Advance the Gospel

Recommending Jeffrey Bush

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This time of year is known as “mission conference season” to missionaries. We have found that many churches have their annual mission conference in September-November or March-April. Whether you host your mission conference in the fall, the early spring, or another time of the year, I recommend that you have in Jeffrey Bush as the keynote speaker. I have been in many mission conferences across the United States. I have heard many great keynote speakers that encouraged and challenged each church member and missionary present. I believe Jeffrey Bush is at the top of that list. Allow me to explain why I believe this…

  • Jefferey Bush was a successful missionary. Jeffrey was a missionary in Argentina. He started 5 churches that are still going and are led by nationals. He knows what missions is, he can explain it, he knows the need and he has seen God work in his ministry.
  • Jeffrey Bush has been around the world helping other missionaries in their ministry. Jeffrey has assisted missionaries in Peru, Chile, Bolivia, the United Kingdom, Nepal, China, South Africa, and many other countries around the world. He knows about the different challenges that missionaries face in their specific part of the world.
  • Jefferey Bush can preach the Bible. I was at a church where the pastor told me that most missionaries just “can’t preach”. He meant by that statement that many missionaries are not “dynamic enough” to challenge the church people. Sadly this is not an uncommon opinion (I would like to challenge such a thought, but this is not the post for that). I can tell you confidently that Jeffrey preaches Bible messages that will stir your hearts and challenge everyone. He is not boring. What he preaches is engaging and biblical.
  • Jeffery Bush genuinely cares about people. I have heard incredible messages by dynamic preachers. My heart has been stirred. I have wanted to meet them and talk with them, but sometimes it is hard to meet them, or if I did get to meet them, it was a quick handshake. Jefferey will get to know people in your church, talking with them before and after the services.

There is much more that could be said about Jefferey Bush. Whether you are having a mission conference or a mission emphasis Sunday, Jeffery would be ideal as the guest preacher.

Jeffrey Bush is always scheduling meetings with churches and christian schools and he is also assisting missionaries on the foreign field throughout the year. The best way to contact him would be by email at: info@visionmissions.com.

Quick Update: Family Photo Day 2018

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This Sunday is our big push for the month of September. We are calling it “Family Photo Day”. We will be taking professional photos of each family present. We have passed out well over two thousand invitations for this special day and have a few families who have already committed to attend who have never been to Faith Baptist Church before. Please pray with us that God will use this special day to draw people to Him.

Quick Update: Visitors

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We are very blessed to serve Jesus in Argentina. Last night we had our midweek service. Before the service, Ashley King (Jason and Ashley King are a missionary couple that serve with us), spent time with three girls who have been attending our english classes. She invited them to the service that was to start in just a few minutes and they stayed with us. One of the young ladies, Tamara, is asking Ashley a lot of questions about the Bible, about God’s plan for her life, and other questions. I believe God is working in her heart. Please pray for her.

This Sunday we have 3 families who have committed to visit us for the first time. Please pray with us they come to church. We also have a few families who should be coming back for the second and third time. We are very excited to see that God is drawing people to hear the Gospel. Thousands of invitations have been given and we are seeing God work. Pray for people saved and lives changed.

Preparing for the Mission Field: Internship

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Okay, so you arrive on the filed. You are beyond excited. You have prayed, dedicated yourself, travelled thousands of miles, presented what God has placed in your heart in hundreds of churches, and you have either packed up, stored, or sold everything you own to get to this moment. As the plane touches down on the tarmac you can barely contain yourself. What is this going to be like? Maybe you visited the country on a survey trip or a missions trip some years ago. Perhaps you are thinking of all the wonderful memories from that trip. Maybe you are thinking of how beautiful all the pictures you saw of this country you will now call home. You get off the plane, grab all of your stuff and start the process of leaving the secured area of the airport. 
Everything is beautiful (or in some cases maybe it isn’t as beautiful as you imagined). For about a month you may love everything about it. But soon, things start to change. This beautiful country is not so beautiful anymore. These sweet people are now taking advantage of you, the foreigner. The pictures you saw never expressed such dishonesty. The water makes you sick, the food that was so good the first few weeks just isn’t like the food “back home”. The dream starts to turn into a nightmare because you realize that this isn’t a 2 week mission trip, this is now your life. 
What I am describing happens. The missionary’s dream of the mission field is just not the reality. So how can we combat this? I think the very best way is a 6 month internship with a veteran missionary. I know this seems like it “slows things down” on the missionary’s timeline. But this will prepare him and his family for what real life on the mission field really is. I can tell you that the above story was not our families experience, and I can tell you the reason for that was because of our internship. My family and I completed an internship in Peru/Chile in 2012. We learned a lot. We lived the good and the bad. We experienced the sickness from the water (not fun), we enjoyed the incredible food, we understood what it meant to miss family and friends back in the States, we lived our lives on the mission field. This prepared us for our ministry here in Argentina in so many ways. When we landed in Argentina, we did not have unrealistic expectations of how life would be, we knew what we were walking into, at least as much as one can know.
  • We knew that trying to get around not knowing the language well was going to be hard and trying.
  • We knew nationals would laugh at our attempts to speak.
  • We knew that language learning is not fun (the only people who enjoy the process of learning a language are the people who have never done it). 
  • We knew that setting up would take much longer than we want it to.
  • We knew the food would be different and the way of life would be totally different.
  • We knew that culture shock was real and would be experienced in a few short weeks.
  • We saw the “behind the scenes” of a ministry on the mission field and even helped serve in that ministry.
We knew all of this because we had already experienced it. Some say that experience is the best teacher. Although many missionaries can go straight to the mission field and God use them greatly without ever completing one, the truth is the vast majority of us would be better off going on the 6 month internship. It is not a necessity, but it is a great option. That being said we hosted interns in Argentina. Robert and Emma Becker are now on deputations as missionaries to Argentina. They were with us for 6 months. They arrived not knowing almost anything in the language, they didn’t know how to get around, they didn’t know how to use the buses, trains, or taxis. They didn’t know how to buy food. Through their internship they learned how to do all of that. They also served in the ministry here. They grew in their faith and prepared for the ministry. This young family is now ready to go to the mission field without any preconceived beliefs of what life on the mission field is. They are ready and will be successful on the mission field (they also are booking meetings right now, here is a link to their website: heisglorified.blog). They are prepared for ministry on the mission field. 
You can be prepared like this as well. If God is working in your heart about the foreign mission field, consider an internship. Let us know if you have any questions. We will happily provide you with more details.