Sunday, April 26, 2009

Faith of our Fathers


When we became missionaries, we were disinherited by our family. We had no money. We often had to go hungry. I have seen my oldest son faint several times because we did not have food to give him. My second child became mentally challenged because of hunger and our inability to meet her medical needs. It was difficult for me to go without food for days but it was much harder for me to see my children starving. It was hard for me to wear torn clothes as a missionary, but it was harder to watch my children shiver in cold winters. It was shameful for us when we were made fun of because of our faith, but it was much harder to see our children being treated as untouchables because of our decision to follow Jesus Christ. It was hard to live in fear of being raped or killed, but it was harder to see our children living through persecution and harassment. However, even during our hardest moments we always found strength in knowing that our God is faithful. In fact, one of the hymns I learnt much earlier in my Christian walk and was a tremendous source of strength to me was,
“Faith of our fathers, living still,

In spite of dungeon, fire and sword;
O how our hearts beat high with joy

Whenever we hear that glorious Word!

Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death.”


He had called us to serve Him. We were and are committed to worship Him through obedience, even if that meant having to lay down our lives. Today, I want to encourage you to worship Him through obedience, total obedience.

Lilly Vargis

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Content?

Another year will be added to my life in another ten days. I am often asked if I am a satisfied man. Satisfied? No! Content? Yes.

S
everal years ago I was leading a Holy Communion Service for about 1000 IET believers in one of the north-western states of India (Punjab). As is the tradition, at the end I said, “Lord, come soon.” All of a sudden I stopped and I said, “No Lord, if possible do not come soon. Wait so that we can bring many more into your light.” 25 years later and hundreds of thousands of salvations later, I am still not satisfied. I will never be satisfied until every unreached tribe and people have a healthy, growing church planting movement. I will never be satisfied until His body will experience a continuing, dynamic revival—within and without. I will never be satisfied until I hide myself fully behind the cross. But, content? Yes! At the end of the day I have to trust in Him who forms and guides us and history. I have to be content in His grace, in His sovereignty, and in His wisdom that holds time, history and future, in His hands. I rest in Him and subject myself to His grace to find contentment in Him and through Him.

Travels and My Next Blogs

Lilly and I greet you in the sweet name of our Savior Jesus Christ who said, "Go… Preach… Teach."

I am currently traveling in the US. I do not prefer to leave India. I believe, ‘soldiers should be in the battle field.’ However, one of our values should be relationships. I have some very dear and faithful friends in the west. So, I travel to the west once in about 3 years to meet with them, be strengthened in this friendship, and to encourage them by sharing what God is doing through IET because of their friendship. This is one of those visits.


It is a great time, meeting with my friends and that of IET. I am always moved by the love of these precious friends. And, I am excited at every new friend that God brings into my life each time. I want to value these relationships as sacred. Inspite of the difficult economic times, the churches and individuals have been kind. I have experienced great love and continuing suport. And, I have seen an increased intensity of prayer for IET and the unreached. It is a joy and a privilege to have faithful friends all over the world.


In the next few weeks I am going to share with you a recent impression I had from the Lord. It was a 'spiritual formation' event directed at me. But, I want to share that with you in my next few blogs. Thank you for your friendship and prayers. I value those.