Recently I had lunch with a friend who has been working for years to launch an aviation ministry in the Amazon.

“In my observation the church is working hard at bringing the gospel to the river people of the Amazon Basin who live within one day’s boat ride of the major cities here. And then it kind of stops.”

I opened Google Earth, and drew a circle that has a 100 mile radius / 160 km radius around each major city, thinking that an average river boat might get that far in one day. Outside of these circles my friend says there is significantly less knowledge of the gospel.

These places are hard to get to, hard to live in, and you might wonder if it is worth it.

“How small do you think a community is before the people no longer matter? What if there are 2 or 3 families living way up a creek? Do they count?”

I remember flying over the jungle with Luke Huber, in his ultra-light. We lifted off the river, flew over a stretch of jungle. Hidden in the jungle was a creek with a few stilt houses. Luke yelled at me over the roar of the engine,“I didn’t know people were living out here. We need to get out here with the gospel.”

I thought, “Really? You just get a boat and show up at somebody’s place with the gospel?” Since I was new to Brazil I filed my thoughts away on a back shelf. As time went on I realized we actually can do this. Many people receive us and our message gratefully. The bottle-neck for us became how to train the workers. With great effort we got to some remote locations to start a church with a key family and developed a support network for that little group. The key family learns from the teacher who lives in the city, and the others learn from the key family.

Two challenges we encounter are:

1. How to maintain a sufficient support links to a city church.
2. If the key family moves to another location the church often ceases to exist.

This is where Discovery Bible Studies may really shine. 

In a Discovery Group (1) everyone changes something in their lives each week because of the gospel, and (2) everyone has a spiritual conversation in a natural way each week with an acquaintance. Weekly the Discoverers (disciples) share their experiences with each other. Imagine the potential. These people get to experience the joy of a daily, personal walk with God. This is different than hearing someone teach and trying to obey that person’s council about how it works. This is more about everyone connecting with God and interacting with what they are learning.

Jesus says the bottle-neck is laborers. In my experience laborers don’t usually have all the finances and the big picture figured out. They are the disciplined people who get up early, put their work boots on, make their lunch, and go do what they can all day long.

When He [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:36-38).

We know that in God’s economy spreading the gospel to everyone in the Amazon is within reach. I suspect God has many people willing to give their lives to a career that is deeply satisfying. Imagine the books and stories that will come from the group that reaches into these remote locations.

So for you, if you are interested . . . are you willing to bring your loaves and sardines to Jesus?

Imagine if this was true, if it really was this simple. What if, in a act of obedience, we brought our little selves to Jesus, believing that He could do amazingly impossible things?

1. What would be your next step? And if the Lord encouraged you on, what would be your next step after that? What would you have to actually do?

2. What is the risk? What would it cost you?

3. What is the potential gain, in this world and in the next?

4. Are you willing to take your next step?

In Manaus we gave an introduction to Discovery Groups, and to Immanuel Prayer. Many in this group feel wounded from other church groups. Thinking in terms of Pilgrim’s Progress, is this along the journey for all of us? Is this your story, by any chance? I remember hearing that the Vineyard started in Los Angeles with wounded Christians, people who have been hurt by other Christians or church people. Is this a normal way for great movements to start? When these early Vineyard people started moving in the gifts of the Spirit, I remember John Wimber calling them wounded healers.

“I can no longer go to Sunday School. Now I am 12. Next week I can start going to Youth Group.”

We met Edilson and Maria at the InterVinha Event in Altamira a month ago. After prayer we accepted their invitation to come teach their very young church about Discovery Groups.

We hardly knew Edilson and Maria. I only remember one brief conversation as we were waiting in line together to wash our dishes at the InterVinha Conference. By the time we had stayed in their home Thursday – Monday we felt like long-time friends. They let us stay in their master bedroom with the new bed, the only air conditioner and the only bathroom in the house. They stayed in a smaller bedroom with no windows and used the neighbor’s (their son and daughter-in-law’s) bathroom. Manaus is sweltering hot and humid at this time of year. In the afternoon, even in the air-conditioned bedroom I sit on the floor dripping with sweat as I work on my computer.

This culture feels closer to the Bible culture in Jesus’ time.

“When you enter a house . . . stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house” (Luke 10:5-7).

This is one thing I really love about the missionary life. Even though I am way more in my comfort zone staying in hotels, as we stay in people’s homes we can quickly move from strangers to lifelong friends.

In this home I was surprised to see these worn Bibles, and other Christian books, alongside of a big flat screen tv. Maybe that is because I have read a digital Bible for years now. It is easy to see that these people love God, His Word, and His work. They are also very tired and worn out.

David Watson, who started Discovery Groups in India, said it is very important to stay in people’s homes, and to have People of Peace stay in your home. The way we live and react to the things that happen in life are more caught than taught. For example, as people see how I treat Deanna when I am hungry or impatient, they learn how Christians treat their wives when they are hungry or impatient.

One of my strengths is sometimes a weakness. I want everyone to like me. But what do you do when personalities clash? I learned to give gifts, to give people space, and to be nice. Now I am learning to engage in difficult conversations, to listen actively, to speak assertively, and to act on what God calls me to do. Last week I learned a new truth.

Did you know that you can turn an enemy into a friend by asking them to do you a favor?

“This was a phenomenon first observed by Benjamin Franklin . . . [who claimed] that he could easily turn an enemy into a friend with one simple act — asking them for a favor” (King, P., 2017, pp. 29-30).

Social scientists believe there are several reasons why this works.

• You are interacting with the person who you may be avoiding. This helps bring down walls.
• When you ask someone for a favor, this is a subtle form of flattery. You are kind of submitting to the other person’s strength. This is gratifying to the other person.
• People do not naturally do favors for their enemies. King theorized that when someone we don’t like asks us to do them a favor our brain starts telling us, “They are not actually that bad. They have strengths. That is why I am doing them this favor.” Unconsiously we start liking the other person more.
• King stated that it is also helpful to “perform small, subtle favors for your enemies and frenemies. Actively performing favors for others builds goodwill and indicates a willingness to be friendly and open. You are raising the white flag of peace and sending the signal that you don’t harbor any ill will” (pp 34-35).

Jesus teaches that accepting favors from strangers is a way to quickly build trust. ^“Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house” (NIV Luke 10:7).

If you want to give the gospel to someone there is a danger that you will establish a power-over relationship. “I know stuff. You don’t. I am saved. You are not.” It is often awkward for people to enter into power-over relationships when they are in the power-under side. As we receive favors from others, this levels the relationship. People are freer to receive what we have to offer if they have done us a favor.

Both Deanna and I grew up in hospitable homes. I remember commenting to my family one time when I was about 15 years old that it was just our immediate family at the table for the first time in a year. We always had guests and boarders, and so did Deanna’s family. When Danny Meyer, Craig Heselton, and many others started bringing teams to Altamira in the 1990s, it felt natural to be hospitable. But as these teams received our hospitality they rapidly became among our best friends, and they remain among our best friends to this day. Doing favors for others, and receiving favors from others, may set the stage for great friendships.

If you have any experience with this, you know it is humbling to receive food and favors from strangers, especially when these strangers struggle financially. I remember meals among the river people where us guests were fed first. We were given the choice selections in the soup pot, and we could eat all we wanted. Later I realized it was because this family only had four plates and spoons, and limited amounts of food in certain seasons. When we studied how to learn a foreign language and culture we were told to leave our backpack with a vendor we barely knew, so the vendor could do us a favor for a hour or so, while we did something else. The teacher said that asking a stranger for help is a way to build trust and become friends. King (2017) noted that it is most helpful to ask for a real favor, one that is somewhere between too big and too insignificant. Receiving is still more awkward than giving for me. Learning to both give and receive is an effective way to turn strangers and enemies into friends.

References
King, P., 2017, The science of likability: 27 studies to master charisma, attract friends, captivate people, and take advantage of human psychology (pp. 29-30). Kindle Edition.

HOMEWORK: This week ask a stranger or an enemy to do a favor for you, one that is genuine, and that will take them about 3 minutes to do. Not too big, not too small. Email me the story at rick.bergen@xingu.org .

A few weeks ago Clenildo told me, “Let’s start teaching about this in a bunch of different places and let’s see what happens.” I remembered Jesus story about the Farmer Sowing the Seeds in Matthew 13. This week we are in Manaus, teaching about Discovery Groups. We plan to come back to do more training in November.