Deputation is coming to an end. We are currently 52 days away from our departure to Argentina. We have been in well over 200 churches. In these churches we have seen a lot of things. To close out deputation, I am starting a weekly blog series entitled, “My Favorite Things”. On deputation we have seen God move in many different churches. We have been in church plants, churches that are going through difficult times, churches that are thriving, churches that are attempting a resurgence, and churches that are somewhere in the midst of these situations. We’ve been in churches that had over 1,000 people in attendance and churches with two people in attendance. Regardless of the church’s state, we have seen God work. I will select some of my favorite things I have seen on deputation. I will not be mentioning specific names of churches or people, I will recount what these “favorite things” have been in a general way. Some of these posts will not be about one specific church, but may include several different churches. I hope it will be an encouragement to you.

For this post, my first “favorite thing” is discipleship. I came into church on a midweek service. I like to arrive an hour before service starts. Many times, I am the first one at the church. At this church there were already several people there. When we walked into the church, there were people sitting in several different places, in the auditorium, on a sofa in the hall, in classrooms, and I am sure in a few other places I didn’t see. The odd thing was that everyone was sitting by two’s. It was men with men and women with women. Upon further examination, I noticed that this was purposed. This church had a discipleship program with specific discipleship materials, and these people were each going through discipleship with one another. One person was teaching and the other person was learning. The person who was teaching had already been through the exact discipleship program. The person learning was taking it all in, asking questions, and discussing the topic at hand. I asked one of the church staff about it, and he told me this is something they have been doing for years. They all use the same curriculum, which was written by a member of the church. This discipleship also happened on other days as well, but the time before the midweek service seemed to be most convenient for many. It is a foundation laid on which a follower of Jesus will build.

What does this mean for a  church? It means that the church is healthy. People are being discipled on a one-on-one basis and then commissioned to disciple someone else. Discipleship is a command. Jesus gave the Great Commission, and in that commission He told the church to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20. Notice that Jesus said to “teach them whatsoever I have commanded you.” This is discipleship. Paul also encouraged Timothy to disciple others in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” Paul challenged Timothy to disciple faithful men, who will in turn disciple others, and a cycle will continue forth.

I believe this is something I will not soon forget. Seeing that scene made me desire to see it in churches that will be planted in Argentina. Discipleship takes a lot of work, but it is mandated by the Bible, and the benefits that are reaped are well worth the effort and time that it takes. Seeing the act of discipleship is one of my favorite things I have seen on deputation!

In Two Months…

In two months we will be leaving for the mission field. We have bought our tickets to fly to Argentina! We have been on deputation for 22 months now. We have seen God do incredible things! God has built much of our support. We still need more churches to partner with us before we can leave but we are closing in on our goal and we believe God is going to build the rest of our support before our departure.

January was a great month for us! We were able to share our hearts in 15 churches! We were encouraged in each church and we believe God was honored and His people were challenged in getting the Gospel to the world! February has us doing more of the same. Truthfully it never gets old. We are able to share what God is doing in our hearts with encouraging churches every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night (as well as a few other nights during the week). Thank you for praying for us as we labor to complete our deputation to reach Argentina!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, and Ivy Henry

In Argentina

I read an interesting article in January about the continuing fight against drug trafficking in Argentina. Drugs are everywhere, there is no doubt about that. Different countries and communities attempt to instate different methods in fighting this war. This new measure overhauls Argentina’s border security network, promising efficient coordination of customs and law enforcement. President Mauricio Macri said the army would be allowed to “identify, warn, intimidate and use force” against drug flights. While this fight is something people argue over, may I say the greatest solution to this problem is a transformation that only the Gospel of Jesus can provide. The Gospel is the answer to the worst of sins and most heinous crimes!

What is so special about the number 57? Read this blog post further to find out!

Yesterday was a big day for us. For one, we said goodbye to friends Ben and Crystal Johnson. They are missionaries to China. They have completed their deputation and left for the mission field yesterday. It was exciting to see how God has provided for them. We believe God is going to use them in China! As you can see from the picture below, we and a lot of other friends went to see them off at the airport. They will be missed but we are all excited to see how God uses them! As a dear brother put it, we are thankful that we are the group who is sending out the Gospel, not the group waiting for the Gospel. Ben and Crystal are being sent out to a people who are waiting for the Gospel, a people who don’t know it, but will find out as God works through the Johnsons to make His name known! Be praying for Ben and Crystal.

Now to address the number 57. Yesterday was a big day for another reason. We purchased our plane tickets for Argentina! We will be leaving on March 24, 2016! We are 57 days away from our flight. We are at 85% of our needed funds. We are believing God for the rest. Please be praying with us that God will build the rest our support through more churches that partner with us. Thank you for praying for us.

I was sitting in an ordination council. This was in October 2015. A man would be getting ordained in just a few hours. A dear brother and friend gave this counsel, “Our sufficiency is in God. Trust Him.” Those words mean something to me, I have thought about them almost daily. There is much more to this.

What does the Bible say? Trusting God is not just in salvation. Trusting God is for daily Christian living. The Bible tells us this in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” I don’t know that there is much difference between believing God (faith) and trusting God. If there is a difference, it must not be a great difference. If there is a difference, the two have more in common than they have different. For this post, I am going to continue with the presupposition that trusting God and believing God are the same. Why can we believe God? The advice given pointed to our sufficiency in God. The Bible says “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” 2 Corinthians 3:4-6. This passage deserves much more explanation, but for the sake of keeping with the subject at hand, I will keep to the point. Paul tells the church at Corinth that his sufficiency is of God. God is the One who made Paul an able minster of the new covenant. God is the One that worked in Paul. Paul had nothing to boast of, it was all God. That is, and should be, the testimony of every follower of Jesus. The word “sufficiency” is only used once in the New Testament (Whereas the word “sufficient” earlier in the verse is actually a different Greek word and is used 40 times in the New Testament. Both words have the same root). It carries the connotation of being “adequate, capable, and qualified”. Please think about this, what makes you adequate, capable, and qualified for the ministry of the new covenant is God. He alone makes us sufficient!

What does this mean? Because our sufficiency is in God we can trust Him. He is the One that working in us. We cannot trust our own selves but we can always trust God. He is the One who makes us able. He is the One who uses us. This means you can fully trust Him. He will use you. He will guide you. Trust Him.

I am a missionary. I look back at my life and I am amazed at how God has guided me. I would have never thought I would be doing what God is using me to do, but He is and will! I can trust my God. My sufficiency is in Him! You can trust God too!