hittin' the road one more time
Greetings, Remnant Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, in these latter times: dark days whereby ye should "gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:13).
These past weeks, we here at Full Proof Gospel Ministries have been very busy proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ on American soil while continuing to undergird outreach efforts on the ground in Nepal. Thanks for your prayers and continued support. With the onset of Fall, as is our custom, we will again be targeting university campuses, this time in Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and Montana. In a few short days, Ricky Springer and I will be driving across the country to hook up with brethren who earlier this year partnered with us on the front lines in Nepal. As we labored alongside one another on the streets of Kathmandu and in Third World villages, God is allowing us to come together again to assail one of the most spiritually darkened settings in all of the world--the American college campus: as dark, if not more so, than the dankest of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, the bloodiest of Khali temples, or the most draconian of Islamic mosques. While we yet have freedom to upbraid the traditional public forum in this country with the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must go, we must stand, and we must speak after the example laid before us by the Lord's Apostles (cf. Acts 5:20).
This journey will also provide the means for Ricky and I to do some much-needed high-altitude training for the labor that awaits us in the Argentine Andes toward the end of November. For several days, we will be slogging above the 14,000-ft. threshold in Colorado, logging as many miles and bagging as many peaks as possible. Over the years, I have learned the value of proper physical training ahead of Great Commission labor in remote corners, particularly when hauling Bibles and Gospel literature on one's back is involved. Along the way, we will also be fervently seeking to further FPGM's goal of proclaiming the Gospel in every significant-sized city and town in the United States. Since 2003, God has already given opportunity to do so in more than 250 cities and towns in 50 states.
Below is our proposed route over the next month. If you live nearby, we may just "pop-in" for a shower, a place to crash, and a formal invitation to join us on your local university campus or in your local town square.
proposed route
Please pray for us, particularly that the Lord will provide the financial means to make this needful journey. More than 6,000 miles of highway with today's fuel prices is tough. Pray that the Lord provides believing homes in which we can crash, rest, and enjoy biblical fellowship. Pray for open doors to preach the Gospel on typically hostile university campuses. And, please pray for my family as I am on the front lines. Jamie has just started the homeschool academic year, eager to stay caught up (i.e. unlike last year when all our family travels made lagging behind inevitable), so going on the road again is really not an option for her and the children at this time, though I much desire it. I have never been a husband that forces his wife to do something that she is uncomfortable with or something that makes her life unnecessarily more difficult. She is such a wonderful wife and mother, a top-notch homeschool teacher, and a wonderful gift from the Lord to an underserving wretch like me. Pondering these things, a few lines from an old song by Dallas Holm comes to mind:
Hittin' the road one more time, leavin' the wife and the kids behind;I'd sure never do this for nobody but you [Jesus Christ].
Every lost one needs our Savior
Speaking of Nepal, FPGM, as mentioned, continues to support the work on the ground through Bishnu Shrestha, a national partner, and other brethren we have trained and equipped. There are some important prayer needs articulated therein. Praise God, for FPGM was able to purchase the solar-powered inverter mentioned in this update, and we sent the funds to cover the upcoming training in the Kapilbustur District. Moreover, Project Jagerna funds were just forwarded to cover the printing of more much-needed Nepali Gospel tracts. I also really want to see the Lord provide for the tract of land and the vehicle mentioned in Bishnu's list of prayer needs. More details will be forthcoming. By God's grace and with your help, we can continue to undergird the work on the ground in Nepal and help to meet specific needs as conveyed by the brethren there. On a side note, praise the Lord that Bishnu and his team have continued to conduct outreach in Ratna Park without incident. Many Scripture portions and Gospel tracts have gone out, and the half-mile hailer we provided months ago is seeing much use.
As mentioned, we have been very busy on the home-front these past weeks preaching the Gospel at a number of big events spanning the spectrum of American culture. At both a liberal, left-winged debauch in Asheville, NC (i.e. the annual Bele Chere Festival) and a mass gathering of "Southern Conservatives" at a NASCAR event in Bristol, TN, many heard the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed without compromise in the open-air. Though these two events largely represented opposite ends of the political and social spectrums in this divided country, it was interesting to see both liberals and conservatives, both hippies and rednecks, and both sodomites and churchgoers openly display the wicked common denominator of the human heart opposed to the glorious Gospel of the Blessed God. At the NASCAR event in Bristol, it was extremely disturbing to witness churches all up and down Volunteer Highway renting out their parking spots at $20-40 a pop, deceitfully calling this charge a "donation," and doing nothing to further the Gospel amongst the multitude of patrons, not even simple distribution of Gospel tracts to those using their lots. WICKED! With the majority of churches in such a state of Laodicean lukewarmness, do you really think an upcoming presidential election can change the course of this country? Thankfully, we serve the Most High God who rules in the kingdoms of men.
Full Proof Gospel Ministries also had the great privilege of teaming up with other faithful evangelism ministries to target the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC earlier this month. For three straight days, the Gospel was proclaimed openly in the midst of a literal "religious worship service" for President Obama. In conjunction with this preaching, voices were lifted in defense of the unborn, the murder of which the Democratic Party openly and proudly supports. During this time, a number of public figures and celebrities clearly heard the Gospel and were confronted with the horrible Abortion Holocaust as they moseyed on by: Jesse Jackson, Al Franken, Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, several Hollywood actors, and a few United States Congressmen. The Lord truly gave us an open door at this event. Surprisingly, we were able to get very close to the convention center and use amplification without problems from the multitudes of law enforcement officials who labored to maintain order. In fact, several were restrained and arrested by police as they tried to assault and silence the preachers. Law enforcement really did a wonderful job at the DNC protecting free speech while keeping things from getting out of control. Our outreach concluded on Thursday night as we preached the Gospel right where the President was supposed to arrive for his keynote address. Hundreds of police officers were everywhere, joined by mobs of the President's religious devotees. Apparently, Mr. Obama was rerouted due to the preaching, but nonetheless, many heard the name of the Lord Jesus Christ lifted high. CLICK HERE to listen to a podcast of one of my sermons preached right outside the Charlotte Convention Center during this event. Also, HERE is an interesting online news article concerning the outreach at the DNC. The video posted below highlights the open door referenced above:
open-air preaching at the 2012 dnc
My friends, what I observed while preaching at all of these recent events turns my stomach to rot. America really is in trouble, and on the Day of Judgment, many Third World nations will assuredly rise up and condemn the United States; for if the preaching of Jesus Christ had been heard in these places as it has been heard in America, surely the people of those nations would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Churches are on every corner, yet willful wickedness and hatred for the Gospel abound far beyond anything I have ever observed in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, or Tibet. GOD SAVE THE UNITED STATES!. For now, we continue to labor here, on one of the world's largest mission fields, but when the hammer falls and the hard persecution overflows, we will, Lord willing, flee to the nations. They will hear; they will listen.
Well, I already alluded to Ricky and Argentina . . . let me provide a few additional details. In mid-November, I will be taking Ricky down to Patagonia and helping him to get set up. He will be down there for 6-8 months, Lord willing, particularly focusing upon evangelism training for local believers AND outreach to Israeli travelers and other backpacker-types. I will be down south for about a month helping to kick things off with outreaches at a popular rock-climbing festival (the same festival FPGM targeted back in 2010) and at Aconcagua Base Camp. At this particular time of year, Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere (22,841 ft.), will be a buzz of activity as climbing teams push for the summit with the onset of the southern summer. Therefore, we are going to set up at Base Camp and target these teams from all over the world with the Gospel. Ricky will be helping with base camp logistics while I push for the summit with Dylan and two other climbers. Lord willing, we will place the Gospel atop the highest peak in South America (2,500 feet higher than Alaska's Denali) and have opportunity to speak Christ into the lives of others enduring this mother of all slogfests. The backpacker/hippie traveler/climber crowd includes some of the most unreached of the unreached. Though extremely difficult in terms of evangelism, these folks hold a special place in my heart as many, through worldly exploits and travels, are searching for something that can only be found in the Bible's message of salvation. If the Lord allows, I'll jump at any opportunity to minister amongst these in places and venues where other missionaries will not trod. Aconcagua will be that type of unique opportunity. Please pray that God starts preparing the hearts of those from other countries, who are even now formulating their respective climbing plans, to hear and believe the Gospel that will be spoken to them on this mountain. Pray for me as I train physically. Pray that the Lord brings all the logistics together and that He provides the pieces of necessary climbing gear that I am currently lacking. Also, pray that the Lord makes provision for the financial side of the entire journey, for my abbreviated visit and for Ricky's extended stay. Full Proof Gospel Ministries' committed monthly support is down from where it was while we lived in Kathmandu, so this journey will be a step of financial faith.
My friends, I have lately been studying the three very small epistles that precede the Book of Revelation in the New Testament (i.e. II John, III John, and Jude). I love these Books! All three deal with the true believer's personal responsibility in days of apostasy and are therefore directly applicable to the Remnant Body of the Lord Jesus Christ TODAY. Friends, we live in days of rank apostasy, where the seeds of unrighteousness planted during the days of John and Jude have come to their full fruition. Study these Scriptures; live by them! I find it particularly interesting that III John commends Gaius (a faithful church member) for supporting traveling preachers and missionaries during days of apostasy while condemning Diotrephes (a wicked pastor) for refusing to receive such. When we support faithful itinerant preachers and missionaries via hospitality and financial aid, we become "fellow-helpers to the truth" (III John 8). In dark days, the need to support missionaries is even more paramount. Why then is missions usually the first thing cut from a church budget when it should be the last? Why have building programs become more important than missions programs? Based upon the Apostle Paul's shaming of the Corinthian Church with the example of the poor Macedonian Churches (cf. II Corinthians 8-9), I would go so far as to say that in times of financial hardship, believers should INCREASE their support of missions, not reduce it. Look to the primitive New Testament churches as ensamples: These commissioned and sent out missionaries (Acts 13:1-3; 15:3, 40). These focused beyond their own communities (I Thessalonians 1:6-8). And, these gave liberally even in times of poverty (II Corinthians 8:1-5). When we, as the faithful Remnant Body of the Lord Jesus Christ, do the same, we not only multiply seed; but we we help supply the needs of the saints, we glorify God through the multiplied thanksgivings of those provided for, we increase prayer on our behalf as those we support pray for us, and we inevitably experience the Lord's bountiful provision for our own needs (II Corinthians 9:7-15). Why should we want to miss out on such blessings? My friends, be warned: "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully" (II Corinthians 9:6). The Laodicean Church was lukewarm and vomit-inducing to our Lord because it sat upon God's resources and did nothing. In man's eyes, this church was in need of nothing; but in God's eyes, it was wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. May this never be our epitaph. Support faithful missionaries who are faithfully preaching the Gospel; increase your missions budgets in these days of spiritual darkness when judgment is turned away backwards and truth is fallen in the streets (Isaiah 59:14). We here at Full Proof Gospel Ministries could certainly use your help. Our greatest need is for committed monthly giving, even if it is only a few dollars a month. Such makes you and/or your church body "fellow-helpers to the truth" (III John 8) via FPGM's public proclamation of the Gospel, mass distribution of God's Word, and trainings for local churches ANYWHERE & EVERYWHERE. For more information on how you can financially support this ministry, visit HERE.
Well, I never got around to detailing all that the LORD did when my family and I, along with Ricky Springer, departed Nepal in May and traveled through Tibet, China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. So much transpired for the Gospel's sake along this route; in terms of recap, I really never knew how or where to begin. When we finally touched down on American soil after a 13-month absence, we could retrospectively rejoice that the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ had been preached in 18 countries (some of these closed countries), and 157,214 pieces of Gospel material (tracts, Scripture portions, and Bibles) had been freely distributed. Church bodies had been edified, village pastors had been trained, the Gospel had been preached in the streets, and remote corners of the globe had been targeted. SOLI DEO GLORIA!. Through your prayers and support, many of you held the ropes and were therefore an important part of all this. I can only marvel. Below, I have included some videos taken from Tibet, China, Mongolia, Korea & Japan (i.e. the homeward journey). I believe these will tell the story I never got around to transcribing. Going forward, please don't let go of the ropes. The work continues until our Lord returns. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
For the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ,
The Boyd Family
P.S. Please don't forget to pray for our upcoming college campus tour and for the needs expressed by Bishnu with regard to the continuing work on the ground in Nepal.