all have darkness in our hearts"

For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Rom 2:14-16)

Why is it wrong to steal, lie, murder or the many other things we know are bad? Why do we have the innate knowledge of these things? Yes, of course, our parents (should) teach us these things but where do they come from? This is a very important question because as we share the Good News of Jesus, a major part of the “good” is that our sins can be forgiven. Ok, what is sin? Well, just the things I mentioned, those things that are wrong, and we know it. They are wrong because the offend God and His nature. This is the reason Jesus died on the cross, to pay the penalty for our sins. To truly understand the grace we have been given through Jesus, we have to understand that we have broken God’s laws and need forgiveness. Romans 2:15 tells us that God has written His law on our hearts, and when we do something that we know is not right…we get that little feeling inside that tells us this isn’t right. Ok, ok, enough of that, get on with the story.
Well, it was another hot, sunny and humid day as we approached an unreached village. Our presence in the village drew a large crowd right off the bat and we spread good seed while handing out many Bibles in their language. There seemed to be a potential here in the village but the doors weren’t quite open yet. As we walked deeper into the village, an older lady was sitting on a bench along the path, and she loudly slapped the wood and said sit down. “I want to hear why you are here.” She was an animated and boisterous woman who commanded the villagers’ attention. Two of the ladies in our group jumped at the chance to sit and share. The first shared her personal story and the other began to tell about Jesus. Now remember, this village is unreached, having never heard of Jesus or what sin is. As the story unfolded and the North American shared the “problem” that separates us from God, she brought up sin and what it meant. You could see this usually smiley and loud lady process the words she had just heard. As these words sank in she said, “Oh yes, everyone has darkness in their heart.” Exactly, because God had written His law upon her heart! Knowing her sin and the need for forgiveness she intently listened to the remainder of the story then in front of everyone confessed with her mouth that Jesus was Lord and her Savior. Amen. As that happened the key to that village was unlocked. We refer to what Jesus called the “person of peace” in Luke 10:1-6 as we instruct teams to pray before entering villages. The lady was open to the Gospel, had a reputation in the village, had a circle of influence and was helpful to open doors in the community. Once this woman came to Jesus, doors and hearts were open throughout the village resulting in many coming to Christ.
So, even in the remotest villages in the far corners of the world, over bumpy and dirty roads, down narrow paths, hearts are being prepared, fields are being plowed. They are ready to hear about the saving grace of Jesus. Will you go?



For more on the work God is doing in and through us check out http://www.jessenfamily.info/.

"I want to follow Jesus"

The state of Assam in northeast India is rural, humid and hot. Just as the weather climate is hot, so are the political and spiritual climates. Many different people groups are all vigorously fighting for their own rule and their own state. Deadly battles with police are daily occurrences. Persecution among the believers is also a large problem with converts from Islam and Hinduism being beaten or kicked out of their villages. But even in the midst of these tremulous times God is on the move in Assam.

In late July the team we took to India was focusing on reaching out into villages to share the Gospel of Christ. Many people had never heard of Jesus and were excited to hear of a God who came down to earth to save them. In one Muslim village a team member told the true story of Christ to a small crowd and while no one publically responded, in the crowd was a young man that felt God touch his heart. We’ll call him “David”.
Several months earlier another man in that same village had accepted Christ and had not hidden it from the villagers. “Jake” was a restaurant owner in the village and persecution had already begun through people no longer visiting his business. He remained strong in the faith as the only village believer. Knowing “Jake” was a believer; “David” visited him to seek counsel on how to respond to the Good News he had heard. They prayed together and decided to find the local pastor and North American team the next day.
After an exciting morning out in the villages we gathered as a team for lunch. Upon arriving I was informed that two men had walked five miles to find us and the pastor was speaking with them. After being brought up to speed I spent the next hour talking, discipling and praying with the men. What a special time as we discussed God’s faithfulness, our security in Christ and that He’d always be with us. As we concluded the time the pastor said he would follow-up with them in a couple days and they’d discuss baptism. Curious to know more, “David” asked how that works. After hearing he said, “I have made up my mind, I want to follow Jesus. I’d like to be baptized today!” Wow! How exciting….and actually a little bittersweet. In America when someone wants to be baptized to show obedience to Christ, it is an exciting time. Family and friends gather to celebrate the event. In persecuted countries like India, it is a celebration but at the same time it makes a HUGE statement. Once you are baptized that is the point of no return. Family will disown you, friends may beat you, neighbors will run you out of your home, jobs are lost, all they know can change. For what? For obedience to their Savior.
Now we Americans don’t really know how to process that, we are free to make choices and have rights and we’ve put those rights into our American Christianity so we can feel safe and comfortable. But the Bible never promised those things. This type of persecution is no surprise to Jesus. The Bible tells us that we will be persecuted, families will be divided, and we will be hated for His namesake. Are we willing to give up everything to follow Jesus? “David” knew all this and was ready to follow Christ no matter the cost.
We hopped in the vehicles and went to a local school where there was a concrete cistern. We used buckets from the local well to fill up the make-shift baptismal one gallon at a time. We climbed in as excitement built and after a few words I baptized my brother “David”. What a privilege to share the celebration and symbolism of new birth and then to challenge the local pastor and his friend “Jake” to help “David” become a disciple of Jesus, teaching him to obey the commands of Christ.
Throughout the rest of the week I was able to see and pray with these men several more times. As you can imagine their determined faces are etched in my mind and I continue to pray for them regularly. As I was leaving I told them that the Bible tells us we are a part of a family, the family of God. And if in God’s will we never see each other again on earth, we will rejoice the day we meet again in Heaven. What a cool day that will be.
Got a note from the local pastor just yesterday saying “Jake” now hosts a prayer and worship time in his small hut. “David” and “Jake’s” daughter also attend. Please pray for this small church that it would develop deep roots and change the entire village for Christ.

For more on our work check out www.jessenfamily.info.

Working with unreached people in Asia

For the past four years Jenni and I have been praying for a work among an unreached people group (UPG) and the Lord answered those prayers this past month. After many months of prayer, training and planning a team of 10 set out for East Asia (Feel free to email me for the specific country if you don’t know, but for security reasons we just use East Asia). The “Catamount” are an unreached people group living in remote mountain villages. There are just over 100,000 registered in the minority group and there are currently only around 80 known believers. The “Catamount” have combined Buddhism, ancestor worship and animism into their primary form of worship. As part of a strategy of “Meeting needs and Sharing Christ” our team took on several project in the villages.

Water project
The local school had a water cistern that had a sagging top with no access to the water and a drain that was 12 inches above the bottom not allowing the cistern to be cleaned out which led to stale and stagnant water. Our team worked to remove the old top, pour concrete for a new top and filled in the bottom with a foot of concrete to allow for proper drainage. This opportunity led to sharing with a lead teacher and a couple students but also spread news of goodwill to every home.

Greenhouse project
Due to the high elevation of the village, during the winter time vegetables are hard to grow. The use of a greenhouse allows for families to produce fresh food to supplement their regular diet of pig fat or to sell the products at market for income. The team built two greenhouses. One was built for a crippled man and another for an elderly woman and her daughter. Both raised the profile of our meeting the needs in the village and provided opportunities to share with the new owners and their families.

Eye Glasses
Two teams took reading glasses and went home to home asking if there was any one who needed glasses. If so, they would give them the appropriate strength of reading glasses, then stay in the home to visit. Many times even if no one needed glasses they were still invited into the home. This approach also made for a very natural follow up visit about their previous conversations and glasses.

One of our contacts on the field was a Journeyman who had been working in this village for the past three years. She said that she had never seen this village so open. In the past, once a conversation moved to the things of God they either got up and left or changed the topic. Through prayer and our awesome Savior who desires this UPG to be reached, 95 people heard the story of Jesus Christ. 24 times our team returned to homes to follow up of those gospel presentations and go deeper.

Since I’ve been home the Lord has reminded me of Romans 10:13-15,17
For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!""...So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. "
Please join us in praying for the “Catamount” people and maybe the Lord is calling you to Go and tell.

Pastors conference in Peru

In May KJ had the privilege to travel to Peru to teach a Leadership Development conference. During this time 9 pastors and their congregations were taught a Biblical model for prayer, evangelism, making disciples, gathering new believers, developing leaders and multiplying. After the two day conference each pastor responded to the challenge to spend the next two months praying, preparing and planning to start a new church in an area that currently doesn’t have one. A team of North Americans will arrive in late July to walk side-by-side with these Peruvian brothers and sisters to walk the streets, visit homes and share the Good News. Please pray for the harvest in Peru and for these pastors as they lead in their area to make disciples.

Humbly serving our Lord in Thailand

What drew us to e3 Partners was the focus on training nationals, establishing churches and connections to opportunities in unreached areas. Since joining e3 God has graciously continued to grow us, teach us and give us experience on the field in these areas. Immediately upon getting involved, I felt called to the unreached people in Asia but didn’t have a specific people group in mind, however during times of prayer and meditation Thailand kept coming up. In sitting in on the Asia group discussions at the 2009 E3 World Conference, someone suggested that I read Back to Jerusalem (afterword referred to as B2J). Immediately the B2J vision resonated with Jenni and me. Last year the Lord began to put a call on my heart for a longer term stay in Asia and after we returned from 3 months in South America last summer I felt more and more drawn to Chiang Mai, Thailand but for no specific reason. My faithful and loving wife was not prepared to discuss such an assignment so since then I’ve prayed that God would either prepare her heart or remove this burden from mine. Three weeks ago during a trip to China, the Lord did a work on my wife’s heart and she knew that He was confirming this monumental step for our family. With fear and trembling, we prayed and awaited further direction.

The Connection
Two months ago I was, at last minute, pulled into a meeting in Colorado Springs with a Chinese pastor who I had heard of before. His church in East Asia has grown to approximately 20 million members today. This pastor has been imprisoned for years at a time on several occasions, tortured and slandered more than any other Christian leader in China, yet he remains a faithful and humble man of God.
During the meeting, this pastor laid out the vision of B2J and the importance of training Chinese missionaries and developing leaders. He shared of his vision of a project in Chiang Mai, Thailand. My heart jumped as he explained that they were working to develop a training center to train B2J field missionaries who would be sent along the southern Silk Road. When asked, I shared who e3 Partners were and what our mission was. This pastor was immediately interested as he had often trained on the same things that e3 emphasizes. Several weeks later, after reviewing the e3 materials he mentioned he really liked our training material. Upon returning home from a recent trip to East Asia, this pastor contacted us and asked to meet regarding an urgent matter.

The Project
Wednesday, April 7, 2010, Jenni and I met with our Chinese brother and his translator. The pastor shared in more detail his plans for training missionaries outside China including the project in Chiang Mai. His goal is to develop a training center there that would begin with training 20 missionaries, for 3 months, 3 times a year. His ultimate goal is to continue to create these training centers along the Silk Road until 100 to 200,000 Chinese missionaries have been trained and are on their way back to Jerusalem. He asked us if we’d be able to help. We, in return, shared how the Lord has been preparing our hearts. We rejoiced and prayed that God would continue to guide us in next steps.

The Proposal
Jenni and I have been assigned by e3 Partners to partner with Back to Jerusalem for two years in Chiang Mai, Thailand with the following goals in mind:
* Help to develop B2J missionary training
* We would teach various courses
* Coordinate other teachers in various topics
*Assign and/or lead B2J missionaries in on the job training (i.e. short term mission trips) to the Chinese refuges in northern Thailand with the goal of establishing churches and raising up more workers to be trained
* Help to develop a training center prototype that could be reproduced by national leaders along the Silk Road
* Be available to receive short-term mission teams in Thailand and other East/Southeast Asian countries

Summary
If you are like ourselves you may be asking, why the Jessens? That has continued to run through our minds many times over the past few weeks. As we have confronted this question and our own inadequacies with tears and prayer, the only thing in which we can boast is in our weakness. We don’t have the most experience, we are not the best teachers or trainers, we are not the best missionaries. But we are willing. We are willing to give God our small offering of loaves and fish and wait to watch Him do great things. What we do know is that Jenni is a prayer warrior. I have the gift of administration. We are faithful and obedient and feel God is leading our family in this direction and look forward to seeing God use our inadequacies for His opportunities. We are excited to be involved in laying the foundation for equipping national missionaries to reach the lost between China and Jerusalem and be a part of Christ establishing His church for His fame and glory.

For His Glory, The Jessens

How can we help you get to Thailand?
We are so glad you asked!

We need prayer as there is lots to do to move the other side of the world. Prayer for unity and collaboration in developing a training center. For health and protection for our family. To be on our newsletter/prayer list you can email join-jessen-ministry-partners@lyris.e3partners.org to receive our updates.

Would you be willing to pray about a one-time gift to help us get to the field in Thailand?

God has so clearly led throughout this process, with things dramatically falling into place on after another. We have no doubt that He has arranged for the necessary funds to be provided as well. If God is putting into your heart giving toward our transition to Thailand, for setting up a home, training, a new laptop, supplies and other necessities, then feel free to head on over to www.e3partners.org/jessen-support to find out how to partner with us on this amazing journey.