Reflections on the 10/40 Window

REFLECTIONS ON THE 10/40 WINDOW

“His mercies are new every morning,” the Bible says.  God’s mercies are new to those whose eyes have been opened by God through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

I cannot help but relate the thought with the 10/40 Window because as I ponder upon the blessedness of entrusting my life to Christ, I am saddened by the fact that there are still people who do have free access to the Word, whose light is still darkness, and to whom the window of the Gospel is still closed.

Centuries have passed after Matthew 28:19, so I ask:  “What have been Christians doing all these time?” But then, I realized my question reveals the very reason why there are still people who are in the dark about the Gospel, and it is a problem about attitude:  it is safer to make “someone else” do the going forth — loving our lost fellowmen have become difficult what with the risks involved in trying to reach out to them.  Yet, Jesus’ command remains:  GO.

Looking at the 10/40 window again, I imagine a dark shroud of suffering, pain and hunger over the people residing in the countries included.  One Christian blogger[1] observed, “What if we could hear God’s heartbeat for the nations? What if we strategically and intentionally reached out to the world’s remaining unreached people groups?” What if we ate less and gave more? What if we gave up one fast-food meal per week and invested that money in reaching the unreached in the 10/40 Window? What if you responded to God’s call to pray and go to one of the mega-cities in the 10/40 Window? What if you offered your vocational expertise to serve the interests of God’s kingdom in the 10/40 Window? What if we learned to better articulate our biblical worldview? What if we truly understood the significance of Christ’s exclusive claims? What if we sent out more short-term mission teams to the world’s hard places? What if we weighted our missions giving in favor of those still waiting to hear?” Very potent questions!

“The 10/40 Window is a term coined by Christian missionary strategist Luis Bush in 1990 to refer those regions of the eastern hemisphere located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator, a general area that in 1990 was purported to have the highest level of socioeconomic challenges and least access to the Christian message and Christian resources  on the planet.”[2] “This geographical region stretches from North Africa all the way to East Asia and is home to the world’s least reached people groups. 97% of the world’s remaining unreached people groups are located in the 10/40 Window. Also called the “resistance belt” the 10/40 Window “remains the darkest and most inhospitable territory to the cause of Christ and represents the greatest remaining stronghold of Satan.”[3]

There is a need to win unreached peoples for Christ, and thankfully, our God is unlimited and He is greater than he that is in the world!  For this purpose I would personally prefer to call the resistance belt a perseverance belt, a territory that is hungry for self-less servants who believe in an unlimited God, and are willing to persevere and put Jesus’ mission to ultimate fruition.  It is indeed a tall order, but as Jesus’ disciples, we need to obey and go.

 

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[1]  Omar C. Garcia, Kingsland Pastors Blog – “The 10/40 Window”. Link:  http://kingslandblog.org/2009/06/29/the-1040-window/

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10/40_Window

[3] Omar C. Garcia, supra.

CCP launches 35th issue of Ani publication

CCP launches 35th issue of Ani publication 11 November 2009, Pasay City – The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Literary Arts Division will launch Ani 35, The Pinoy as Asian issue, on November 26, 2009, 6:00 p.m., at the CCP Ramp with some of the featured authors reading from their works. “Ani 35 is devoted to writings by Filipinos on their interaction with other Asian peoples and cultures. This may be interpreted as a response to the call of Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, National Artist, on the need to reconnect with Southeast Asian literary tradition if we are to survive in this age of globalization,” Herminio S. Beltran, Jr., Literary Arts Division chief and editor of the publication, wrote in the Introduction. “We hope this will inspire the birthing of mechanisms and eventually practices in the Philippine literary/publishing world that will start off a more dynamic interaction among Filipino writers and their counterparts in the Asian continent,” Beltran continued. Ani 35 features 54 authors who contributed for three sections: poetry; prose (essay and fiction) based on the The Pinoy as Asian theme and; Malayang Haraya for poetry and prose contributions outside the theme. The 54 authors included in Ani 35 are Mark Angeles, Lilia F. Antonio, G. Mae Aquino, Genevieve L. Asenjo, Abdon M. Balde, Jr., Janet Tauro Batuigas, Gil Beltran, Herminio S. Beltran, Jr., Kristoffer Berse, Jaime Jesus Borlagdan, Raymond Calbay, Catherine Candano, Nonon V. Carandang, Christoffer Mitch Cerda, Joey Stephanie Chua, Kristian S. Cordero, Genaro R. Gojo Cruz, Carlomar Arcangel Daoana, Arvin Tiong Ello, Dennis Espada, Rogerick Fontanilla Fernandez, Reparado Galos III, Dr. Luis Gatmaitan, Joscephine Gomez, Malou Jacob, Ferdinand Pisigan Jarin, Karla Javier, Phillip Kimpo, Jr., Ed Nelson R. Labao, Gexter Ocampo Lacambra, Erwin C. Lareza, Jeffrey A. Lubang, Glenn Sevilla Mas, Perry C. Mangilaya, Noahlyn Maranan, Francisco Arias Monteseña, Ruth V. Mostrales, Victor Emmanuel Nadera, Jose Velando Ogatis-I, Wilhelmina S. Orozco, H. Francisco V. Peñones, Jr., Scott Magkachi Sabóy, Judith Balares Salamat, Edgar Calabia Samar, Louie Jon A. Sanchez, Soliman Agulto Santos, Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Rakki E. Sison-Buban, Jason Tabinas, Vincent Lester G. Tan, Dolores R. Taylan, Rosario Torres-Yu, Betty Uy-Regala, and Camilo M. Villanueva, Jr. For issues of Ani, please contact the CCP Marketing Department at 551-7930 or 832-11-25 locals 1800 to 1808. For authors who want to contribute for the next issue of Ani, please contact the CCP Literary Arts Division at 832-11-25 locals 1706 and 1707, or email aniyearbook@yahoo.com.

Life is Delicious

 

It’s a new day, a typical new day with old woes.  But what’s nice with the dawning of a new day is the promise that comes with it.  So I tell myself:  “Keep the faith, the old bag of jokes that always worked, just in case, and hold on to things that matter.” 

I expect a day filled with paperwork, research,  a stiff neck and tired fingers typing, but I’ll be playing Chris Christian’s songs in the background, or Avalon’s and my day will be filled with work and music and my life will be less dreary.

I’ll be thinking about the holiday that I will spend hanging out with my siblings in Baguio, but even where I would be all day, I will smell the scent of pine trees as I ascend the Kennon Road of my childhood (even though in reality it would just be a mount of documents).

At the end of the day, I would thank God that I made it alive to the mountain of evening where the sun will be earliest felt come the next day.  Perhaps I’d go to the mall with my sister and meet with our parmigiana de sbarro,  or perhaps, meet with him.  Either or neither of the two will do.

Life is delicious.

 

october 13, 2009

The Fruit That Never Came To Be

The Fruit That Never Came To Be

You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain so that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you. John 15:16

During worship time, John whispered to me, “I’ll give you a flower later”, but I shushed him. It was a warm day as usual at church. We don’t have enough stand fans, and the small chapel will benefit from a ceiling.  It is hard to concentrate on a very warm day. I picked up the Book and read from 1 Thessalonians 5:19. It said: Quench not the spirit.

After the service, John handed me a bud; it was small, but its yellow was bright and lively — I thanked him with a smile. He apologized that it was too small. And then it dawned upon me that the flower could have been a pomelo in a few weeks, but it was nipped in the bud by an excited boy who wanted to give me something he knows will bring a smile to my face. I may have spoken of several illustrations to explain 1 Thessalonians 5:19, but John taught me a very basic thing that I may have missed.

God wants us to be attentive to the Holy Spirit so that its fruits will continue to grow and multiply in our lives. Poor spiritual nutrition will lead to spiritual death. Shushing the Holy Spirit when It speaks to us makes it sad. What a terrible day it is when we no longer hear its voice! The buds of grace growing in our lives need constant nurture by the word of God, good works and fellowshipping with believers. They are strengthened by prayer and recharged by fasting. They become better when we disciple others. No matter how puny we may think they are, we must guard the gifts/fruits of the Spirit in us, use them for His purposes, and give all of the honor and the glory to the One who makes them grow.

In the same way that John’s excitement destroyed the future of that flower, sometimes, we nip in the bud the fruits of the Spirit by disobedience — the reign of human nature again in our lives. While we may be output oriented, God is more interested in the process that leads to the output. He may not be as excited about what will be accomplished, but what the struggle of trying to suffer for righteousness’ sake will accomplish in us.

And so, because of this basic difference between how God thinks and how we think, there are many fruits that die as flowers — they never come to be simply because the difficulties which often results from following God’s commands have become too much to bear. There is a problem when we fail to see the sun of blessing beyond the cloud of trial to claim the reward of a Christlike character, that which overcomes and never yields to our enemy’s devices to steal eternal life from us. It’s nice to look at flowers — but they do wilt as they are. Jesus’ command is that we should bear fruits, and that our fruits should remain (John 15:16).

 

August 16, 2009

After the flood

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20091017-230494/After-the-flood

September 28, 2009

1 Peter 1:6

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

I’m too blessed to feel down, and my love for Him is being renewed day by day because of the trials that come to strengthen me.

Grace…

O momentary grace of mortal men,
Which we more hunt for than the
 grace of God.

                                            -  Shakespeare, Richard III

My Reward

Jesus, the Shepherd of my Soul, and He inspires me to sing…

my reward 

My if-onlys are taken care of by Grace.

My what-ifs are taken care of by Faith.

My neither-here-nor-therenesses find themselves in His plan —

I am safe in the hollow of His hand.

 

There is no fear when the storms bombard,

for my castle is not built on sinking sand.

My hope is built on stable land —

His love is my reward.

 

ruth mostrales

24 July 2009

Forsaking All…

(for He knows better than i)

There are a few things in life that are absolute, and may I propose one which I hold dearly and close to my heart.  In fact, it defines my existence and territory as a human being.  I say with conviction in my heart that in my life, the word of God is absolute, for it is Jesus himself.[1]

 

I don’t exactly recall how in the world I have begun to think this way, but there had been moments when in immense hurt I looked to the Word for inspiration and I was saved from despair.  The Word of God is real, and it breathes life to me.  So whenever my faith is under attack, I submit to the Word’s authority in my life.  I find comfort in its promises that I am not alone, and the battle is not mine.  It is my weapon[2] and by it, I acquire the gift of discernment.  Set against the word of God, the motives behind my actions and other people’s arguments are given light, because His word is light and it gives understanding.[3]  Some people may reject the message outright, but I do not put them down.  I believe that God is not finished with them, yet.  On another occasion, if perhaps I have not received Christ in my life, I may be liable to do the same.  I remember a time when I myself mouthed the sentiments of an unbeliever, hating people who tried to share the word of God to me, and I remember now that I tried to avoid them for acting like know-it-alls.  It is my awareness of my sinful nature that moves me to respond to them in love, and not in hate when I recall the history of sin.  Now, I thank God for His grace and mercy, for without them, I would still be lost and not found.  I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for by it heaven had been assured for me.  While I go around living my life here and now, I am secure that my residence is a place a hundred steps up from this world — in that land where I’ll see Jesus face to face, where we’ll never grow old, where tears will no longer fall, where friends will no longer have to say goodbye…

 

I say that goodbyes are temporary for people who love God, because wherever they are at this point in time, they will eventually live together in the place prepared for them.  I say that goodbyes are forever between two people, one, a believer, and the other, a rejecter of Jesus’ love.  I believe I have said goodbye, a temporary one, to someone I have learned to love because I needed to stand up for Jesus. I say temporary because I know, God will deal with him, very soon. 

 

Tears fell because I said goodbye.  Those tears taught me that it must be love I was already feeling for the person, and in my heart, I know, I stubbornly went ahead while the light was red.  I was deceived by a deceiver, my heart, and I delighted in a feeling that was incongruous with my relationship with God.  There were times when my focus was his smile, and not his character; the touch of his hand, and not his person, his beautiful mind, and not his faith  — all because I felt love justified all these.  Though I knew he was questioning the very basic foundation of what I hold most dear, I closed my eyes to this fact and tried to believe that I eventually, will be able to change him, or that for my sake, he will be just like me.

 

Yet, that was the most selfish thing to do to a person — even if our motives seem good, and even if I know that God wants people to turn to Him — God wants people to love Him out of the freedom that has been given them.  That is true love, God’s unselfish love!  I knew I would crush him if I imposed myself on him.  Or, if I compromised my faith just to accommodate him in my life, God will be displaced and I will fail my Savior. I stopped on my tracks.  I made a decision to turn back and determine that spot where I started to leave the narrow way. 

 

It was most difficult because I know I loved him already, and I’m sure he had felt that.  I don’t want him to fall in love with me because I know, loving him in the first place was not for the best, for both of us.  If I remained a friend to him and did not fall in love, there would be no struggle so strong on his and my part, for then, we could easily be tolerant of each other’s beliefs, but since my emotions got in the way, I had to do something.  As a result, there was a total severance that is now causing me pain.

 

The time I started to think of him romantically and not merely as a friend and brother, I jeopardized my faith.  Eventually, another “Goodbye” was spoken, and a promise of forever broken.

 

I can never live without God in my life, and having submitted to my calling, I cannot look back on things that will destroy my testimony.  God is counting on me — I couldn’t fail Him now…

 

I’ve tried to win him for the Lord, but his response had been uniform — he cannot accept the authority of the Word of God over others that resulted from worldly wisdom.  That was a red light, and I stepped on the brakes.  I didn’t go forward because I didn’t want both of us to face the dire consequences of my disobedience, for though God’s message for him may not be as clear, His instruction to me is categorical!  What must I do but to obey!  I do not want him to share a trip to Tarshish with a disobedient Jonah like me, where both of us could suffer.   

 

Now, I accept his decision to hate me.  But I am still praying that one day, soon, he will come to realize the wisdom behind my decision — when he already accepts Jesus in his life. 

 

I love him, still, and I will continue to love him more now as a brother, this time, unconditionally by continuing to pray for him, though we can no longer be with each other, and enjoy each other’s physical company just like before.  Billy Graham once said: “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons — but they are helpless against our prayers.”  Thanks, Billy, that I will most certainly do.

 

I am hurting, too, but I don’t want to focus on my pain, and I don’t think he should, too, because, as I said, he has admirable qualities that easily attract friends.  I pray that there would be people who would be with him as our drifting apart causes a void in himself, if it happens that way.  May he find strength and love in his family, and may his friends give him the comfort that he needs.  I pray that this experience gives him a new opportunity to grow as a person, and may each day greet him with the promise of a future filled with love and success.  Above all, I pray that his doubts will be answered by God, and soon, like Thomas, he will shout for joy.

 

Since life here is but for a moment, I wouldn’t trade heaven with the things of this temporal world.  I’ve said goodbye to my temporal feelings not because of his beliefs, and I have not said goodbye just to hurt him.  Though my decision may have a direct impact upon him, my main consideration is God’s desire that His children must not yoke with unbelievers.  Other than his dissimilar religious beliefs, I regard him highly which explains the love that sprouted and grew in my heart.  But I hope that one day, he will realize that above myself, above him, and above all — everything in me: my desires, my dreams, my ambitions, even the person I hold dear, must submit to God’s plan.  I do not want to say goodbye, but it was something that I had to do and endure and learn to accept as a necessary consequence of my decision to dedicate my life to the Lord.

 

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[1] John 1:1

[2] Hebrews 4:12

[3] Psalm 119:130

Food For Ruth’s Soul Today

Today, June 3, 2009

 

16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Daniel 3:16-18

 

 I just so wish I could follow my heart, that I would not have any other concern than to spread my wings and fly to the promise land of my dreams, that I did not have to parry other people’s expectations, or if need be, that I’d be on top of them. If in this world I cannot be, and in this day and age remain languid and docile, without neither power nor fervor, my prayer is this: Haste the day, and as the days proceed — let it be well with my soul!

 

I just so wish I had the stamina to fight all the injustices in this world, and at every opportunity, the fiber to stand up for truth and justice — but at the outset, I find it a worthless affair if I do not return to myself. Who am I? Am I living true to God’s expectation of me? When Jesus invites me to “Come and suffer” — do I answer to the call? Or, have I committed to follow my master but take the lead? His footsteps — how often they lead me to difficulty and ridicule and hunger, both in mind and in spirit, which leave me more often than not, grumbling. I desire more, perhaps more than what He sees as my need. Am I doing things the way Jesus would do if he were here, where I am now? Would he have said no to the needy? Would he have hurt that man’s feelings? Would he have spoken ill of that person? Would he have said no to an opportunity to love others? Would he have…?

 

I’m praying, and while I do, I hold on to His promises. I hold on to Him alone, for He has never failed me yet. I will continue to struggle, put His teachings to the test, believe they are practicable even now, and do as He commanded: To love Him above all and to love my fellowman above myself. And should it ever come to a point that following Him will lead me to utter disappointment, suffering, alienation, even death — I will take His answer to Peter, “What is that to thee? Follow me…” It will take a lot of dependence to say what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said to King Nebuchadnezzar, but acquiring that much faith is in my life plan, until faith becomes sight, very soon.

 

i love you Jesus…

 

Ruth Mostrales