As you know, Operation John is titled after John the Baptist. The reason for this is that as Operation John, our goal is to use our gifts and talents to prepare the way for some incredible things we believe God is wanting to do in world missions. This article is the result of a character study I did when I first got involved in Operation John, and as our documentary will not be ready to be posted for a little while, I thought I'd share this with you. God bless,

Andrew~


Jesus says of John the Baptist "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John..." Mat 11:11 and Luke 7:28. Think about that for a minute. Nobody was greater. What was it about John that made it possible for Jesus to make this statement? There were plenty of people who performed more miracles. You don't have to look far to find people who traveled farther or influenced more people. Yet there was something in John that no one, not Moses not David not Daniel, not anybody had! What was it? I believe the answer is found in John 3:30. An examination of John the Baptist's words when his ministry was experiencing a dry time reveals the heart of a true minister in a most subtle and profound way.

John the Baptist had perhaps the most unique ministry of any human being up to that point in history. Multitudes would come to hear him preach, and be baptized by him in the Jordan River ; of course we cant forget the camel-skin-cloak or the locust and honey diet. Jews from all over were whispering to one another, "Do you think this man could be the messiah?" But John's ministry was preparing the way. For what he wasn't exactly sure (Luke 7:18-23), but he had been given a vision and a calling by God, and was determined not to stray from it.

John, like every good minister, believed in discipleship. Just like another teacher spreading the message of the kingdom of heaven throughout Judea, he had people he mentored and taught as disciples. His disciples however, were not exactly happy with this new rabbi, Jesus, showing up on the scene. To their eyes, it seemed that all their master had worked for was being wasted, as their crowds were following a new teacher. Certainly, this was not the way it should be, the one who sows has a right to the harvest! And they confronted their dispossessed master with just such an attitude.

In the next verse, John utters a speech which should be constantly resonating in the forefront of every Christians' mind; "No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease." The Greek in this last phrase conveys a powerful message, which is lost on modern translations. John's use of active and passive verbs reveal the heart attitude of a true minister of the gospel of Christ. When speaking of Jesus, John uses an active verb, "to increase." Jesus has come, and it is his ministry, his actions that God is going to use to bring his kingdom. Jesus increase was to be an increase of power and action.

John uses the passive form of the infinitive verb to describe his ministry, literally translated, "to be decreased." John's idea of decreasing was not slacking off in the task that God had given him. This use of the passive implies the opposite; John would continue to do exactly what God had called him to, even while his ministry was being decreased by God. Ultimately, if every person that had been a follower of John went to Jesus, John knew that would be the fulfillment of his ministry; the ministry of preparing the way which God had given him. John was going to continue working for the kingdom of God come hell or high water, or in his case Herod's high henchman hefting a long handled headsman's axe for Herodias.

To John, the mission was clear. His success was not about the number of disciples he had any more than it was about how much locust and honey he could eat. It was about doing every day the work God had set aside for him to do. As ministers raised up by God, each of us has Johns choice to make. It is easy enough to follow Gods vision when everything is going according to our standards of success; but what about the other times? Can we stand by, and as John the Baptist, continue to follow Gods call in the times of decreasing? Better to lay one brick in the everlasting kingdom of heaven then build an entire city off to the side.

David Hamilton, one of the masterminds behind the 4k vision, explains what 4k is all about. This video is 48 minutes long, but it is a really great talk about missions today and the vision on which operation john is based.

A Plan and a Purpose

As we work out the plans for the Operation John project we have developed some plans and some goals to help us and you see what exactly we are trying to do. As we visit each place these will be the things we do, the questions we ask and the information we collect. Hopefully we can get the Costa Rica Documentary up on the site soon...

Operation John

We need to answer 3 fundamental questions:

1. What has been done. (The history of the kingdom of God in that Place)

2. What is being done. (The current work of the church)

3. What needs to be done.(In order to bring the kingdom not just in word but deed)

We need to accomplish 3 things:

1. Praying God's plans into the place.(Against the darkness and for the kingdom)

2. Uniting and supporting the “workers”(getting contacts worked into the system of 4k as a vision of the whole kingdom)

3. Involve outsiders in praying and supporting those expanding the kingdom in that Omega Zone (Through reports, books, photos, documentaries etc....

Our Team

Media Tools

1. Video Documentary G.I.D.E. Videos: Global Investigation, Development, and Evangelism

   1. For the purpose of informing supporters of both our ministry and the ministry of those actively ministering in the Omega Zone(s)

   2. Vehicle for information about the state of the Kingdom of God in each Omega Zone presented in an easily accessible and understandable format.

2. Reporting and Journalism

   1. Written Reports documenting information pertaining to the advancement of the Kingdom of God in the Omega Zone.

3. Photography

   1. Presenting culture, lifestyle, and religious beliefs, through accurately documenting people group(s) with first hand visual images.

4. Website

   1. Easily update able source of information connecting the team with their support base for the purpose of prayer and support.

   2. A platform for the presentation of the teams media projects. (Video Doc, Reporting, and photography). For the purpose of feedback and fine tuning the media into the most presentable and efficient format for 4k.

Ministry Tools

1. Worship Band

   1. Brining glory to God through music. Ministering to both those who are Christians and those who aren't.

2. Intercessory Prayer

   1. Asking for the presence and power of God in the Omega Zone. Praying for the advance of the Kingdom of God and the fall of the kingdom of darkness.

3. Inductive Bible Study Seminars

   1. Equipping the local church to actively pursue further understanding of the Gospel and to combat false teaching.

*We will be adding to this list as our team grows

Monica, Our Tica Sister. (Tico/Tica is how Costa Ricans are called)














Andrew and Monica














Michael and Anita (a Tica cousin)














Our Tica Family

Ok... were back... here are a couple more pictures from the last day.... Its 1:20 AM. We will sum it all up later.

MORE PICS!

This is Nick and David (on the left) David rocks.















This is a beautiful beach.















This is a beautiful volcano. (which we were fortunate enough to see spew lava one night)















This a a beautiful butterfly. they have some very amazing bugs and insects in costa rica.














Nick has a talent for making everyone look ugly in the pictures he takes.

More Pics

Jason, Hanging with the wrong crowd. (actually, these guys rocked)














These little devils attacked our van (nearly twenty of them) so in an attempt to save our lives we were forced to toss them our breakfast (Vinilla waffers) and sped off as fast as possible; (about 40 kph is all the faster we were able to travel on these costa rican roads without completley destroying our van.















Nick
















Nick
















Us, again. check out those zip lines in the background.

Snaps of our Travels

Us, preparing for our incredible adventures in the canopy.















Us, at the beach.
















Perhaps one of the beautiful mountains in the world. the photo does not do it justice.




















This is not vinilla coke, this is a costa rican beverage made from purple corn. A word to the wise, stay away from this one.

Missionaries Rock!

The last two days have been really fantastic. We drove about 6 hours from a town called la Fortuna to a town called tamarindo, a beach town on the pacific side of Costa Rica. One of our Tico (Costa Rican) Friends knows some missionaries in that town so he worked it out so that we could stay with them. They were amazing. 5 guys show up at their door and ask to sleep there. Phil and Rebecca invited us in and let us sleep in their house for two nights. They are missionaries from a Calvary Chapel church. They have been in Costa Rica for 7 months now, learning spanish and making connections. They have done some VBS's and have recently started a Bible study. God is really using them and has given them an amazing heart for these people and this country. It's exciting. Right now there is no church in Tamarindo so they are hoping that they will be able to be a part of putting a church there. Pray that God will bless their efforts, and that his Grace would be on all they do.

In Tamarindo we had some time to get together and think about Operation John and the trip next year... I know that alot of you are probably wondering what Operation John is. Let me explain. There is a YWAM project called 4k (for 4000) It is a project to see the great commision finished. The earth has been divided into approximately 4000 "omega zones", areas of about 3 million people. 4K wants to be able to have info and statistics on each of these areas, stuff that will aid in spreading the kingdom of God, (For example, there is no church in Tamarindo) the goal is to eventually have at least one missionary in each zone, working toward brining the gospel to every ear. over 50 missions organizations have agreed to back this as their guide to reaching the world

So... Operation John
Operation John is named after John the baptist, preparing the way of the Lord. It has also been called "jumpstart to 4k". Operation John is a project to send a team to each Omega zone in a period of one year. These teams will scout out the land, pray over it, observe, and make contacts. The hope is that at the end of Operation John there will be a much clearer picture of what needs to be done to accomplish the great commision.

So... Our team
We are planning on being one of the teams to be part of Operation John. Right now we are in Costa Rica not only serving and ministering but also figuring out what an Operation John team will be like. We will be talking to leaders of the Church missionaries and other people, gatheing info and finding out what are the needs and blessing of the church here. It is possible through this trip that we can help Operation John to figure out more specifically how a team will work and what they will need to do in order to accomplish the goal. In January or March Jason, Nick and Michael will go and do a DTS specifically for operation John, and three months later we will take off for the other side of the world, as an Operation John team. Please pray that God would continue to guide us and show us what we are to do. That he would guide the processes of gathering the info and making the documentary, (Yes, Michael will put together a film documentary of our trip, and also a profile of Costa Rica)

I hope that makes sense, if you have any questions feel free to comment on the post and I will try to answer your question. Thanks.

other day...

Youth Group was really amazing. It was amazing to worship God together with our tico brothers and sisters. They did drama lso which we did not understand(because of the lnguage). The pastor told everyone that in the next year he wntd to and was planning on bringing 400 pre- hritians into the meeting. Pry that God will help him nd give him the trength to expand God's kingdom in this way. Jason lost his bible to the cause. He gve it to a guy who needed one. His name is Jorge, he translated the service for some of us. Jason gave him his bible and he said "This is the best gift I have ever recieved". He also told me that he was planning on learning it and studying it and eventually giving a bible to someome else to share the gift. awesome. we have his contct info so we will be keeping in touch. We will also go back to the Youth Group next saturday.

We are having our weekend today and tommorow, so today we went whitewater rafting, tommorow we will go and do what is called a canopy tour. We will be riding zips through the trees. Tuesday it is back to work as we will begin our research and documenting week. It should be exciting. The town we are in now is called la fortuna. It is small.

The keys on this keyboard barely work. (I am typing everything twice practcally.) May God Bless you all.
Josh

Youth Group

It's raining again as it does every day around 3 o'clock... Like I mentioned in the earlier post this is the first time I am on the internet in 4 days. (It still doesn't work at the base.) So I am sorry for the long silence, but it was unavoidable. Tonight we are going to a youth meetting. I am looking foward to it. It is always amazing to lift God up among other believers who are so different, because the unity we have in christ makes that all go away, the culture differences, the language differences, the economic differences, all of it is wiped away by the unity Christ gives.

I love updating the blog and I love the idea that you guys are following and praying. I just want to let you all know that if I fail to update the blog it is probably not because I am hurt or dead. The internet is just not as readily available here. For all those who left us a "hope you aren't dead" message, Thanks. We are alive.

Rethink

I meant to post this 4 days ago but the internet at the base went down... hard... so I didnt get anything up till today. Thank you all for your support.

ok... so with all this work we've done and are planning to do here at the base it got me thinking... (You weed-wack for 4 hours in a day, you'll start thinking too.) So, I was thinking, "Why are we doing this?" "We could have stayed home and done yard work.". I was feeling like we were doing the grunt work, the stuff the un-spiritual people do. But while I was working I realized that I had the wrong mindset. Obviously my first clue was the example of Jesus.

Joh 13:3-5 Jesus knew that the Father had given him complete power; he knew that he had come from God and was going to God. So he rose from the table, took off his outer garment, and tied a towel around his waist. Then he poured some water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.

This Is really crazy, but Jesus realizes that he has complete power over all the world, that he had direct access to God and that he was in fact God, somehow this inspires him to wash his disciples feet. Why? It doesn't make any sense. But later he explains it.

Joh 13:14-17 I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another's feet. I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you. I am telling you the truth: no slaves are greater than their master, and no messengers are greater than the one who sent them. Now that you know this truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice!

He did it so that we would see and follow his example of ultimate humility. He was showing us that our mindset, our ideas of what is important in this world, is human, driven not by God's truth but by the systems and opinions of men. Paul Tells us to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought but Jesus' example is even more extreme than that. He knew, and yet he serves. He knew some thing else too...

John 13:10-11 Jesus said, "Those who have taken a bath are completely clean and do not have to wash themselves, except for their feet. All of you are clean---all except one."

(Jesus already knew who was going to betray him; that is why he said, "All of you, except one, are clean.")

Jesus even served and washed the feet of the one who he knew would betray him to painful death.

How much more should we, small and weak as we are, put aside our lofty ideas of ourselves and serve others. To put off our selfishness and pride and...

Phi 2:5-8 Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Although he was in the form of God and equal with God, he did not take advantage of this equality. Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, by becoming like other humans, by having a human appearance. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, death on a cross.

It goes on to say:

Phi 2:9 This is why God has given him an exceptional honor- the name honored above all other names-
Phi 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus everyone in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will kneel
Phi 2:11 and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

So this is my new resolve,(God give me the grace...) to serve even the servant. To Empty myself of my American pride. To let go of my lofty ideas of what I could accomplish. I will serve and then when I have given up my life for others may God lift Jesus up. So here we are, serving this base and serving God. Father glorify Jesus Christ.
Amen