Jesus Christ has given us a clear vision statement for our lives: Go into the world and make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything He has taught us through His Word (Matthew 28:18-20). Ask: How is my life contributing to the fulfillment of the vision statement Christ gave His church? The only way the corporate Body of Christ will fulfill the mission Christ has given it is for individual Christians to have a vision for fulfilling that mission personally.

Early in my own ministry, I became convinced that the Book of Acts holds important keys to developing a personal and corporate vision for life and ministry (I even hesitate to separate “life” and “ministry” into two components. They should be synonyms for every Christian, not just those in vocational ministry). Early in the life of the young church in Jerusalem, the apostles had a clear vision for their lives—prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:1-4).

What the apostles meant by “ministry of the Word” was what they had been doing since Pentecost—applying God’s truth to every situation in life they encountered, radically changing the lives of everyone they met (Acts 1:15-16; 2:14-35; 3:11-26; 4:1-21; 4:23-31). Regardless of the circumstance in which the apostles found themselves, they responded with a scriptural perspective. Whether it was in the marketplace, in a meeting of the believers, in the court of the high priest, or amidst a hostile crowd of unbelievers, the apostles had a Spirit-led vision for bringing God’s perspective to bear on the situation.

When Turning Point Ministries was founded more than 20 years ago, we adopted Acts 20:20 to capture the vision we had for this ministry: “I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house.” That verse gives us a “20/20” vision for ministry! Our vision is to make disciples, one house at a time, throughout the whole world. God has graciously opened the door for us to do that by radio, television, audio and video tapes, books and other printed materials, and now even by use of the Internet. Our goal is to help every person we meet discover this liberating truth: Whatever the need, whatever the problem, the Word of God has answers that are trustworthy for time and eternity. That’s what it means to minister the Word, and that is why Turning Point Ministries exists.

Clarify your own vision for life and ministry. What is your purpose? Where are you headed? What are your values and priorities? To what degree is your vision translated into your life? What would a stranger conclude about your vision for life after watching you for a few weeks?

I encourage you to spend some time considering your own life-vision. Write out a mission or vision statement for yourself, perhaps for your family. Use phrases like, “I believe God has equipped me to . . . ; As a Christian I want to . . . ; My calling is to . . . ; Five/ten/fifteen/fifty years from now I expect to . . .” Pray and ask God to help you clarify your vision and mission: “Lord, what would you have me do for You with my time, talent, and treasure.”

All of us rub shoulders with needy people daily. With a clear vision to impact them for the cause of Christ, God will give us opportunity. Without a vision, we may fail to touch them with the truth which can set them free—both now and for eternity. Embrace the challenge of clarifying your own vision for ministry.

Examine your heart-vision regularly to make sure you are seeing what God has gifted and called you to accomplish for Christ. Our eyes may not stay at 20/20 forever, but our heart can for as long as we live. – DR. DAVID JEREMIAH

I would much prefer to live my life on the sharp, cutting edge of reality than dreaming on the soft, phony mattress of fantasy. Reality is the tempered poker that keeps the fires alive…it’s the spark that prompts the engine to keep running…the hard set of facts that refuses to let feeling overrule logic. It’s reality that forces every Alice out of her Wonderland and into God’s wonderful plan. It’s undaunted determination has pulled many a wanderer, lost in the maze of meanderings, back to the real world of right and wrong, the false and the true. Reality, I remind you, is the world from which most every emotionally – and mentally – disturbed patient has escaped – and the point to which they must return before health is restored. It is, unquestionably, the healthiest place on earth.

It was Jesus’ realistic view of the Pharisees that exposed the sackcloth of hypocrisy beneath their religious robes (Matthew 23). It was His realistic attitude toward the devil that resulted in Satan’s departing from Him (Matthew 4:1-11). It was reality that enabled Him to perform heart surgery on the woman at the well (John 4)…and to stand un- condemningly beside the adulteress (John 8)…and to pray as He did the night of His arrest (John 17). Reality, in fact, was part of His motive in bearing the cross for you and me.

While our entire world is sinking in the quagmire of human opinions, theories, philosophies, and dreams, our Lord invites us to stand firmly on the rock of reality. And what does the realistic mind-set include? Well, these are eternally etched in the granite of God’s Book. They include such things as:

• Man is a depraved sinner, terribly in need
• Our only hope is in Jesus Christ – His death and resurrection
• Receiving Him brings instant forgiveness and eternal grace
• Death is certain but not the end
• Heaven is a real place
• So is hell
• We cannot escape standing before Him
• The time to prepare is NOW.

Some quite, heavily overcast morning you and I will be forced to face reality. The second hand on our inner watch will suddenly stop. Time will be no more. At that moment – even before your casket is ordered – your passport will be clutched in your hand. What will it read? “REDEEMED” or “CONDEMNED”? Face it, man – that’s reality! And that day won’t be a joke. That day you won’t be reading this – you’ll be experiencing that.

– CHARLES SWINDOLL (“SEASONS OF LIFE”)

We are called to be the salt in the world! Salt and light … just what does that mean?

- When salt is applied, it dissolves inward and disappears. The salt speaks of the inward part, the character of the Christian.
- Jesus also described His people as being like light, which is on the outside. The light speaks of the testimony of a follower of Christ, revealing and illuminating the truth.

Let’s now look at the Scripture and ask: who, what, and how.

Who

Jesus was speaking to a crowd of just ordinary folks. Yet Christ said to them, “You are the light of the world.” And today, you are the light of the world. That’s how God intends to get his work done on earth today: through you!

And that’s how God intends to get his work done on earth today: through you! It’s not just pastors and missionaries who are the light; it’s everybody who loves the Lord.

You see, the world doesn’t understand. The world looks at Christians and thinks, “They don’t count.” God takes an ordinary person and uses them to share His message to people who needed Him. When we share our faith, we spread His light.

What

Jesus describes what we are in this passage – the light of the world, not the light of the church. That means we have to get beyond the church walls and take the light out to where it is dark.

You were saved to shine! Don’t hide your testimony or be ashamed to take your Bible to work. Don’t be afraid to pray over your lunch at school. Let others know that you love the Lord Jesus.

Jesus also talked of the strength of collective light. Each house in a city with its lights on cast a glow across the sky. As Christians come together, there is a glow for the Lord that we cannot create individually. We shine brightest when we shine together.

How

How can we shine for God? Jesus says that we are to let our lights shine before men in such a way that they will see our good works and glorify God. That’s how we do it. We live for God.

We have to surrender our lives to Him completely. Christ says we are to “let” our lights shine. In other words, when you get right with God and are filled with the Holy Spirit, He will simply shine through you. You can’t help it; light just pours forth. Are you willing to burn brightly for the Lord?

How can you become a bright light in a dark world? As we begin a new year, here are a few thoughts and questions to begin letting your light shine.

1. What does it mean to be “light”?

- Where do I find myself being light?

2. What do I do to cause my light to shine?

- Where do I struggle being light?

3. Why do you suppose God chooses to use ordinary people, rather than a few specially selected people, to reflect His light?

- Where does the world look for light, and where do they find it?

4. When am I tempted to conceal my light?

- What opportunities do I have for sharing my light with others?

So, now that you have a better understanding about your part in reflecting God’s light, take a few minutes and write a short testimony that you can share with non-Christians. Don’t just go over it in your head. Write it down, so that you know what you want to say. It should be about two minutes in length, following this outline:
- What was your life like before you met Christ?
- How did you meet Him?
- How has He changed your life since then? – DR. ADRIAN ROGERS (Love Worth Finding)

Did the size of the world change? Not physically – but in every other way, our world is rapidly shrinking. At one time, many people in the world lived and died without seeing a human face different from their own or hearing a different language. Today, travel, television, the Internet, publications, and immigration have brought the world to every nation’s door.

This “shrinking world” phenomenon has enormous implications for every follower of Jesus Christ because we have been commanded to reach this world with the gospel of Christ. And to do that, we have to develop big-world thinking: the ability to look at the world from God’s perspective.

Just how big is this world to which we are to take the good news of the Gospel?
• It took 1,804 years to reach 1 billion (1804)
• It took 123 more years to reach 2 billion (1927)
• It took 33 more years to reach 3 billion (1960)
• It took 14 more years to reach 4 billion (1974)
• It took 13 more years to reach 5 billion (1987)
• It took 12 more years to reach 6 billion (1999)
• It took 8 more years to reach 6.6 billion (May 2007)

So while the world is shrinking in many ways, the population is increasing at a faster and faster rate. Each of those 6.6 billion souls alive today are individuals God loves and sent His Son to die for (John 3:16). And it is our responsibility – those of us who know and serve Jesus Christ – to go and tell them.

No one has developed better “big-world” eyes for the church than the U. S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, California. The founder, Dr. Ralph Winter, has distilled the numbers to allow us to “see” what progress has been made in reaching the world, and what work remains.

As a percentage, the number of people in the world not believing in Christ is shrinking:

In 1900, 2.5 percent of the world believed in Christ (97.5 percent did not).
In 1970, 5 percent of the world believed in Christ (95 percent did not).
In 2000, 11.2 percent of the world believed in Christ (88.8 percent did not).

Another way of looking at those declining numbers is . . .
• In A.D. 100, there were 360 nonbelievers in the world for every Christian.
• In A.D. 2000, there were only 9.3 nonbelievers in the world for every Christian.

But, in how much of the world has a healthy witness for Christ been established so that nonbelievers can hear the Gospel in their own language and respond to Christ? There are about 24,000 people groups in the world united by ethnicity, language, and custom.

• Within 14,000 of these groups, the Gospel is present and spreading. Two billion unbelievers remain in these groups, but they have access to the Gospel.

• Within 10,000 of these groups, there is no native church movement and no access to the Gospel for 2 billion people. The greatest challenge for the Christian church is to establish native churches that cause the Gospel to flourish within those groups.

So, 4 billion people have yet to believe in Christ. Half have access to the Gospel, half do not. Of the remaining 2 billion of the world’s 6 billion people, 11.2 percent are considered dedicated Christians, while 19.9 percent are considered Christian in name only – maintaining a cultural, not a personal, relationship with Jesus.

The world is getting smaller in terms of fulfilling the Great Commission. Yes, the world is big – but our understanding of it is even bigger. We know exactly what needs to be done to advance the Gospel and fulfill the Great Commission. The question is Will we do it?

You and I are responsible to Christ for being big-world thinkers – never losing sight of the whole world that God loves and for which Christ died. I challenge you to become a big-world thinker: Become informed, pray, give, and go in obedience to Christ’s Great Commission. – DR. DAVID JEREMIAH

Juliet Kasanyu, who attends Church of Uganda, Bugolobi requested us to come and reach out to her birth place with gospel of Jesus Christ. We were able to cover a lot of primary & secondary schools and minister to the students, though the latter were having mock / trial exams. Mr. Christopher (Juliet’s Dad) & family as well as Mr. Paul Tandeka (Headmaster, Buremba SS) coordinated the outreach in a well mannered way. A simple ‘born again’ message was shared from John 3:1-21 in the church Mr. Christopher (83 years old) took us to, and by the end, he along with a couple of others committed their lives to Jesus.

We also had another visitor from India, Gigi Mathew, and he sure was able to compare his home in Kerala, South India to Uganda as he was able to trace many similarities.

MOROTO (AUGUST 16 – 22, 2011)

On the invitation of BILL BEHRMANN (an 81 year old American Missionary) and Pastor Noah (completed School of Ministry with Calvary Chapel Jinja), a team of four was able to minister with them, to the Karamajong. A few days before making arrangements, Bill wanted to cancel the outreach, as a team who had been there earlier from Kampala, did not leave a good testimony. But on the recommendation of Noah (whom we had worked with in October 2009), Bill agreed and took them on. Due to security reasons they were unable to show the Jesus and other related film shows daily, but were able to do three and minister on a one to one basis. He has been so impressed with the team that he meets with some of them when he is in town and wants them to go back again and help him. As a missions team, our aim is to represent Jesus Christ first, and then our church. Matthew 5:13, 14 & 16. Samaritans Purse in Moroto was able to assist the team with local transportation and even give a ride to two of the team members back to Kampala. The other two had an 18 hour arduous bus ride back home.

NAKALADDE, MUBENDE (SEPTEMBER 13-17, 2011)

On the invitation of KAMYA JAMES, a CCBCU student, we as a team of four again, were able to equip the church – for them to have a passion for God and also to be aware of false teachers and false teaching. In a small village, Scientology, Jesus Only Movement, BISAKA, and William Branham (End Time Ministries) – all religious cults are present. Amos 8:11-12 is very much prevalent in our days.

OYAM (SEPTEMBER 22-29, 2011)

GEOFFREY EYOLE BAGUMA (an active church member & CCBCU graduate) invited us to his home town in ICEME Sub County. We worked along with the Pentecostal Assemblies of God group of churches headed by Pastor Peter who oversees 11 churches. On September 25, 2011 (Sunday) all the 11 churches were to assemble in a place called “Bar-jar” (place of marijuana), in order to raise funds as a whole assembly for music equipment. The church was about 5km from our place of stay, so some of us were transported while others had to foot.

Prior to this, a Pastor from Dokolo had come a few weeks earlier and had been fleecing the church members by prophesying and doing the usual gimmicks. As he realized that we were equipping the church against false teachers & teaching, he manipulated and schemed with the local teacher and evangelist of the assembly in “Bar-jar”. The Senior Pastor along with his wife and some of us were seated in front, while one from the team was in the congregation and others were still footing. The church service started with prayer, frenzied worship, prophesying and speaking in tongues. After a few songs, little did we realize that when we opened our eyes, Pastor Peter, the overseer of all the churches was sent out. They came & prophesied that we being false teachers also were to get out. In all the commotion, we praise & thank God that He reigned supreme & sovereign and brought things under control – whereby most of the congregation met under a large tree for the service. The next day, the false teacher from Dokolo left with all his bounty, and the teacher and evangelist of the assembly were to be disciplined. Matthew 24:24-25.

KISIITA, MUBENDE (OCTOBER 7-11, 2011)

Pastor Charles Ntwire (61 years old) met us in our previous trip to Nakaladde (September 13-17, 2011) during one of the teaching sessions, and requested us to come and do an outreach with Sinai Church. He certainly was an encouragement to us, as he treks one way for about 10 kilometers a couple of times in a week to oversee his church amongst a small group of people who live on the hills / mountains. There was a time for testimonies on the last day. Pastor Charles testified that he was planning to give up his ministry in the present church because he saw no improvement in his congregation. But after he watched the film, “PILGRIMS PROGRESS / JOURNEY TO HEAVEN”  the previous night, he was challenged to persevere and endure. 2 Timothy 4:7-8.

RWIMI, KABAROLE (OCTOBER 20-27, 2011)

This time we were able to partner and network with Robert Tumwesigye (YWAM, Wairaka) who hails from RWIMI, Calvary Chapel Fort Portal (Fred & Nicholas) and, School of Ministry, Fort Portal (Pastor Isaac Wootton & 5 students). Since we had two sets of Jesus film equipment, we were able to cover a lot of ground as well as minister in several primary schools with puppet shows. The final day culminated in community clean-up around a bore-hole and a health clinic and a soccer match between the ‘boda boda’ and the ‘balokole’ teams. Philippians 1:5.

With the help of JOTHAM, a member of our church, we were able to minister in his hometown in Bundibugyo district from June 18-25, 2011. Since it was hilly terrain we had to trek on foot for quite long distances, yet purely worth it, to share about Jesus. Saji Thomas (YWAM, Kochi, India) was visiting Uganda for 3 weeks and was part of the team and was able to easily blend in due to his ministerial experience back home. We covered a lot of primary & secondary schools in our evangelism.

We also sensed that the Lord wanted us to travel to different villages / districts and equip churches and believers against false teachers & teaching in the coming months / years.

Between Feburary 23 – March 9, 2011, we had a team of 4 from Kerala, India, to do ministry. Earlier in August 2010, they had given the Jesus film equipment to 6 different persons and also came to do a follow-up for the same. But the main highlight of their trip was a visit to the ‘Batwa’ (pygmy) tribe in Bundibugyo whereby the Jesus film was shown in their own ‘Lukwesi’ language. Besides the gospel, clothes and food items were also distributed to the small community of about 100.

Stanly Kusasira, working in a restaurant in Kansanga (Kampala, Uganda)  invited us to his hometown in Rakai District in the third week of March 2011 to do a small outreach, as he has a desire to do a church plant some time in the future. Please pray for him that he will be fixed and focused on Jesus regarding his vision.

GET INTO THE FIELDS - Dave Egner

Paul W. Powell wrote, “Many churches today remind me of a laboring crew trying to gather a harvest while they sit in the toolshed. They go to the toolshed every Sunday and they study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and then get up and go home. Then they come back that night, study bigger and better methods of agriculture, sharpen their hoes, grease their tractors, and get up and go home. They do this week in and week out, year in and year out, and nobody ever goes out into the fields to gather in the harvest” (The Complete Disciple).

Christ’s final command to His disciples was to tell everyone about His saving power. Just before He ascended to heaven, He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Today, the great commission is till the responsibility of believers. But many church members, even though they have much Bible knowledge and have been Christians for years, never enter the harvest field.

I must confess my own guilt. I promote missions and missionary endeavors regularly. But I haven’t been out in the realm of the lost as I should be. It’s time for all of us to confess our shortcomings and to get into the fields.

“Lord of Harvest, send forth reapers! Hear us, Lord to Thee we cry; Send them now the sheaves to gather, Ere the harvest-time pass by.” - Thompson

THERE IS ONLY ONE THING WE CAN’T DO FOR MISSIONS – GET RID OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY