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Hello Friends,
I wanted to speak directly to you about what is happening in MTS land as a result of the global COVID 19 crisis.
This is the first MTS COVID 19 Situation Report.
I am planning to deliver them weekly for the foreseeable future, or more frequently if required.
Let me share a few sentences from Scripture.
Philippians 4:6 following is awesome.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard (garrison) your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”
As you know, Australia, and the world, are really stressed.
- People are panic buying because they’re afraid.
- Casual workers and sole traders are wondering if they’ll make their mortgage payments.
- The elderly and infirm are worried about getting infected with this horrible virus
- Parents are wondering whether they should or should not be sending their kids to school
- Frontline medical staff know that they face danger daily
Every podcast, news report and Facebook feed is dripping with anxiety.
How do we solve this problem?
How do people transition from anxiety to peace, from fear to contentment?
Well the antidote to anxiety is explained in Philippians 4.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Prayer is the antidote to anxiety.
If we pray, with thanksgiving to God, then he will give us a “peace” that will guard, or garrison, our hearts and minds. Garrison is a military word. His “peace” will stop us from losing heart, or losing our minds.
How comforting is that?
Prayer is the antidote to panic.
What we, at MTS, want to see is a world that presents their requests to God.
We want Australians to know that they can pray … and subsequently experience this “peace” … this tranquillity …. “that transcends all understanding”.
But the question arises, Romans 10:14-15:
“How can they (Aussies) call upon the name of the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone proclaiming to them?
And how can they proclaim unless they are sent?”
Australia needs Gospel Proclaimers, now, more than ever.
That is precisely why we at MTS will be moving forward full steam ahead over the coming months despite the many changes wrought by COVID 19.
Our Vision is:
To win the world for Christ by multiplying Gospel workers through ministry apprenticeships.
Our Mission is to:
Raise up, train and resource MTS Trainers as they multiply workers through ministry apprenticeships.
We will be going full steam ahead; we’ll just be doing most of our activities online, giving thanks to God every minute for the internet.
In fact, we anticipate that for many of our activities we run online, we may even have a wider reach.
Over the coming months we will be:
- Running 5 x MTS Info Nights using online tools like zoom
- Posting many more “Train the Trainer” resources using our online learning platform “Ministry Grid”
- Running 20 x “6 Steps to Ministry Apprenticeship” consultations online with Church Pastors/Staff Teams
- Transferring the MTS International Conference (Oct 2020) from face to face to online
- Sharing a plethora of resources that help ministries thrive online
We do not see COVID 19 as a hindrance, we see it as a God given opportunity to think about what we do from first principles and to expand the ministry e.g. we may have many more people able to attend the MTS International Conference online, than face to face.
Friends, the words of Philippians 4 are incredibly comforting.
Perhaps we’ve forgotten how amazing they are because we’ve heard them before.
But millions of Australians do not know that prayer in the name of Christ Jesus is the antidote to anxiety, because millions of Australians have never read Philippians.
Australia (& the nations) need Gospel workers now, more than ever.
Please pray that MTS will diligently and fearlessly multiply Gospel workers through ministry apprenticeships during this COVID 19 season of change.
So, that many, many people will experience this “peace that transcends all understanding”.
Thank you.
by Ben Pfahlert, MTS National Director