Ordinary Lay-Mobilizer – Remarkable Impact

July 2, 2019

Ordinary Lay-Mobilizer – Remarkable Impact

By Bill MacLeod

Jeff Reed works as a Security Architect for Cambria Health Solutions. He came on my radar around 2012 after he and his wife, Lori, had formed a mission mobilization fellowship called the “GO Group” aimed at raising up and sending out college students from the Portland-Vancouver area. Their journey into missions was not typical, or easy. I recently caught up to interview him after not being in touch for several years. This is his story…

 

Bill: When did you first sense a call to missions, and what did you do about it?

Jeff: My wife Lori and I began pursuing service on the mission field in 1980, shortly after we were married.  We went to the leaders of our church at the time, and our pastor said that we must plant 2-3 churches in the U.S. before we could go to the mission field.  We submitted to leadership and when it was our turn to be launched, we were sent, but there were no funds.  We were diligent. We saw one young woman give her heart to Christ, before our church closed it down. We eventually were led to move to Portland, Ore.

 

B: What life setbacks did you face even as you continued to pursue the Lord in missions?

J: Yes, I was unemployed Jan 2003 to June 2004.  We were a single income home throughout these events.  From June 2004 until October 2005 I lived 2 hours away by car from my family to make ends meet. I was able to afford to come home every 2-4 weeks depending on finances. Then these events took place:

• My Dad passed away in February 2009 and dementia symptoms set in for my Mom by 2011.
• My wife Lori became ill in Oct 2014 and by May 2015, she is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
• In August 2015, Lori’s parents are both killed in a car accident.
• After chemo, radiation, and other treatments, on August 18, 2016, my wife Lori passes away.
• The very next day, my own brother suddenly passes away from a blood clot to his lungs.
• May 2018 – my mother passes away

 

B: Have you experienced friends pulling away as you went through these hard things?

J: Those whom we knew were close, have stayed close.  Some who were closer to my wife, have withdrawn a little which seems right and normal, though it was still somewhat painful in its own way.

 

B: How did these major life events impact your kid’s lives?

J: My daughter Megan and son Tim grew through these events to more clearly know the way of the Cross.  It has clearly been a struggle, but neither of them have waivered in pursuing what God has called them to. Today, our daughter Megan has been serving as a Wycliffe missionary nurse in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea since January of 2015. In June 2018 our son, Tim, left to begin his work and training at JAARS (Wycliffe) in North Carolina.  He returns in July before going to Papua New Guinea to begin work as a missionary pilot/mechanic in a couple of weeks. They are fulfilling the dreams for missionary service Lori and I had when we first began our married life together.

 

B: What has been the “fruit that remains” (John 15:16) results from the “GO Group” through all of this?

J: Besides our own 2 kids; from 2012 to the present, the GO Group has sent out between 17-20 individuals to the following countries: Brazil, Kenya, Thailand, Scotland, Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, China, Afghanistan.

 

B: Is this typical in your experience?
J: While 2-3 people per year having been sent to 13 countries over a 7-year period does not sound like many; when you consider this is a ‘random’, unpublicized group that people only hear about through “word of mouth” that meets in different homes on the 2^nd Saturday of the month at 6:30pm, led by those who are, in some cases, laboring cross-culturally here locally, we are amazed at what the LORD has done!  God is always faithful!

 

B: Finally, what would you say to those who may have felt a strong “calling” to missions but, do not have a supportive network with whom they can share and pray with over these longings?

J: Please join us on the 2^nd Saturday of the month (ie., July 13^th, August 10^th, Sept. 14^th etc.) and Email us at: GoGroupPDX@gmail.com to find out the location! Please let others know of this opportunity to meet and pray together! Finally, please understand that God has not changed because He cannot change. Trust what He has told you, no matter what you see and feel. God will take care of your circumstances!

The Incredible Story of Jake and Mitsuo

June 11, 2019

The Incredible Story of Jake and Mitsuo

by Bill MacLeod

He was born in Stayton, Oregon to parents who loved Christ; read the Bible daily and took him to church and Sunday school – but he was not interested. After graduating from Madras High School, he eventually joined the Army. He volunteered to be part of a secret mission that led to a bombing raid over a foreign city, parachuting out of his plane when it ran out of fuel, only to be taken captive when he landed behind enemy lines.

The guards in the prison camp tortured him and the other prisoners and as he watched some succumb to their mistreatment, his hatred for them grew. In solitary confinement he wondered what made people hate other members of the human race, and what made him hate them? For over three years he was interred in this POW camp and one day, after about two years, one of the guards gave him a Bible. He read it through from cover to cover several times until he came to Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

 Finally, he understood the faith he had been brought up with but had never been able to grasp; surrendered his life to Christ and began to forgive his captors. He soon began to treat his captors with respect and found that they, then, in turn reacted in similar fashion. Fourteen months later, the war ended, and he was released from prison. He returned to the USA with a deep desire to attend Bible college to become a missionary – in order to return to the land of his captivity armed this time with the gospel. He wrote of his experiences in a gospel track entitled: “I was a prisoner of Japan”.

In a different part of the world, another man was being prepared to go to war, also as an airman. He rose up through the ranks and earned the position of commander. His big moment came when he was put in charge of a great attack utilizing 423 aircraft that was very successful. Two months later he led another major attack. He became a hero in his country, but as the war continued, people forgot what he had accomplished, and he was demoralized.  He miraculously escaped the bombing that ended the war in the city where he had been just the day before.

Called upon to testify after the war at trials for some of his own military for war crimes, he was filled with revenge and was convinced that his people had been mistreated at the hands of their captors just as his people had mistreated their prisoners. He was surprised to meet his former flight engineer who had been taken captive but had not been mistreated. In fact, his friend told a surprising story of a young lady whose missionary parents had been killed by their country’s soldiers, but who had returned to minister to them with the deepest of love and respect during their imprisonment. Not too long afterwards, he was at a train station in his country when he was handed the pamphlet “I was a prisoner of Japan”…

The prisoner of war from Stayton, Oregon, was Jacob “Jake” DeShazer, who had been part of “Doolittle’s Raiders” over Japan, finally finding Christ in a Japanese POW camp before WWII ended.  The commander was Mitsuo Fuchida, commander of the air attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941; who found Christ as a result of reading Jake DeShazer’s pamphlet “I was a prisoner of Japan”, then also searching the Scriptures to see if it was true…after having missed the bombing of Hiroshima by one day…

Jake returned to Nagoya, Japan as a missionary where he served for 30 years with his wife Florence; and Mitsuo became an evangelist preaching in the US and Japan, and writing three books, including one about his conversion entitled “From Pearl Harbor to Calvary”. The two men whose love of Christ overcame their hatred and revenge, became close friends and led evangelistic meetings throughout Japan where many followed Christ.

I never had the privilege to meet Jake DeShazer personally, but I did interview him by phone before his death in 2008. Mitsuo passed away in 1976. Their stories are among the most incredible to come out of WWII. Never underestimate the power of the gospel to transform lives!

Do Prayer + Mission Connect?

June 11, 2019

One person who is convinced the two are inseparable is Dennis Fuqua, Director of International Renewal Ministries (IRM) known as the prayer summits. For some years he has led the efforts of Prayer ConneXion, but he’s also a recent addition to the Board of Directors for Mission ConneXion.  Here is what he shared recently about this unique ConneXion event, coming May 17-18…

No one is “against prayer.”  It is just that there could be so many more who really are “for” prayer! 

Would you like to experience a greater confidence that your prayers are right in line with God’s will?  Do you attend a regular prayer meeting that is okay, but not as powerful as you think it could be?  Did you attend Mission ConneXion, received motivation to “do more” in missions, but you are not sure just what that might be?  You know you want to be engaged in God’s work around the world, but can’t pack up and move?

Prayer ConneXion 2019, an official event of Mission ConneXion, is designed to be a place “Where prayer and mission connect.”  Whether you are an experienced pray-er, the leader of a prayer team, or have just sensed a need to grow in prayer, attending Prayer ConneXion 2019 will help you be encouraged and challenged to be more engaged in God’s work through prayer.

Southwest Hills Baptist Church will host this year’s event.  It will take place Friday evening through Saturday afternoon, May 17-18.  Josh White (pastor of Door of Hope, Portland) and Rick Elzinga (recently retired pastor of Southwest Hills Baptist) will be the two plenary speakers.  Both of these men have not only developed significant prayer lives but have helped others do the same.  In addition to these two men, there will be twelve practical workshops presented by experienced prayer leaders throughout the greater Portland area.

Go to https://missionconnexion.com/prayer-connexion-2019/ for more information or just register here.  Registration includes two plenary sessions, two opportunities for workshops, and Saturday lunch.  During the weekend, there will be as much actual prayer as there is talk about prayer!  Groups of 10 or more get a 50% discount.

Hope you can experience how prayer and mission connect!