Change is upon us!
Forgive me if I speak of change as some “thing” or some “force”; like some unwanted visitor that shows up at our door and refuses to leave until we finally accept that he isn’t going anywhere until he gets what he wants. However, change isn’t always a bad thing; it can be the beginning of something exciting, something new and challenging! Of course it can also be something that takes us by surprise and forces us into a new way of thinking and living that stretches and tests our levels of perseverance and adaptability to the highest level.
Forgive me if I speak of change as some “thing” or some “force”; like some unwanted visitor that shows up at our door and refuses to leave until we finally accept that he isn’t going anywhere until he gets what he wants. However, change isn’t always a bad thing; it can be the beginning of something exciting, something new and challenging! Of course it can also be something that takes us by surprise and forces us into a new way of thinking and living that stretches and tests our levels of perseverance and adaptability to the highest level.
Either way it comes to us, we will all experience change in our lives numerous times and hopefully we will all get better at recognizing the need to quickly adapt and embrace whatever it is that comes and whenever it may come. There is often nothing sadder than someone who has change come to their life, but instead of embracing it they fight against it and do all in their power to resist the seemingly inevitability of what has come upon them. As Christ followers we know that we shall pass through seasons in our lives as we mature in the Lord and used by God in different ways to build up His church and be a blessing to the body and a light unto the world. Really, it is an honor to be used by God in any way seeing as how, at least in my own life, I wasted 25 years by living selfishly, only looking to fulfill my own desires at any cost. Since coming to Christ all I have wanted to do is to bare fruit and be a vessel through which the Lord can work to spread what He’s done in my life to others.
So this change thing . . . yes, Jessica and I both feel that it has come upon us and soon we will be entering into another season of life, the likes of which we have been slightly preparing for over the last few years. Up until a few years ago, when FrutiVera and the sweet corn business came into our lives, I had not been part of the 9-5 working world since I left Germany back in 2008. Over those roughly 13 years I, and what would eventually become my family, had been living off of the faithfulness of the Lord to provide through supporters of the ministry. Wow! How amazing is that?! To be able to have your needs provided for, and then some, through the giving of others; with the majority of those amazing people never having set foot in Nicaragua! It blows me away. God is so faithful and I have always had food on my plate, a place to lay my head, and clothes on my back. We have been able to see God move through the giving of others so much over the years and see so many needs met that it would be hard to look back and count each and every person and/or family blessed with a plate of food, home, bathroom, new roof, Bible, etc . . . and that’s not even mentioning meeting needs that can’t be measured tangibly. I truly believe that the greatest need of the day is not the physical need. Don’t get me wrong, physical needs are not to be swept under the rug or pushed into the background, but I do believe that they should take 2nd place when it comes to prioritizing what is at the root of the problem of mankind. Of course I’m referring to the spiritual need of eternal life and the importance of having someone in our lives that speaks truth and also lives it out on a daily basis for all the world to see. Through the prayers and financial support of The Isaiah Ministry/Fervent Fire Ministry Jessica, I and many others supported by the ministry in one way or another have been able to be that light to our surrounding communities through prayer, Bible studies, outreach opportunities, home visits and more. Many have been born again to a LIVING HOPE and many more have been encouraged to keep running the race! None of this would have been possible without the tangible support of others and for that we are forever indebted and deeply grateful to all who have supported our efforts here in Nicaragua; if you donated just one time or if you have been supporting us since the beginning through to the present day! FROM THE MOST SINCERE PLACE IN OUR HEARTS WE SAY THANK YOU! ☺️ 🙏
So as I mentioned earlier, a few years ago I began my way back into the working world as production manager of a sweet corn harvest with FrutiVera.THIS WAS TOTALLY A GOD THING! As I had no agricultural experience and up until my joining of the FrutiVera team I only had what I would call as a healthy curiosity in the agricultural field; mostly motivated by the desire to find a way to provide jobs to those in our fellowship here in Managua that needed work; while at the same time finding a way to generate funds to meet physical needs of the church as well.
Through the confirmation of a few prophetic words my wife and I felt that the sweet corn business opportunity was indeed divinely inspired so I joined the team as a consultant, wearing many hats serving the team in whatever way was needed, which after a few months lead to me accepting the position as production manager. Over these past few years working with FrutiVera on a somewhat flexible and inconsistent schedule fulfilling needs as production manager, but also filling in for sales, packaging and quality control, etc. . . I realized that now in my 40’s and having walked with the Lord for almost 15 years, He had formed in me a charachter and wisdom that is valuable in the workplace. What I definitely lacked in experience I made up for in consistency, hard work, availability, and wise counsel. Clearly I can take no credit for any of this; because if not for the Lord’s mercy and guidance I truly believe that I would have never gotten this far in my life and accomplished any of the things that I am now proud of since being born-again 15 years ago.
In a sudden and unexpected change of events a few months back the government confiscated the land in which FrutiVera had its sweetcorn harvest. We had been leasing the land and developing it over the 2 years we had been there, as it had been woefully maintained by its owners before us. Sadly, we were just about to get to the place of having a stable and sufficient water supply for the crops, which cost us an investment of 10’s of thousands of dollars. However, we only able to reap the benefits of the newly outfitted well and water-pump setup for about 6 months before we had to pull everything out of the ground before the government could come and confiscate all our materials at the farm as well. So, obviously this was quite the set-back for the business and ever since we harvested our last crop of corn that was already in the ground when the unfortunate news arrived, we have been on a forced “pause”. It’s never an easy thing to see something you’ve poured so much time and energy into come to a halt caused by forces out of your control. But, if there’s one thing i’ve learned over the years of ministry here in Nicaragua, its to trust in the Lord and make sure you’re doing all you can to make sure the things you can control are being given their needed attention and care, while leaving the things that are beyond our reach to Him. This was definitely one of those situations and as Jessica and I prayed and talked further about God’s plans for our lives and what was “next” for us, we began to feel that maybe my involvement in FrutiVera as a daily-wager had come to an end. We are still waiting for confirmation and funds to take the next step and move FrutiVera to a new location and start-up again; however, my involvement moving forward will be solely that of a business consultant.
For the past few years my wife has been asking me the question from time to time: “Do you think we’ll move to the United States to live someday?” And my usual answer to this question was along the lines of: “I don’t know. Maybe. 🤷♂️ But I don’t feel like that time is now. We have too much going on that God has us involved in for Him to move us away.” But this year things began to feel a bit different concerning our future here in Nicaragua. A few times I have felt inspired, compelled even, to search the internet for job opportunities. It was a strange feeling. I didn’t really know what to look for and what’s more, jobs that I was even qualified for as a 43 year old missionary. 2023 has also presented us with more needs and less funds with which to meet those needs; which has also played into me wondering more consistently if our time of living here off the financial support of others is coming to an end. These things aren't always easy to discern; however, I think that circumstance can sometimes push us into a corner to see where we’re at in our faith. It could be that we are being tempted to doubt God and His promises to provide and we must hold the line and stand firm in what we know He has said. Other times, I believe that God is using circumstance to lead us into another season of life that maybe we have been a bit hesitant to enter into, or to even consider entering into. In my case I do not believe I, or my wife for that matter, have been resistant to the idea of change; I guess it more of the problem of discerning whether its God speaking/moving or our own thoughts and desires. Well, after much prayers and discussion Jessica and I believe that God is leading us back to the United States next year.
Our home in Managua where we have lived for the past almost 10 years!
In 2022 I strongly felt the need to begin Jessica’s green-card application process and about a year later in June of this year we heard back from USCIS that she was approved to go onto the 2nd stage of the green card application process, which is where we are at the moment. Limited by funds (it has cost almost $1,000 up to this point) and know how, we are still making our way through the application process and are hoping to finalize submitting all the proper documents within the next month or so. We have also listed our house “for sale” with one real estate company as we think it best to no longer own property in Nicaragua. During my whole tenure here in Nicaragua I have never felt anxiety or worry about property ownership before, but the way things are going here lately in the country it hasn't inspired much confidence that things are going to end well. I am not saying that our decision to list the house is based on those somber feelings, rather on the lack of peace and confidence with which we owned and lived in this home in years past.
Our biggest concern in considering leaving the country sometime next year is the family in Christ to which we belong here in Managua. As soon as Jessica and I began feeling the moving of the Lord in our hearts towards more certainty in our time living in Nicaragua coming to an end, our thoughts quickly moved to a concern for the church. What would become of the fellowship here in Managua if we are no longer around?
We ask this question in all humility as we know that the church is a body of many members and that no member is greater than the other. However, Jessica and I have been here so long and have for most of that time been a central fixture in the lives of many of the brothers and sisters here that we do acknowledge a concern that if we are no longer here to be a spiritual “crutch” of sorts that many have leaned on, will it all just fall apart in our absence? This question has lead us to share our feelings of our impending future departure with the fellowship here with the desire of the news challenging all to step-up a bit more in responsibility for the body and begin being more intentional in their dealings with each other. No longer waiting for a certain few to initiate acts of service, gatherings, home visits and the like; but to fully realize that we are all called to live this life of service and compassion for one another. I am happy to share that we have seen some of the brothers and sisters stepping-up more than before and choosing to be involved in a more consistent way, which has encouraged us as we continue to walk and encourage the family in Christ as best we can with the time left we have here amongst them.
Since visiting the United States on our most recent trip back in June I have been preparing myself for an opportunity in sales that a dear brother in the Lord has so graciously offered me. In my preparations for the opportunity I have read 5 books already and am working my way through the 6th. I have enjoyed learning, once again, about something in which I previously had little to no working knowledge and am just trying to place myself in the best position possible to be a valuable asset for whomever I would work. If I am able to produce in this provided opportunity I would be back in the 9-5, 5 days a week work world, the likes of which I have not been fully immersed in since my coming to Nicaragua. I am intrigued by the challenge and opportunity to provide for all the needs of my family and no longer need to receive a “fair compensation” from the ministry to cover our living expenses. All donations made to Fervent Fire Ministries would be allocated towards meeting the needs of the church in Nicaragua and any and all other needs the Lord would lead us to be involved in meeting. There are already a few needs on the list that we know we would love to see met, or at least steps made towards that end, by the time we make our exit from Nicaragua. Such as a providing few homes for families in the fellowship and vehicles as well. Obviously these are needs of a higher dollar amount and we are excited to see how the Lord moves to meet them in His time and in His way. We are just excited to be part of the process, whether it be on the facilitating-end through boots on the ground ministry or providing-end through giving of the fruits of our labors in the workforce.
Ok, I think this blog has been long enough! If you have gotten this far I thank you for sticking with me and caring enough to spend your valuable time here. I will ask you for more time in that as the Lord brings to your remembrance, please pray for us as we proceed cautiously, yet with much excitement, into this new season of ministry. We don’t know exactly how things will look come 2024 for Fervent Fire, but we know that we will still be serving, still be part of the growing body of Christ, still be giving all we can to see the kingdom of God grow through the sharing of the Gospel and making disciples! We will always have a home here in Nicaragua, we know that. We will always be part of the church here in Nicaragua as well; as we have seen too much and been a part of too much to ever forget all that God has done!
Michael
Coming up on 15 years in Nicaragua!
Did you know that in about a month I will be completing 15 years of living in Nicaragua! WOW! I came to this realization not too long ago and I feel like it was something that kind of snuck up on me, haha. I know there is nothing special about the number 15, but I guess I kind of lost track of the years between 10 and 15. Man . . . so much has changed since arriving here almost 15 years ago.
Hello friend! Hello family! Hello visitor! It’s been far too long since I hopped on to the FFM blog to post anything, which honestly I don’t feel good about. If you look back through the blog entries over the past few years you will see that previously the longest drought the blog page had experienced without an update was 6-7 months I believe; well, now that has grown to 11 months! Not on purpose mind you . . . I just realize, and have for some time, that being consistent with blogging is not one of my strengths. I don’t pretend to believe that this page is viewed by hundreds of folks, but I do think it important to post my thoughts, hopes, and experiences on this page so that those of you who have followed me/the Folsom family/Fervent Fire Ministries formerly known as The Isaiah Ministry will feel that you are in “the know” as to what I/we are up to and also get to feel part of, in a way, the wonderful things God has wrought through us and the ministry as we follow Him to the best of our ability and talents. I am truly sorry and repentant about my lack of consistency and while I will not vow again to do a better job at that (cuz I don’t want to fail in keeping my word yet again) I want you to know that if you are reading this I feel honored and humbled that you would take the time and have the interest in scrolling through these few long over-due words. Really, thank you.
BY THE WAY . . .
Did you know that in about a month I will be completing 15 years of living in Nicaragua! WOW! I came to this realization not too long ago and I feel like it was something that kind of snuck up on me, haha. I know there is nothing special about the number 15, but I guess I kind of lost track of the years between 10 and 15. Man . . . so much has changed since arriving here almost 15 years ago (to live that is, I actually visited Nicaragua several times before that) that there is no way I could fit it all here in this blog. But . . . maybe it could be kind of fun to share with you a few pictures from that first year of my now almost 15 years of serving the Lord in Nicaragua.
Wild eh?! At least for me it is. Kind of hard to think back, looking at these pictures and remember where I was at spiritually at that time and personally as a much younger version of myself (no grey hairs at all!). So much has happened and changed since then, spiritually and personally as well that it almost seems like a lifetime ago! I am sure that you can relate to what I’m talking about as I imagine you feel the same way when you look back through photo albums of years gone by. If you who are reading this are someone who has been following me and the ministry since the beginning years, well . . . I will say it again, I am humbled that you did and if you prayed for me along the way and even perhaps gave some support as well, then I am forever thankful for your kindness. It is through and by the goodness and faithfulness of others that I have been able to stay in Nicaragua so long and to reach so many people through the ministry of the love of Christ and the transformative power of His Gospel message! Hallelujah!
I promise that I will be updating the blog page again soon with some more current news and happenings from over the past few months so STAY TUNED!
I hope you are reading this blog from a place of thriving relationship with the Lord and you and your’s are well!
Michael
A little bit of everything. . .
It’s been almost two months since I’ve posted so I thought it was a good time to hop on here and write a little something to keep you up to date on how we’ve been doing and what we’ve been up to. At the end of July we celebrated my mother in law’s birthday. We have seen Arlete change so much over the years as the Lord has been working in her life; it’s been a blessing to be able to bear witness to what He can do in a life that suffered so much early on.
It’s been almost two months since I’ve posted so I thought it was a good time to hop on here and write a little something to keep you up to date on how we’ve been doing and what we’ve been up to. At the end of July we celebrated my mother in law’s birthday. We have seen Arlete change so much over the years as the Lord has been working in her life; it’s been a blessing to be able to bear witness to what He can do in a life that suffered so much early on. Arlete was raised by her grandmother who didn’t know the Lord and put her to work at a really young age, like pre-teen age, making tortillas and selling things in the streets. She basically had no father in her life and at 16 made a bad decision and ended up pregnant with Jessica. Obviously the Lord redeemed that bad decision and gave me an amazing wife through it all, but she repeated that mistake a few more times and had two more children who as well were raised without a father figure in their lives. Arlete was born again about 9 years ago or so and from that point on it’s been a process of transformation that really accelerated in the last few years. It has been a joy for me and Jessica to see her mature in the Lord and she has been such a help to us in watching our kids so that Jessica and I can go have a dinner together or just have a break for a few hours. We continue to walk with Arlete as family in Christ, not just blood related, and rejoice at all He’s done!
At the beginning of August I took 3 days, well . . . I should say that my lovely and patient wife allowed and even encouraged me to take 3 days to go fast and pray. I found a cheap and rustic cabin not far from our home and that is where I posted up for 3 days to seek the Lord and kind of refocus myself as I felt I needed clarity on some things that were occupying space in my mind. When I spend time intentionally seeking the Lord in this way I find that normally I don’t receive a great and life-changing revelation necessarily, rather I find myself humbled once again by how frail and weak I am in my own strength and how much I need the Lord in every way. I also have found that I remain pretty quiet during these solitary fasts; like my Spirit is reminding me that I need to be still and know that He is God and I am not. I spend a lot of time listening and reading the scriptures and this time I brought a few biographies with me of a few men who lived their lives bravely and whole-heartedly for the Lord that challenged and encouraged me as well. I think it’s a good idea for those that can do so to retreat away for at least a whole day and night, and if possible 2 to 3 days, to seek the Lord and be reminded of His greatness and sovereignty in our lives. I have done so now a few times this year and I hope to be able to do so perhaps one more time before 2022 is finished; Lord willing and if my wonderful wife allows me to once again!
Last month Jessica and I also celebrated our birthdays! I turned 42 and Jessica turned 30. Jessica and I both really enjoy hiking so our desire was to take the day and go hike a volcano near by; a certain trail on that volcano that we hadn’t hiked before. We were blessed by our brothers and sisters in Christ watching our kids for us that day and then planning a little get-together to celebrate our birthdays once we got back that night. Every year someone new is surprised that Jessica and I share the same day as our birthday and every year I feel a bit bad that on that day we share birthday honors because I want to celebrate my wife, but in the end she ends up having to share the honors with me, which she always does so graciously and selflessly. We are both thankful that the Lord has given us strong bodies that can do things like hiking where we can enjoy His creation and get outside of the city of Managua for a few hours.
And our Isabella turned 1 year old just a few days ago! Wow how time has flown by! She is so close to walking now and let me tell you, she is a vocal one! Isabella is very active and keeps mommy and daddy busy. She is a great eater and sleeper (most of the time) and we were so happy and thankful that Omi and Papa (my parents) were able to be here to help us celebrate her birthday. Our family most definitely feels complete with Isabella joining us a year ago and we are made more sure as each day goes by that 3 kiddos was and is enough for us, haha!
In our fellowship here in Nicaragua we have two couples that are about to welcome into the world their first child; one couple is awaiting their little girl and the other their little boy. The father’s are actually brothers so that kind of makes it a bit more special as they are both about to be father’s for the 1st time! Over the past month or so we planned a few gatherings to celebrate the soon-arrivals of their babies and are excited to walk with them as new parents who love the Lord and long to raise their children His way. Jessica and I have certainly not done everything perfectly over the last almost 7 years that we have been parents, but the little knowledge that we have we have shared with them and will continue to do so as they begin encountering all the lovely and challenging facets of parenthood! I’ve always said that when I became a husband I was shown how much I needed to humble myself and how little I knew about how to love unconditionally my wife; and when I became a father for the 1st time it was once again revealed to me how little I understood about denying myself. Being a husband and a father are such blessings in my life that have been so crucial in forming me into the man of God that I am today; even though I know there is still much work to be done in me.
Over the last few months our son Sebastian learned to ride a bike! Our little guy is so fearless and became the youngest one amongst all his cousins to learn to ride a bike without training wheels! We are so proud of our little guy and now we just hope to get him into swimming classes soon so that he can enjoy pool/beach time with his brother a bit more and Jessica and I can feel less nervous about him being near open water! I also have gotten into biking a bit since my last blog. I had actually not owned a bike since high school so this was a long time in coming! One of my brothers in the faith here in Managua is the director of a bike shop that receives old busted bikes from the U.S. and they fix them up here and resell them. So . . . he hooked me up with a bike and I began getting used to riding a bike around the neighborhood first and then that turned into me going on a few bike rides that were easily the longest I’ve been on in my whole life, between 30-40 kms. I’ve enjoyed it and look at it as another easy way to get exercise that’s not hard on the joints and also I get to enjoy it alongside other brothers and sisters in the faith, which honestly for me if it wasn’t for that I don’t think I would have been so inclined to try it out.
The last few months I have been able to share the Gospel more than in previous months which has been refreshing for me. (Picture on the left is Gabriel sharing his testimony with our workers from the corn farm and the picture on the right is of a brother in the faith Darwin sharing the gospel with someone on one of our outings in the street with the gospel cards) I understand that sometimes our walk with the Lord brings us into and through various phases/seasons with what we are involved in principally. I believe I have mentioned in previous blogs and emails that Jessica and I have been much more involved in discipleship this year than in evangelism; not necessarily because we decided it to be that way, it’s more just what we found ourselves spending most of our time doing. And we love it! We love walking with our brothers and sisters in Christ; encouraging and challenging to go deeper with the Lord in obedience to Him and love for one another, just as we choose to go deeper ourselves. However, lately I have felt the leading of the Lord to begin stepping back out again more intentionally in sharing the Gospel in the streets and in visiting those in their homes who are searching for truth. In our fellowship here in Managua we have seen a few more young men born again who are hungry and wanting to grow in their new found relationships with the Lord! Praise God! It is always such a blessing to my soul to meet new young men who are on fire for the Lord and are willing and desiring to do something with their new life in Christ. It really is encouraging to see someone cross over from death to life through being born again, because we also share the Gospel with many who decide to remain in spiritual death and not grab the outstretched hand of Christ that would pull the out of sin and darkness. However, there is satisfaction in being obedient to sew seed, even when the seed does not produce fruit at that moment. If I have learned one thing over the last few years, and I have learned most certainly more than one, it is that we can not judge if our seed sewing will bear fruit in that moment. Numerous times we have seen no apparent reaction in the person (soil) who is hearing the Gospel for the 1st time (even if they have been to church many times in their lives) but later after thinking it over for a while they decide to say yes to Jesus and give their lives to Him.
We are hoping this will be the case with a couple with whom we shared the Gospel about 3 weeks ago. They are married with kids and have been going to church off and on for years but had never heard the Gospel and were in a place of frustration with the church they had been going to but had stopped going for about a month as they were searching for something more. Neither one of them had heard or understood the Gospel before and upon sharing it with them the wife was in tears the whole time as she understood that she was not right with the Lord and was living in sin; the husband also understood that he too needed to be born again. After sharing the Gospel with them the wife didn’t look well and appeared to be in pain; she told us that ever since they got in the car to come meet with us she started feeling ill and it had only worsened. We knew this was a spiritual attack and laid hands on her and rebuked the unclean spirit and she immediately felt better and was surprised at how quickly the pain and feverish feeling left. So, even though all that happened we still have yet to hear from them about what they have decided to do with the Gospel they heard. We pray they will no take much longer to decide to give all to Jesus!
I also finally was able to share the Gospel with our sweet neighbor Mrs. Mery yesterday. She is a widow now in her 80’s and comes from quite a mixed-up background of religion and confusion. She was born into a catholic family, but married a baptist man and now lives with kind of a mixed bag of beliefs from both. We love Mrs. Mery and do our best to care (such as buying food provisions for her or taking her energetic dog out for a walk) for her as she lives alone since her daughter moved out last year. The other day she called me over because her refrigerator stopped working and I was able to help her get it working again. She also asked me to pray over her home because several home items had stopped working correctly lately and she was concerned. I took that as a great opportunity to share the Gospel with Mrs. Mery, which I was able to do later that afternoon. Mrs. Mery listened intently as she had never heard the Gospel shared so clearly and simply before. I would love to say that upon hearing the Gospel she decided right then and there to give all to Jesus, but rather she commented to me about how much she enjoys listening to Christian radio and hearing the Bible read, but made no comment about her need to be born again, even though she understood that her infant baptism was not done in her own faith and therefore had never been made “right” with God. We love Mrs. Mery and know that time is getting short for her as she is already up in years and pray that the Lord will reveal to her her need to be born again as only He can do! Until then, we will continue to serve her and love on her as best we can!
As I share the Gospel over and over again I am confronted with people who in themselves have a desire for God in some way, even a sincerity to seek Him out on their own; but, when they hear the Good News and understand that to enter into a relationship with God they must give EVERYTHING to Him, they begin backtracking and start mentioning all the spiritual things they do which make them “ok” with God although they have never been born again. It’s so sad to see lies so clearly, but realize that the one in front of you doesn’t want to see it or simply can’t see it in that moment. Let us continue to pray as we work the harvest with the Lord, that blind eyes would be opened and hearts be softened to the Good News of Jesus Christ!
Bless you for taking the time to read this and thank you for your prayers and support for our family and Fervent Fire Ministries!
Michael
I have no excuse…please read!
I guess you could say that we have really seen the truth even more clearly of the parable of the 4 soils and how important it is to realize that all of us who are born again begin as soil 4 (the good soil), but that if we are not vigilant and watchful over our spiritual lives the evil one can come in and sew something into the soil of our lives that will eventually choke the fruit-bearing life out of us. We have seen it happen too many times now unfortunately; so now more than ever we understand the importance of discipleship and we have been doing our best to be obedient in making disciples in 2022.
Hello you out there! I’m not sure who you are reading this right now or how you made it to this website and blog entry, but since you’re here I want to go ahead and confess that i’ve been terrible about updating this blog on a monthly basis, which is the minimum that I had wanted to accomplish when we launched this new site a few years back. So I ask for your forgiveness and I thank you for your patience and willingness to read what I will be typing out in this blog update. I have a lot of thoughts and there is so much I could say, but I know that in today’s Youtube/TikTok world our attention span’s have been shortened greatly when it comes to reading, so I’ll try to make this as clear and succinct as I can.
This year has been challenging; let me try to explain how exactly. As you may already know, a few years back when Fervent Fire Ministries was born we also began heading in a new-ish direction. We truly felt the Lord tell us to stop the programs-focused ministry that I had been leading and directing for the past 11 years or so; and to begin heading in a new direction. Not necessarily a direction that leads completely away from meeting basic needs such as education, providing food provisions and so on . . . but to no longer be driven primarily by those needs. As you know in a third world country like Nicaragua you can go about meeting as many basic needs a person can and you will just never have enough time or resources to meet them all! Jessica and I love seeing others’ needs met! But as I mentioned in one of first blog posts as Fervent Fire Ministries in 2020, we were longing to see real lasting spiritual fruit from our efforts here in Nicaragua and up to that point we had to humbly acknowledge that we still were not seeing any.
In 2020, through brothers and sisters connected to The Last Reformation we learned how to properly share and explain the Gospel to others among many other encouragements and challenges we received! Many began hearing the Gospel clearly and completely for the 1st time and were being born again, set free from demons and sin; it was truly an active and beautiful time! In 2021 we spent most of that year delving deeper into discipleship and what that really looks like on a day to day basis; not just consisting of meetings and events, but living life with our brothers and sisters in transparency and humility. This was a great challenge for us with having so many born again in such a short amount of time; and sadly we also saw many fall away from their decisions of faith at their new birth. We have some really beautiful testimonies of lives completely turned upside down for Christ, sinful relationships made holy and so on . . . and these brothers and sisters are still walking with us to this day, praise God! But it’s always hard to see those who have made decisions to follow Christ fall away into sin or begin to deny Christ and His Gospel when confronted with the pleasures of this world or persecutions from those who are still blind to the truth.
I guess you could say that we have really seen the truth even more clearly of the parable of the 4 soils and how important it is to realize that all of us who are born again do begin as soil 4 (the good soil), but that if we are not vigilant and watchful over our spiritual lives the evil one can come in and sew something into the soil of our lives that will eventually choke the fruit-bearing life out of us. We have seen it happen too many times now unfortunately; so now more than ever we understand the importance of discipleship and we have been doing our best to be obedient in making disciples in 2022.
We became part of a new small group at the beginning of this year and in our small group is a family (pictures of the Brenes family above) whom we have been walking with now more intimately since February and have seen them grow so much through trials and challenges they have encountered. Through some bad financial decisions they made in their past they have had to lean on the family of Christ for support financially, spiritually, and physically at times and Jessica and I have felt super blessed to be able walk with them and share their load they are carrying as brothers and sisters in Christ. Through the donations we have received we have been able to help them move homes to get out of a rent payment they could no longer make; pay off school fees for their son; buy food provisions for them when needed and we have even been able to provide the husband of the family a job with us at FrutiVera (sweet corn business) to help provide for his family. Spiritually speaking, we have spent many hours in prayer and counsel with them, loving on them and sharing with them any bit of wisdom we can give them that may help them in their walk with the Lord and with others in the family of Christ. I do not share these things to boast in ourselves; but to show what God has done through your support of the ministry and our family! ☺️🙏 I (Michael) have been so excited and thankful to see the father of that family grow so much in character and leadership of his family and in our church family here in Managua. It truly is something beautiful to see when you witness God molding a man into His image!
The Folsom home has also been giving a place for another brother in the Lord (who is really like a younger brother to me) to live for the past 3 to 4 months as his aunt’s home where he was living before was no longer an option. Kenner is much more of a blessing than a burden to have in our home as our kid’s love him and he is such a help with them and with other things around the house. Kenner has been working hard for the past 3 months to earn his certification as a bike-mechanic at a brother’s bike shop close by and during those 3 months he was only being paid enough to cover food and transportation costs as it was an internship. We were thankful that our home could provide a temporary home for him as he worked through his internship and we could help him with food provisions as he has been able to eat at least two meals with us practically everyday during this time. He will soon be moving out to go move up into the “corn house” with the Brenes family and we are thankful that the Lord has provided a home for them all at little to no cost and it’s a spiritually healthy and active environment where we hope they will have more consistent fellowship to encourage and sharpen one another in the faith.
Back in March we were able to be a part of another Kickstart; an event where people who are interested in what the Christ-like life looks like and what it is all about can come and hear foundational teachings from the scriptures and also see healings and the power of God in action. 2 were born again as a result of this Kickstart and others saw and experienced healings for the 1st time through their own hands and prayers! In this Kickstart we had two brothers in our fellowship lead a teaching for the 1st time, so that was so good to see them become even more involved, not only receiving but being able to give back as well! In my small group that went out on one of the weekends to the streets to share the Gospel and heal the sick, we saw two people get radically healed of pain and swelling in their bodies due to chronic diabetes. We literally watched legs and feet which were very swollen revert to normal size and regain their normal color within minutes! It was wild and it was the 1st time the two sisters who were with me ever saw such a radical move of God through their own faith and praying hands! It really impacted them and as always for me was such a joy to see tears of joy running down the face of one healed of severe pain (the man in the picture was one of the two radically healed).
Recently we were able to come alongside another family in our fellowship and help to provide them with safe and secure living conditions, albeit simple conditions, as they moved out of the “corn house” as we like to affectionately call it, where we process and package our sweet corn, back into their old home where they were living last year. But . . . this old home/room needed much repair and was not in condition for them to move back in. Some brothers from our fellowship were able to come together with us and purchase some tin, cement, sand, rocks, nails etc. to fix up and expand their home for them to move back into. This took us 3 full days to accomplish . . . 3 full, hot, sweaty, and hard-labor days to get it done, but in the end it was and is so worth it! A few pictures of the house going up are below.
As you can see in the photos my dad got to be around for the 2nd portion of the reconstruction and he spent two long and hot days with me carrying up buckets of sand, dirt, and cement to put in the flooring and help wrap the house in tin. It was a doubly sweet experience for me to get to work like that alongside my dad and in doing it helping to provide a beloved family in our fellowship with better living conditions.
“El Patrón” as he is so affectionately called or as I like to call him “The Ford” has been a huge blessing to have in our arsenal these last 3 months or so as we have really been putting it to work. Back in January of this year we felt lead by the Lord to purchase this 1993 Ford F-150 2x4 Long Bed for $1,800. It needed a lot of work and we’ve put a good junk of change into it since then but it has been used from everything from hauling corn freshly harvested from the field, to wood and tin to build a home, hauling trash, transportation for those in our fellowship to and from gatherings, to moving families and their belongings from one place to another. . . . and so on. I have to be honest with you that it wasn’t an easy purchase for me because already owning 2 vehicles (which has been enough and a huge blessing) adding another made me a bit uneasy. I knew it would require an investment of time and funds, but I also just don’t like how it can look to others who don’t own a vehicle when they see us with 3; albeit 3 old vehicles (our small car is the youngest at 12 years old), but still . . . I sometimes doubted after buying it if we did the right thing. So, all that said, it has pleased me to see it used so much as we don’t have many trucks in the fellowship here in Managua and so being able to have one open to any and all needs of FrutiVera or the church in Managua has been a joy for me personally to see it put to use. I have said it more than a few times to my wife as well; that one thing I love about these old trucks is the bench seat. I can fit my whole family up there with me and the picture to the far right with my two boys asleep next to me on the seat has also been one of the highlights of El Patrón’s life with us so far!
So to you reading this, for taking the time, thank you! I really do appreciate it! If you pray for me or for my family I want to say thank you as well; there is no price to place value on a prayer made in faith and compassion for another! If you have supported us in the past, I also say to you thank you; for helping us provide homes for families, food provisions for the hungry, Kickstarts for the searching, discipleship for the new in the faith, economic support for those needing a helping hand financially. And obviously a good amount of support given to Fervent Fire Ministries simply supports my family and our ability to be here as an encouraging and light-bearing presence in Managua and wherever the Lord may lead us! It has never been something I take lightly, to receive financial support through the goodwill of others; so from the bottom of our hearts,
THANK YOU!
But this year it has felt more difficult to do so to be completely honest with you. I have not done as good a job as I should have with keeping everyone up to date with what we have been up to; but I guess one reason for that is that I don’t feel that much of what we’re doing is “picture worthy” if that makes any sense. Discipleship is often times a slow process and often times has many setbacks. I don’t think I’m the best in the 1st place about keeping up with a blog (something I aim to get better at) and the Lord about 4 years ago corrected me about posting on social media about the good things we’re involved in, see Matthew 6:1. So, I try to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading as to how much I share and in what way we are supposed to do so. So . . . I guess what I’m trying to say is that without having what many people consider to be “big news” to share I find it a bit harder to accept financial support. I don’t know if this is right or not to feel that way; a few donors have told me to relax and to trust that God is leading those to donate who He places it on their hearts to do so and to just accept it and be at peace. So I guess I am trying to take that advice these days. Sorry if this sounds like rambling; I just want to be totally honest with you!
Sincerely grateful and humbled,
Michael
It is More Blessed to Give than to Receive
It truly is a great joy of mine and for my wife to be able to see the Lord bless others through our family and Fervent Fire Ministries. Your giving allows us to do such things as provide food provisions for some of the more needy families in the fellowship we are a part of here in Managua.
It truly is a great joy of mine and for my wife to be able to see the Lord bless others through our family and Fervent Fire Ministries. Your giving allows us to do such things as provide food provisions for some of the more needy families in the fellowship we are a part of here in Managua. Jessica and I always try to remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading and when we feel Him (although it’s not always necessary to feel the nudge of the Spirit, we can just decide to be obedient to the scriptures as well) asking us to bless others at a specific moment in some way, we try to obey right then without question. The other day just that happened!
We went around and visited several of the families in our fellowship who we felt the Spirit tell us to go to and we brought them some food provisions and the awesome thing is that we could do it as a family. It took us about 3 hours or so to go by the provisions and deliver them to each family and with 3 kids in the car, one being a 2 month old, that can be quite the challenge! But it was so worth it to know that our brothers and sisters in the faith are being taken care of and have their basic needs met. We really do consider as family those who are walking with us on the narrow road to salvation as obedient sons and daughters of God. What’s ours is theirs and we are thankful that the Lord has entrusted us with people who believe in us and what we are doing here in Nicaragua enough to provide funds and financial backing so that we can meet these needs as is necessary.
“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Another opportunity that I have had the pleasure of accepting since about August or so is to get to know these guys on the right better as I have become increasingly more involved in the production side of the sweet corn business I have been a part since about April of this year. An interesting challenge that I have embraced has been that all the staff on the production side of the business are not born again; while the staff on the processing and sales side of the business are all born again. I have been working to build a bridge of communication and understanding between the two sides of the operation.
I was finally able to share the Gospel with these gentlemen about a week or so ago after wanting to for some time, but it just seemed like something kept coming up that prevented me from doing it. I was also able to have a good follow up conversation with one of them about what they thought about what I shared and once again I was reminded about how crafty the evil one is and how he loves to use religion (in Nicaragua most often Catholicism) mixed with some truth to get people to think they’re ok with God when they actually have never responded to the Gospel in the biblical way. I will continue to share with the guys and believe that soon one of them will be the 1st do say YES to Jesus and get born again! Thank you for praying for them with me!
These guys work hard and even though they aren’t on the same page spiritually with the rest of the FrutiVera team yet, we want to make sure they are taken care of and feel appreciated. Thank you for helping us bless the whole staff of FrutiVera with food provisions to end the year to say thank you for all their hard work! It’s not much, but it’s something and you helped us do it through your giving! We truly feel that God is behind our efforts in the sweet corn business that and in fact He is the reason we even began getting involved to begin with! Each step of the way we are facing new challenges and are forced to depend on His guidance time and again to navigate this new territory we are in so that He gets all the glory and because He is so worthy of it all!
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
One other way we can give to others is with our time! I felt lead by the Lord (and also because I just wanted to) to begin spending some time with a few brothers in the Lord in the early morning a few days a week reading the scriptures and praying together. Two of them live close by so they can get here pretty easily at 6am and we spend one hour together in simple scripture reading and prayer. It has been a blessing for me to spend some quality time with my brothers, hearing more from God’s heart together through His word and opening our hearts together to Him in prayer. We also were blessed to be able to load up 13 of us guys in the church here in Nicaragua and spend about 24 hours together out a brother’s ranch in focused time together in the Lord.
We got to talk about some things that the Lord has been putting on our hearts over the past few months and really press into the presence of the Lord together. Since our time together was only for 24 hours we really made the most of it through prayer, discussion, worship and time spent individually as each looked for an open space in which to seek the Lord in personal communion for a few hours. I was excited to hear that there was already fruit from that time together as one brother went right home to his family and asked his wife for forgiveness in front of his kids for not loving her as the Lord had instructed and designed him too. Wow! That is so amazing! Thank you for praying with us and for us for the men in the fellowship to step up as men of God and lead their families through their own lives as examples worthy of following!
The Kingdom of God in Power in Bolivia!
At the Brown family ministry center/home we held a Kickstart event pretty shortly after our arrival and although it wasn’t attended by as many folks as we had previously thought would attend, we believe it strongly encouraged those who were present and further equipped them to begin walking more consistently in obedience to the commands of Jesus as His disciples. We saw healings in our time out in the streets, shared the Gospel, and two were baptized and born again to a new life in Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!
Hello friends and family in Christ! I am writing this blog from Bolivia where I and 2 other brothers in the faith from Nicaragua have been for almost two weeks now serving and building up our brothers in Christ here in this beautiful country. Through another sister in our fellowship in Nicaragua I met John, our connection here in Bolivia, when he came up to Nicaragua from Bolivia to see first hand what the Lord has been doing in Nicaragua this past year in growing His kingdom through signs, wonders, and transformed lives. Johnathon attended a Kickstart event our fellowship held while he was in Nicaragua and through his time walking with us and witnessing 1st hand what God was doing he also caught the fire and went back to Bolivia ready to share the Good News with everyone and anyone who would listen! After a few months Johnathon and his amazing wife Carly had shared the Gospel with dozens of people and had seen many baptized and born, but still . . . there was something missing. A few months after Jonathon had been back from his trip to Nicaragua his wife Carly felt that she too needed to come to Nicaragua to attend the same 3 week Pioneer Training School I had attended back in January to deepen her understanding of the truths she had so recently received through biblical instruction and hands-on experience in the streets walking alongside others.
Since April Jonathon and I have been communicating through WhatsApp, sharing testimonies, praying for each other and encouraging each other in the Lord. One benefit that I have had in all this over the past year and a half that Jonathon and Carly had not so much experienced yet was the blessing of walking in fellowship and communion with others; learning together and daily sharpening each other as we encounter various trials and strive to meet needs of the family spiritually and physically together as one body. Jonathon and Carly have basically been running with only one other amazing couple, Paola and Boris, that were both recently born again when Jonathon came back sharing the real full Gospel after his Nicaragua trip, and their two sweet teenage daughters also got born again, but outside of that they encountered the same problem that we faced in Nicaragua once we had so many people choosing to get born again;
“What do we do now with all these babies in Christ? How do we disciple them?!”
So, my brothers Josh and Andrew and myself were invited down here by Jonathon and Carly to spend some time walking with them and sharing with them any and all of the wisdom we had gained after walking together over the past year and a half as God has done so much in expanding His kingdom in Nicaragua. At the Brown family ministry center/home we held a Kickstart event pretty shortly after our arrival and although it wasn’t attended by as many folks as we had previously thought would attend, we believe it strongly encouraged those who were present and further equipped them to begin walking more consistently in obedience to the commands of Jesus as His disciples. We saw healings in our time out in the streets, shared the Gospel, and two were baptized and born again to a new life in Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!
Our last day here, what was supposed to be our last day, we were taken to see a waterfall a few hours away from the ministry base. We never made it to our destination, however, because we were detained by the police for traveling within the country without our physical passports on us. We still aren’t sure if this is actually a law or not, Carly and Jonathon had never had an issue with this before with any of their visitors, but there we were in the makeshift police station (photo below on the left when we were detained) detained for about an hour. Thankful to be together and in good spirits we just patiently waited and consented to the angry policeman’s orders, explaining how sorry we were and that we had no idea about their supposed law. He let us go telling us in a not so sarcastic tone to be happy that he didn’t have an actual cell or it would have been worse for us and to make sure that we went straight to the airport that night with no messing around. That was indeed our intention but during a rather strange encounter we had with another couple that we felt that God wanted us to visit on our way back to town we were notified by Copa Airlines that we had been taken off of the flight manifesto for our flight that night!
We were supposed to leave 3 days after the Kickstart event but due to a miscalculation/distraction on our parts (mostly my part) we didn’t get our PCR Test results sent to the Nicaraguan government in time and therefore we weren’t allowed on the flight back. This was a big disappointment for us as we were expecting this to be a rather short, yet purposeful trip and soon realized that our mistake was going to extend our stay here in Bolivia another week and a half! To be honest with you, I felt terrible about this, considering I had left my amazing wife back home in Nicaragua with our three kids, one being our 1 month old little girl Isabella. But . . . what was done was one and there was no changing it and we then began asking the Lord to take our week and a half we had gained in Bolivia and to use it to His glory in whichever way He chose! The 3 of us had been feeling that the Lord was calling us into to give the next 3 days to the Lord in fasting and prayer, which we did and the day after we concluded our fast we went out in the streets to share the Gospel and heal the sick and the result of that time was seeing two more (a mother and daughter pair) get born again and set free from demonic oppression! Praise God! We still have 5 more days left in our time here in Bolivia and long to see the Lord do even more than He has already done! Thank you for praying for us here in Bolivia and for my darling wife and kiddos back home in Nicaragua! What is also so encouraging to hear is that another was added to the family of God in Nicaragua while we have been gone as one of my mother in law’s old workmates decided to die in Christ and get born again in Him during our time away!
God is so Good! His kingdom is unstoppable!
-Michael
The Body of Christ Keeps Growing, FrutiVera, and Our Family!
The Body of Christ, FrutiVera, and our family has grown over the past month! I invite you to watch this video blog I to hear a little about our last month and all that God has been doing at Fervent Fire Ministries and in our family! Bless you!
Thank you for taking the time to listen to watch this video blog! I know there are probably a dozen other things that you could be doing with your time so I really appreciate you taking the time to stop by our site and stay connected with Fervent Fire Ministries and our family! Once, again, thank you for your prayers and support! We love you and pray and desire the best God has for you during this trying time with COVID on the loose; but let’s never forget that the Holy Spirit is also on the loose and has been and will continue to see His will done in and through us! Hallelujah! Praise God!
New life and a New Beginning!
I have such a WONDERFUL testimony to share with you! It all began back in March when Yader decided to give his life to Jesus. Another brother in the fellowship here in Managua who got born again last year brought Yader over to our home to hear the Gospel because Yader had seen this brother’s life transform and our brother was telling Yader that the Lord could do the same for him if he would give his life to the Lord. So Yader came over that evening broken over his sin, especially his recent unfaithfulness to the mother of his son, and was looking for answers for the sin he knew was in his life. That night Yader died to himself and gave all to the Lord
I have such a WONDERFUL testimony to share with you! It all began back in March when Yader decided to give his life to Jesus. Another brother in the fellowship here in Managua who got born again last year brought Yader over to our home to hear the Gospel because Yader had seen this brother’s life transform and our brother was telling Yader that the Lord could do the same for him if he would give his life to the Lord. So Yader came over that evening broken over his sin, especially his recent unfaithfulness to the mother of his son, and was looking for answers for the sin he knew was in his life. That night Yader died to himself and gave all to the Lord; he began living for Christ and walking in freedom from sin and self. Right away Yader began attending meetings at our home and going on outreaches in the community to learn how to heal the sick and share the Gospel. Yader was so obviously hungry to learn more about the spiritual realities of this life and live as the new man that had come up out of that water that night. Adriana, still reeling from Yader’s infidelity, doubted that this change in him she was witnessing was really genuine or not. Thankfully Adriana did not kick Yader out of the house as she really loved him, but she struggled to forgive him and find hope in a future together. Over the next 6 months though the transformed life Yader was living would prove to be too powerful for Adriana to deny! At the beginning of that six month period of bearing witness to Yader’s transformation Adriana heard the Gospel a few times, but her pain was too recent and the wound was still fresh from what Yader had done; she wasn’t ready to be vulnerable with the Lord yet. Yader wanted to marry Adriana and bring their relationship right before God, but Adriana still had too much fear about what the future would bring if they were to marry. Many times Yader would ask her about marriage but she would always push away the idea away; too fearful about the future and too resentful about the past to give it much thought. Not too long ago though, the day came when Yader felt conviction and the leading of the Lord to formally ask Adriana to be his wife; he could no longer go on in their relationship living together in what he knew was a relationship that was not fully right in God’s sight. So he bought the rings and asked her to marry him and she said YES!
PRAISE GOD!
From that moment on our fellowship began believing for their wedding to be between two children of God; so that meant we began interceding and believing for Adriana’s heart to soften and for the Lord to continue tilling the soil until she would surrender her life and will to Him! Praise God it only took a few months for the Lord to bring to pass what only He can do! Just a few weeks ago we went on an outreach in the community surrounding Yader and Adriana’s home to heal the sick and share the Gospel and Adriana once again heard the Gospel as we shared it with another one of her family members. All this time since the 1st time she heard the Gospel up until the last time, the Holy Spirit was working on her and it was more and more evident that the Lord was calling her to Himself. Adriana finally could take it no more and after some sleepless nights battling with herself and her sin she knew that the only answer for her was to give all to JESUS! Yader sent me a message about a week ago telling me that Adriana told him she was ready to be baptized and washed of her sin and that she was ready to surrender to the Lord her will and her future. The following day Jessica and I sat down with Adriana and once again asked the Holy Spirit to help make clear for her the decision she was making and to give us confirmation that she indeed understood and was ready to die in Jesus Christ. It was a beautiful moment indeed and being a part of it in any small way was such a joy and honor for Jessica and me!
So this past weekend we got bear witness to Yader and Adriana coming together before the Lord as one flesh and of one accord together as new creations in Jesus Christ! WOW! Only the Lord can orchestrate such beautiful moments! Amidst so much pain and loss going on in the world right now the Lord is still making beauty out of ashes and diamonds out of mounds of coal! This is yet another relationship in our fellowship ( 1 of 8 over the past year and a half1) in which the Lord has done his handiwork and brought both lost souls to Christ and then brought them together in a holy and sanctified union that puts His goodness and power on display for all the world to see! Praise you Lord for you are worth!
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
Sweet Corn; Teaching English; Home Renovations and Kickstarts!
Hello all! It surely has been an eventful few months since my last blog and I have been meaning to hop on the site for some time now to blog about a few of the rather large changes for our family that have taken place for us in this middle third of 2021. I thought that it would be easiest to do this through a short-ish video as I hope to cover lots of ground in about 10-15 minutes. I hope you and your family are well and the Lord’s plan for your life be more evident each day as we all walk together through this interesting and trying season of COVID. In the video…
Hello all! It surely has been an eventful few months since my last blog and I have been meaning to hop on the site for some time now to blog about a few of the rather large changes for our family that have taken place for us in this middle third of 2021. I thought that it would be easiest to do this through a short-ish video as I hope to cover lots of ground in about 10-15 minutes. I hope you and your family are well and the Lord’s plan for your life be more evident each day as we all walk together through this interesting and trying season of COVID. In the video below I will talk a bit about teaching English once again (something I haven’t done in 13 years), joining the FrutiVera team of sweet corn production, home renovation projects and more! Thank you as always for supporting Fervent Fire Ministries in prayer and/or financially as we continue to co-labor with Holy Spirit in growing the Kingdom of God one disciple at a time! I hope you stick around for the next 10 or so minutes to hear about what we’ve been up to at Fervent Fire Ministries and personally as a family!
There were no needy ones among them…
The poor will always be among us and we always want to do what we can when we can to provide for them, but amongst our own brethren we have brothers and sisters struggling to make ends meet. Beginning last year we really felt that we needed to begin focusing on meeting the physical needs of the family of God first; and we actually feel that this is biblical and the plan of God!
Recently we finished a home/room restoration project Jessica and I had been wanting to find a way to do for sometime. As some of you may know by now, Josefa was our cleaning lady at the project/our home for some years before the Isaiah Ministry ended at the close of 2019. In August of last year Josefa and her husband Baruc were born again after many years of sharing and praying for them! Praise God! And what a transformation we have seen in them and their family since then! We asked Josefa to come back and work with us again after she was born again, but this time things were very different. Now we had a true spiritual sister in our home 3 days a week and we were so elated when Josefa’s mother in law Danelia came to the Lord a few months later in November! And the Lord wasn’t done yet! In March of this year Josefa’s oldest daughter also decided to giver her life to the Lord and get born again as well! You can see a few pictures of the baptisms below; sadly we didn’t get a picture of Baruc and Priscilla’s baptisms.
It had always been a burden on our hearts knowing the living conditions in which Josefa and her family lived; 6 people in one little room with a dirt floor and roof filled with holes. However, since their living situation was always so unstable before they coming to Christ we never felt that we could really do much because we knew they could be kicked out at any moment or the family could break-up due to conflict. So, Baruc, Josefa, and Danelia getting born again really changed things and we began praying and talking about how we needed to do something.
“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.”
This past year the verse above and others in the New Testament about truly loving one another and doing what is necessary to make sure everyone’s basic needs are met in the body of Christ have really spoken to me and hit me hard. This is something I haven’t really seen much of in my life in the church; not that the church in large isn’t participating in works of charity and good will, but actually taking care of each other in the family of God and doing what is necessary to make sure everyone has food on the table, roof over their head, and bed to sleep in . . . not so much. This is something I have wanted to not only see but participate in. The poor will always be among us and we always want to do what we can when we can to provide for them, but amongst our own brethren we have brothers and sisters struggling to make ends meet. Beginning last year we really felt that we needed to begin focusing on meeting the physical needs of the family of God first; and we actually feel that this is biblical and the plan of God! Jesus says that the world will know to whom we belong by how well we love each other in the body of Christ. Wow! It’s not about our ministries, amazing prayers, church services, or how we talk . . . it’s all about love! Real love! Love that is sacrificial and self-denying!
“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
We had already helped Josefa and Baruc patch their roof so many times that it was un-patchable by now and there was really no way to improve their little room so we decided to go ahead and do a full restoration with the help with funds provided by another beloved sister in our family. Slowly but surely the room came together and after a few weeks, just before the rains really began to fall, we finished the room and for the first time in her lifetime Josefa told me that she was able to sleep peacefully during the rain because she knew that her room was structurally sound.
Over the years I’ve been a part of many other projects in which we did our best to care for the needs of the poor around us; rebuilding homes, re-roofing homes, building walls, bathrooms and much more. However, this time it was more special to me because I know that the family who lives in this room loves the Lord and wants to live for Him with all they are. In Christ we really are one family and in the family of God all are important and loved by the King.
Thank you for helping us make this home/room restoration for Josefa, Baruc, and their 4 kids! It’s still the 6 of them living in one room, but at least the room they are in is not protected against the weather, intruders, and whatever else may come their way!
Bless you all and keep shining bright for JESUS!
Responding to the Good News
This Gospel has given me real life! This Gospel continues to transform lives all around us as we share about what JESUS has done and why He did what He did. The Gospel is more than just religion and definitely more than just a nice history lesson. As we share with others and minister to hungry souls we find that many have heard about Jesus, His miraculous and much anticipated birth into a dark world, His 3 or so years spent walking with His disciples, His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to the Father not long after. Many already know how to answer the question about why Jesus came to the world? They tell us “He came to die for the sins of the world”. But why? Why did He have to die?
This Gospel has given me real life! This Gospel continues to transform lives all around us as we share about what JESUS has done and why He did what He did. The Gospel is more than just religion and definitely more than just a nice history lesson. As we share with others and minister to hungry souls we find that many have heard about Jesus, His miraculous and much anticipated birth into a dark world, His 3 or so years spent walking with His disciples, His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to the Father not long after. Many already know how to answer the question about why Jesus came to the world? They tell us “He came to die for the sins of the world”. But why? Why did He have to die?
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit”
There had to be a sacrifice made for our sin, but not just any sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice! For hundreds and hundreds of years the Israelites made sacrifices under the Old Covenant to atone for their sin but they had to continuously make them because they were continuously sinning and the sacrifices they were making could not cleanse them perfectly.
“For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:1-10
In order for us to have a relationship with God we have to deal with this issue of our sins. There are many skewed and incomplete versions of the Gospel shared throughout the world and in Nicaragua it is no different. In some Gospel presentations sin is hardly mentioned while most of the emphasis is placed on God’s love and His finished work; so now we are already forgiven and made right with God without having to take any action on our part at all. They say “It’s all God, He did it all and we just need to wake up to the reality that we’re forgiven and loved by God no matter how we’re living or what we’re believing.” NO NO NO! This woefully incomplete version of the Gospel may tickle ears and cause sentiment to rise up in the hearts of its listeners, but it has no power to free a life from sin as it chooses not to acknowledge the problem of sin and our need to repent from it and turn to God. Choosing to acknowledge our sin and to repent from it and turn to God show a response to the Gospel and without a response made with our own will the sacrifice He made for our sins is not received.
There are others who say that in order to be saved we have to do do do! It’s not enough to be born again, we have to put in the hours in church service, tithe, pray, fast, read the Bible, avoid the big sins like smoking, drinking and adultery and if we do enough good things then there’s a good chance we may make it. In this version of the works-based response to the Gospel there is a heavy dose of fear placed on falling into sin and so we must do many religious activities in order to prove to others and to God that we are on the right path. Here it’s all about maintaining the appearance of freedom when really slavery to sin and self is still the reality. They say “We’re all still sinners and that’s just the way it is and will aways be until we die so let’s try to manage our sin so as not to totally fall off the wagon until our time is up.” Sad isn’t it? There is no belief in truly living a life free from sin, although Jesus came and gave His life and suffered as He did so that we would be set free from the power of sin! In the complete and true Gospel we do acknowledge that sin is the problem that Jesus came to resolve, but once we truly get born again and begin walking the narrow path of righteousness led by the Holy Spirit sin no longer is our master!
“You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”
Jesus did not come to the world to die for our sins so that we would go to heaven. I have found that most people who identify themselves as Christians think that being “saved” means being saved from hell. The scriptures teach that one day if we continue running our race as obedient sons of God who are saved from sin, then when our race comes to an end we will enter into the presence of God and receive the crown of righteousness. But for now no one who is reading this blog, or anyone else for that matter, is saved from hell! If we are in Christ because we have given our lives to Him through repentance, faith, baptism in water and baptism in the Holy Spirit, then we have begun our race and are called to run it with perseverance until we reach the end of this temporal life. In the scriptures there are many warnings to the church of Christ about beginning the race but not continuing till the end:
“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end”
So it’s not all about a prayer we prayed in faith one time years ago, or maybe that time we even got baptized in water as a child because we wanted to avoid hell and do what others were telling us is the “right thing to do” if we wanted to escape the wrath of God. Being saved is much more than that and we need not look any further than the scriptures to see what one must to do be “saved”. First we must understand that Jesus came to the earth to save us from our sins. As we have already touched on, sin is a big issue with God and if we want to enter into relationship with Him we need to understand that since we were formed in the womb the seed of sin was inside of us.
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
There is a reason that we don’t have to teach children to do wrong things, rather we have to teach them not do what is wrong and to do what is right. Naturally we choose to do what is wrong because we are sinful before coming to Jesus and there is no amount of social reprogramming or helpful counsel that can change the deep reality of sin in humanity. That’s not to say that people can’t do good works or be kind to each other; my Josiah is 5 years old and can be a sweet and kind boy at times, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is sinful and one day needs to be born again because he is still ruled by sinful flesh and that to me, his father, is a very clear truth that I see verified time and again as we live life together. So what can be done about sin?
“Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Repent of our sins and turn to God. That is the first step that we must take in order to respond rightly to the Gospel. As a youth growing up in a Baptist church I remember much emphasis being placed on the need to be baptized but far less on the need of repentance from sin to be present in the life of the one who would be baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. I saw many baptized in water but don’t remember any transformed lives, including my own. I was baptized in water around 16 years old but since I did not understand that I was a sinful person and that I needed to repent of my sin and what that even meant, no life transformation followed my baptism. I was not aware that I was to reject my old life of sin and give everything to Him, including my corrupt and hard heart; not so that He could clean it up and give it back to me, no, I was supposed to receive an altogether new heart of flesh! Once we choose to turn our back on the sinful life and confess our sin and put it into the light, the scriptures say that we are given a new heart of flesh and lose the heart of stone that we are born with.
“Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. ”
I did not now that in the waters of baptism the sinful nature is cutoff and all the sin that we repent of to the Father is buried there with the old man. Once we repent of our sin to the Father we take the sinful life and we choose of our own will to lay it down forever in the watery grave of baptism. Water baptism is more than just an outward symbol of what has already taken place inwardly. That belief is such a lie and sadly it has passed throughout the church at large and robbed water baptism of the supernatural power that it should always carry. Water baptism is also more than just a step of obedience; yes it is obedient to what Jesus commanded to be water baptized, but it is also so much more! Look what Paul says:
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Now look at what Peter says about water baptism in 1 Peter 3:21
“After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ…”
Wow that’s amazing and so beautiful! We see that even in the times of the Old Covenant (Moses and the parting of the sea) and yet even before (Noah and the flood) that water has been an important element that God used to bring an end to sin/evil through washing it away and putting it to death. That same message of death to sin/evil leading to a new life of righteousness continues into the New Covenant with being water baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, all that we read in the Bible leads up to the Father’s master plan to abolish sin and free us from it through faith in the Gospel, repentance from sin, baptism into Jesus Christ, and now baptism into the Holy Spirit so that He may be our guide from the inward man, no longer needing commandments written on stone tablets.
“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
1 John 1:7 says that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and praise God for that! Hallelujah! When we place our faith in the Gospel, repent of our sin, and bury that sin by faith in the waters of baptism, then we shall receive the promise of the Holy Spirit! The problem is that many do not believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues is biblical or for all who are born again. Some people simply have never been told about the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2) and yet others have only heard comments here and there about Him. Still there are others, like me, who have grown up in religion and have been taught incomplete and unbiblical doctrines that say that you already received the Holy Spirit when you got baptized in water and there is nothing left to receive.
After I was baptized in water for real at 27 years old with true repentance from sin I did feel that a significant change had taken place in my life, but I also felt that a hunger for more with God had began to form in me and I simply could not live with that hunger for “the more of God” without it being satisfied somehow any longer. I had already seen many sinful habits and desires fall away from my life almost immediately upon placing my faith in Jesus and being water baptized into repentance from sin, but there were still strongholds holding me back and I felt like I needed supernatural help in order to walk into the freedom that had been purchased for me through what Jesus had done for me. I would read the New Testament and feel like my life was not found in the pages of the book of Acts, but I longed for it to be! So I began crying out for help to God; asking Him to give me all that He paid for and that I simply could not do what He was calling me to do without Him! One day the Lord answered my cry and while I was all alone in my sister’s home crying out to God He came and filled me with His Holy Spirit and my life was once again forever changed!
Now, fast forwarding a bit it did take me some time, a few years to be exact, to clear out the religious cobwebs and traditions I had always believed about the Holy Spirit so that I could begin walking in the power that He had given me. Victory over sin did become my reality and miracles, signs, and wonders began breaking forth in my life as I stepped out in faith obedience to what Jesus called His disciples to do: share the Good News, heal the sick, and cast out demons. It’s simple really, in order for us to be lead by the Holy Spirit and not fall back into the fleshly ways of the world, we need the baptism of the Holy Spirit so that He can make His home on the inside of us and truly be our guide! Look at this in Romans 8:14
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ..For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
The filling of the Holy Spirit is not optional for those who truly want to live a life led by God to do the works of God! Often in our walk with God we can fall into places of comfort that we find hard to leave behind; maybe truth comes knocking at our door but we know that if we accept the truth being revealed that means that our lives will have to change and that will mean going through an uncomfortable time of repentance and humbling ourselves. I have found that there are many people who just don’t find that appealing and would rather stay on the broad road in which they are walking. That just breaks my heart, but I know that if it breaks mine it must be even more difficult for Jesus to see people that claim to know Him and love Him choose the easy path when He Himself chose the narrow and difficult path. The discipline of God is such a gift because He disciplines those He loves:
The writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12 verses 5-7:
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
The Lord teaches, corrects, and disciplines us through His Holy Spirit’s indwelling us and if we are not allowing Him to have His way in us, rather we are wanting to go about serving Him and living the Christian life our way, we may be missing it completely and not even know it, perhaps until it is too late. What a tragedy that would be! To be all the time walking the broad path but having believed that we were on the narrow one!
I want to close this blog by also explaining that we are saved from our sins to life a life of obedience to the commands of Jesus. Jesus’ words WERE NOT these:
“Go into all the world and go to church. Whoever believes is saved from hell, but whoever does not believe can maybe be saved if they have done enough good things in their life. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will pray nice prayers; they will dress really nicely when they go to church; they will read their Bibles; and when they sin they will not talk about so as to not lose face amongst other church goers; they will askGod to heal the sick and maybe if God feels like it He will grant it, but it won’t happen too often.”
Clearly I am being sarcastic with the above interpretation of Jesus’ words to His disciples, but sadly a great many who call themselves Christians live as if those truly were His words to them! We know that Jesus gave us commands to follow that weren’t optional, but a surprising few are actually living the “disciple life”, the type of life we see laid out in the scriptures for us to live if we truly desire to be obedient sons and daughters.
“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; hey will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Since I have lived in Nicaragua I have tried my best to live a life obedient to Jesus’ commands to those who follow Him. Sadly I cannot say that my born-again life always looked like it has over the last year, but I can say that I was sincere and loved the Lord. I explain to others that my last 13 years or so of new life in Jesus has been a progressive walk into deeper truths and realities of the Gospel, which has in-turn produced more fruit in my life personally and in my interactions with others as well through ministry and otherwise. I truly do feel like now, since roughly April of 2020, Jessica and I, Fervent Fire Ministries as well, has found what we’ve been looking for for so long! Fruit! How to produce lasting fruit that remains! We are now sharing the Good News more completely and efficiently, leading others to new life in Jesus and seeing them grow up in the faith as they too begin producing fruit as all disciples of Jesus should! It has been so beautiful to see so many born again and their lives transformed completely by the love and power which impregnates the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
In this blog I wanted to be as clear as I can with everyone that follows us and supports us about what it is that we are believing and henceforth doing as a ministry. This is much more than ministry for us, it is our lives, our everyday, and Fervent Fire Ministries lives and breathes through this same heartbeat and desire to share the Good News with everyone and helping others find true freedom through complete surrender to the truth of the Gospel. I know much has changed in the ministry over the last year and a half, so I feel that laying these basics out as clearly as I can is necessary for you all to really understand where we are coming from. I hope this blog has blessed you and maybe even answered some questions for you about where we are at as a ministry and what we are believing now. It has always been about Jesus, but now the fruit we are seeing is evidence that we are walking in His will more closely and consistently than ever before! If you have any questions, doubts, concerns, or want to talk more with me about all this please feel free to message me on facebook or email me.
Freedom from sin, shame, condemnation, and demonic oppression is real! If you need freedom, let us know! JESUS is the answer!
Bless you!
Michael
It’s not about me, it’s all about Him!
It’s been a few months since i’ve wrote the last blog and I think it’s once again time to realize that all Fervent Fire does and points to is Jesus! Our primary goal and reason for existing as a ministry is to shine bright for Him so contagiously that others flee from the darkness and embrace His light, because He is light, and then they too begin to shine for the Gospel and light up this dark and fallen world. So much has been going on the last two months that taking even a few hours to sit down and blog about it has been quite the challenge! However, right now I find myself at the end of a 3 week trip to the U.S. and before heading back to Nicaragua and right into the thick of the harvest again I thought that I would take advantage of the quiet of the late afternoon and my son sleeping to catch you all up.
The pictures below are of the first month after my last blog post and boy was it an amazing month! These are photos of just a few of the ones who got born again in that month and some amazing testimonies can be shared about just a few of those! On the top left of the stack of photos is one of my best buddies here in Nicaragua who after witnessing the transformation in his former roommate’s life, the one in the bottom right photo getting baptized, decided that he wanted more in his life than just the title of Christian and never really experiencing the vibrant life of a disciple of Jesus Christ! It was such a joy to walk with my friend as he drew close to the Lord and humbled himself and didn’t allow what other’s may have thought of him for choosing to be baptized again, even though he had already been baptized at 7 years old (but he felt it wasn’t sincere and with a full understanding of the Gospel), stop him from going after what his heart longed for! Since he got born again he has been on fire for the Lord and truly I can say that I have witnessed a great transformation in him. Hallelujah!
Just one more I’d like to share of the group of photos below is of Josefa in the top right photo. Josefa worked for us at The Isaiah Ministry for a few years and throughout those years we poured into her we did and said all we knew to encourage her to give all to the Lord and not look back, but there just always seemed to be a wall in her that she did not want to allow the Lord to break down. One day as her now-husband Baruc was finishing up a carpentry job at our home and she came by I took advantage of the opportunity to share the Gospel with Josefa and Baruc using the TLR Witness Cards. After the presentation of the Gospel they both were very honest and said they felt that they were far from God at the moment and knew it, but neither were ready to repent of sin and give all to God. A month later or so Josefa came over and this time she was ready! She met with my wife and repented of all sin and wanted to get baptized again (I baptized her some years before but she realized she wasn’t baptized with a sincere and fully repentant heart); so we took her to the laguna and put her old man in the grave and from that moment she began living for Him! But that’s not all! That same day she went home and prayed all afternoon about how she was going to break the news to her now-husband Baruc that she had gotten born again and was now all-in with the Lord; she wasn’t sure how he would respond. But when he came home and they went for a walk and she told him about what she had decided Baruc broke down and said that he had wanted to be the first to go all in with the Lord but Josefa had beaten him to it! He then asked Josefa for forgiveness for how he had treated her so poorly over the years and said that he too wanted to get born again! So the next day Baruc came by the house and repented of sin and we took him to get baptized into Jesus Christ that same night! Now both are born again and have recently gotten married before the Lord and made their union holy and we just couldn’t be more joyful and thankful to have witnessed God do the whole thing!
The last three weeks I have been back in the U.S. because one of my close brothers in the Lord was getting married and I was asked to be in the wedding. Well, as you know right now flying internationally can be quite a challenge and quite expensive but Jessica and I both felt that I needed to be there for that special occasion so I came and also brought my youngest son Sebastian along with me so that my mom could spend some time with him after not seeing him for about 9 months. That journey to the U.S. with Seba alone was quite the faith-journey for me! Haha! If you really wanna know how strong and mature you are in the faith, just travel alone all day with an active year old on various planes during a pandemic scare and you will see how patient and enduring you really are! As for me, I found myself praying for patience, hope, and endurance all day!
As I mentioned in the title of this blog it’s all about Him! If you look at the photos above you see that I don’t appear in any of them! Praise the Lord! Fervent Fire is not about one person or even a few people, its about the fire that burns in all of the sons and daughters of God who are living the disciple-life just as Jesus modeled for us when he walked the earth! I have been so elated and overjoyed to see how the kingdom of God in Nicaragua has continued to expand even while I have been away for 3 weeks! People have continued to get rocked by the awesome power and love of our great God and follow His Son by dying to themselves and beginning to truly live for Him. This is how we know when what we are believing is really the truth or not; it produces fruit! And not only does it produce fruit, but it produces fruit in the lives that we touch with the Gospel!
Its not about a sentimental moment or just an opportunity to take a cool photo to post on social media, its about seeing lives transformed by the Gospel! This is what we wanted when the Lord told us to put the brakes on the ministry back at the end of 2019 and eventually lead us to put to bed The Isaiah Ministry because He had greater things for us to walk into. Even as I write this there is another Kickstart beginning which our ministry and others are participating in and I am sure from the likes of which more lives will never be the same!
I know its not the greatest quality image, because it comes from our security camera on the front porch of our home, but this is a look into our meeting of born-again disciples that we host on Wednesday nights. It has grown to around 40 people over the last few months! Wow! Now I know its not about the numbers, of course, but it just astounds me how fast the fellowship has grown and its all done by and through Him! I most definitely could not do that and up to this year had not had meetings so large, but not just large gatherings, gatherings filled with people who are living the Gospel and sincere about their faith. Not just showing up to fill a chair and fulfill the expectation of someone else that might be watching. We will soon, very soon actually, begin to see smaller groups split off from our larger gathering to keep it more intimate and easier to manage, and to spread the love and light of Christ to other areas of Managua! Isn’t God amazing?!
Thank you for praying with us and for us! God is doing so much and we are genuinely blown away by all that has gone on over the past few months! Remember, this is not just for us or for Nicaragua! The Lord wants to do this where you live, in your life, in your family! I encourage you to check out our “resources” page on the website which I have updated somewhat recently to provide you with some videos and books that have really challenged and encouraged me in my walk of faith. Bless you and may God bring revival to your life and astound you with His ways just as He is doing with us this year!
Making Disciples
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
This command from Jesus to His disciples more or less encapsulates what we have been focusing our time and energies on these past 3 months or so . . .
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”
This command from Jesus to His disciples more or less encapsulates what we have been focusing our time and energies on these past 3 months or so and especially since my last blog post. Meetings like these and many personal conversations have been what our lives have looked like recently.
Don’t get me wrong, our meetings do contain teaching and time expounding on the truth of the scriptures, but we also see many healed of physical problems and or scriptural hinderances in our time together as the body of Christ.
““Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.””
We had the privilege of witnessing the above promise from scripture fulfilled! Darwin, Najary’s partner for the last 8 years or so, decided to follow Christ in water baptism after we shared the Gospel with him just a few months after Najary got born again! You can read more about Najary’s decision to follow Jesus in our April 12th post on the Testimony Page.
Darwin was a classic case of someone who had desire to know God but had only encountered religion over the years, which had left Darwin dejected and critical of what he witnessed in Najary after she came to Jesus. However, after a few months of seeing Najary shine her light on a daily basis Darwin decided he too wanted to begin a personal relationship with Jesus as well! Praise God!
Jessica and I were also pleasantly surprised by our cook from year’s past’s decision to repent of all her sin and follow Jesus in water baptism! Flor came by our home to say hi and so that we could give her a birthday present a day late and our time with her ended up being even more special than we imagined!
We love Flor and have known her for over 4 years. Over those years working with Flor we had seen numerous moments of her expressing desire for the Lord and sensitivity to Him, but never a decision made as life-changing as this one! We are just so pleased that we could be part of this decision with her and are looking forward to all that Holy Spirit will do in her life in the days to come!
And the two became one!
As you can see, Najary and Darwin decided to get married! Woohoo! We were and still are so excited to what God has done in this family over just a few short months! This is only something that God can do! The funny thing is that during the 8 years of this relationship prior to getting married each of the two had a desire to get married to the other, but there was never a moment when they both wanted to at the same time, so it never happened! Obviously, up until recently neither Darwin nor Najary knew anything about the unconditional love of Jesus and how we are called to love each with such a sacrificial love in a God-honoring marriage. Jessica and I are dedicated to walking with this young couple and with what little wisdom we have attained over our almost 7 years of marriage we share with them. This has all been just such a beautiful testament to the redeeming power of the truth of the Gospel! Thank you Lord! We initially were just planning on helping Darwin and Najary cover the lawyer costs to get legally married without any real ceremony or celebration, but as Jessica and I discussed it we decided that we wanted to make it a little more special than just a legal ceremony and invited others from our Fervent Fire Church and other family in Jesus to come and celebrate what God has done with us. It was a sweet time together celebrating the two of them in an intimate gathering of mostly believers and close family members.
“...your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
One last thing I want to share with you is how we got to bless another couple with whom we have grown to love and appreciate this past year. They got married in January of this year and have had much adjusting to do as they have begun life in ministry together. New challenges, needs, vision and all that comes with uniting your life to another’s and beginning to serve together. Well, a while back I began to feel that the Lord wanted us to bless them with some money. As I thought about it for a few days I told Jessica about what I was feeling and she immediately said that she was feeling the same thing. We knew it must be the Lord! So after our last meeting we let them know that the Lord had instructed us to give them a monetary gift. The awesome thing is that Jessica and I did not know that they were lacking 50% of their planned budget for the month and only had 7 Cordobas left in their accounts! And the Lord had already instructed us to give them an amount that was enough to cover that 50% lack and then some! Wow! How awesome is it when God speaks to us so clearly and confirms His word through others to take care of His children?! So we were able to bless this sweet couple who are doing amazing things for the kingdom as well in sharing the Good News and making disciples.
If you’d like to read more testimonies about how God is healing, saving, and setting free others through our humble little ministry you can do so by clicking the link below!
Thank you for your prayers, giving, and partnership in the expansion of the kingdom of God through Fervent Fire Ministries! I bless you who read through this blog post, mightily and abundantly in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In the last two months we have seen many born again, healed, delivered, and set free!
God has done so much over the last month or so! We have been blessed to see many baptized, healed, delivered from demonic oppression, and born-again! In this video I speak about what God has been doing in Fervent Fire Ministries over the last month. We have learned so much and grown so much and are so thankful to the Lord and for our brothers and sisters in the Lord from whom we have learned. We are so hungry to see more touched by the power and love of God and begin a real an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ!
God has done so much over the last month or so! We have been blessed to see many baptized, healed, delivered from demonic oppression, and born-again! In this video I speak about what God has been doing in Fervent Fire Ministries over the last month. We have learned so much and grown so much and are so thankful to the Lord and for our brothers and sisters in the Lord from whom we have learned. We are so hungry to see more touched by the power and love of God and begin a real an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ! If If you can spare 15 minutes please make the time to watch the video below! Thank you so much for your time, prayers, and support!
Our first few months as Fervent Fire Ministries
Guys, it's been one heck of a year so far! Thinking back on the last few months, because yes it has been a few months since I have written a blog, it seems like so long ago that we left for the United States and the future for us in ministry was still undefined and many unknowns. Don’t get me wrong, we still have some unknowns and I think it will always be that way; i’m not really sure that we’re ever really supposed to have it all figured out. Believe me we do not have it all figured out! But the Lord did see fit to clarify some things for us along the way and if you are reading this blog right now you already are aware of some of them I am sure!
Guys, it's been one heck of a year so far! Thinking back on the last few months, because yes it has been a few months since I have written a blog, it seems like so long ago that we left for the United States and the future for us in ministry was still undefined and many unknowns. Don’t get me wrong, we still have some unknowns and I think it will always be that way; i’m not really sure that we’re ever really supposed to have it all figured out. Believe me we do not have it all figured out! But the Lord did see fit to clarify some things for us along the way and if you are reading this blog right now you already are aware of some of them I am sure! If you would like to be caught up on what the Lord revealed to us as far as His plans for the ministry were concerned, there is a video posted back in February on the ABOUT page of the website in which I discuss how the new ministry name came about and what our core vision and desires as are established as Fervent Fire Ministries.
So basically since coming back from the U.S. Jessica and I had anticipated a time of adaptation to the new day to day that we were entering into. Before this year, January and February were filled with back to school duties and preparations for our 30-40 kids and staff after the end of the year break. This year we came back from the U.S. not having to think on those things as we are no longer providing tutoring in the ministry and therefore we had more time to focus on the birthing of Fervent Fire Ministries and asking the Lord to lead us into whatever He would have us do on a daily basis and choosing to focus on loving well the person in front of us and not feel rushed into filling our time with things just so that we would feel like we were doing something productive. And to be honest with you I felt a little anxious at times as I waited for the new website to be finalized to let people in on what the Lord had been doing in our lives; and once the website was done March rolled around and I still felt that we were kind of in a holding pattern waiting on the Lord to give us a bit more direction as to the way He would use us ministerially.
If you go to the TESTIMONIES page of the website you will see that during this “preparation and waiting” time for us a ministry the Lord was still blessing us with many opportunities to love on people with the love of Jesus and see many healed, set free, baptized and born again. This never stops in our lives and never will as we keep our eyes on Him. Being a light in a dark and corrupt world is not an option for us, rather our privilege and honor as sons and daughters commissioned to work the harvest alongside our King. But even as we continued to see fruit in our lives on a day to day basis we still wondered what lay ahead for us as a ministry on a grander scale. Well, when March rolled around we saw things begin to fall into place with new opportunities arising to speak to more people at once about the Gospel and what Jesus has done in our lives and longs to do in the lives of ALL! Here are a few things that happened over the last month or so that have really began to bring form and definition to what we are doing here in Nicaragua on a scale larger than one on one discipling:
We made our 2nd and 3rd visits to an alcohol rehab center to provide food provisions for the center and to share our testimonies and pray for the guys there. One of the guys there had severe back pain and was healed, the director received two very clear words from the Lord that left him dizzy and we are going to be going back there every few weeks to visit and to continue to minister to them.
Our SEWING CLASS began and has been bearing spiritual fruit. Jessica has been pouring into those women and last week we got to see one of them physically healed of severe back pain and she later prayed to give her life to Jesus and will was baptized a short while ago.
Our weekly Bible study has officially become FERVENT FIRE CHURCH and our meetings have grown larger by the week and more are getting healed, saved, and set free from demonic issues.
The Lord has been bringing like-minded brothers and sisters in the faith into our lives and we are believing that in June we will be co-coordinating and hosting an evangelistic outreach night which we hope will be attended by hundreds of people to hear the Gospel, get healed, delivered, and saved.
A week or so back we were invited to the most dangerous market in Managua at night and minister to the glue-sniffing addicts and homeless there. It was a beautiful and powerful time and we are hoping to be able to go back at least once a month.
This past week we went to a local hospital to minister to the sick and had a divine encounter with the director of the hospital who was very open to us coming back on a routine basis to minister to his staff and whoever would want to attend.
So these are just a few opportunities that we have come across over the past month to month and a half along with all the many encounters we have with folks on a day to day basis as we live this life in Jesus led by the Holy Spirit. If you watched the video I mentioned earlier you will have heard me talk about a desire to open up a feeding center to the general public where we can have more opportunities to reach the broken, addicted, homeless, and forgotten. We have yet to secure a building or property in which to build or rent something that will sufficiently suit our needs so we are still on the lookout and prayerful that God will provide something for us and make it clear when and where we are to begin that specific endeavor.
Just a few quick words about this COVID-19 virus. Here in Nicaragua our lives haven’t changed too much on a day to day basis other than Josiah not going to class; and as all of you know who are going through the same thing in your homes, this does make it a bit difficult to get things done around the home or be as mobile as we like to be when the kids are occupied. However, we love getting to spend more time with him and watch him grow up into the little man that he is. I tell people that he is still one of my greater challenges and the Lord uses our relationship to show me certain things about myself that still need to die or allow Him to transform. Being a father is one of my greatest joys in life, but it is also where I see my greatest need to learn from the Master Father so that my boys will desire what their daddy has and see Jesus in me no matter where and what situation we find ourselves in.
The economy here has taken a big hit, just like much of the rest of the world and we continue to try to be a light and encouragement to all those around us as many are under stress and worrying about what their future holds on a day to day basis. Since we never received any government orders to be quarantined in our homes we still have liberty to move to and fro and shine our light in a way that many of you aren’t allowed to where you live. It is the knowledge of this that encourages me and us to shine all the more; knowing that there are so many lights that are being restricted and covered up at the moment by fear and human wisdom.
Once again, please stop by our TESTIMONIES page on the site if you’d like to read about how the Lord is moving through us on a more day to day basis as I do update that page more often than the blog page with short testimonies that happen as we go about our day to day lives.
Bless you all and let's stay positive, encouraged, and always burning with the fire of God in our lives no matter the situation or circumstances! A humungous thank you and digital hug from us to all of you who pray for us and support us financially or any other way! We are indebted to you and there isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t think of you and how blessed we are by your faithfulness!
Michael
The Fourth Year of Our Beginners Sewing Class is in the Books!
Hello, everyone!
This is my first time writing a blog post, and because so much time has passed since I’ve shared anything on Facebook about the sewing class, I have much to share and thought it would be better to blog about it (with the help of my loving husband).
I think the last time that I shared something about the sewing class was before the birth of our sweet Seba. Even though Sebastian is an easy baby, life became a bit more busy, but the sewing class never stopped! I had only stopped sharing about what has been going on.
Hello, everyone!
This is my first time writing a blog post, and because so much time has passed since I’ve shared anything on Facebook about the sewing class, I have much to share and thought it would be better to blog about it (with the help of my loving husband).
I think the last time that I shared something about the sewing class was before the birth of our sweet Seba. Even though Sebastian is an easy baby, life became a bit more busy, but the sewing class never stopped! I had only stopped sharing about what has been going on.
Even before this past year’s sewing class began, the Lord let me know that this class would be special - and not that the classes from years prior were not special - but this year’s class was going to be different spiritually.
This has been our 4th year of providing the Beginner’s Sewing Program to women in our community and others in Managua.
To be completely honest with you, I didn’t place much importance on the need to share about the King of Kings with my students in the first year of our sewing class. Yes, I spoke about Him, but He was not the most important thing that we provided in the class; the priority was to help the women develop a skill to support their households economically. This isn’t wrong, of course, and I love helping them in this way, but I know that there really is nothing that can satisfy us more than the love of God; no amount of money, no skill we can learn…nothing can fulfill us like He can.
“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
John 4:14
God started giving us more of a desire to speak to the women about the real reason this class even exists and I began to have more confidence in sharing with them. But I didn’t see much fruit coming from what I was sharing.
I remember how strongly we felt the need to share the Gospel with our students in the class before we began this year and how He had told me that we would see fruit from our labor. I think that in the past years of teaching the sewing class I was desiring to share something with the women that I myself was still needing to learn personally. I had given my heart to the Lord, but He wanted my life so that He could reach others through me, and this year He was able to do so and is still doing so.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”
John 12:24
I will probably share more about what God has been doing in me at a later date, but needless to say, that is when my words began to have power and I began to see fruit in some of the women in the sewing class. Even if it is only one, it is important to God, but it was more than one of the women and I continue praying for them.
I finished this year with seven women, and all seven were quick and eager learners. A few of them were also hungry for more of the Lord, and each Saturday during the sewing class I remembered what the real purpose of the class is.
God had provided them with a way to learn a completely new skill which none of them ever imagined being able to learn without having to spend a good bit of money.
The majority of the women in this year’s class had never finished high school and one of them did not even finish elementary school, so each Saturday I would feel the Holy Spirit remind me to tell them how valuable they are and that the reason they were selected to be in this class is because God saw great ability in them even before they could see it.
Two of my students attend the Bible Study that my wonderful husband leads on Sunday’s, and actually it’s the first year that some of my students have decided to hear more than the little I can share with them during our Saturday sewing class. God has certainly done great things in these two women and it has been such a joy to see their lives being transformed!
I want to share one testimony with you that really touched my heart:
One Saturday, the Lord made me feel the need to focus my attention and time on one of my students who had somewhat placed God in the background of her life due to hurts she had experienced from religion. My awesome assistant Elizabeth took over the class for me while I spent the day ministering to this student, and it was an amazing moment with her as she definitely felt the love of God.
She wept as she told me she had not cried in a long time and had never felt the loving presence of God in that way!
A few weeks later this same student called me on a Friday to let me know that she wasn’t able to make it to sewing class because she had to go back to the dentist to resolve an issue with a wisdom tooth. The tooth had been removed a week earlier, but it wasn’t removed completely, and pieces of the tooth were left behind causing severe irritation, inflammation, and it was impeding her ability to eat.
I prayed for her healing that day by phone and the next day she showed up to class with a smile on her face telling me that God had healed her and that she no longer had any pain or swelling! The coolest part is after waking up the next morning after our prayer, she could no longer find the pieces of tooth that were left behind in her gums! The Lord had even taken care of that for her! All glory is for Him!
She has not yet attended our Bible Study or gone to any other church, but I am still praying for her.
If you could join me in praying for her, that would be amazing! Her name is Edith. Actually, if you could also pray with me that God would continue to speak to all of my students about His love for them and His plan for their lives, that would be even better!
That’s all I have to share for now, but I cannot finish without giving a HUGE ‘thank you’ to all of you beautiful people who make this class possible! I not only have the blessing of teaching women how to sew, but I am also able to share about the unconditional and never-failing love of the Father with them!
Thank you so much!
Jessica
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Remembering Genesis
Below are some memories from the Fervent Fire Ministries Team of our time with Genesis, who recently passed away from dengue fever.
Genesis came to us back in 2017 as a 2nd grader and we were quickly won over by her sweet and quiet disposition. She was never one to draw your attention as she often preferred to allow others to do the majority of the talking and clamoring for affection.
When I think back on our time with Genesis, it doesn’t take long for me to remember her sweet smile. Genesis was a happy little girl, and although a bit timid, it wouldn’t take you long to find that shy, yet genuine smile on her face if you spent a moment with her.
Below are some memories from the Fervent Fire Ministries Team of our time with Genesis, who recently passed away from dengue fever.
Genesis came to us back in 2017 as a 2nd grader and we were quickly won over by her sweet and quiet disposition. She was never one to draw your attention as she often preferred to allow others to do the majority of the talking and clamoring for affection.
When I think back on our time with Genesis, it doesn’t take long for me to remember her sweet smile. Genesis was a happy little girl, and although a bit timid, it wouldn’t take you long to find that shy, yet genuine smile on her face if you spent a moment with her.
Genesis’ parents are simple people; her mom washes clothes and does other domestic duties around their community to make ends meet, while her father works whatever jobs he can find in order to put food on the table and provide for his family. Genesis’ older sister, who still lives with the family, is very shy - much more so than Genesis - to the point where one would wonder if there is a problem more severe underneath the surface than your basic timidness that is considered normal in society.
I had many conversations with Genesis’ mom as she came by the ministry everyday to drop Genesis off for lunch and tutoring at the Project. She is a very responsible mom who is also very active in volunteering her time at the elementary school where Genesis was on track to finish 4th grade this year. Although we had many short conversations, she would scarcely look me in the eye. I could always sense so much shame and hardness in her that would move me with compassion each time we would sit down once a month to discuss how Genesis was getting along in school and with us at the ministry.
Genesis shared this characteristic of her mother when she came to us a few years ago, but at the beginning of this year during some of our “adoration nights” where we invited kids to our home to spend some time in worship and prayer together, Genesis starting getting powerfully touched by the Lord and things began to change.
I’ll never forget one of the more powerful adoration nights with the kids. Throughout the time of worship and prayer one specific night I would hear from time to time this piercing squeal amidst the noise somewhere on our porch and I couldn’t see from whom the sound was coming. After scanning the porch for a while I saw Genesis doubled over on the floor with tears streaming down her face as she wept and prayed, totally enraptured in the awesome presence of the One who gave so much to win her attention. He finally had it.
I was shocked to see Genesis so expressive in prayer and worship during those adoration nights as she was one of our most shy and reserved kids in the ministry. After that adoration night we only held a few more of them as I felt the Lord wasn’t asking me to make it a recurring scheduled event each week; there’s already too much of that in a country as religious as Nicaragua. I always say that nothing with God should be obligatory; He deserves much more than our obedience through obligation. A love-relationship through adoration and trust is a much more powerful thing.
Throughout the rest of this year Genesis seemed a much more confident girl; not as shy and quick to hide her smile as before. Something had broken off of her during those nights of worship and prayer, but as the year moved along, we began to see Genesis make some decisions that weren’t so good such as lying and telling half-truths. The little girl was growing up and influences from other classmates began to creep in, and not always positive ones. What began to concern me even more was that, especially in the 2-3 months leading up to her passing, I wasn’t seeing Genesis so engaged in our times of daily prayer and worship before lunch as she once was.
I would often catch Genesis with a disinterested look on her face during prayer and this saddened my heart and lead me to pull her aside. I asked her what was going on and told her how I had noticed that she was less interested in our times of prayer and was wondering if there was something wrong. Genesis quickly broke down in tears and told me through her sobbing that when she prays she no longer feels God.
With compassion rising in my heart for sweet Genesis I began to ask her some questions about those adoration nights earlier in the year and if she had decided to give her life to Jesus yet, all of it, or if she had still not made that decision that only she can make. Genesis looked at me with a broken but honest gaze and said that she had not taken that step yet. I then began to share the gospel with Genesis once again, explaining to her that God wasn’t asking Genesis for her heart, but rather her whole life. That was why He gave it all - so that we in turn would give all that we are and would truly live for Him in the new life that He has already prepared and made ready for us.
After making sure to explain the Gospel to Genesis as clearly and simply as I could I then asked her if she would like to make that most important decision in her life right then and there. To my surprise she hesitated for a while, but after some minutes of thinking it over she looked at me with sincere and watery eyes and said that she would like to pray with me to give her life to Jesus. So I took Genesis back to the same room where many others have been touched by the love and power of God and she prayed, with much sobbing, to receive Jesus as her Savior. It was so beautiful! Genesis stayed in the room for another thirty minutes or more after we prayed together just sobbing and being with Him and allowing Him to love on her as only He can.
After tutoring was done that day and we loaded up the truck with kids to take them home, I asked Genesis to sit up front with me so I could talk with her about what just took place back in that room a short while ago. As we were dropping the kids off that afternoon Genesis told me that she was crying so hard while we were praying together earlier because she could feel God give her a big hug on the inside and that she wasn’t crying tears of sadness but tears of joy.
My last memory of Genesis is one of the last moments I saw her before her life was cut short by dengue fever. I was asking the students at the Project if any of them had anything to share with the rest of the kids about what God had been doing in their lives, and although Genesis wasn’t one of the kids who spoke up that day, I clearly remember her looking over at me with that sweet smile as if to say to me that she had experienced something life-changing, and we both knew it. I will never forget that moment.
I am saddened that Genesis’ life was ended too early by sickness. This was not the Father’s will and never is as we know that Jesus carried all of our sicknesses and pains so that we do not have to carry them, just as He carried all of our sins to the cross so that we would no longer bare them. (Isaiah 53:4)
In the wake of such tragedies in this life there is nothing else that can bring true peace and healing to a grieving heart other than the knowledge of the truth that we, as believers, will meet our brothers and sisters in the Lord again in the life that comes after this one.
As Genesis made her decision at only 10 years of age, we all decide, even before we die - life or death, light or darkness - to live for ourselves or to live for Him. I am eternally thankful that I will see Genesis again when I meet our Savior face to face, but not now - I still have much to do and many more people to tell about what our beautiful Lord has done for them!
May this short blog encourage you and challenge you today to live burning for Him!
Michael
To partner with Fervent Fire Ministries in our efforts to BE LOVE and share the HOPE of the Good News, you can do so in various ways.
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Sowing and Reaping
I’m so thankful that Jesus never gave up on me, considering me a lost cause. His love pursued me and overtook me and changed my life forever. Still today I am going deeper and deeper into the love of God and I never want to get to a place where I camp out and say “ok, this is far enough”.
It’s my personal journey and hunger for the Lord that propels everything else in my life. Whenever I feel that my hunger and longing for Him, His presence, His holiness, His goodness is waning in me, I know to do nothing else but to run to Him and admit to Him yet again that I need Him and cast myself upon His mercy.
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”
- Galatians 6:9
I’m so thankful that Jesus never gave up on me, considering me a lost cause. His love pursued me and overtook me and changed my life forever. Still today I am going deeper and deeper into the love of God and I never want to get to a place where I camp out and say “ok, this is far enough”.
It’s my personal journey and hunger for the Lord that propels everything else in my life. Whenever I feel that my hunger and longing for Him, His presence, His holiness, His goodness is waning in me, I know to do nothing else but to run to Him and admit to Him yet again that I need Him and cast myself upon His mercy.
Not a day goes by that I don’t know my life would be in shambles if it wasn’t for Jesus and His great love for me. I would have nothing to give to anyone; no words of wisdom, no testimony of freedom from sin and addiction. I would be just another statistic; another lost soul living for self, yet inwardly longing for purpose and peace.
I’m thankful that I now have something to offer this world. And I and others of us here at the ministry are finding that there is a hunger for truth and religion-free community that we have uncovered and have begun sowing into.
Over the last few months we have been so blessed to several of our kids at the ministry open their hearts to Jesus and get touched by His love for the first time.
Like Wilber in the photo to the left. He’s been with us for over 6 years now, our oldest student in the Project and has always been expressionless and closed-off to the Gospel. A few weeks ago I felt the Lord impressing upon me the need to sit down yet again with Wilber and spend some time sharing the Good News with him and to ask him if he would like to begin a relationship with Jesus.
Our time together culminated with a powerful time of prayer in which Wilber gave his life to Jesus and was trembling all over as the Holy Spirit came upon him and made His home in Him. What a joy it was to see the tears in his eyes and the smile on his face that still haven’t disappeared now weeks later.
We were blessed to baptize him the following Sunday! What’s made Wilber’s experience even more beautiful is that he’s already praying for the sick and seeing them healed, all on his own! No seminary, no doctrine classes, no years in the Lord, only simple faith and compassion for the lost and hurting. We’re so happy for him and what God has in store for his life!
Another highlight over the last few months for us has been the addition of Karla and Gerhardt to our bible study and Fervent Fire Ministries family.
Gerhardt (in the photo above) has been a joy for us to get to know; such desire for truth and sincerity to speak from his heart no matter what the cost is a rare combination to find and we have loved pouring into him and seeing Holy Spirit working in his life.
Gerhardt comes from a very hard past; decades of drug addiction, living on the streets and frequenting crack houses for months at a time, all that combined with a religious upbringing means a lot of mind renewal has been needed and is still ongoing.
In the few weeks we have been doing life with Gerhardt he has been healed of various physical ailments, he decided to forgive his wife of all her mistakes against him, been water baptized, and is now experiencing more peace and intimacy with the Lord than ever before!
I just love watching people surrender to Jesus and letting Him love them to a place in their life they could have never imagined before!
Karla, Gerhardt’s wife, came to our bible study carrying a lot of things internally that held her captive.
She approached our door with a very stern look on her face and that look remained on her face throughout the whole meeting and she fought back tears the entire time, although she wasn’t able to stop them from falling down her cheeks as she listened to the Gospel of God’s great love and purpose for her life.
After the meeting I felt the strong need to talk with her and within a few minutes of sharing with her, I was actually just trying to help her feel less uncomfortable, she told me that she had felt like breaking down and crying since she walked up to the door upon arrival and still was feeling quite on the verge of breaking down.
I told her that was Holy Spirit who was calling her and moving her heart to open-up to Him. I asked her if she’d like to begin a relationship with Jesus and give Him all the stuff she was carrying; she said yes and with many tears and a trembling voice Karla opened up her heart to God and gave her life to Jesus.
It was so beautiful and on her 1st visit to our study! Seeing smiles on her face become more frequent and to know she’s found that supernatural peace that only Holy Spirit can provide has been such a blessing to our hearts to witness! Karla doesn’t come from a religious background like Gerhardt, so this is all truly new for her and she’s so open, they both are, to the truth and our Lord surely has not disappointed them!
I just wanted to share with you all a few of the testimonies that we have been blessed to experience here at Fervent Fire Ministries over the past few months.
This blog would be too long if I were to mention each healing and decision for Christ that we have witnessed since my last blog, but I thought you might enjoy hearing about Wilber, Gerhardt, and Karla.
So let’s not grow weary in sowing the seed of the Gospel! Sometimes we may see fruit right away, as we did with Karla; and sometimes we may not for years, as with Wilber. Either way both souls have the same value to our Father and He wants everyone to know Him.
Our decision to take part or not in the great harvest literally affects lives!
This is no game. So let us press on together and encourage each other to live each day as if it really could be our last or the last for someone else who has yet to meet Jesus!
Bless you all!
- Michael
To partner with Fervent Fire Ministries in our efforts to BE LOVE and share the HOPE of the Good News, you can do so in various ways.
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The Simply Beautiful Gospel
Hello friends, supporters, family, partners, and possibly just curious folks!
It’s been 3 to 4 months since my last blog and I imagine that many of you might understand as to why it’s taken me so long to sit down and write out what we’ve been up to over the past few months or so; being that our family has expanded since late May and we have been adjusting to life as parents of 2 beautiful boys!
What a joy it is to be a father; it really is one of the biggest blessings of my life. To know that God has given me the opportunity and great responsibility to model Jesus for my boys each and every day is something that I understand and most seriously embrace with my whole heart; knowing that the Gospel-life should be most evident in my home with how I love and serve my family and in the community in which we live.
Hello friends, supporters, family, partners, and possibly just curious folks!
It’s been 3 to 4 months since my last blog and I imagine that many of you might understand as to why it’s taken me so long to sit down and write out what we’ve been up to over the past few months or so; being that our family has expanded since late May and we have been adjusting to life as parents of 2 beautiful boys!
What a joy it is to be a father; it really is one of the biggest blessings of my life. To know that God has given me the opportunity and great responsibility to model Jesus for my boys each and every day is something that I understand and most seriously embrace with my whole heart; knowing that the Gospel-life should be most evident in my home with how I love and serve my family and in the community in which we live.
Daily life, the Gospel-life, for me, begins long before I interact with others throughout my day; it is my desire that the gift of each new day would begin in the early morning as I arise and look to find His face before I look into the face of another.
That when I wake up each morning I would awake with a longing to hear His voice before any other voice, and that it would be that same sweet and calming voice that daily leads me to rest in Him and His love and care for me.
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength."
- Isaiah 30:15
Each day I need Him; in every moment I look to Him.
There is no me without Him; we are one and there is no separating us. There isn’t one day that passes by that I fail to understand that if it weren’t for the Lord and His Gospel, I would in no way be the man, husband, and father that I am today. Long ago, I would have destroyed the blessing of life and quite possibly would not even be alive today. Knowing this as a personal truth in my life is what birthed and sustains a gratefulness in my soul that perseveres through any and all circumstances.
Lately, maybe over the last year or so I have really been drawn back once again to gaze and meditate upon the beauty of the simple Gospel. I can’t get away from it and do not wish to. Over my almost 14 years as a Christian, I have come across many versions, distortions, presentations, and interpretations of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be honest with you, it is quite sad to see the mess we have made of it.
Something so simple, so beautiful, yet so profound and we have twisted it, removed parts of it to fit our liking, added things to make it more palpable to others, and yet I still find that same pure Gospel message of laying our lives down for others as He laid His life down for us so powerful. In the Bible it is written that where the true Gospel is shared, miracles, signs, and wonders will abound, yet these things are not the heart of the Gospel in themselves.
Over the last month or so I have been reading the works of John G. Lake and it has deeply blessed my heart and soul. Listen to what he says man has done to the simple Gospel message:.
“Men have mystified and philosophized the Gospel of Jesus, but the Gospel is as simple as can be. Just as God lived and operated through the body of the man, Jesus, so Jesus, the Man on the throne, operated in and through the Christian, also through His body, the Church, in the world. Just as Jesus was the representative of God the Father, so the Church is the representative of Christ. And as Jesus yielded Himself unto all righteousness, so the Church should yield herself to do all the will of God.”
- John G. Lake
(March 18, 1870 – September 16, 1935)
When I reflect upon the life of Jesus I see unconditional love and complete surrender to a Father’s will. I see a God-man longing to be with His Father but at the same time desiring to see others He loves come into relationship with Him as well.
This Gospel is meant to be shared, but before it can be shared and produce fruit it must be lived.
In my own life I never began to really see lasting fruit birthed out of the Gospel I believed until I began to live it out myself unconditionally.
If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me,
you will find it.
- Matthew 10:39 -
This is the Gospel.
This is the simply beautiful Gospel that leaves me speechless and usually in a mess of tears and thankfulness each time my heart rests upon the remembrance of all that He’s done for me.
Jesus came to serve among the lowly and He can still be found there.
Those that choose to put others in front of themselves and to live not for their own benefit are not far from the heart of God.
Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.
- Luke 22:27
As a believer in the Good News for almost 14 years now, I can tell you that although my life was forever changed when I met Jesus and His overwhelming love for the 1st time, there is most certainly still a decision to make each and every day.
I have to regularly remind and ask myself of things like…
“What will be my reason for living today? To serve myself and my needs, or to live loving and serving my fellow man in the image of Christ and for His great name?”
“What’s the worst that can happen today? Even if it all goes horribly wrong and I lose everything and everyone I’m still His, still loved, still clean by His blood and grace.”
I want to learn from Him, not just receive gifts and blessings.
So many of us prove that we are only following Him for what He does for us; and we evidence this when our circumstances change for the worse and things get dodgy in our lives and we lose our hunger for righteousness, our peace goes, and our joy wanes . . . what a tragedy.
Are we good soil or have we received the Seed of Truth in vain?
Surely I have been guilty of letting circumstances affect me at times in my life as well, but the desire of my heart is to have that fiery gaze of one who has his eyes fixed on the prize and will not be moved no matter what comes my way.
That everything in me would find its purpose in unconditional love, gospel love; the type of love that inspires someone to lay down their rights, opinions, offense, frustrations, anger, resentments and life . . . and live each day to be a blessing rather than to receive one.
Ultimately I want my life to make a difference in someone else’s. I want the fact that I woke up today to matter to someone because He is the reason I am awake and truly alive today.
I think this beautiful prayer by John G. Lake prayed over a 100 years ago voices what has been the longing of my heart for some time now…
O God, let that deep, true, holy, unselfish working of the Holy Ghost in our lives be so pure and true and real, that, my God, there shall not be left a superficial thing in us, Lord, but that our character shall be opened wide, opened to the living God, and wide open to one another.
“O God, we pray Thee then, that the great virtue of Jesus Christ shall be so inwrought in us that, my God and Father, we shall look with love into the face of every other man. That, O God, our Father, we will have the eyes of Jesus in us and the heart of Jesus in us in such a way that we will not see things that are evil, but O God, we will see the good in the man. We will see the purity, Lord, we will think of the things that are lovely, Lord, and are true, Lord. We will be so pure and clean before God that the light of God and the life of God shall shine in us and flow through us so that mankind will be blessed.”
- John G. Lake
(March 18, 1870 – September 16, 1935)
This is what we’re after at Fervent Fire Ministries, this is our heart.
Living a life so pure and holy, so filled with God, that wherever we go we bring with us and leave behind us the sweet fragrance of sacrificial love, Gospel Love. Let us not over complicate this Simply Beautiful Gospel!
If we truly lay it all down; if we truly believe that when we were baptized into Jesus Christ we were baptized into His death and His victory over our sin, then going back and picking back up what we laid down and died to is not an option any longer.
Freedom is inevitable for those who have died to this world and to themselves.
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
- John 8:36 -
Thank you for hearing my heart-cry once again and taking the time to join us in prayer for our kids, staff, families and all to whom we minister and serve here at Fervent Fire Ministries.
We are humbled to be given the life that we live and the many opportunities that we have each day to bless this community and shine the light of Christ that burns in our hearts and yearns to see others receive Christ’s invitation into relationship with Him.
Whether it be through your partnering with us through supporting out tutoring programs, feeding programs, Bible studies, or sewing programs, all of them exist for one primary reason and that is to share the love and hope of Jesus to the lost.
So thank you for sowing into Fervent Fire Ministries, truly, thank you!
Bless you in Jesus name! We love and appreciate you all!
- Michael
To partner with Fervent Fire Ministries in our efforts to BE LOVE and share the HOPE of the Good News, you can do so in various ways.
Click below to find out more!
Coming Full Circle
Looking at this picture below, as I begin writing up a blog that can somewhat capture all that God has done in and through my friendship with Ryan, I realize that it feels like a lifetime ago when we were both in Costa Rica on totally different paths in life.
I arrived in Costa Rica with the intention of getting my ESL certification; this I accomplished but I also received so much more in gaining a friend that later in life I would proudly call my brother.
Every time I tell the story about how Ryan and I met it makes me chuckle. Within the first few days upon arriving in Costa Rica, I realized that most of the students in my class weren’t getting their ESL certification with the desire to actually teach English somewhere, but most probably to enjoy the month in Costa Rica partying and seeing the sights…
Looking at this picture below, as I begin writing up a blog that can somewhat capture all that God has done in and through my friendship with Ryan, I realize that it feels like a lifetime ago when we were both in Costa Rica on totally different paths in life.
I arrived in Costa Rica with the intention of getting my ESL certification; this I accomplished but I also received so much more in gaining a friend that later in life I would proudly call my brother.
Every time I tell the story about how Ryan and I met it makes me chuckle. Within the first few days upon arriving in Costa Rica, I realized that most of the students in my class weren’t getting their ESL certification with the desire to actually teach English somewhere, but most probably to enjoy the month in Costa Rica partying and seeing the sights.
A good portion of the class was made up of college students or recent college graduates and Ryan was in that group. During the first few days of class I quickly identified (and judged) Ryan as the typical surfer guy with muscles, a big mouth, and desire to be the center of attention.
I really didn’t want much to do with him, but during our meet and greet exercises, I was paired with Ryan and we both discovered that we surfed and since I drove down in my own truck from Nicaragua, we could surf together during our month in Costa Rica, which definitely would be more fun than surfing alone.
So that’s what we did! The 1st day that we went out surfing I still remember clearly. After our surf session we hopped back into my truck and Ryan asked me “So, you’re a Christian huh?”
Our 1st day of class we all had to introduce ourselves to the rest of the class and well . . . lets just say that after that 1st day I was pinned as the whacko and judgmental Christian Bible beater guy that’s probably super lame and does nothing but read his Bible and pray all day.
So I responded “Yes, I am a Christian and a missionary.” To which Ryan replied “Yeah, me too! I’m a Christian too.” Needless to say I was a bit surprised to hear him say that as I had already spent a day or two in class hearing about Ryan’s exploits with the girls and adventurous times out partying the nights away.
Ryan then began to explain to me that he had grown up in a Christian home and knew what was right and wrong, but had decided to put that stuff on the shelf for a while and just have fun in life; and that one day he would probably get his life right but for the time being he was just having too much fun.
I listened as Ryan told me a little about his religious upbringing and quickly it became apparent to me that Ryan had probably never really met Jesus, but rather had just grown up in church and religion and that had been all that he had known. No wonder he rejected the religion of his upbringing for the pleasures of this world!
Looking back on this time in my life I realize that I too was still going through a process of de-religifying myself and I can only thank God that by His grace I was able to show Ryan grace and not judge him.
The Lord let me know that all I was to do was to continue to love him and show him by my own life what a real love-relationship with Jesus looks like. We continued to surf at least 4-5 days a week together as the month went on. Ryan continued partying pretty much every night and some nights I would let him convince me to go out with them for the first few hours of their night and have a beer or two and then I would go home as the rest of the crew along with Ryan would continue to party into the early morning hours.
Ryan would tell me near the end of our month together that I was the 1st Christian he had ever met who he didn’t feel judged by. He said that he could see that I treated others with love and respect despite where they were at in life or what they believed, and that my example had impacted him. I asked if I could pray for Ryan before we parted ways on my last night in Costa Rica, which we did and I headed back to Nicaragua.
I didn’t really know if my life had impacted Ryan’s over that month together to the point where he would want my Jesus in his own life.
However, about 8 months later Ryan sent me this email:
Mike!
How is life bro? Your ministry has been on my mind a lot for the past few months, as have several aspects of my life that have needed to change. You are aware of the stuff that needed to change from the talks we had in CR and since it seems that your history is very similar to where I was.
So here’s the update in a nutshell - I had been getting little prompts from God for some time, nothing loud, but still apparent…
About 5 weeks ago things came to a point, there were a few instances (two specific ones come to mind, but there were more) in a short period of time where I was supposed to talk to people about things and give them the spiritual encouragement they needed, but my gifts were ruined by the lifestyle I was leading and the type of relationship I had with these two people.
God was making it obvious that He had given me a gift that He was not able to use like He wanted (and like I wanted) because of the way I was living. It was then that I was given the grace to break down and fall on my face before God and ask forgiveness for the bad choices that I was deliberately making. Life has changed for me, and I hope the change is for good, doing the right thing isn’t like being confined, it is an opportunity to return the love that God pours out on me, despite my determination to do my own thing.
Beyond that, following God isn’t like letting go of everything I want, instead it feels like an opportunity to be used to my greatest capacity…it’s the other side of the coin. I have finally found myself in the place where I am looking for what God wants with the eagerness I have admired in people like you for some time.
I don’t care what it is that God wants, I just want to do it, and that is completely fulfilling and a total gift of His overpowering grace that I am the grateful recipient of. However, I don’t feel like I’m out of the woods yet, the lifestyle I led is only one step back and I need your prayer.
I am really excited to hear what has been going on in Managua and how things are going with you. Send me an update on the ministry and the surf scene!
Also, as a word of encouragement to you, one of the things that stand out most to me from CR, and my entire life up to this point, was the time we spent together and the way that God influenced me through you. You have had a bigger impact on my life than you know and I hope that this comes to you at a time when you really need to feel like God is using you, even in ways you can’t comprehend, STICK TO IT MANNN!
Thanks for following hard after God and showing me that it is possible to be in the world and not of it without being a stiff and in a way that models Christs’ love and acceptance of others.
Your bro in Christ,
Ryan Moore
Needless to say, when I read Ryan’s email I was elated and so thankful that our time together had impacted him so deeply and all I could do was give God the credit because He is and has been these more than 13 years I’ve known Him the reason I can be a blessing to anyone else.
These last couple of years Ryan has been able to finally come to Nicaragua and visit us and the ministry and we’ve been so blessed to be witnesses to his life truly beginning to blossom like a well-watered tree once the rain of God is received and begins to give growth and the tree bears much fruit.
Ryan’s last trip to Nicaragua was by far the most profound and impactful not only for him, but for me as well and others who had the opportunity to get to know him over his visits these last few years.
In May of last year Ryan, and I met up in North Carolina at a Power and Love Conference and spent 3 days soaking in amazing Gospel teaching and fellowship with other like-minded believers and it was truly a great time together.
But I think the most impactful moment for Ryan that took place during those few days we spent together was when he got filled with the Holy Spirit and began praying in the Spirit. When Ryan came back to spend some time with us in January we could very easily and quickly see how much Ryan had grown spiritually over the last half year. So much so that literally everyone that saw us together thought we were brothers and many even assumed we were twins!
I truly believe that this wasn’t only due to physical likeness but a spiritual likeness that had grown between us and it could be sensed when we were together.
As you can see in the picture above Ryan got baptized during his last trip to Nicaragua and for me to be the one to baptize him was something really special to me.
To personally get to witness our Father and His amazing love and grace do such a work in my brother’s life has truly been one of my greatest experiences I have had walking as His son. It’s always a joy to bear witness to the greatest miracle that our eyes can see, the coming home to the Father of a lost soul; but when you get to walk with someone over the years and personally get involved in sharing, loving, encouraging, and in general just being Jesus in physical form for them, well . . . its something extra special to be a part of.
So if you’re reading this, I want to encourage you to not grow faint! Don’t give up praying for your lost family member or friend that you feel has grown cold and fallen away from the faith.
So much can be happening beneath the surface that our human eyes do not perceive but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things being formed on the inside and foundational truths beginning to take root that will mature and bear much fruit down the road.
Love to you all - I hope you have enjoyed sharing in our joy for Ryan!
- Michael
To partner with Fervent Fire Ministries in our efforts to BE LOVE and share the HOPE of the Good News, you can do so in various ways.
Click below to find out more!