Missionaries taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Mexico

Dear brethren and friends, 

I have not been able to send out an update or a bible teaching the last month, as we have been too busy in other things. As a young missionary, with still under 2 years on the foreign mission field, I am still learning a lot of things that only time and experience can teach. There are so many things I have learned recently that I can only wish were taught to me before ever departing for the mission field, things that would have saved me time and energy and caused our labors to be a little more fruitful. Yet even so, I am humbled and grateful that the hand of God has been with us all along and led us along in His perfect will as we walk by faith and not by sight, and my wife and I both marvel time and time again when the grace of God shows itself strong in miraculous ways in our midst.

One of the things I’ve been learning lately is how to balance my time appropriately. Now I’m not one to squander away precious time when the Lord commands us to redeem the time, so that’s not what I’m talking about. But what I’m talking about is managing priorities, obligations, personal time, and rest time properly. This can all be an extremely difficult balance to find, especially when there are so many things to do that they can’t all possibly get done. But with all this, it is for this reason that I haven’t written an update lately. I felt there have been more important things to do (including rest once in a while!). So I could certainly use prayers for wisdom and guidance in all these details of life and ministry.

So much has happened the last two months that I can’t even possibly try to outline everything. But let me give you some highlights.

EQUIPPING THE SAINTS

I mentioned in our last update how we had found a solid biblical local church in the city here and have had a great time of fellowship with some brethren. I also mentioned that there were some who were coming out to the streets with us to evangelize (for the first time!) by passing out tracts and sharing the Gospel with people. By the grace of God, this ministry has continued, and more have been coming out with us the last couple of months. We have now had about 15 people from this church come to the city with us to evangelize. There are more brethren getting equipped to do the work of evangelism now, which is very encouraging to us.

DISCIPLESHIP

I have been teaching another young man every week lately, meeting up with him to give him foundations in the faith. He is a new convert and has a lot of struggles of his own (as we all did especially when we were newly converted) and it has been such a privilege and blessing to be able to be there for him at this time. Lina and I are planning on visiting with both him and his wife at their home on a weekly basis now to teach them both the principles of the doctrines of Christ. We had a wonderful time last week as we had dinner with them and answered many of their questions from the Word of God afterwards for several hours, and the Lord is really doing something in both of them. I will purposely spare you the details to protect their privacy. This month, we are planning on teaching them through the book of 1 John verse by verse (overview style with simple exposition) to give them some kind of foundation in basic salvation truths. 1 John is an excellent book to start with in teaching Bible studies, for many reasons. It is addressed to babes in Christ, mature Christians, and fathers in the faith, and has a wide practical application in many ways.

EVANGELISM TRAINING CLASS STARTS

The pastor and elders of the church we’re a part of have now agreed to have us teach a weekly evangelism training class in the meeting house every weekend. This is not something that we went out of our way to try to force our way through this door, but it is something that they have come to agreement on after recognizing the need and seeing the fruit from what we’re already doing (and with the encouragement of another missionary brother, Chris). This is an answer to prayer and we are looking forward to seeing these brethren equipped to effectively share the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Every Saturday starting tomorrow, Lord willing, we will meet and teach some practical evangelism truths, answer questions, train the brethren, pray for the outreach, and then go together to the downtown region of the city to preach Christ!

I must confess now that I’m praying for an open air preacher. Please join me with your prayers!!! I want a bold open air preacher (at least one) raised up from this group. I want to see someone have his belly filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit and to be burning to preach Christ boldly in the open air. Someone with a real preaching anointing. This is not too much to ask. There are some good prospects already, but a little more maturing, a little more boldness, and more anointing of the Holy Spirit is necessary to see this in them, according the sovereign will and pleasure of our great God.

YOUTH GROUP MINISTRY

I have also been asked to hold meetings for the youth every week in this church. Well, they are “sort of” like youth. Some are 14 and over, and are up to the age of 40. It’s mainly a singles group, but with a lot of youth too. The total number of them is about 40 we’ve been told. This Wednesday, Lord willing, should be our first meeting. I am looking forward to this with great eagerness! Some of these young people are real converts and need someone to really spend time with them and teach them the things of God more profoundly. Others are false converts that have grown up in the church all their lives and have never been born again, being turned off by the hypocrisy around them. I have been asked to pour myself out to them and to preach and hold meetings that will edify the true believers and convict the compromised and religious. We need God to come down and shake the place! Pray for an outpouring of power from on high!

We are not going to have video games, worldly movies, card games, and foolish trinkets of the world in our midst in order to tailor to the carnal lusts of unconverted young rebels. We are going to focus on the glory of God, on glorifying His Son Jesus Christ with our lives, on being sold out for His Kingdom, on reckless abandon to follow Him, on having a heart of passion to obey the Lord Jesus. We will preach the pure Gospel truth to young and old alike and call all men to repentance and faith and to bear fruit meet for repentance and to dedicate themselves as living sacrifices for the Gospel. We will have times of fellowship too, I am sure, and time to get to know more of the young people and build relationships with them and really try to be there for their spiritual needs. Young people don’t need to find their identities and entertainment in the things of this world (especially by bringing the world into the church) but rather they need to see true Christianity lived before their eyes in sincerity and truth.

We have already been spending some time with some of these young adults and fellow brethren and it really seems like the Lord is blessing this a lot. I believe some are truly getting revived and the Lord is really trying to get a hold of them to use them powerfully for His glory.

EVANGELISTIC OUTREACH

The evangelistic outreaches are continuing every weekend as we go to the city center and share the Gospel. Our speakers for open air preaching have been broken down for the past month so we haven’t been able to function like normal lately! But we all have been personally ministering with people one to one and the Lord has blessed it. Our speaker was just repaired so Lord willing, we will now be able to preach abroad again! I have missed doing this the past month!

Many of those who are coming have had great conversations with the lost and there are many testimonies we could share but will spare the time.

A DETERRED SUICIDE SEEKS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT JESUS

A wonderful testimony I would like to share. There was a man who heard Lina and I open air preaching about 6 months ago and was affected by the Word but never repented or obeyed anything. He wrote us an email saying “Dios les bendiga” (God bless you) and that he heard us preaching, but we never heard from him again. Well, recently, about a month ago, as we went to the city to preach, we found that our normal spot was occupied by some large event so we couldn’t preach there. So we went to a different location and preached there instead. During the night, one of the sisters with us began talking to somebody there and shared the Gospel with him. Long story short, he was on the verge of committing suicide, planning to go do so right then, when he was stopped by her. He changed his mind and decided that it wouldn’t be the best thing and that it would be better to seek God instead. That’s a good testimony in itself! But then, later in the week, we received an email from that guy that emailed us 5 months ago, requesting to meet up with us when we’re in the city to have a bible study with him. So as we went to the city, we were waiting for him, and when he showed up, we found that it was the same guy! The same guy we had preached to 5 months ago, the same guy that our sister preached to and snatched from the jaws of death, and now he was here to hear more about how to be converted.

We were able to instruct him more in the things of God, and he has even been coming back so we could teach him. He told us that he’s been praying and crying out to God to save him, confessing his sins, asking the Lord to give him the Holy Spirit. He was discouraged that nothing happened immediately, but as we taught him about the cost of discipleship, true faith, and persevering in prayer, he was encouraged again. We are praying that he gets truly converted.

YOUR PRAYERS ARE COVETED

The last newsletter, I wrote about being discouraged at times from not seeing much fruit in our labors and asked for prayer, I believe. Well, thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ, it seems like the Lord is answering these prayers and is allowing us to have a little more reward from our labors in seeing lives changed by the testimony and power of the Gospel. Your continued prayers are coveted. It has really seemed like the Lord is leading us to minister more to the brethren than to the lost lately and blessing our efforts in this. I have always had a greater passion for the lost who don’t know Christ than for the brethren who already do, but as the Lord is maturing me and causing me to see things from other perspectives in His Word, I am seeing the great importance of ministering to and equipping the brethren. Conversion is just passing through the door of the Kingdom, but spiritual growth is a lifelong process that consists of the journey from there on out!

There was a missionary brother named Chris Berger that was in Guadalajara for a while but has returned to Texas to prepare for future ministry in Mexico, and he was a great blessing to fellowship with and to help us minister to the brethren (or should I say that we helped him, rather!). There truly is a love amongst the real people of God and a level of fellowship that this world knows nothing about! We miss him and lot (and know that he’s probably reading this!). God bless you brother, may the Lord use you to “make His name famous among the nations”. 

TRIP TO THE USA   

This level of Spanish school for me ends at the end of this month. Then, in the beginning of August we are planning on making a trip to the US (to Ohio and Michigan). We have to leave the country every 6 months to renew our visas and car permit, so we’ll using this time to rest, visit family and brethren, handle some necessary business, and gear up for another round if the Lord wills. We plan on being there for the month of August and returning to Guadalajara by the beginning of September. We may be driving up, or we may be flying. I am not sure yet. But if we’re driving, and you are somewhere on the way and you have a church or fellowship you would like me preach in or share about our work in Mexico, I am open to considering the invitation.

CONCLUSION

Finally, may the God of grace be with all those who call on His name with a pure heart. Brethren, pray for us!

In CHRIST – Josef
www.puregospeltruth.com

This month has been busy in laboring in the Gospel. Typically, I have been on a schedule of preaching 5 times per week between the outreaches, rehab-center, discipleship, and Sunday meetings. In addition to this, we have been fellowshipping at a local church in Guadalajara here and meeting with the pastor to pray for conversions and revival. I have also re-enrolled in a Spanish language school and am studying for hours every day of the week in and out of school. My Spanish is getting a lot better, and I am able to understand much of what is being spoken, but still find great difficulty in speaking it myself and am unable to communicate appropriately. At the current pace, I hope to be conversational within 4-5 months, Lord willing. 

In Guadalajara, we are attempting to make not just converts, but real disciples of Jesus Christ who love the Lord and truly follow Him. Of course, this takes labor. Lot’s of it. It is utterly impossible apart from the power of God. We are recognizing our great need more and more. We need a Holy Spirit visitation from on high to grip the hearts of sinners and squeeze them into submission to Christ through the grace of the Gospel. No true lasting work can be established here apart from genuine spiritual awakening in the souls of men.

“Missions” in Christianity today tends to be so shallow, so cheap, so systematized, that it’s sick and grieving to God. Some men boast of planting dozens of churches within a few short years, yet never speak of true visitation from God in converting sinners radically, which means that the churches they’ve planted are most likely filled with false converts. I’ve seen some of these churches, where the “converts” that are in them are nothing more than people who have prayed a “sinner’s prayer” and made a “decision for Christ” and have continued in it by being religious and going to a meeting, but lack genuine fruit of Christian love and holiness evidenced in their lives and totally lack any true commitment to Christ. I am completely convinced that planting a church is a laborious process of sowing, planting and watering and working in the Word until the Lord brings the harvest. It can take years to establish a single small Biblical church apart from an extraordinary move of God. Dear fellow brethren, pray for us, pray for the people here, that they would be awakened and converted!

So we are continuing to open air preach in the market squares and to teach through the Bible in a hotel conference room every Sunday. Our attendance is discouraging at times. One week we will have just one person show up, then the next week six people, and then the next week 5, then the next week only two. Now I don’t take pride in numbers, but it’s pretty discouraging when you preach the Gospel to literally hundreds of people, and a couple dozen express their desire to find genuine Christian fellowship and to be taught the Bible, and say they are going to come to the meetings, yet when it comes down to it they never show up and there is very little commitment among those who do. We continue to labor as unto the Lord, and not unto men.

The Lord has ordained our steps and led us to a local church in the city here that preaches a true Gospel and holds to sound doctrine (on majors). The pastor of this fellowship is truly a man of conviction. We’ve had some blessed times of fellowship with him. We’ve also met some brethren who are a part of that fellowship and they’ve even come out on the streets with us to evangelize. Two young ladies from there came out with over a month ago for the first time, and they had never evangelized before. Though they were nervous, the Lord took over and they have been sharing the Gospel boldly on the streets every since, both with us and apart from us. The people around them in the church are telling us now that they’ve been “revived” since coming out with us and have such a passion for the Lord. Glory be to God! There are also some others from there that have come out to preach with us, including one of the elders one day.

We’ve been having some great times of sharing the Gospel with certain people on the streets. People just being affected by the Word, and expressing signs of conviction and desire for repentance.

There was a man who met us on the train the other week. He came up to Lina and I as we were talking in English and said, “Excuse me, but are you guys Christians?” We said, “Yes, why do you ask?” And he replied by saying that he couldn’t understand what we were saying, but he just saw something different about us. He said that he had a recent conversion. We talked with him for a few minutes before we had to exit the train. Well, last weekend he ran into us again, this time as we were preaching in the city. He told us that recently he had a dream, and in the dream we were preaching to people that they need to read the Bible every day. He even described something that I tend to do when I preach that he had seen in his dream, and it was true, even though he had never seen me preach in real life prior to that. So he got convicted because he wasn’t reading his Bible all the time, so when he woke up, he went out and bought a new Bible and has been reading it since. This just shows me the ability and power of God, apart from human means. I commented to Lina that it’s kind of nice preaching to people in their dreams, it didn’t take me any extra work! Glory to God. Truly though, God can use His servants in any way He pleases, and He can also operate outside the natural bounds of how we tend to limit Him, and do as He wills when He wills.

We have also been able to purchase a small printer recently which enables us to print Christian literature in Spanish for a cheaper price than getting them printed elsewhere. So this should be a good means of getting some solid teaching into the brethren here that we fellowship with and run into. We plan on printing out more articles and booklets that I am writing along with certain study guides, Bible reading guides, puritan writings, revival literature, and some solid theological teachings on various subjects as needed. Those who have supported us in prayer and in giving have certainly shared a part in this work that the Lord is doing, and we are so very grateful, and certain souls I am sure will be eternally grateful. I thank God for the love of our brethren back in the US, many of whom are going through tough times themselves, yet show the love of Christ in generosity and support anyways.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

There is so much more I could say, so much more that has been done, so much more to testify to the grace of God, but here I conclude. We need your prayers, that the glory of God can be known to a people who don’.

In Christ –Josef Urban
www.puregospeltruth.com

We have had a wonderful month to the glory of God. How can I possibly begin to describe the things the Lord has done? My words fail to adequately detail His mercy and grace toward us and toward the people we have been given the privilege to minister to in the name of Jesus.


VISITORS FROM THE USA 


This month, we have had three different brothers from the United States come down and visit us. We have also had a few different brethren who are in Guadalajara meet up with us for fellowship and street ministry. They were all a blessing in helping us and in sharing the Word of God faithfully.

The first team that came down was Warren and Saul from California. Here is a picture:

These brothers were such a blessing to have around. Saul is originally from Guadalajara here, and so we were able to visit some of his family and share the Word of God with them. His Dad has recently become a believer, and we were able to spend a night with him and share some teachings with him from the Bible (the picture above is from his Dad's property). This was Warren's first time being outside the USA, and he was a tremendous encouragement to us to have his fellowship. Both of these brothers joined us in preaching and evangelizing.


The other brother, Judah, arrived the day after they left and stayed for 10 days. Here is a picture of him playing Amazing Grace on his saxaphone on the street:

OPEN AIR PREACHING IN THE PLAZAS

We have had a blessed time open air preaching several days per week in the busy city center. This month we've been able to preach to hundreds of people and proclaim Christ and Him crucified openly as a testimony to His grace. We have seen some good fruit come out of this, and a number of people whose hearts were pricked and came forward asking us for prayer and help.

We currently have a permit to preach over our speakers on Fridays and Saturdays, from 4pm-9pm. We have been encouraged to see people respond to the preaching of the Word with a desire to know more about the ways of Christ.

Brother Saul who was visiting has a great burden for the city of Guadalajara here. As you probably know, Guadalajara is over 90%+ Roman Catholic. Saul grew up in this area as a professing Catholic, and no one had ever shared the Gospel with him. He had no idea what the Gospel was. It wasn't until a brother shared the truth with him later that he ended up believing and being converted. So even though he was fearful of open air preaching (as we all are when just starting!), he stepped out in boldness and PREACHED the GOSPEL in the OPEN AIR for the very FIRST TIME!!! The Lord really blessed him with joy in the Holy Spirit and he had a burning passion to share the Gospel from then on out, both open air and one-to-one. He would also translate for me when I preached since he knows fluent Spanish.

We also had another missionary brother from the US come on the outreach with us, and he also open air preached for the first time, sharing his testimony. 

I remember Warren saying how he would read our updates about people breaking down and weeping under conviction when the Word is preached. He thought, "oh that's great" to himself, yet had never seen that happen in the USA even though he goes out preaching every week. Yet when he was here, the Lord allowed him to see more than one person respond to the Gospel in such a way. So many people in this city have never heard the true Gospel and are hungry for real truth that can deliver them from their bondages, burdens and sins. Their hearts are ripe to receive the truth.

PERSONAL EVANGELISM AND SHARING TRUTH

When the Word of God is being proclaimed abroad in the open air, the Lord always has just a few souls that He's drawing and really working on. Without personal work in dealing with them where they are spiritually, there will be little lasting fruit as a result. We have been so blessed to have brethren come out with us and help us to do the most important part of evangelism -dealing with people as individuals and showing them our care for their souls and love of Christ through personal sharing and relationship building.

In answer to our prayers, the Lord has sent us a brother named Tonyo to do this very thing. Every time we preach, he is busy handing out tracts and ministering to people one-on-one. He invites them to our Bible studies. He takes the heat with the difficult people and hecklers. And the receptive souls he brings to us so we can talk to them. When we first met Tonyo, he had a lot of struggles with much of the Charismatic goofiness going on in so many churches. He had been taken advantage of by false apostles and been manipulated for a long time. We gave him my book on Prosperity Preachers and when he read it, his eyes were opened mightily. We have continued to teach and admonish him, and he has come to have his eyes opened to many things, including the "sinner's prayer" practice in evangelism and the necessity of preaching the whole counsel of God and not just the "bless-me" parts that people like to hear. We have been giving him books and sermons in Spanish from Paul Washer and David Wilkerson and he's devouring them in a hunger for truth and is experiencing a revival in his own walk with the Lord. So this brother is faithful to be there on every outreach we have to help in any way he can, even though he works a full-time job as a garbage man and is extremely busy. May the Lord send more laborers into His harvest!!! Here's a picture of us with Tonyo and another brother, Chris, that came out with us:

We have all had countless discussions with individuals about the state of their souls before God. It was a blessing to have Chris (on the right above) come out with us and share the Gospel with people, especially since Chris is nearly fluent in Spanish. We also had another missionary, Brian, from the same missions ministry as Chris, come out and preach with us.

A HOMELESS MAN GETS OFF THE STREETS  

There was a man in the city of Guadalajara that was in a real bad situation. His name is Javier. He was homeless because he was a chronic alcoholic. He had been drinking wine every day (or almost every day) for the last 20 years. He was in slavery to the bottle. He couldn't even eat solid food without washing it down with wine or liquer or else he would throw in back up. He was filled with hopelessness, depression and despair. He would throw himself in front of cars hoping to get run over. He would get into fights with people on the streets. His parents had kicked him out of their house, telling him not to come back unless he's sober. He was without hope in the world. 

When we were preaching one night, we noticed that this man was standing off to the side with tears streaming down his cheeks. We pleaded with him and prayed with him and he was humbled under the Word. Recently, he ended up running across us again. When we were preaching one night, he came back and wept and wept for a long time as we preached. He came back several times on different nights, and the conviction seemed to grow heavier and heavier upon him. Until one night, as I preached, he dropped his box from which he would sell candy right on the ground, and fell on his face crying out to God to forgive his sin. "My sin is so great!" he would keep saying. He stayed on his face for almost an hour crying. We stopped preaching and prayed with him. He said he wanted to stop drinking and change. So long story short, we ended up taking him into our house. On the way there, he threw his last bottle of wine into the trash, and then stayed with us a few days. He battled with the temptation to drink, but every time he would get really bad we would pray for him and he would feel better. He would sweat and shake and appear to be zoning out, but when we'd pray he would feel peace. We would read the Scriptures to him and showed him a couple of Films about Jesus since he's unable to read. After those days he was here, he ended up wanting to go back to his parent's house, confident now that they would receive him since he was sober. The day he left, he was looking really good. Please keep him in prayer. Here's a few pictures of him:

BIBLE STUDY MEETINGS

We have been teaching Bible studies in a central location in the city where we invite the people we preach to during the week. This gives us a chance to get into the Word with them more in depth and to teach them the commands of Jesus. This is a picture from a few weeks ago when brother Saul shared the Word:

Carolina, the young lady who is pregnant whose boyfriend used to beat her (who has since left) has been coming to our meetings. She is ready to give birth any time now to the baby that was going to initially be aborted. She has been coming under conviction and alarm to see that her soul isn't right with God. Please pray both for her conversion and for the safe delivery of the little girl.

Last Sunday, in addition to myself, Lina, and Judah, we had six other people show up to the meeting. I began a series on the Sermon on the Mount (Mat. 5, 6, 7), teaching verse by verse through this glorious sermon of our Lord. A man in attendance had never heard the Gospel. He was blown away at the things we would say. Literally, his eyes would open wide and his mouth would drop open and he would jump in his seat when he heard certain things, such as that Jesus is the only way to God and that praying to saints is idolatry.

We are praying that the Lord will bring more people to these meetings to hear the commands of Jesus taught straight from the Bible. It's amazing to see how utterly revolutionary the Lord's Word is. May the Lord raise up disciples who love Him and obey His precious commands.


OPEN DOORS IN DRUG REHAB CENTER


The Catholic drug rehabilitation center that I mentioned in the last update has now opened its doors to us to preach for an hour every week. But there's only one exception: we are not allowed to expressly and clearly preach against Catholicism. But they told us that whatever is in the Bible, we can preach. So we have gone in on a weekly basis to share the Word with these men, emphasizing the truths that they'll never hear in the Catholic Church. We preach Christ and Him crucified and His perfect, finished work, and His ability to justify completely and forever all who believe in Him. We explain true repentance and the glorious power of God in the New Birth. I know that as the true Gospel is preached, the strongholds of Satan will be torn down, and those who the Lord is drawing and saving will have their eyes opened to the apostate religion around them as the Holy Spirit gives them new spiritual life and light. 


DISCIPLING A COUPLE OF BELIEVERS

There are a couple of young ladies that came to us, hungry for the Word, requesting discipleship and teaching. They wanted to join a Bible college or institute, but have no money. So we told them that we would be willing to disciple them and give them the same type of teaching you can get in the institutes here (and even better). They were excited at the opportunity and have been coming to our house every week to receive teaching. We generally have a 4-6 hour day each week in which we teach them and show them videos by Paul Washer and others. I gave them a homework assignment to do a book report on a book by a friend of ours, and also to read and write an overview of each chapter of the New Testament every day with key verses written out and questions to discuss. One of these girls is Tonyo's daughter. We are praying that the Lord does a genuine work of grace in their hearts and sets them ablaze to burn with zeal for His glory.

2,000 SALVATION BOOKS PRINTED 

Thanks to the provision of God, we have been able to print 2,000 copies of "The Great Plan of Salvation" with a nice glossy, colorful cover this month. We were able to print them at a local shop for about 50 cents a piece. So we have been giving them out to those who are receptive to the Word, and have even already heard a couple of good testimonies come from reading them. It has been a blessing to give them out for free to all who show eagerness to hear the Gospel. We are so grateful for our brethren in the States who have been so generous in supporting this mission of the Lord's work, and trust that your prayers and generosity will certainly continue to bear fruit.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Though we originally arrived in Guadalajara with the intentions of just staying a couple of months, the Lord has had plans otherwise. Our hearts have grown to have a burden for this sin-sick city. It sits under such religious bondage and demonic strongholds of all kinds, and yet has so many precious souls who are hurting and in desperate need of the mercies of the Savior. The Lord's hand is in this work every step of the way. We intend to stay longer, as long as the Lord leads, and hope to establish a work and disciple believers who will continue to bear fruit even after we move on.

There is so much more that I could share in this newsletter, so many wonderful things the Lord is doing even in our own lives, but must cut it short. Please pray for us that the Lord will keep us from temptation and sin, that He would give us grace in the Holy Spirit, that He would use us as vessels of honor for His glory, that He would pluck souls from the fire, and that He would continue to edify and strengthen His church here in this final hour, and prepare His Bride to face the great shaking ahead.

We are now back in Guadalajara, Mexico and are getting situated and praying for more open doors to preach the Gospel. If you are reading this and you pray for us, please pray for this, that God would open more doors for us to preach through and grant that we would be faithful to this stewardship. Paul said (Amplified):

“And at the same time pray for us also, that God may open a door to us for the Word (the Gospel), to proclaim the mystery concerning Christ (the Messiah) on account of which I am in prison; That I may proclaim it fully and make it clear [speak boldly and unfold that mystery], as is my duty” (Colossians 4:3-4).

Though I’m not in prison like Paul was, my heart’s desire is the same, for an open door, and for faithfulness to proclaim the Gospel clearly and fully in this place. I know by experience that the Lord always answers this prayer, so please agree with me in prayer for this, that these people might hear to the glory of Christ! May God save His elect and impart faith to His lost sheep through the proclamation of the Word in this final hour!

Our 3-week stay in the US was a refreshing time of fellowship with the brethren there, and we were able to spend some time with Sean and Lisa Scott and some others. Mike Gendron and his wife (from www.pro-gospel.org) were extremely hospitable to us in the name of Christ and allowed us to stay in their guest home and took good care of us, may the Lord reward them abundantly. Mike ministers around the world preaching the Gospel and targets Catholics with the truth of Jesus Christ. You may have seen him preaching in a conference alongside Ray Comfort or John Macarthur. If you have any Catholic friends or relatives that need to hear the Gospel, I would highly recommend the resources his ministry puts out, as he has seen lot of Catholics abandon their apostate religion to embrace the finished work and person of Christ in saving faith.

We are now looking in Guadalajara for various avenues through which to preach and minister and are looking for at least one good drug rehabilitation center to minister in on a regular basis. We are working on getting permission to minister in a state prison about 30 min. from our home. Other possibilities are in consideration and prayer. The booklet on salvation is in the works on getting printed. We still have our meeting place for Bible studies every week, and are eager to see if the Lord will bring more to it as we continue to evangelize. We are trusting that the Lord is going to open the perfect doors and accomplish His perfect will here with us as we reach out. The street ministry will continue as long as the Lord wills, and we’re praying for souls.

In two weeks, we are having a team of a couple brethren come down to visit and to do some ministry here in Mexico. They will be here for 7 days, and then the day after they leave another brother is arriving and will be here for about 10 days. We’re really looking forward to this time of ministry and fellowship and request prayers for these brethren as they make the journey, and that they would be ministered to by the Holy Spirit during their stay. May Christ be glorified in our midst!

A good little testimony: A few days ago as we ventured out to find a drug rehab center to minister in, we ended up finding one that was close to where we are staying. We went in and asked if they would let us in to preach on a weekly basis, only to find out that it is a Catholic institution. The leadership set us aside, and talked about it. Finally, the man came out and told us that we could preach a meeting to the men “right now”. Though I didn’t have any messages prepared, the Scripture does tell us to “be instant in season and out of season”. I took the opportunity and was able to preach to the men for a good hour, sharing first my testimony and then preaching from Romans 5 about the depravity of sinful man and the only remedy God has provided: Christ’s perfect finished work, expounding on the transforming nature of grace to deliver from sin. It was probably the only time many of them have heard the Gospel. To the glory of God, a considerable degree of conviction went forth, and a few evidenced some positive effects of the Word upon their hearts. We found out that the day we preached is the day that the Catholic priest comes in to do Mass, but for some unannounced reason didn’t show up that day, and so at the last minute the leadership of the institution let us preach to fill in the gap! Glory be to God that His true testimony went forth in that dark, false gospel permeated institution!

Brethren, God rewards us when we step out in faith and obey His call to go when He sends us. He’s faithful! Pray for us! We’re grateful for all your support.

In Christ –Josef Urban
www.puregospeltruth.com

INNER CITY OUTREACH

We have continued to preach in one of the market squares of the inner city every weekend since our last update. By the grace of God, it has gone wonderful. Many people stop to listen, and sit around on the benches and on the ledge of a fountain by us to hear the Word. They will sit for the whole 1 ½ to 2 hours we preach, and then come up to us afterwards to talk personally, ask for help, ask for prayer, etc. There are also a number of people who, knowing when and at what time we’ll be there, come to the square specifically to hear the Word and sit down to listen.

One man comes every week, every meeting thus far since he started, and he has to travel over an hour away between his home and the city here. To make it worse, he has a skin disease which gives him constant pain all over his body, and though he’s been unable to work a job because of it, he still comes such a great distance to hear the Word of God.

We are much encouraged that many here are hungry for the truth. The greatest blessing is that almost every time we preach there is at least one person who comes up to us in brokenness saying they want to repent and serve the Lord. Sometimes there’s more than one! The Spirit of God is backing up the outward preaching of the Word with the inward drawing of the hearts and fruit is resulting to the glory of God.

I won’t take your time to tell you of them all, but specifically, I want to mention three young men that have all came forward to us in tears, crying out under conviction of sin, saying they want to repent and serve God. All three appeared to be in their early 20’s.

THREE WONDERFUL TESTIMONIES FROM THE LAST MONTH:

1. The first young man was walking down the street, thinking about his life. In a depraved condition spiritually, he had been living a life of sin and self-seeking, and was thinking about how empty he was and how his life was being destroyed. The Spirit of God was already dealing with him. In a helpless state, he decided to pray to the God of Heaven, asking for help, asking specifically what the truth is and what he should follow. Within a couple of minutes after praying that, walking down the same street, he walked in to our open air meeting where we were preaching Jesus Christ as the Lord of All. He listened for a while, and afterwards came up to us in tears saying he wants us to pray for him now because he’s ready to serve the Lord. He was amazed that God had so quickly answered his prayer!

2. Another young man was a street thug. Hearing the Word preached, and coming up to us afterwards, he said that something happened in his heart during the message and described how his heart was pricked. He said he just wanted to cry, and began to weep, saying he wanted to repent. He told us that his life is ruined by sin. His mother is a prostitute and his closest brother is a drug addict on the streets too. He told us that he’s been doing drugs for a long time, but that one time in his life years prior he had seen the hand of the Lord work on him, and experienced a degree of freedom and peace during that time. Sadly though, he withdrew from the Lord and continued to follow his course of destruction. Now, however, he wanted to repent once for all. We pleaded with him to count the cost, and endeavored to explain to him what it means to follow Jesus, and to lay before him the nature of the trials that await him and the temptations of Satan that must be overcome, and of the Scriptural methods of overcoming by faith. He said he was ready to forsake all to follow Christ. After giving him instructions on how to be saved, we were then able to pray with and for him and to give him a Bible.

3. The other young man was a street thug named Alex. As we were preaching on repentance, he interrupted us in the middle of our sermon. He was very polite, yet very importunate. “Please forgive me for interrupting you,” he would say, “but I need to get right with God”. We stopped preaching to talk to him. He was a drug addict from a town far away, and for the past 6 days had been sleeping on the street. Dressed in big baggy shorts, a dirty shirt, a stocking hat, and sunglasses, with his arms covered in tattoos, and alcohol on his breath, he began to confess his sin and the tears began to stroll down his face. He said he hadn’t cried in 5 years. He said that just prior he was in a rage and was on his way to “bash” someone, and was even pondering suicide, but when hearing us preach, something changed in his heart and he was pacified and convicted. Now he wanted to lay down his rebellion and serve the Lord. His sense of sin was tremendous, and though he pleaded with us to help him get right with God, he couldn’t believe that God would ever forgive him because of the nature and number of his sins. “I’m not even worthy to be standing on this ground”, he would say as he stood in our preaching spot. Later, as we kept sharing the Word with him and he kept weeping, he spit on the ground by an impulse of habit, and immediately apologized for spitting with an appearance of fear, and quickly smeared it out with his foot.

He was a modern day example of the sinner that went into the temple to pray, not even able to lift his face toward heaven but all he could do was beat his chest and say ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’. We told him that story. And I was able to share my testimony with him of how the Lord delivered me from addictions. He said he doesn’t know what it’s like to go just a few days without drugs, and wanted the Lord to deliver him. We were able to pray with him, and to rebuke the demonic works in him, but he wouldn’t come around to believing with assurance that he could be forgiven and cleansed.          

The next night as we set up to preach, he was waiting for us, and sat the whole time just taking it all in and absorbing the Word. He said that he had obtained a great peace in his heart, had read some of the Gospel of John we gave him (slowly, he said, because he believed that each sentence had really, really deep meaning!) and that he had been clean (from drugs and alcohol) all day. He said that while we were preaching, that every word seemed to be specifically for him. While we were talking with him, another man came up and shared his testimony with us that he had been a drug addict for 27 years but one month ago heard the Gospel and has been completely free since. It was the hand of God. It greatly encouraged Alex to hear this and appeared to be the means of putting some faith in his soul.

The next day, now 2 days after our initial encounter with Alex, was a Sunday morning, the time of our weekly Bible study. To our surprise, Alex showed up, still clean! He was surprised too, and said that he knows only the God of Heaven can deliver him. We gave him a whole Bible, and were able to share some Scriptures with him pertinent to his situation, exhort him to cast himself wholly upon Christ every moment, that the power of the Holy Spirit can give him the complete victory, and to pray for him some more. We also gave him a phone card, with which he called his Mom in his hometown, and she was able to get him a bus ticket to go home and get off the streets. Lina called the next day, and his Mom was very grateful, thanking us for getting her son back (though it wasn’t us at all, it was JESUS), and talked to Alex briefly before the phone cut off. He was still doing good. And we praise God.

What other blessing on earth can even compare to this? What joy is there even comparable to a sinner coming to repentance? What other thing on earth makes the angels rejoice? Oh, that ALL of God’s people would dedicate themselves to glorifying His name through seeking to bring His lost sheep back under the care of the Chief Shepherd!

A VISIT TO THE US AND BACK

Well, about 6 months ago we were in the US for a short time, preparing to make a journey into Mexico to evangelize and preach. We were initially committing to 6 months, unaware of what the future would hold, but now those 6 months are expired, and it is our desire to continue to labor for the Gospel in Mexico.

Now that our visas are about to expire, we must return to the US for a short time before coming back to Mexico. We plan on leaving this Sunday, Feb. 15th. We are crossing the border into Texas, seeing that’s the nearest spot, and meeting up with some brethren there for some fellowship. Sean and Lisa (www.preachingjesuschrist.com) have just returned from India so we look forward to meeting up with them and hearing what the Lord has done with them these past 6 months. There are also some other brothers in the ministry there we plan on meeting up with and are excited to meet. After a brief visit in the US (probably a couple weeks), we plan on returning to Guadalajara.

We truly praise God for such a successful journey thus far, and upon meditating on what the Lord has allowed us to accomplish during this past 6 months, it is here, below, written down for a brief overview as we give glory to the loving-kindness of the Lord. So for the sake of those who are keeping up on us, and supporting us, we want to give a brief overview of what the Lord has done this journey…
 

During the last 6 months by the grace of God we have been able to:


-Preach the Gospel to thousands of Mexicans who otherwise would not or may not have heard it. Many of these were in places of Mexico that would scarcely ever see a Christian missionary preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

-Show the Jesus Film (based on the Gospel of Luke) to hundreds of people in various remote towns and villages and preach the Gospel to them before and after each showing. We trust our labor here was not without lasting fruit.

-Preach in numerous churches and Christian gatherings to call the lost religious to true conversion and to teach sound doctrine to edify and strengthen brethren in Christ.

-Conduct weekly meetings for children over the period of a couple months, to teach them God’s Word, singing songs and having them participate in studies, with a weekly attendance of between 30-50 kids.

-Preach the Gospel in a prison in Mexico for a couple of months, minister to the men, casting out demons and by the power of the Holy Spirit seeing them cry out to God with a broken heart of contrition seeking salvation to the glory of Christ’s great Gospel.

-Purchase and distribute hundreds of Bibles to those who never owned one. Many people are extremely grateful and immediately begin to ask us “how much?” and it’s such a joy to tell them that Jesus said, “Freely you have received. Freely give”.

-Distribute many hundreds of Gospels of John to even more people who expressed interest in reading God’s Word, and distribute many Gospel tracts that contain a solid salvation message.

-Work on writing, printing and distributing two booklets around Mexico, one combating the “gospel of greed” of using God as a means to financial prosperity (since many of the Pentecostal churches here have embraced that doctrine), and the other presenting a simple Biblical message of salvation for those who are lost but seeking.

-Josef attended a Spanish Language school for a short period of time thus far and purchased more necessary materials to help him learn the language faster. It will be very beneficial for the Gospel’s sake for him to speak Spanish.

-Preach in open-air meetings in a busy marketplace in the city of Guadalajara. Many stand to hear the Word of God and the Lord has blessed our pitiful labors by dropping down strong conviction on some hearts and giving us divine appointments with those who profess to desire to forsake their own lives to receive Christ as their own.

-Lead a number of Bible studies for people seeking to learn more about the Way, including some formerly devout Catholics.

These things are but the least we could do for the cause of Him who gave all for our sakes, and truly it is not us that labor, but His grace which works in us for the praise of His glory, and after all the little bit that God has granted us to do, we are still unworthy slaves, unworthy of the least degree of blessing or favor from God and partake of His fullness and life solely on the basis of the merits of Christ alone. These things have not been accomplished for the sake of the Kingdom without their fair share of hardships, however. But God miraculously sustained us even in the midst of numerous trials and physical dangers, and though our flesh is weak, His Spirit is strong. Even when Josef fell sick through a mosquito-borne virus and was confined to bed for 7 days, the grace of God was with us, sustaining and giving hope in the midst of suffering.

Yet we have nothing to boast of (though we have many things to be ashamed of). These things are listed to keep our brethren updated on our progress, to inform those who kindly help to support this work through prayer and giving that your kind support is not vain, and most of all to glorify God and save souls. We thank God continually for the love of our brethren to us in this work and for all the kind help we have received.

Now, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phi. 3:13-14). The past is past, and we dare not despair of it, nor take pride in it, but rather to commit it to God and focus on the here and now and the near future in strategically reaching out with the blessed Gospel of God our great Savior. So that is what we are endeavoring to do now.

WHAT NOW?

Though our initial 6-month commitment has expired, we hope by the mercy of God to continue to spend more time in Mexico laboring for the Kingdom. Our current plans are to remain in the city of Guadalajara for the time being. This is so we may continue to reach out and preach in this city, so Josef may continue to study Spanish (and possibly attend another language school), and to write and print at least one more booklet that would be beneficial for the people in the churches of Mexico. We are hoping to get in to at least one or more drug rehabilitation centers upon our return, and are looking into getting in to the prison as well. There are a lot of drug-addicts in this city and we hope to reach out to them. There are also a number of homeless here and we want to find out where they sleep and bless them in the name of Jesus. In addition to this, we hope to continue the street ministry, preaching in the open air in the busy marketplaces where many have come to listen and we’ve already seen a lot of fruit from it. There are also many sophisticated and well-learned Catholics in this city who are hungry for spiritual truth. In fact, during our outreaches, we have seen about an equal number of homeless and drug addicts as we have seen upper-class Catholics heavily affected by the Word and trying to draw near to God. So we hope to continue reaching out to the Catholics too.

We have already secured a place to hold our meetings on the roof of a large building in the downtown area, and plan to continue to conduct weekly Bible studies at this spot for those who hear us preaching on the streets and want to come for more. We have already had about 6 people show up here in the past for the studies. Many more express interest, hungering to hear the Word of God taught. We hope to establish a more solid fellowship if the Lord is willing, and to not only teach in an expository manner verse-by-verse through the Bible at these meetings, which seems to greatly bless those who listen, but also to sing hymns and worship God (accompanied by a guitar). Oh, that God would grant souls for His glory!

But though we may be stationed in the city of Guadalajara, we don’t necessarily have to be confined to it. We have heard that there are vast areas of places without any churches in the Highlands in the north of the state we are in and are trying to contact some missionaries who work there to see if we can do anything. And there are people all over with need. We are only a half-day’s journey from Mexico City (D.F.) and already have a contact there and a place to stay. And there are many small villages all around that are prime targets for the Jesus Film. While stationed in the city, taking short-term mission trips to various places around is a possibility so long as God supplies the funds.

There is a great need for the Gospel everywhere here, and we alone cannot even begin to meet this need. Our labors seem like they’re but a pebble thrown into the vast ocean. We are praying for more laborers –not just “mission trip” sort of brethren (though that is a good thing too and some are coming to visit!) but for long-term workers to forsake their American lifestyle and to commit themselves to learn Spanish and work with us for the Gospel here. This is a great need. We need Heaven-sent laborers to deny themselves, forsake all, and dedicate themselves to reaping this last-days harvest in this nation. Please pray that God would prepare and send them forth!

So these are some of our future plans, Lord willing. As always, they are all subject to change as the Lord leads. But whatever changes, we hope to busy ourselves with the work of God in Mexico if the Lord permits. We don’t know what the future holds, or how long we have until the return of our Lord.

If you have it on your heart to support us, spiritually by praying or physically by giving, there is need and we thank God for it. And if you are a true believer and walk with God, and you feel the Lord prompting you to labor in the Gospel in Mexico, we may be able to have you for a visit in the near future –contact us. May the name of Jesus Christ be exalted among the nations!

In Christ –Josef & Lina Urban
www.puregospeltruth.com

We do not have enough time to continually update this site right now. But to read our most recent updates from the mission field, please visit out InJESUS message archive by clicking here.

God bless you and thank you for your understanding.

In Christ -Josef

We are heading out in the next couple days for…  

A MISSIONARY JOURNEY  

We are planning on taking a 6-month missionary journey into southern Mexico, namely, into the states of Guerrero and/or Oaxaca, or wherever else the Lord leads. During this time, we will be involved in reaching various towns and villages for Christ through the means of implementing a heavy evangelistic schedule and strategy that will present the true Gospel in an effective way to those we come into contact with. We will be involved with the evangelization of various cities and towns, relying on the power of the Holy Ghost to make our witness effective.    Initially, we are traveling to a town outside of a city called Ciudad Altamirano. It is located at about the point of the arrow below on this map:

This will be our initial destination. We are not sure at this time whether we will set up base at this point and proceed with our outreaches from there, or whether we will leave this point altogether and go “mobile team style”. Either way, we will be involved in itinerant village evangelism, reaching out to the surrounding towns and villages with the Gospel of Christ.  

The areas where we will be working generally consist of a major city center that is surrounded by many isolated towns and villages in the outskirts. These city centers aren’t your typical cities, they’re more like a tiny city in the US, and you could think of the towns and villages sort of like little isolated ‘neighborhoods’ surrounding the urban center as far as an hour’s drive away (or sometimes more) into the desert or mountains. Most of these towns and villages where we are going to are largely untouched with a true witness of the Gospel. We will be doing the bulk of our work in these little towns and villages; we will also be preaching in the city centers as the opportunity presents itself.  

In these areas, Catholicism reigns supreme as religious king over the majority, and it is often mixed with the practice of magic arts, witchcraft and voodoo. Spiritually, many of these regions are extremely dark and in desperate need of hope, deliverance, and the power of the Gospel. While many of these people have heard the name of Jesus (usually as presented in the form of “another gospel” –Gal. 1:6-9), they have no idea who He really is and what He really came to do. Even in spite of this, most of the people aren’t practicing Catholics and are very loosely religious. This creates the perfect spiritual void which makes these areas ideal for sowing the Gospel seed.

THE STRATEGY  

The goal is to effectively evangelize every town and village we set our focus on. We plan on using various strategies to accomplish this goal. Some of these may or will include:  

- Intercessory and warfare prayer for each particular village.
- Relational Evangelism.
- Door to door Evangelism.
- Power Encounter Evangelism (such as praying for the sick & driving out demons).
- Open Air Preaching and Marketplace Preaching.
- Tract, Gospel of John booklets, and Bible Distribution.
- Holding Bible Studies on basic Christian Truths for Seekers and Believers.
- Jesus Film Ministry and Meetings.

THE JESUS FILM TO REACH OUT  

We are very excited about implementing a new ministry tool, that is, showing the JESUS Film to these lost villages. The Lord has graciously and miraculously supplied everything we need to show this Film in various villages. We have been able to obtain a movie projector, a portable generator, sound equipment, a 5x8 foot makeshift screen, some chairs, and more to show this film, and all of this for around $1000. The Lord has provided every step of the way.  

This will enable us to show the Spanish version of the JESUS Film in these villages, even in extremely remote places that have no available electricity for us to plug into. The JESUS Film is an old evangelistic movie about the life of Jesus that is based on the Gospel of Luke. Just imagine a condensed movie depiction of Luke’s Gospel. That’s what we’ll be showing on a big screen in these villages. Here’s us standing by the screen:

We will be setting up the whole thing, and even have chairs for the people to sit in as they watch. This is a proven method of gathering people together, especially in the type of areas where we plan on going. It is ideal for drawing people out of their houses and assembling them together to hear about the Lord Jesus. Pioneer missionaries have used this type of Film ministry for years to evangelize and plant churches in un-reached regions.

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A typical day using this Film will include... first of all choosing a village to target. Then we will pray and intercede for the people in it. Then we will go around, door to door, and through the streets, making an announcement that we will be showing a movie about Jesus on a large outdoor screen as soon as the sun sets, inviting people to come and watch. Then, just before dark, we will begin setting up the equipment. The people will gather and take their seats. We will show the Film, praying and interceding as they watch. Then as soon as the Film is over, we will turn on our bright outdoors lights, stand up at the front, and PREACH Christ and Him crucified, expounding on the exceeding sinfulness of sin and explaining the meaning of the Cross. We will preach the Gospel and call for repentance from sin and faith in the Savior. We will be calling out the sick and demonized and praying for their healing and deliverance, trusting God to confirm His Word openly. And we will be calling for immediate and definite, utter personal commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, calling for people to repent and be baptized and to receive the Holy Spirit. We will also be seeking to set up further Bible studies and personal instruction times for those are have made a commitment to Christ and for those who want to know more.
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And so, as we have gathered many people from a particular village, preached the Gospel to them, and set up a Bible study for those who want to learn more, we will move on to the next village to do it all over again, returning to previous villages from time to time to teach in the meetings that were established and to follow up on those who are seeking salvation thru Christ.
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(Also as a side note: we will NOT be using the “sinner’s prayer” to lead people into making a confession of faith. We will be following the Apostle’s pattern of calling for repentance and faith, for baptism, and for receiving the Holy Spirit. We will take every caution necessary to follow the Biblical pattern and to prevent giving people a false assurance of salvation. We will, as always, be preaching a radical salvation and emphasizing the necessity of the new birth and surrender to the Lordship of Christ)
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THE BIBLES ARE ON THEIR WAY  

Special thanks to all who donated for Bibles! We currently have over 240 Spanish Bibles (whole Bibles that have both Old and New Testaments). Here is a picture of us with the Bibles:

In addition to the 240+ Bibles, we have about 600-700 Gospels of John and 6,300 Gospel tracts. And all of these we are going to be able to give away for free to the people we will be ministering to! Praise God! We were able to ship the Bibles to our destination a few days ago and they should be there when we arrive.

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PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR SAFE ARRIVAL  

 We are set to leave in just two days, on Monday, August 18. It will be at least a three day drive from where we are to our destination. Dear saints, please keep us in prayer during this time. We have to pass over the border into Mexico and through many periodic military checkpoints as we drive through. In addition to the dangers of being stopped and/or exploited by these, there are dangers of thieves, false police, true police that are corrupt, and many other things. We need the Lord to give us a safe trip down there and to give us favor with the authorities so we can get through. This is so important. Please pray that we would make it!!!
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MAY THE LORD BE GLORIFIED  

We are truly looking forward to this mission and desperately hoping the Lord will bless it and move in power among the lost as we preach the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe. We are hoping to see the Lord reach many with an effective Gospel witness and to do a mighty work in peoples’ lives. We are praying that the Lord would glorify His great name among the nation of Mexico and gather His elect together that they may obtain salvation which is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. To His name be all the glory, honor and praise forever.   We will still be sending out newsletters while on this journey and checking our emails at least every couple weeks or once a month, so be on the lookout for periodic updates from us. We will also try to keep the site updated as well: www.puregospeltruth.com  

MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!!!  

In Christ –Josef & Lina Urban

JUNE 11, 2008

(There are no pictures in this post...to see the pictures, click here to go to our photo album)

We have recently returned from our 3-week journey to southern Mexico and had a successful mission to the glory of God. We met with both hardships, with persecution, and with blessings and movings of the Spirit. Here is an outline of our trip:

We flew out from the Tijuana airport to Acapulco and abode overnight at a relative’s house. From there, we took a 7-hour bus ride and arrived in a small city called Altamirano and from there, stayed in a small town about 30 minutes away (driving time), where Lina has a lot of family. This small town is in the middle of a desert and is largely unreached with the Gospel, and the main city is surrounded by many other such towns in all directions.

The area where this town is located doesn’t see hardly any American visitors (I would actually get many hard stares for being a gringo). There is almost NO gospel witness. It’s sad though as there are Catholics everywhere. And there are a couple of big, brand new Jehovah Witness churches in that area. The mormons are there too. Yet, the true Church of Jesus Christ has not penetrated the enemy’s ranks in that place! It’s full of dead religion but totally void of a true witness of the power of God! Of all the people we talked to, none of them owned a real Bible. The ones that owned a Bible only had a copy of the Jehovah Witnesses Bible since they have been all through there preaching their doctrines of demons. It is a dark area, full of drug smugglers and high-ranking mafia. The town is a drug town; most of the houses are extremely poor and dilapidated yet out front, you will see a brand new $50,000 car (which a regular working Mexican could never afford). It hasn’t been sufficiently evangelized and despite what your missions prayer maps might say, it’s largely unreached. When asked what religion we were, we always say, “Christians”, that is, followers of Christ. People would say, “Christians? There’s none of those in this area.” It is a great desire of mine to go back and to labor and pray that the Lord would be pleased to establish a strong Gospel witness in this region. We will see if the Lord permits. Here are some pictures: 

It was amazing because usually, family is the last people to want to hear you preach to them. Yet, the first night we were there, when we were about to go for a walk through the town and prospectively find someone to share the Gospel with, some of Lina’s family members that were with us said, “Why don’t you preach to us?” So we said, “Sure!” and proceeded to preach the whole Gospel to them. We actually have a large pictorial flip chart that goes through vivid biblical illustrations, starting with Adam and Eve and ending at the Great White Throne Judgment and the Lake of Fire, so we started at the beginning and preached through all of the pictures to them. It went really well.

We were also able to preach to some others in this village and had a couple of truly divine appointments. The scripture never ceases to amaze me: “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps” (Pro 16:9). One day after prayer, as we went door to door to preach, we were walking through the village and the first house we went up to invited us in and allowed us to sit down and preach the whole Gospel to them for a couple hours. They were a very poor husband and wife couple and have a couple children. He used to smuggle drugs to the US but has now left that. As we began to talk with them, I started by asking him about what he thinks is going to happen to him when he dies (I usually never ask this at the first). And he was immediately shocked at the question, because he related to us that many times he wakes up in the middle of the night, worried about what’s going to happen when he dies. He gets so scared sometimes, that, being unable to see to read for himself, he will have his wife read the Bible to him at these times. Yet, he understood nothing of it. So we proceeded to preach through the Scriptures on the nature of sin, it’s penalty, the justice of God and the wrath of God, and then upon the mercy and love of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. The man and his wife appeared to be very much convicted. They used to be Catholics, then switched to Jehovah Witness, then switched again to hyper-charismatic Pentecostals (who in this village sound more like a cult than anything), and now had given up and settled for nothing. All they had was a JW’s Bible (which is changed), so we were able to give them a real New Testament. We were able to preach to them clearly on the way of salvation and how to be saved, and we were able to pray with them too. Please continue to keep them in prayer.

The Lord also opened the doors for us to preach to another family in this village. The man in this family is an educated, respectable, “moral” man and a hard working mechanic who thought that all religion is good since it leads to better morals, and that he himself would enter Heaven based upon the supposition that he is a good person who deserves it. In talking with him, I opened up the Law of God and he was immediately convinced as a liar. I opened the Bible to Revelation 21:8 (all liars have their part in the lake of fire) and had him read it, and when he did, his countenance suddenly sunk and it hit him like a ton of bricks. Then I turned it to John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him”. When he read that, knowing that he doesn’t believe in Jesus as we already discussed what that means, his eyes began to water as the Holy Ghost convinced him of his sinful state before God. I immediately started expounding on the Cross, and before I could scarcely begin, he interrupted desperately, “What do I have to do to be saved?!!” So we told him how to be saved. He turned to his wife and anxiously said, “Let’s go for it honey!” Then his mind started to race forward as he began to count the cost. He started asking questions like, “Does this mean I won’t be able to own a nice car?”, “does this mean I won’t be able to save a lot of money up?”, “Does this mean that I have to be a preacher like you?”, etc. He began to say, “This means I am going to be mocked and laughed at by the town”, “This means that when that happens, I won’t be able to defend myself”, etc. etc. It was amazing to see how the Spirit of God was revealing to him exactly what it means to follow Christ and exactly what he would have to endure for the Cross’ sake. We were able to plead with him and exhort them much and to give them a nice hardcover full Bible. Hopefully they have laid down their rebellion against God and repented. Please keep them in prayer –the man’s name is Sergio.

We also desired to preach in the open market in the main city in this place, but for some reason, it wasn’t as populated when we went as people were telling us it was, and there wasn’t enough people to preach to without having some kind of amplification to make our voices heard, so we didn’t preach. Here’s a picture of the market:

From there, we were off to Oaxaca to meet up with David Sitton (www.toeverytribe.com) and his team. We had to take a 5-hour bus ride to Mexico City, and from there, transfer to another bus which then took us on another 6-7 hour trip to another city, and from there, take a shuttle for another couple of hours which then caused us to arrive in our city of destination in Oaxaca. As we stayed there, David and his team ended up breaking down on the ride down and had a lot of problems making it. So we ended up waiting for 4 days for them to arrive. But it was all good and in the divine providence of God!

During our wait in this little city, we decided to do some preaching. The first night we were there, as we were in the city square, I noticed a large Catholic Church down the street. I said, “let’s walk over there and check it out”. As we walked up, some men came out and lit off a bunch of fireworks. Then they were followed by a procession of a large group of people marching out. As they marched, they were chanting “Hail Mary’s” and carrying idols and relics.

My heart was grieved and I prayed for them. We proceeded to walk back to our hotel which is many blocks away across the city. As we walked down our street, we stopped, and before long and to our complete surprise, the people began to march right down our street. I told Lina, “You should stand up and read some scripture to them”, so as they went by, she read the 2nd Commandment from Exodus 20 that reads: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God…” She expounded slightly upon it. Then they kept walking.

The next night, an older man came up to us and asked, “Are you the ones who read the Bible to us last night?” We affirmed. Then he turned beat red, furious, and full of hatred, and began to curse and threaten us. He told Lina that he would take her Bible and destroy it while poking her with his finger and pushing her. He said things such as “Who do you think you are to quote the Bible and try to change the traditions that our ancestors have held for hundreds of years!” There was a murderous Catholic demon which had a strong influence in that place. A day or two later, as we were walking down the street, we ran into that man with a group of his friends standing along the road. He pointed to us, “That’s the gringo and the girl!” A woman yelled, “We should stone them!!!” And the crowd cheered her on. Praise God! Hallelujah!!! I’ve never actually been threatened to be stoned for Jesus’ sake, but it was a tremendous blessing and caused me to rejoice in heart! We have been praying for that man ever since, that God would forgive him for he knows not what he is doing, and even that God would convert him and make him the Saul of Tarsus turned Paul of the town.

During our layover in this city, by the sovereignty of God we were able to meet a husband and wife couple who runs a little restaurant. This is a nice, sit-down restaurant and all the food is a whopping $3 a plate (!). After seeing the Bible in my hand and finding out we were Christians, the man sat down with us at our table and began to talk with us and listen to us present the Gospel and expound on what it means to be born again. He never heard about being born again and didn’t know what it meant. He also thought one could only pray in a church, so he was blown away to discover that one can pray anywhere, especially the words of Jesus where He talks about entering your room and praying in secret. We talked with him about true repentance, about confessing his sins and putting his faith and trust in Jesus alone to save him. Later, when we came back, we found him preaching to a couple men in his restaurant, and telling them they need to be born again, and to go get alone with God and confess their sins! –It is always a great sign to see somebody evangelizing. We were encouraged to find out that after talking with us, he himself went into his room and shut the door, knelt down before God, and confessed his sins asking Jesus to save him. He has been waking up at 4 o’clock every morning and reading his Bible too. And this couple has opened their house to us, offering us a place to stay whenever we visit this city. We were also able to pray for his kidneys, as he has had tumors or growths on them that are potentially cancerous, so we laid hands on him and cursed those tumors in the name of Jesus. We pray he was healed but were not able to visit him again since then to verify anything.

By the mercy of God, we were also able to preach in the big open square in the dead center of the city where a lot of people gather. We were able to preach a great open air message to a crowd of about 30+ people. Seeing they are all Catholic, I decided to preach from the Lord’s Prayer, since all Catholics knew it, and to expound on it verse by verse, using it as a springboard to preach against idolatry as is in Catholicism, to preach the hallowedness and holiness of God, the Kingdom of God and what it means to enter that Kingdom and abide therein, against hypocrisy, the will of God for sinners to repent and for people to live in obedience to His commands, the provision and love of God in caring for men, the basis of the forgiveness of sin in the Cross and Gospel of Christ, and the glory of God. The people were very attentive and after much exhortation, we were able to pass out a couple Gospels of John to them.

Eventually, brother David and the team ended up showing up before we were martyred for the testimony of Jesus. We then headed out from this city to the town of unreached Indians that we were going to preach to. We had to drive along some extremely thin and dangerous mountain roads to reach this remote village and after about 4 hours of driving through these mountains, we arrived. Here’s some pictures of the village:

David and the team set up a medical and dental clinic in this village as the way to get in (you can’t just go in saying you’re a Christian missionary who desires to convert people or you will get kicked out and possibly be in serious physical danger). So the clinics were the inroads he used. This was a village of Mixtec Indians who just a hundred years ago were still performing human sacrifices to their pagan gods. Their main religion is Animism (the belief that spirits control everything, possess inanimate objects, and must be constantly appeased) mixed with Catholicism, therefore they live in perpetual fear. Some of them seem to be more modernized now though too. 

Many were very fearful of us as well. They are not an open, friendly people like many Mexicans are. And to top it all off, the vast majority of them don’t speak any Spanish. They still speak their native Mixteco language (which sounds very Asian). During our stay, we camped out in tents and they ran the dental and medical clinics to provide services for all the people who came up. It was hard to communicate as most of the time we didn’t have a translator.

However, there were maybe about ten people that came up who did speak Spanish. So it was our goal to preach as much as we could to those who could understand us. We were also able to pray for some of the sick and ask God to heal them. One man who spoke Spanish came up and we were able to sit down with him and talk. We explained to him the fact of sin and how God views it, and its penalty, and then I asked him, “Do you know what Jesus did for you on the Cross?” He looked puzzled, and said, “no”. Then I said, “Do you even know who Jesus Christ is?” and to that he replied, “I think I’ve heard of Him before”. –What! My heart was overwhelmed within me as the reality hit me that these people have never heard who Jesus is.  We proceeded to share the Gospel with him as simply and clearly as we could. We told him about how Jesus would heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons, and he was amazed. Right away, he pointed to the Bible in Lina’s hands, and said, “Do you have another one of those books?” (he didn’t know to call it a Bible), so we gave him one. We told him what to do to be saved. We were able to pray with him and commend him to the grace of God, and have been praying for him since. May God give the increase!

There was also another man from this village who spoke Spanish who we were able to preach to and have a tremendous time with. He had no idea what “sin” was, or what “judgment day” was. We explained it to him, and his jaw literally dropped open, and then he immediately asked if we have another book (Bible)! We told him about the Lord Jesus and how to be saved through faith in His name. He appeared to have a very sincere hunger to know the things of God and to read his new Bible, please pray for Him that God would reach down and convert his soul.

There were others we were able to speak with as well. It was such an unspeakable blessing to be able to share the Gospel and the beauties of the precious Cross to people who have never ever heard, or even had a chance to hear, such things. To tell someone about Jesus who doesn’t even know who Jesus is or what He did. It was such a blessed experience; it was truly amazing; words cannot describe how much it blessed my soul. The village has now requested that we would send in an English teacher to teach the townspeople English, which is a total breakthrough and a mighty opportunity for a Gospel worker to go in, live among them, and be a witness in this village while teaching English using the Bible as the text book. Please pray that God would send worthy laborers into this unreached harvest field. If you are interested in giving your life for the next few years+ to forsake all the comforts of your materialistic culture, moving in to a group of unreached people in a remote region, taking up their culture, learning their language (which is only spoken, there is no written language here), teaching English, praying for a move of God, and ultimately, planting churches in this region, please contact me if you feel God is calling you. 

It was also a great blessing to be able to meet David and some of the other brethren who came with him, and I believe it was a very fruitful time to fellowship and admonish and encourage and be admonished and encouraged. David is planning on hosting a missions conference, Lord willing, this October in Brownsville, TX. The name of the conference is, “A Purpose Driven Death” and the subject is how God uses missionary hardship and martyrdom to pioneer the Gospel into hard and unreached regions. If you may want to attend or want information about it, email me.

We are now back in Tijuana and are selling the little amount of possessions we have left in our house. After that, we plan on sojourning in the US for a month or two, and during this time, acquiring some much needed ministry equipment which will enable us to preach to many more people, and also during this time making all the preparations necessary for our next journey deep into southern Mexico (which would be a much longer journey this time, at least a number of months duration) if the Lord permits. Please keep my wife and I in your prayers as the Lord leads. And pray for mercy for the nation of America as I believe great catastrophe is just right around the corner in terms of war and financial hardship.

I want to extend a special word of appreciation to our friends and supporters who have been faithfully praying for us and supporting us financially in order that we can continue to do what we’re doing in like manner, and we pray that God will bless you and increase the fruits of your righteousness in return. We trust our labor in the Lord is not in vain.

May Christ be glorified! May the Lamb who was slain receive the reward of His suffering!

In Christ – Josef Urban
www.puregospeltruth.com

MAY 2008 UPDATE  

We’re off to the unreached tribes!!! (see point 3 below)

We have in this issue:
1.     Quick Update
2.     Sad News yet Good News
3. An Exciting Annoucement

I. QUICK UPDATE

We have been laboring in this slum village in Tijuana for quite some time now. You may remember the heroin addict I mentioned in the last update, who, after being prayed for, immediately was taken over by sleep after being unable to sleep for 2 weeks. Now he is still clean, is doing extremely well, is working, and truly shows a genuine hunger to know Jesus, and is seeking God. He is showing fruit as well, and turning away from lifelong sins. He has also become a mini-evangelist, sort of like the woman at the well, as he goes around and sends people to us so we can preach to them every time we show up! We truly praise God for calling people to Himself. It looks like tomorrow night will be our last time preaching at this particular drug rehab center. After that, we are moving on (more below). 

Also, a few weeks ago we decided to walk through this village to preach door to door. The first house we went up to, the family invited us in, and we were able to preach the Gospel to them. A family of 13 stays in this little house. Particularly affected by the proclamation of the Gospel was a son of the family named Carlos, who is 18 years old. They are all recently moved to this area from the state of Chiapas (lower Mexico). We have been to their house a few times to follow up and to teach them about Jesus. 

II. SAD NEWS YET GOOD NEWS

Well, next I will share some very sad news for us. Brother Sean and his family won’t be working with us in Mexico any more. This is the sad part. But the good part is that the reason he won’t be working with us, is because he is moving to a country in Asia to preach the Gospel! Sean has always had a burden for the Muslim people, and the Lord showed me a while ago that he would soon be released to fulfill his calling. Sean knew this too, and after much prayer and confirmation, he will shortly be moving there to reach Muslims for Jesus! He left Mexico earlier today after we prayed together one last time, and said farewell, and bid each other Godspeed on our missions. Though it is sad and hard to see an awesome brother and truly priceless co-laborer in the Lord depart, it is a joy knowing that God’s will is done and that it is ultimately better for the sake of the Gospel. He was a great brother to work with, and fellowship with, and I know one day I will see him again, most likely in the Kingdom of God. Until then, may Christ be glorified in our lives and if need be, if the privilege would come and He grant us the grace, in our deaths for His sake! You can always visit Sean’s site at www.preachingjesuschrist.com (p.s. you should sign up for his newsletter so you can get updates from where he’s going!)

III. THE EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT

We (Lina and I) have been praying about where the Lord wants us to go next, as we have felt strongly that we are being released from this area. When we moved here, it was always in my heart not to stay in this particular area, but to move through Mexico preaching the Gospel. Shortly after we arrived, a local brother in the Lord confirmed this by sharing a dream he had with me, even though we never mentioned these things to him. He said in the dream, that I was wearing a big Mexican hat, and that I had a Mexican pouch on my side filled with seed, and that I was traveling throughout Mexico and scattering the seed all over. I knew exactly what this meant and it was a confirmation of what the Lord already showed me. In obedience to this call, we are taking a trip down into the heart of southern Mexico to “spy out the land” and to preach the Gospel as we go.

The Apostle Paul said to the Church at Rome: “Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation: But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand” (Rom. 15:20-21). Along these lines, it has also been by heart to preach Christ to those who have never heard the Gospel. Glory be to God, it looks like this is being fulfilled, Lord willing. 

We are leaving this Sunday, on May 18th, and Lord willing, should be returning to Tijuana on June 9th. 

We are going to a few places on this trip. First of all, we will be arriving in Acapulco on Sunday. We plan on traveling through the state of Guerrero wherever the Lord leads for the first week+ we are there, trusting Him to open up doors to preach His word as we go. There are many indigenous people in this state, and many poor, simple folk who need to hear about Jesus. Please pray for us to have grace and favor as we go and for doors to be opened to preach the Gospel, and for the Spirit of God to anoint us mightily for His name’s sake and that through us and through the preaching of the Word, He would effectually call out His elect unto eternal salvation.

Then, from May 27th thru June 6th, we will be meeting up with David Sitton and his team (www.toeverytribe.com) in the state of Oaxaca, and from there moving in to the mountainous region on the west side where there are unreached tribes that have never heard the Gospel. The place where we are going is about a 7 to 8 hour trip from the nearest town into a very remote region. We will be staying in tents during the time we are there. We will be engaging the Cuicoyan tribe of the Mixtec Indians. If my information is right, there are over 5,000 people in this tribe, and as far as anyone knows, only one professing Christian. They are heavily involved in witchcraft and idolatry and some are known to get potentially violent when their ancient traditions (such as idolatry) are opposed. Many of them speak an ancient language and don’t know Spanish, but enough know Spanish that we can preach to them and hopefully find a translator. Many of them are heavily demonized, and the people are plagued with incurable diseases, cancers, and maladies with no medical care (a perfect opportunity for the healing delivering power of Jesus!). At least this is what I’ve heard about them. Pray for us as we go, please! 

We have already purchased our plane tickets and are taking this trip by faith. We are traveling by bus, shuttle, and taxi once we arrive, going only with backpacks on our backs containing clothes, Bibles, and Gospel booklets for the trip, and our tents and sleeping bags. 

Saints, we are asking for your prayers for us during this time. This is most important. 

Please also pray that the Lord would give us favor to sell enough of the possessions we have by Saturday to get the needed funds for this trip.

Also, if you feel led to donate to us to help us fund this trip, we welcome it. But, the only way we will get it on time is if you send it by Saturday via paypal or by wireless transfer. We are trusting in the Lord to meet our needs so please don’t feel obligated to give –only if the Lord leads you to. 

Grace and peace be to the saints of God in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

MAY THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!!!

In Christ – Josef & Lina Urban
www.puregospeltruth.com