Taking Hold of the Vision

Chapter 9

TAKING HOLD OF THE VISION

“And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.” (Gen 48:13-14)

“And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.” (Gen 48:20)

“In the life of Joseph, God teaches the principle that we must forget the griefs of the past because He is the God of restoration. This message comes through the names of Joseph’s sons. The name Manaseh means, to forget. We must forget the things of the past. The name Ephraim means, double fruitfulness. God restores double the blessings.

“I believe that I had hurts in my soul for these memories for leaving the memories is God’s way of dealing with these things when He is forming us. However, when the blessing comes, it comes complete and includes the healing of all the past, as it happened to Joseph when God gave him two sons. One was Manasseh and the other was Ephraim. Each one of them had a different meaning that revealed the new times of God for Joseph. On confessing this word, I felt a river of joy and blessing that invaded me, and I began to cry. I felt that the Lord began to heal all my past and began to broaden the vision giving me security in all that He has designed. Nothing and no one can stop it because He is God. I am very happy for this and, and I thank all of you. Yes, I am your missionary, and much thanks for your spiritual covering. In this moment I feel very strengthened in all aspects, and as a soldier, I am ready to enter the battle in these new times of God. Once more, thank you very much. I love you all. Waldo.” (January 20, 2005)

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Other people need to take hold of the vision so that the blessings of God can reach more and more generations of people. It is already happening.

“Sandra has a call from God for the Cora Indians. Already for two weeks she is dreaming daily that she will go to carry the gospel to them. I know that she is going to go. The Lord showed me a little more than a year ago. I believe that the time is approaching. The Coras are very hard, extremely hard for the Word. They are very different than the Huichol Indians. Apart from that, there is much witchcraft among them, so much that Sandra herself has felt the attacks. Ultimately she has had contact with the Cora people, and with much love she has shared the Word with them. Sandra’s great grandmother was a Cora Indian. She spoke to me today of her calling and that she is not going to resist the day that we tell her that the time has arrived. I know that this is part of a process and that it does not arrive suddenly, for the Lord is going to prepare us and is going to open the doors confirming the calling. One Cora asked her yesterday why she did not climb to the village where he was to speak to them about the Word of God for that is what all of them need. I expect that God will not touch me to open all the little villages as He touched me to open those of the Huichol Indians. The distances were very difficult with the Huichols, but it was very satisfactory to see the hunger that all of them had for God. Still, if, in this way, it happens, there is no problem for we are ready for this. Waldo.” (November 10, 2006)

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“Next Saturday we have a breakfast for pastors here with us in the church. The Lord put this in our heart to do, and already 38 pastors are registered together with their wives. We want to transmit the vision that the Lord has given us for the city and for the State, and to work together in unity. I want to sow in my brother pastors in this region. In the afternoon at 5:00 p.m. we will celebrate a meeting with a united group in an auditorium here in the city. Waldo.” (November 22, 2006)

“The meetings that we had with the pastors went very well. Yesterday afternoon, we celebrated a meeting of the 7 pastors that I told you about with more than 600 people participating. Something powerful is happening in the spiritual area here in Nayarit. Thank you very much for your prayers. Waldo.” (November 26, 2006)

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“The pastors that we ordained also ask me about you and send you greetings. After the ordination service, something happened: their churches began to grow and the scattering of the Word of God in the mountains increased. It increased so much that don Lupe already does not want to come to Tepic because he has much work there in the mountains. He asked us to send clothing and sandals because he has already worn them out. Waldo.” (December 15, 2006)

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The Example of Beautiful Feet

In the ordination service in the month of October 2006, in Pastor Waldo’s church, we ordained an Indian man. His name is Lorenzo.

“Precisely today Pastor Lorenzo came from Colorado de la Mora to visit us. He arrived at noon. When I came home from working, he was already in my house. He sends you much greeting. Even though he is very serious and does not speak very good Spanish, he was telling me that he is very happy because we are his pastors. He came for more of your lessons because he already finished the course that I gave him. I see that the lessons are very good for him to study and to memorize. He walked 7 hours on foot from his village to Calera de Cofrado and from there a pickup truck gave him a ride. It moved me a lot because he made all this effort only to come for your lessons. He told me that the message that you shared when you were with us (in the ordination service) helped him a lot, and that he felt in his heart to go to share the Word of God in the villages that are near his community. He went away very motivated from the ordination service. It moved him when you said that you wanted to be missionaries and not until now are your dreams being realized, but now through us. He wanted to walk the mountains to climb to the villages of his race, the Huichols, to take them the gospel in answer to the vision that you had. He says that the nearest people remain 4 hours on foot, passing the river. Those that are farther remain a whole day of walking. When he feels tired on the road, he remembered much about you and when night overtakes him in visiting the villages, he gives thanks to God for the blessing that he received through Jack and you. He told me that some days ago he was in the mountains alone. On seeing the stars before falling asleep, he was remembering you, and he told the Lord that he was grateful for having known you because passion was born in his heart, when he heard your message, to reach the villages not reached with the Word. He is a Huichol Indian and so is his wife and children. When he was going to bed that night, he said, ‘Lord, I walk in obedience to the vision that you gave to sister Joyce, and I also feel to carry it to fulfillment. She does not know where I am now, but thanks because we form part of the vision to reach those places with your Word and we are completing it.’ This moved me a lot when he spoke to me some hours ago, so much was I moved that I bought him some sandals, and I gave him money for his passage and food for the trip home tomorrow. His sandals are broken for so much walking. I also was reminded of your message of how beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news. He did not have any money to buy some new sandals and for that he wore the broken ones. Now he is sleeping in the church and leaves tomorrow at 5:00 am. Here I send you the photo of the missionary and his broken sandals. (The photo of the sandals is on the title page of this book) Waldo.” (November 11, 2006)

“Although we had invited Lorenzo (to the ordination service), he was not on the original list of those to be ordained. But when I was in the pulpit, I felt something in my heart that told me to pass him to the front to be anointed also. I did not know the strong impact that this ordination would have in his life for it changed him totally and moved him a lot. He told me that it is the first time that he receives this. He asked me a year ago for help to belong to our group, for he felt very alone and was serving the Lord in total anonymity. Don Lupe and I went to visit him. I don’t remember exactly when. I spoke to him of your studies and how some Indian pastors also are preparing and teaching this same message to their own communities. He came for your studies in the month of July. He finished them rapidly. When we ordained him, I gave him many studies, and now he come for more. He shared with me all that he is doing, and how he had received the Vision of God during the ordination service when you were here. I was summarily blessed and surprised because the Indians are very serious people and of few words with us. Apart from that, (in the ordination service) when we gave those being ordained the Bible symbolically telling them that they received authority, Lorenzo kept the bible because he (mistakenly) took it as it was given. It was OK. The Bible that Lorenzo had was already very old and falling apart. This Bible that he received was a blessing for him. About sending blankets for him, yes, you can. I feel to do this because they are doing the work that we cannot do in visiting distant places. Also they are now a part of your vision, and how good that the gospel continues to disperse. Surely these communities will go out to other places more distant. In this way, it is how the gospel disperses. Waldo.” (November 15, 2006)

“When I was chatting with Olga (Waldo’s sister) what brother Lorenzo shared with us, she told me that I should write you to share this blessing with you. I did not want to write you because I know that you were going to cry as I did. But it is not of sadness but a blessing to see the effort that this brother does to prepare himself better, and to share what he learned. Apart from that, to take the vision that God gave to you and to carry it to fulfillment among the Indian villages. I cried also because this brother is very poor economically, and equally the church that he pastors, for they live very far and they are also exploited a lot. I was in his house some months ago and all sleep on the floor. Also he told me that they do not have blankets and the cold was very severe there. Waldo.” (November 13, 2006)

“That blesses me a lot that (pastor Lorenzo and his family) have taken your vision to take the gospel to more distant parts of the mountains. Waldo.” (January 10, 2007)

“It was yesterday that I chatted with Lorenzo about the missions that they have opened in these last months. It moved me a lot. It has moved me even more to know the great distances that they walk on foot to bring this precious gospel. Waldo.” (January 11, 2007)

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In the month of January, 2007 I put on my Webpage on the internet in the newsletter, the story of Pastor Lorenzo. A pastor from Ottawa, Canada, Pastor Ramón Salgado Valle, read that story on the internet. It moved him so much that he wrote me that his church in Canada wanted to help Pastor Lorenzo. Pastor Ramón was surprised that in only a few days the Hispanic Baptist Church of Ottawa Canada had collected $500.00 (American) to buy a mule that Pastor Lorenzo could use in his ministry for the extension of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“I have just read your letter about the mule for Pastor Lorenzo. Your letter moved me a lot, and also the enthusiasm with which you wrote me. This decision seems perfect to me to help him buy a mule. The mule is better than a burro. He is going to be called, ‘Missionary 2’. (‘Missionary 1’ is the mule that don Lupe uses.) Much thanks for this desire of Pastor Ramón Salgado. I am profoundly moved and thankful to the Lord for this. Pastor Lorenzo is not going to be able to believe this news. When we spoke to him some days ago, I told him that we will pray for the provision to buy a burro or a mule for the ministry so that he would not tire so easily on his visits to the missions. Also now he can take advantage of more time to open new missions. He told me that always it has been his dream to have an animal like this for the ministry, but the cost was too high for him or for the church to be able to buy. I told him that we were going to pray for this need. We only prayed lightly and, already we have the answer! Much thanks for putting his testimony on your webpage. With Missionary 2 he is going to tire less to arrive at Pochotitán because the climate in that region is very extreme. In times of cold, it is very cold and in times of heat, it is very hot. Waldo.” (February 21, 2007)

“Much thanks to Pastor Ramón and his congregation for this great help in these missions. This is something only the Lord can do, to move one of His children in another country to bless another that is in another country serving in distant places very far from a city. Much thanks for all this that you do for us. Waldo.” (March 8, 2007)

“It surprises me a lot, the attitude of Pastor Ramón, in helping us to supply this need because he does not know us. It is only by the feeling that the Lord put in his heart. I believe that it is by the faith and conviction that the Bible mentions, and that many people don’t achieve to understand, for we are members of one Body and we have the same vision; which is to reach souls for the Lord, and principally to those that have never heard the gospel, that have never had the opportunity to hear of the love of God. I believe that this is a plan of God to take the gospel, because in many places of the world there are these kinds of ethnic peoples that live separated from society. Thank you very much, Joyce, for your vision. Much thanks for being a part of us. Waldo.” (March 10, 2007)

“Pastor Lorenzo came on Sunday to the church service. I told him about the mule, and how the Lord provided for its purchase. He is surprised, because it is a little difficult to believe this great blessing. I told him that we already have the money to go and buy one. I told him how Pastor Ramón and his congregation sent the money to buy it. It is something surprising, for from Canada, the Lord sent the blessing. I explained to him, more or less, where Canada is and the state where Pastor Ramón and his family live. Waldo.” (March 13, 2007)

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The Conclusion

“Thank you very much for understanding me as soon as I told you of the vision. Yes, when the Lord gives a vision, we cannot stop it. Many people do not understand it, but this is what brings us the victory. Yes, the vision brings a commitment and very narrow relationship with the Lord. The Bible says that, ‘without vision the people perish’. The vision is the goal toward which the Lord wants to take us. If we don’t have a vision or a goal, we are not going to arrive anywhere. The Lord tells us in Jeremiah 29:11, ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.’ This is vision, the expected end. It must be an end born of God, for the Lord only directs and supports what He sends for us to do. His word in Habakkuk 2:3 says, ‘For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.’ Waldo.” (March 27, 2006)

“I remember when I walked opening some of the missions that we have today. I walked on foot and some times went on a little burro. I walked this wary for some years before I met you both. We were totally in anonymity. We had much vision but we did not have help from anyone. While I walked climbing up and down the mountains, in my solitude I asked the Lord in prayer to raise up missionaries that would continue with this work. When don Lupe began to accompany me, we always dreamt about arriving at the peaks of the mountains with the gospel. It was like a challenge to climb and to speak to them of the gospel. When we conquer the highest part of the mountains, we know that there will be many little villages, hundreds of them that have never heard the gospel. We cry to learn that they do not know that Jesus existed. We take hold of the challenge to arrive there with them. Today we have reached 24 Huichol villages for the Lord where the distances from one village to the next are enormous. We feel in the flesh our own lack of workers in this noble task to reach the most distant villages with the Word of God. Waldo.” (January 11, 2007)

“You both are a great blessing to us, and much thanks for sharing our Vision. María, Amy, Daniél, Olga, and Waldo.” (January 1, 2007)

“When I met you, we only had 7 or 9 villages and from your help until today, we have grown almost 200% (there are 24 missions total). We are attending to them every week and with the vision, we are extending ourselves to every more. I feel that this is only the beginning of this extension of the gospel, for now with the roads that the state government is making, it is going to facilitate us more to attend to these works and to arrive at more villages with the Word of God. Waldo.” (January 17, 2007)

“Joyce, your dreams have been fulfilled in reaching Indian people with the Word of God. You have not done it directly, but through us. Waldo.” (January 11, 2007)

“All this is the plan of God, just like Joseph in the book of Genesis. In Christ, Waldo.” (September 19, 2005)

The search to achieve the vision continues forward. This is not the end of the story. It is my hope that you also will take hold of the vision to take the Word of God to the people that have not heard of the name of Jesus Christ. With much love in Christ, Joyce.