2008 Support Letter
Below is a journal entry from September. This was written while I was in Manila, Philippines.
James 2:15, 16 – “Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, “Well, good-bye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well” – but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?”
Yesterday after meditating over this verse God said to me, “BE the Blessing.”
Ephesians 4:12, 13 – “Their responsibility is to EQUIP God’s people to DO his work and BUILD up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such UNITY in our FAITH and KNOWLEDGE of God’s Son that we will be MATURE and FULL GROWN in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.”
God hit me with this verse back on September 2nd, but just a couple days ago He threw it at me again. I got no doubt this is His charge to me. So, I’ve made it the new mission statement for my life – and my ministry. Now, I have no clue what this “ministry” will look like, but I do know what I’m going to call it – “BE the Blessing.”
First of all nothing is more important than the salvation of someone’s soul, period. However, what good is a Christian if he’s still living in complete and total poverty? It goes beyond just getting saved – that’s only the first step. How will this person be empowered or equipped to do God’s work? “Equip” is the key word here – it’s a scripturally based idea. God is asking us, no, he’s telling us it’s our “responsibility” to “equip” or empower His people to do “His work.” A Christian living in the slums of Manila with no job, no food, no money or no hope for the future can’t do God’s work very well can he? Now, I absolutely do not want to take God’s awesome power out of this, but the Lord gave us gifts to empower and “equip” people AFTER He saves them and in some cases before He saves them. Again it goes back to Scripture.
Now having said all that I don’t know who I’ll be equipping, how or where? Shoot, I’m not even sure how qualified I am to “equip” anyone. But I know God will handle all those concerns. All I got right now is a name and a mission statement. I’ll tell you this though; I absolutely do not deserve this honor. I can’t believe God chose me for this task. It’s a tremendous responsibility, I’ve been so blessed and I’ve been given so much. (Luke 12:48b – “Much is required from those to whom much is given.”) And what I’ve been given is this ministry. (2 Corinthians 4:1 – “And so, since God IN HIS MERCY has GIVEN us this wonderful ministry we NEVER GIVE UP.”)
Father how can I BE the blessing for someone? How can I be an answered prayer in someone’s life? How can I bring hope to the hopeless? Equip me Lord to do your work. Father bring the right people alongside me that can help make your dream for my life a reality. This is all for your glory, not mine. This is all about advancing and growing your Kingdom – not mine!
So here I sit, roughly three months later, asking ya’ll to support me in this ministry. And God has shown me the best way to put my ministry into action is to go back out into the nations and BE the blessing to the poorest of the poor. So come January 5th I’ll leave on my second World Race trip. This time I’ll be serving 27 young people as their leader. We’ll travel thru 11 countries in 11 months. Not only will I have the chance to BE the blessing to the people we come in contact with, but I’ll have the opportunity to bless my teammates thru my service to them.
I believe in this trip! And it’s one that I know changes the lives of so many people around the world. In my four months on this journey in 2007, I’ve seen churches rebuilt, orphans feed, ground cleared for the building of churches, kids come to Christ in Buddhist schools, an entire year of rent paid for a Thai missionary couple, Bible college tuition paid for a young Filipino lady and so much more. I’ve seen God work in amazing ways and I want to see more. But for that to happen I have to raise $20,000. Monthly donations are of course welcome – and that may be an easier way for some people. Now, I realize money can be a little tight for folks, but I do ask everyone for their prayers. Prayer is everything and it makes all the difference in the world. It’s always good to know when you got 30 young people traveling thru the poorest parts of the world that we are all covered in prayer.
Please seek the Lord over this and see where He leads you. If you want to give you can do so by going to my website http://rustyjackson.theworldrace.org and then clicking on “support me.” Or you can simply make check out to Adventures in Missions and mail it to:
Adventures in Missions
PO Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
You’ll also find a donation card with this letter as well. If you donate please fill the card out and return it with your check.By doing this you’ll ensure your check goes to the correct account. You’ll also get a receipt. This gift is tax-deductible.
Thank ya’ll so much for taking the time to read this.
Be Blessed,
Rusty
