1SFMI Update

Prayer/NewsUPDATESFMI

Shield of Faith Mission International

Fulfillng the Great Commission Through Establishing New Testament Churches

Spring 2019

StillFaithful

P.O. Box 144, Bend, Oregon 97709 • Phone (541) 382-7081 Fax (541) 382-4471 • email sfmi@sfmiusa.org

Online at www.sfmiusa.org

2 SFMI Update

From the SFMI OfficeGreetings from the SFMI office. You will see that the registration for the Memorial Day Conference is included with this newsletter. It is paramount that you register for this conference since space is limited. Please be praying about your part in this conference and for its provision. On another front Howard Modin has been ministering in a wonderful way as secretary in the office. He has been doing yeoman’s work on behalf of all those on the field. We are very grateful to have him. Please be praying for Dick and Darlene York who are seriously considering relocating here in Bend from Oklahoma.

Ecuador Team ReportWe would also ask for prayer and guidance for the team to Ecuador, which leaves March 22nd. The team consists of Jesse and Tess Barnard from Wyoming and Emery and Hannah Kinsinger from the Missoula fellowship.

In this issue:Stones, Thrones, and a Scroll ..........................................................................................Page 3The Tabernacle of Witness ..............................................................................................Page 5The Fear of God ................................................................................................................Page 7Five Smooth Stones ..........................................................................................................Page 9Missionary News ............................................................................................................Page 10Spring Conference ..........................................................................................................Page 15

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NOTE: The Update is sent free upon request to all wishing to receive it. The cost of $9 per year per subscriber for this Update is covered by the freewill offerings of God’s people.

Shield of Faith Mission International

Administration

Dick YorkFounder, Editor

Executive Council

Richard McDanielMission President

Training Program Director

Frank StangelMission Vice-President

Torry Rockwood

Mission Treasurer Technical Support

Jim Miller

Board Secretary Office Manager, Asst. Editor

General Board Members

OfficeHoward Modin, Office Secretary

Located at:1599 NW Galveston Ave

Bend, Oregon 97701(not for postal delivery)

(541) 382-7081

James BonnerDave KercherWeb LoyJames LucasBrian Martell

David MartellLarry Montgomery Edwin NewbyJack RingSkip Voetberg

Cover Photo: Jim Lucas and a sister who came

to the Lord in 1972

3SFMI Update

I was puzzled, surprised and confused as I read chapter 5 of Revelation.

Who, exactly, is on that throne?Studying chapter 4, I thought I had learned

the identity of Him Who sat on the throne. Let me share with you what I looked at and concluded. I’ve shared these things with many of you before, so I will be brief: And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. (Rev 4:2)

When John finds himself suddenly in the heavenlies, it is not insignificant that the first thing he sees is the throne and Him Who sits on it —not the multitude of angels, the four living creatures, the crowned elders or the crystal sea—the throne and the One on the throne were what captured him. The hymn, “Sands of Time,” embodies John’s experience when it says, “For the Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel’s land!”

But what did John see?And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper

and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. (Rev. 4:3)

The One on the throne was like a jasper and a sardine stone. This is not the throne but the King Himself that is shining with a light which John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, compares to jasper and sardius. Jasper is found again in Rev. 21:11 where we are told it is as clear as crystal. The gem jasper is found in various colors—purple, blue, green—but here it is the crystalline gem we are seeing, so that when John looked at the throne, what he saw was a brilliant, clear shining and with that, the sardius, a stone described both as flesh colored (carnelian) and reddish (sard). An Old Testament reference to sardius identifies it specifically by its redness.

Around the throne, completely encircling the throne, is an emerald-colored rainbow. Jasper, sardine stone and emeralds all appear in the Old

Testament. And it is the Old Testament that gives us the key to the One seated on the throne.

Ex. 28:17-21 tells us about the twelve stones on the priest’s breastplate, each a different stone, each in birth order, each with the name of one of the sons of Jacob. The first and the last are sardius and jasper. The first is for Reuben, whose name means, “Behold, a son.” The last is for Benjamin. When he was born, his mother, in the throes of death, named him Benoni, “son of my sorrow.” Jacob, however, changed his name to Benjamin, “son of my right hand.” The fourth stone is an emerald, for the fourth-born son of Jacob, Judah, whose name means praise.

So Who is this that sits on the throne, shining with glory (2 Co. 4:6), the first and the last (Rev. 22:13), of the tribe of Judah, surrounded by praise, of Whom it is said “Behold a son” (Matt. 3:17), Whose name is both son of sorrows (Is. 53:3) and son of my right hand (Mark 16:19)? This is Jesus, the First and the Last, the Man of sorrows, of Whom a voice from Heaven said, “This is My beloved Son.”

That seems so clear that, when I read on to chapter 5, I found myself confused. In that chapter, the One seated on the throne holds a scroll in His hand, written within and without. That is, this scroll is written upon in every available space, each corner, each margin, both sides. This scroll reminded me of Jeremiah 32. There Jeremiah, in prison while Jerusalem is besieged, is told by the Lord to purchase property in the very war zone where Jeremiah has prophesied Israel’s imminent defeat! He pays for the land and has two copies of the deed made: one unsealed, to be consulted for any question or controversy, and another sealed, to be opened only by the authorized magistrate as the final and indisputable declaration of inheritance.

The scroll in the right hand of Him Who sits on the throne declares who are those who inherit

Stones, Thrones andA Scroll

Steve Montgomery

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eternal life. The seals are unbroken. Thus the question is proclaimed by a strong angel in a loud voice: Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? (Rev 5:2) One with the legal authority to open the seals and reveal the inheritors must be found.

And no one worthy was found. John, knowing what was at stake, wept much—strongly, abund antly, greatly. It seemed to him at that moment that the cost of redemption was too high for any to have paid. And it was at that moment that one of the elders comforted him with these words: Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. (Rev 5:5)

Here was One worthy, authorized to open the seals and read the names of the inheritors of eternal life: The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Lamb slain (vs. 6), the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it was here that I was flummoxed. For the Lamb comes and takes the scroll from Him that sits upon the throne. But I thought that the One seated on the throne was the Lamb!

Was I wrong? I must be, yet chapter 4 had seemed so clear. I began to look at other similar references in the Revelation, and I found what I believe is the definitive verse: To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. (Rev 3:21)

So there is one throne, and both the Father and the Son are seated on that throne (Rev. 22:1,3) so that even in Heaven it is the Son Who will reveal the Father to us (John 1:18).

But why is the Son, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Lamb that was slain, standing before the throne, instead of seated on the throne?

The answer is, simply, that for Him to be the Authorized One, the One worthy to open the scroll, it was necessary for Him to step down from the throne, to humble Himself to His Father! He prevailed, according to the elder who spoke to John in verse 5, in order to take the the book and to open the seals.

Philipians 2 describes this:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with

God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (vs. 5-11).

It was necessary for the Captain of our salvation to take upon Him the likeness of sinful flesh in order to bring many sons to glory. He Who is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Son of the Father’s right hand, humbled Himself and became a man, to redeem them that were under the law that, being justified by faith, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Heb. 2:10, Rom. 8:3, Gal. 4:5, Titus 3:7).

When He takes the scroll, the twenty four elders bow to Him, lifting before Him the prayers of the saints and singing,

Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth (Rev 5:9-10).

We join that song, declaring with our mouths and lives,

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to take the book and to open the seals! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing!

Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever! (Rev 5:12-13).Amen!

5SFMI Update

Richard McDanielWitness

When God gave the law to Moses, He instructed him to build a tabernacle. The Hebrew word for tabernacle literally means a tent or dwelling place. When Moses finished the work, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. God, of course, does not need a dwelling to inhabit; but He chose to make His presence known there. Most of the time in the Scripture the tabernacle is called the tabernacle of the congregation. This indicates a meeting place. This is where God promised to meet with His chosen people and to commune with them from above the mercy seat. It was also called the tabernacle of the testimony or the tent of the testimony. One reason for calling it this is because it housed the sacred writings of God. God’s testimony to man, written on stone, was contained within the tabernacle.

In several places within Scripture, the tabernacle is called the tabernacle of witness. Why is it called this and unto what is the tabernacle a witness of? I believe it was called this because it was the place from where there was a witness of the one and only living God, Whose name is Jehovah. He spoke to man from this place and revealed Himself to man from here. He even provided a visible manifestation of Himself by way of the pillar of cloud which stood at the door of the tabernacle (Ex. 33:9,10). The tabernacle of witness continued to exist even after the doing away of the old covenant, though in a different form. Under the old covenant it was a physical dwelling place which served a purpose for the nation of Israel, but God intended for it to be more than that. It was to be a type or picture of the witness who was to come in a different form.

In Isaiah chapter 43 God addressed Israel and told them that they were His witnesses among all the nations. All the heathen nations have their gods, and in this passage God challenges the heathen to bring forth their witnesses and to see if any of them might have the power to shew the former things. “Let them bring forth their

witnesses,” He says, “that they may be justified.” There were none of them that could do this. God had given the witness, however, to the prophets of Israel, in revealing Himself to them. Because of this, God declares Israel to be His witnesses, giving them the opportunity to know and believe Him and to testify to others that He is the Lord and the only saviour (Isa. 43:8-12). The prophets of Israel were faithful to proclaim the word that God spoke and to record His word, doing so as the oracles of God. As a nation, however, because of their disobedience, they did not succeed in maintaining a witness among the heathen nations.

When Jesus the Christ was born, the tabernacle of God came to dwell in bodily form upon the earth. John 1:14 says, “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” As we’ve mentioned already, the word tabernacle means “a dwelling,” so that the verse can be said this way: “the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us.” Many years previously, the prophet Isaiah prophecied that a virgin would be with child and bring forth a son, “and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matt. 1:23). God entered the human race in the physical body of Jesus and now was dwelling among men.

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (Jn. 1:18). “To declare,” in this context means “to show forth, to reveal.” God was in Christ, revealing Himself to mankind through Jesus. There are certain attributes of God which are not able to be exhibited in humanity. For example, God is immortal. The human body is mortal. It is certain, therefore, that when the Word became flesh, He willingly gave up some of the divine attributes and took upon Himself the limitations which human flesh require. He was now mortal man rather than immortal; He was visible rather than invisible; He was confined to

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the location of His body rather than omnipresent. There were other limitations also; but in every way that was not diminished by the restrictions of humanity, Jesus Christ manifested the attributes of God. We are told in Heb. 1:3 that Jesus is the “express image of his [the Father’s] person.” The Lord Jesus Christ, in human form, was man as God meant for man to be. He was God’s tabernacle of witness upon the earth.

There is a tabernacle connection even in the timing of our Lord’s birth. He was not born in December as many people say, who falsely proclaim that Christmas Day is the birth-date of Jesus. It would be difficult to come up with the exact date of his birth, but we can know the season. The way to figuring this out is through determining when the time was for Zacharias the priest to do his temple service. Zacharias was the father of John the Baptist, and it was during his annual course of temple service that his son’s conception was announced by the angel.

From Luke chapter 1 we know that Zacharias was of the course of Abia (or Abijah). I Chronicles 24 lists the courses of the priestly service according to their order. In seeing the order that the course of Abijah came in, and then coordinating it with the Jewish calendar, we can figure out approximately when John the Baptist was conceived. From there, we can go on to figure His birthdate. John was born in what would be the mid to latter end of our month of March, at the beginning of the Passover. Six months later, Jesus was born, at the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. This would be in the mid to latter end of our month of September. How fitting it was for the only wise God to send His Son to tabernacle among us at this time, coinciding His incarnation with the Feast of Tabernacles. Thirty-three and a half years later, our Lord Jesus would die at the time of the Passover feast.

After the Lord’s resurrection, He showed Himself alive to His disciples and was with them for forty days, speaking to them of things pertaining to the kingdom of God. He instructed them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait there for the promise of the Father. This promise was that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. The Lord said to them, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Now we see that even after the Lord Jesus left the earth, God would continue to have His witnesses on earth. These early disciples were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Lord Jesus. On the day of Pentecost, however, they became recipients of His resurrected life. The witness came to dwell within them. This witness continues to be manifest within every disciple that comes into the family of God. It is because we also have received the Spirit of Christ. Our possession of His spirit makes us, like them, witnesses of the resurrection.

The book of Hebrews makes many comparisons between the old covenant and the things pertaining thereof, and the new covenant. It speaks of a new tabernacle: one that is made without hands. It is a greater and more perfect tabernacle, over which the Lord Jesus Christ presides as high priest. This new tabernacle is the church. It is the body of Christ. It is the tabernacle of witness for this age, of which the first one was a picture. When the Lord spoke to Paul, immediately after his conversion, “He told him that He had appeared to him for this purpose: “to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee” (Acts 26:16). He wasn’t speaking to Paul the apostle at that time. He was speaking to Paul the new believer, who God ordained to be an example, or a pattern that was to be typical of the believer.

“Ye shall be witnesses.” This is what we are, not what we do. It is not a command but a statement of what we are in Christ. The witness resides within us in the person of Christ. Because He is holy, we are holy. He is the light of the world; and, therefore, we are the children of light. We are the people of the cross, who bear the identity of the One who saved us. Our purpose on earth is to bear witness of the living God, Who created man for His pleasure and desires to have fellowship with every man. We are ambassadors in Christ’s stead, who call out to the multitudes, “Be ye reconciled to God.” Reconciliation is the only thing which will bring peace with God and allow one to enter into this living tabernacle of witness. The living God is the God of the living: those who have the life of Christ. The church is His dwelling place on earth, the tabernacle of witness.

Those things have since then come into being; and, therefore, the witness is continuing even unto this present day. This witness is the focus of this message.

7SFMI Update

Good evening. Good to be here. Thankful to the Lord that we are able to be here.

As we sang a couple of songs, (one was “Turn Your eyes upon Jesus” and then after that we sang “Launch Out...”), my mind went to some Scripture. In the first of those two, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” the chorus says: “Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” One Scripture that came to my mind is in 2 Corinthians 3. What came to my mind was the reason why the things of earth (and that doesn’t say “the things of the world”—there is a difference; even if we are not following the course of this world, we can still be caught up in the things of earth, which of course are limited to time. Earth has to do with time. And “His glory and His grace” has nothing to do with time; it goes beyond time both before and after, both ways, it goes beyond time) should grow strange-ly dim. It’s odd to those who don’t know this glory and grace of Jesus. Why should it grow dim to us as we behold His wonderful face, wherein we behold His glory and His grace?

2 Corinthians 3:18 says: “But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord....” So if we stop there, which is all this chorus would do, the only information we get out of this one chorus is that we behold His glory, behold His grace, and then the things of earth grow strangely dim. That’s the in-formation we sing, the information given to us in this chorus. But in this verse that we’re reading, it tells us what happens to us as we behold His glory and His grace. And this is why God invites us to enter into that communion with His Son. That’s the whole purpose of God calling us to this communion. And even Jesus when He says, “Come unto Me, all ye who are wea-ry and heavy laden...,” the purpose of that invitation is this: so that we are “changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

If we go back to the words of that chorus “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” we behold Jesus in His glory and His grace, but not in the same way that John the disciple beheld Jesus’ glory. John speaks of that in the first chapter of his Gospel: “we beheld His glory...” (John 1:14). The disciples actually saw it physically with their physical eyes. They saw this glory that is “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” That’s what they beheld with their eyes; that same grace that was given to us in Jesus

before the world was ever begun (according to 2 Tim-othy 3) was actually manifested physically to those disciples. It’s not manifested in that way to us. But as we behold Him in the spiritual communion, as we read and meditate on His Word by faith sitting at His feet as we read the Word, then He will show us, the Holy Spirit will show us, of His glory and His grace. The purpose in doing that is not so that we can then be amazed at His glory and His grace. Because if it ends there, then God’s purpose in opening up the way into that communion is not brought into fruition. His purpose in even opening the Holy of holies so that we can come into communion with Him—the whole pur-pose of that is so that then we become partakers of both His grace and His glory. If that is something that is appealing to us, if that is something that becomes our hope, and our main hope (versus Heaven being our main hope), if that becomes our purpose even as it is God’s purpose—-our purpose in life and our only purpose in life—then not only will the things of the world but even the things of this earth—even like en-joying the creation around us which is good to enjoy what God created for us—even that will grow strange-ly dim in comparison not only to beholding His glory and grace but actually to being transformed into that same glory through all of that grace of the Son of God that is available to us as we draw from Him.

The other Scripture that came to my mind was some Scripture that I’ve been meditating on in Hebrews. He-brews 3 opens with the words, “Consider...,” in the first verse speaking to the “holy brethren, partakers of [the holy calling] the heavenly calling.” The Holy Spirit says, “Let’s take some time to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, of our calling, of our vo-cation. Let’s take some time to consider Him.” So there in Hebrews 3:1, the same words that we were singing were spoken by the Holy Spirit, saying, “Let us consid-er Him.” Of course that’s not the first time He speaks of that. Hebrews 1 starts out with considering Jesus as su-perior to the angels. But in light of our heavenly calling, now in Hebrews 3:1, in light of that heavenly calling to be brothers with Christ (as Hebrews 2 speaks of just prior to that, actually being called “brothers” by Jesus and being of the same Father) in light of that and in light of the brotherhood, let’s consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. And then a little bit later in Hebrews 3 He says we are actually made partakers of Christ if we hold fast the [beginning of our] confidence

The Fear of Goda message given by Mike Ball at the Labor Day conference,

Deer Lake, WA, 2018

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steadfast firm unto the end—so, in other words, living by faith. If we continue to persevere in living by faith, then we actually become partakers of Christ; and this glory and grace that we behold in His face, again, is not just there so we can stand amazed at Jesus. But now we should also be amazed at the fact that we can actually partake of Him and His glory and grace. And that’s the only purpose that God has opened up the way. And that’s brought out in Hebrews 2. Because the whole reason God started the whole redemption process ( ac-cording to Hebrews 2) is so that He can bring many sons unto glory. It behooved, it was necessary then, for God to send His Son to suffer, because God’s whole intention from the very beginning was to bring many sons into glory.

So then we go into the second song that I referred to: “Launch Out.” And the first verse of that hymn speaks of being lost in the fulness of God. And to me, the whole message of this hymn, which was written according to this hymnal by A.B. Simpson, the whole purpose of this message that is repeated through the four verses, seems to be also the mes-sage that’s on the heart of the Holy Spirit in the book of Hebrews. This hymn speaks of admonishing us, challenging us to go all the way into the fulness of God, to be full or complete in Him.

Hebrews speaks of provoking one another unto love and to good works, and that word can mean stimulate one another; it can mean prodding one another, and it seems to me that in the book of Hebrews the Holy Spirit is doing that throughout the letter using differ-ent expressions, using different words of more than en-couragement—it’s admonishment and even warnings. So you read statements such as in Hebrews 2, to take even more earnest heed to the things which we have heard. And previous to that, He tells us that God now has only spoken to us (since the last days began) in His Son, through His Son. So if we want to hear anything from God, if we want to know anything from God, we have to learn it from His Son because God has already spoken it in His Son. We need to go deeper into Jesus, you might say, and receive revelation from Him; and as we do, then what God has already spoken in His Son, which is absolutely complete, becomes revealed to us. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that we take even more earnest heed to the things which we have heard because it’s not just doctrine, it’s not just teaching and preaching and dogma and creed; it’s actually what God has spoken in all of its completeness. Everything that God spoke prior to speaking through the Son was not complete—a little bit through Moses; a little bit through Enoch; a little bit through Abraham; a little bit more un-derstanding, revelation, through David and through dif-ferent prophets that God spoke to. But everything, all that God has spoken, has been spoken in His Son; and

it’s now been made available to us...therefore “Launch Out” into that, in the words of A.B.Simpson; but in the words of the Holy Spirit, “Take heed...,” take more ear-nest heed to the things which we have heard. Why? Be-cause how shall we escape if we neglect so great a sal-vation—and that So Great Salvation, all its greatness, is not along the “shorelines,” to use the terminology of the hymn. So we have to let go of everything of self; self has to be completely abandoned, and we go deep and deeper and deeper into Jesus and all of His glory, all of His grace, all of His virtues, all of His attributes; and then we receive from God all that fullness that He has available to us.

So we have two different ways of the Holy Spirit prodding us. There in Hebrews 2, we have to take more earnest heed; how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? Then Hebrews 3 and 4, the warn-ing. Here is this great rest of God that’s been avail-able to man ever since creation, the day after creation. It’s been available for man to enter into by faith. But the Holy Spirit says it’s also possible to have received the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of the good news, and then not fully enter into the rest that God has available to us in Christ.

And then there are other warnings throughout the book of Hebrews. Shortly after Hebrews 4 he speaks of leaving, stepping off, you might say, stepping outside of those basic teachings, principles, that we learned when we first came into Christ and to go for-ward and onward into (that word that a lot of people fear) perfection. If you want to turn there, that’s in Hebrews chapter 6, after speaking of those who are quite content, seemingly content just...again to use the words of the hymnist... to linger along the shoreline. Maybe go out into the swimming area of the beach, of the ocean. Here in the words of the Holy Spirit con-cluding chapter 5, He speaks of those who can only handle the “milk” of the Word. So it speaks in 5:14 of those who are of full age, or perfect: “strong meat be-longeth to them that are of full age”—you could say, to those that are perfect, or mature, complete, “even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.” (Hebrews 6:1). So another provoking, prodding, stimulating of the Holy Spirit unto what God really wants and has for us in Christ. It’s not just beholding the greatness and uniqueness of Jesus; but it’s actually as we behold that, then we partake of Him and His glory; His grace, His fulness becomes ours. And we then are complete in Him as it tells us in Colossians (2:10).

So these are just some thoughts that came to my mind as we sang those two songs. Just wanted to en-courage us with those words.

9SFMI Update

Frank StangelFive Smooth Stones

As I consider David’s five smooth stones that he took up as he went to face Goliath, I imagine that he knew by feel which stones would go the farthest and straightest, kind of like when we pick out the best rocks for skipping on the lake. We may not know why he chose five; it is said that Goliath had four brothers, but it could also have been four sons. Either way it does not appear as though David used the remaining stones that day. He went to this battle with his sling and staff and in the Name of the Lord God, knowing that His God would deliver him. He had a desire to see God’s name glorified and fear removed from Israel.

When we think on this event that we see in 1 Samuel 17, I believe there are some great reminders for us today. The army of Israel is gathered together, although together in unbelief, which was a great detriment to them and is a great detriment to the church today. They were held in unbelief through fear, and God sent someone with no fear of the giant and complete trust in Him. Vs. 24: “And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man [Goliath]fled from him, and were sore afraid.” Vs. 26: David said, ”What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David had neither fear nor unbelief. He had only belief that God would give him the victory.

As David approached the giant, the giant looked at him with disdain, threatening and cursing him; but it did not have the desired effect as David uttered this powerful declaration:

Then said David to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; (so) that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and He will give you into our hands (Vs. 45-47). Unbelief had led to fear in Saul’s army and they hid

for fear of Goliath. They were held in this place, because for forty days, as the giant had come out daily, morning and evening to torment Israel. David’s stone through belief in God, crushed the fear that prevented Israel

from defeating their enemy. It removed unbelief as they saw the giant fall and the Philistine army scatter. Are we held in unbelief, has something come into our lives that causes us to doubt God and His promises in our lives? Have we become discouraged because what we thought should happen did not or something happened that we thought God should not have allowed? I want to use this illustration of the five stones, to aim them at five hindrances I see within the church today. Let us stand on God’s promises as we come against those things that hinder the work of God in our lives.

The first obstacle I want to aim at is Unbelief. I think this is the main detriment to the church in general and which leads to a lack of overall action in the Kingdom of God. I believe that many of God’s people are held in some form of unbelief. We see Jesus addressed this at a couple places even with the disciples. One was when the man brought his son who had a devil, and the disciples could not cast it out. They had seen devils cast out and had done it themselves; yet at this point they had failed and wondered why. “Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said; Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:19-20).

One of the things that will keep us in unbelief is if we are not renewing our mind to God’s word or spending time waiting on Him, which we see that David was in the habit of doing; therefore, when it came time to act, he was already prepared. He did not have to muster up faith in God since he was full of faith because he had been abiding in the shadow of the Almighty and trusted in God’s deliverance. Whereas those in unbelief fail to act on God’s Word because they are uncertain about God’s will and their place in it. We see the results of unbelief in the activities we engage in, the music we listen to or the television we allow ourselves to watch and who we spend our time with. Is God glorified in the things we spend our time doing? The Bible calls us to examine ourselves (2 Cor 13:5), “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.”

So how do we move out of unbelief? I believe we must first confess our sin to God; then we press in to seek Him with a pure heart, devote ourselves “completely” to His will and simply take Him at His Word and obey Him. Many things can also be overcome through fasting and prayer, which we see throughout the Bible, as the Saints

Continued on back cover...

10 SFMI Update

Jerry and Cherry SkilesLoma Tribe, Ivory Coast

Dear Brethren,I recently saw a complex toy

with balls moving down rails do-ing loops and seemingly randomly falling in holes and slots; yet I knew a master engineer designed it, and that nothing was really happening by ac-cident. I believe that as we pass through our lives, the Sovereign LORD has engineered our days so we might witness His Glory and come to discover more of Him in the process. The challenge is to keep the Faith in the midst of seemingly random chaotic happenings as we crash and bang our way through life.

Cherry and I recently returned from our annual Jan-uary/February trip to Ivory Coast. One of our first stops was to see Hovare’s family. Solomon, Hovare’s brother, is taking over the family responsibilities after Hovare’s death and has been overwhelmed with the tasks. We were able to give some support and counsel during our four-week stay in Africa. Lazar, Hovare’s and Justine’s son, had died tragically in a motorcycle accident. He was riding as a passenger and was struck by a cement truck. The driver of the motorcycle and the motorcycle were not badly damaged, but Lazar died at the scene. The driver of the truck is serving a year in jail for his involvement in the accident. The motorcycle driver is the teacher at the village school we support, and both he and Lazar had been to the large administration city in the area at the government’s request.

Helping Hovare’s family and Lazar’s widow brought us into contact with government people we had never met before, and they were so glad to meet us. I had no idea of how much our help in education was appreciated by those in the higher levels of government in the area. I had want-ed to expand the school lunch assistance further, and now I was in contact with people who knew exactly where to go and who to talk to. During our stay, Solomon and John, the two teachers in the Loma Church, and I were able to contact two more schools and let them know of our hopes and intentions. It was so encouraging to see and meet the elders of the villages who are supporting volunteer teach-ers so the children can be educated. There are some good things happening! At Bwaybiye, the teachers told us how seven children are traveling from a village seven miles one way away to attend school in Bwaybviye; he told us how important it was for them to have a lunch. It is ex-

citing to come alongside with some assistance for these people who see the value of education and are making sacrifices to get it. Most of these individuals are Chris-tians but not exclusively.

The Loma Church is doing well. It was nice to see the believers and share with them again. During this trip, I

met an Ivorian missionary who wants to reach out to the Loma in another area. It was encouraging to hear of his desire. Another Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) national worker has started a Church in the area. Paul and Marina Briggs are continuing their work in the Loron Translation and Literacy; I had a nice visit with them learning how their efforts are moving forward.

Cherry spent a good part of her time translating for two doctors with the 1040i team. She fills an import-ant need helping the Loron and Loma people get much needed attention. While she was with the team, two cat-tle herders were brought in. They had both been shot while stealing cows according to reports. The one man was DOA, and the other was given help for his broken, shot leg. Justine (Hovare’s widow) was able to get some

Missionary News

11SFMI Update

needed surgery done. She was very happy to have Cherry there during the process. Cherry said it was one of her best times helping the team.

The day we left Accra, we were able to have a meal and fellowship with David Kangni. His Vision Mission will be holding training in March, and David and Ed Enns will be doing most of the teaching.

Cherry asked me, what was the highlight of the trip? After reflection, I decided that it was the day John led the

way down hiking trails with his motorcycle, and I fol-lowing with mine with Solomon riding as my passenger for miles in areas I had never been. When I came into villages that I had never seen before, old men and women came out with the warmest of greetings talking about our Gogo days. They grabbed kids and explained to them the events of those early days among the Loron. It was a little like the old days when every trail was a new experience.

I still miss Hovare, and I cannot make sense of the what seems like untimely death; but, like the game I re-member, as we go through life, we may not know what is around the next bend and what drops and surprises may arise in our lives. However, God is the master engineer; and He knows what is to come. He is the orchestrator of our lives, and He has it all planned out. Keeping our walk of Faith, being confident in our heart of His Love for us, no matter the dips and twists may be the greatest testimo-ny God has planned for us.

Jerry and Cherry Skiles

David OmariKenya

Dear brothers in Christ,

I thank God for gift of Bibles I received last. We have come back to the field of teaching after a short session of

preparing children for schools.We have started teaching in groups in different

places and different religions. Even though there were differences in some other religions, God is controlling, and we met in their houses for the case with most leaders; and some have accepted to be saved and be re-baptized so that they receive Jesus in their hearts. Bibles are really of great help as they help us reach many from various religions and become our friends and friends of Jesus Christ while these same Bibles are reaching to the owners (those in need).

This week on Thursday, we will go to high schools for teaching and giving the students the New Testament Bibles which God had provided from Gideons.

But also teachers who have never gone to any church were requesting us to share with them the cost of a Bible each. They say they will be happy to join the group praising Jesus. On 8th February 2019, I and pastor John Omoke, God willing, will be having a trip to Kigoma, Western Tanzania, at the borders of Rwanda and Burundi for a training. We will be there for 10 days and after the training; we will be at Mwanza for 5 days in a Theology training school at Bariadi for 7 days.

Later back to Tarime for 3 days after which we shall be back home. So we are praying that God of provision will intervene so that we may fail not as the other side is well prepared to receive us. God willing we shall be having Swahili Bibles with us.

We please request for your prayers that God may be with us in His work.

. RegardsDavid Omari

Steve and Linda MontgomeryAtotonilco, Mexico

Dear friends:The final day of the Health Fair brought us back to

Atotonilco; but instead of the Plaza in the city center, we went to a neighborhood on the outskirts of town. We met in the plaza of this neighborhood at 8:30 to set up our tents, awnings, tables and signs; and by 10:30 we were ready to sign people in—and a good thing, too, since we already had people waiting!

We had a steady flow of adults and children throughout the day, seeing 130 adults and 170 children, bringing the total we saw to over 1000!

The week was suc-cessful due to the work of young people, couples, men and women from the church here, due

Cherry just before ferrying the motorcycle across the river.

12 SFMI Update

to the team that came from the US with CrossLink ministries but also, in great part, due to your prayer. Thank you for being part of an exhausting and profitable week!

Part of the dental work done.

As we remember the Bible Expo which followed, I want to let you know the things that have happened.

1. The Expo Team, which had car troubles in San Antonio, was up and running. Francois wrote to say that the transmission oil was low. We topped it off and seems much better.

We visited three malls, and one mall accepted the Bible Expo till Friday if we wanted. This was Crossroads Mall, and we were able to set up to be ready for for the opening!

Praise the Lord!So they were on course and even have an additional

venue to present the Expo!In Atotonilco, Omar and Jesús were able to visit

the Mayor´s office on Monday. The Mayor was out of town, but they were able to coordinate with his office for approval. Taking the approved letter of permission to Park and Recreation, they found out that Monday morning at 10 the city has its weekly flag ceremony. Parks and Recreation was concerned that the Expo not interfere with that, but it will actually be an opportunity to be present and draw more people to the Expo opening! They also found out that Thursday evening the local Seniors Dance Club will be using the stage for their dance recital. That means we will not be able to have a presentation on the stage that night, but it also means that we will have a good crowd present as we keep the Expo open extra hours into the evening! They also went to the Traffic Police for permission to park at the Plaza all day and to City Services to ask

that the stage be installed all week—both went without a problem!

2. The city had informed us that they would be having a flag ceremony on the morning of the first day of the Expo. More recently we found out two more details about this ceremony: It started at 10am and will continue until 12:30 or 1pm! And all of the grade schools and junior highs in the city would be there! The member of the City Council who is the liaison to the public schools of the city told us that we should begin to set up around 11 or 11:30 so that we can be ready when the flag ceremony is over. He had said he will announce the Expo and encourage the schools to take the students through the exhibits.

3. Tuesday I met with the Mayor to confirm that he will officially open the Bible Expo. We wanted to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony with him on that first day (Monday the 25th of February).

4. In an unexpected “coincidence” there was a show of wares from Oaxaca in the plaza at the same time as the Bible Expo. It did not interfere with the Expo and and hopefully brought more people to the plaza!

5. We met with the radio and television to try to coordinate an interview on the radio and a television presence at the opening. We foresaw no problems with the radio—the owner and his wife are believers and very enthusiastic about promoting Gospel events —the television has been a little more difficult. They have twice committed to be present at events recently and not shown up.

One of the women of the church, Ana, a new believer, was walking people through the Expo and had the opportunity to speak to an acquaintance who didn’t know Ana had come to Christ. As Ana explained her conversion and the Gospel, the woman listened with interest. The following day, Ana was not able to come to the Expo and was disappointed that she would be “missing out.” However, to her surprise, that acquaintance with whom she had spoken knocked on her door, wanting to hear more of the Good News! Ana told me they spoke for a long and profitable time.

I want to take just one more minute to thank you for caring enough to pray for these requests. We want this Bible Expo to be used to bless the brethren, draw the lost and encourage the Bible Expo Team, and you are part of seeing this happen.

Thank you for praying.

Steve and Linda Montgomery

Daniel and Mari FontanezTotolan, Mexico

Dear BrethrenThe Totolan Bible Church collects a grocery box

13SFMI Update

for needy families from outside the church. We’ve done this for several years. It’s a work that started strong and had declined. At the beginning of the year we decided to encourage the brethren in this respect; and they answered the call, even a couple who had visited the church from California joined the ffort. The box of groceries was collected and given to Gilberto and his family on the 31st of January. Gilberto has not been able to work due to severe burns he received when part of his house caught fire the 26th of December. His eleven year old son with cerebral paralysis was also burned pretty bad. Gilberto and his family not only received the groceries gladly, they also received the message of the cross and remain open to receiving Bible studies in their home.

The Fontanez family has been fighting sickness. We took Carlos to the pediatrician a few weeks back because he keeps getting what we thought was the flu. It turns out he might have asthma or allergies. He will have more tests done in the months to come. Daniela has been having pain in her stomach, and the doctor suspected that it was her gall bladder. We were able to pay for one test that has shown that to be the case. The rest of her tests (which our insurance will pay for), will determine with more precision if it is indeed her gall bladder.

Mari and I (Daniel) have been fighting a very persistent flu virus. It’s been over a month and a half. Just yesterday night we were again with the doctor. As I write this, I have a loud humming in my right ear due to it being swollen from so much drainage. Mari has also be feeling body aches and an overall weariness. Mariana has been fighting this flu too but with better results than than the rest of us.

Thank you for reading and praying. May the Lord bless you.

Daniel and Mari Fontanez family

Ed EnnsAfrica

Greetings in the Name above every other.Living in Ghana, one has to leave the country at least

once every two months in order to renew one’s visa.I just returned from the Ivory Coast about a week ago

with this visa requirement in view. While in Abidjan, I was able to have some ministry where I shared in a local assembly and had some time after with three Pastors. I also was able to spend time with Semu who is a Komono believer who has been basically ostracized by his own people because of their opposing faith.

Now that I am back in Ghana, I am planning a one- week teaching session in Tarkwa where the His Vision Mission is located. The teaching will begin February 24

and run through March 1. The local brethren are invited as well others from outside the area. The goal is to teach key men who will be able to teach others.

I call myself the Foundation man.Most if not all believers in Ghana have been strongly

influenced by the prosperity gospel and have never been established on a solid foundation of Biblical doctrine. So this is my desire to see these key men established on sound doctrine.

One of the elders is planning on moving to eastern Ghana to begin a similar teaching approach in that area. A young man in the town where I live will also be attending and he also plans to teach similarly a new fellowship here that are desirous to be taught the scriptures correctly and wean themselves from the prosperity gospel. Also hoping an elder from Lome, Togo will attend who has the same aspirations.

We appreciate your prayers for open hearts and minds to the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit.

By His grace,

Ed Enns

Chris and Lisa BooherUkraine

Dear Brethren At the time of this writing, we are on our way back to America...at the border now. We trust in prayers for traveling mercies. We are traveling with a dog which makes crossings and flights a bit more uncertain; and we are also splitting up, with Chris going one way with the van and two kids, and me going another with the dog and five kids. It is so difficult to leave our Ukrainian family (friends) here, but we are excited to see what God has next for us.

Blessings,

Chris and Lisa

14 SFMI Update

A couple of years ago the mission was contacted by a brother named Paul who represented himself as the secretary of a Christian ministry in Cameroon. Soon after, he introduced me to one of their leaders, an evangelist by title whose name is Obama. In one of his early communications with us, Paul asked if Shield of Faith could send some personnel to assist them with the training of pastors and church leaders. At the time, we had no one available for this; but I continued to keep in touch. Then last year when Jim Lucas put on his training program in Texas, they in-quired if they could send brother Obama to the pro-gram. We agreed to that, and the mission sent him a letter of invitation for visa purposes. He was unable to get a visa however.

Some time later, these brethren communicated with Jim, asking him if he could come to Camer-oon and do his training program. At about the same time, it had been in my mind to offer to go there for training. I contacted Jim to see if he had initiat-ed anything, and he told me of their invitation. Jim then asked if I would join him in the work. He in-formed me that the brethren in Cameroon said that they would like ministry in the two major cities, Ya-onde and Douala. As the plan unfolded, we decided to split the work into two teams. Jim and someone else would go to Yaonde for three weeks. I would go with Skip Voetberg to Douala for two weeks. Our expectation was to have ten days of teaching, over a two-week period, with the same group of commit-ted participants. They agreed to give us four hours of teaching per day.

Skip and I arrived in Douala on Feb. 9th and were met at the airport by Obama and Samuel. Most of Cameroon is French speaking; and brother Obama, who doesn’t speak English, brought Samuel along as an interpreter. These brothers accompanied us to the hotel, and we had a very good initial im-pression of them. We prayed together, and I thought there was a kindred spirit among us. The follow-ing day Paul came with Obama. They took us first to the Baptist guest house where we were to stay, and then we went to the Sunday church meeting. Here we were introduced to a charismatic fellow who they said was the group coordinator. He was very enthusiastic about our being there and spoke about their churches being at a juncture where with the right vision and motivation they were ready to advance. He said there were 1500 believers in their

churches throughout the Douala metropolis. The churches were called The Assemblies of Truth. I was impressed that God had brought us here to help impart vision and to give them some tools for the advancement of the church.

Douala is a big city of four million inhabitants, spread out over a large area. We relied on taxis to get around. Every day Obama and Paul would meet us, and we’d take a taxi to where we had to go. Sometimes we’d take several taxis in a day. We were expected to pay for all the taxi rides, which we were willing to do when we were all traveling together. However, at the end of the first day when Obama and Paul left us at the guest house to go to their own houses, they asked us to give them fare money for their own transportation. We gave it to them this first time, but suggested that they should be responsible for their own commuting expenses. I mention this because I think this was the beginning of the realization for these brothers that we were not going to be their cash cow.

Monday was the day we began our program. It consisted of four hours of teaching each day, with Skip and I splitting the time. There were about 30 who attended. Most of them were men who were pastors or church leaders in some capacity. They were very attentive and many of them took notes with great diligence. A brother by the name of Jo-seph interpreted for us. He spoke English well and did a great job of interpreting. Skip started the teaching with a course called Attitudes, then Quiet Time, and then the Gospel. I taught God’s Eternal Purpose and then an overview of God’s Vision. We had sent them notes ahead of time on the topics we planned to teach, which they translated into French. At the end of this first day, we found out that they only scheduled three days here and that we’d then be going somewhere else to work with a different group. This, of course, was not what we anticipated; and it totally disrupted our teaching plan. Now, in-stead of forty hours of teaching the same group, we had twelve hours to work with.

The three days ended, and we went to a differ-ent location. This was a different group of 25 to 30 brethren. We were given two days with this group. Paul replaced Joseph as our interpreter. We had four hours again of teaching each day. This time I taught on God’s Vision and then “What it is to be a Disciple.”

Report on Cameroon Tripby Richard McDaniel

Continued on back cover...

15SFMI Update

Special Requests or Needs

May 24 - 27, 2019Twin Rocks Friends Campground / Rockaway Beach, Oregon

You may register online at www.sfmiusa.org/conference, or you may complete this form and mail it to: Jim Aslin, 2900 Colorado Avenue, North Bend, Oregon 97459.

***If you do not receive an email/phone call acknowledgement within one week*** or for any other questions, please contact:

Jim Aslin, (541) 756-1100, or Ben Booher at (541) 420-1704 or email sfmiregistry@gmail.

Accomodation requestedSame as last year if possible

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16 SFMI Update

Shield of Faith Mission InternationalP.O. Box 144

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PAIDBend, OregonPermit No. 118

sought God, heard His Voice and gained the victory. They are our examples. Therefore, let us press in with renewed vigor as we see the day approaching, and may we be ready for our Mighty Savior’s return.

“Wherefore we, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28).

Five Smooth Stones, continued from page 9

Skip taught on the Authority of the Word and Biblical Faith. Sometime during these last two days, Obama and Paul informed us that this would be the end of the program. That meant that there would be no ministry for the whole following week. This was a sudden blow to us. Their explanation for it was difficult to sort out. Their reasoning was that the money budgeted for this was all used up.

At the end of our last day of teaching, Paul left the city to go back to his home city. Obama was disgruntled because we informed the saints that we’d come for two weeks of teaching and our ser-vices had been terminated. He consequently dis-appeared, and we were left to fend for ourselves and to finish our time hanging out at the Baptist guest house. A few days later, Obama reappeared with Samuel and offered to reinstate the program if we’d pay for the interpreter’s services. We weren’t willing to do that.

We’ve made some of our own assumptions. It is likely that there was never an organized plan put into place for the two-week training. Obama and Paul are friendly with the Assembly of Truth brethren but are operating on their own. The other brother, who was called the coordinator, was in-volved at first but then faded out of the picture. He was more legitimately the connection with the

church association. Our refusal to finance Obama and Paul’s personal travel was an indicator to them that we were not going to cover all the expenses of their “project.”

Under the circum-stances there was no rea-son for us to stay longer, and Skip and I therefore decided to return to the States. Our wives worked hard at getting our return tickets changed, and we returned four days early. We praise the Lord and give Him glory for the six days of ministry we were able to have. We know that His anointing was upon us. Thank you for your prayers and means of support.

Report from Cameroon, continued from page 14