Towards Excellence

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.  (John 4:35)

 

What do we feel when we “hear” these words of our Lord Jesus Christ? I invite you to do a brief mental exercise. And let us travel imaginarily back to our places of origin. Let us raise our gaze there, what do we see around us? What do we see beyond our comfort zone?

In fact, let us lift our gaze even more and try to see what is probably not so visible and obvious, and perhaps lost in the midst of our daily hustle and bustle, and highly tight schedules.
You know what is it that I have personally seen in my country, my Region, my continent lately? Please allow me to tell you.

Debris after earthquake. Manabi, Ecuador.

Only between 2016 and 2017 I lived, very closely, the terrible earthquake of 7.8 degrees on the Richter scale that destroyed a big part of two provinces of Ecuador, my country.

I have also seen very closely, the passage of 4 hurricanes destroying several areas of the Caribbean and the United States; 2 high-magnitude earthquakes severely affecting areas of Mexico. Why was it very closely? Because I have friends and brothers in Christ who lived all that in their own flesh and it feels like I myself went through all that.

And not only natural disasters, but also political unrest and destabilization of governments, such as the

Miami, a couple of days after Hurricane Irma.

sad case of Cuba and Venezuela. Currently, in Ecuador there are nearly 50,000 Cubans who say they have fled the communist regime and the consequent lack of jobs.

And nearly 30,000 Venezuelans who long for personal security and economic stability. These figures certainly do not represent the total of hundreds of thousands of Cubans and Venezuelans who have traveled through Ecuador to reach other countries in the Region, always looking for a “better future.”

And what about the proliferation of Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Currently

Mosque in South America

our country has around 7 mosques and a large Buddhist temple, in addition to the innumerable yoga and transcendental meditation centers to mention the least.

I have seen in my own country and in the Region shameless cases of corruption perpetrated by governmental and political leaders, but sadly also by “Christian” leaders.

I see in my country, in my region and even beyond, a world increasingly confused, convulsed and sick. The famous gender ideology, the legalization of abortions, and of course, civil wars, terrorist attacks, and yes, painfully a lack of leadership, a lack of true leadership at all levels, with honorable exceptions, of course.

Are we actually living different times than Jesus lived when he said: “…see that the fields are white for harvest!” Let us think for a moment, what was the situation of Israel during those times? There was no such thing as a spiritual awakening in Israel, the Scriptures did not mention precisely that the priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees were turning to God.

In fact, it was the very opposite, Jesus was mocked, the religious leaders of the time rejected Him, questioned His integrity and even His divinity. He was about to be knocked over a precipice. In fact, Christ Himself regretted over the cities of Israel because they did not repent after His message: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! Woe to you, Capernaum!”

What is it then that moved Jesus to state that “…the fields are white for harvest!” For I believe with all my heart that it was precisely the sad, desperate and dark condition that the people were facing; to such extent that Jesus wept and wept upon seeing the confusion, the hardship and the spiritual blindness of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41).

Don’t you think that if Jesus was physically in present times, He would not exclaim with pain: “Woe to you, Latin America; Woe to you, Asia; Woe to you, Africa; Woe to you, America;  Woe to you, Europe … Woe, Woe, Woe!”

And just as He did in the past, His heart would suffer. And certainly, if He walked through our cities, our villages, our sanctuaries, He would continue to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, would continue to heal diseases and sick hearts. He would continue to have compassion for the crowds who walk helpless and scattered like sheep without a shepherd. He would continue to look beyond the visible and obvious … having compassion for a world broken by sin.

And he would certainly continue to say to “His disciples” – “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” He would repeat to us “His disciples,” to us, His servants, servants of the Most High God,   – “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:35-38).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, from all over the world, let me tell you with all my heart, I believe that in spite of all the convulsion that we live in this world, we are the privileged generation. I sincerely believe that we are very close to seeing the return of our Lord Jesus Christ for His Church. No one knows the day or the hour, but the Lord clearly announced in His Word about famines, earthquakes, tribulations, nations against nations. False prophets and false christs would deceive and confuse many.

Believers persecuted and even sentenced to death. And He also anticipated that the love of many would grow cold because of the increase of wickedness.

Let us raise our gaze, all this is happening before us, in unusual proportions, which frequency is increasing. And we cannot deny it!

Beloved, there are more than 2 billion people who have never heard the Good News.
We all, who call ourselves “sons and daughters of the Most High God,” are on a mission to fulfill His last mandate: “Let us go and make disciples of all nations.”

So, we all shall rejoice and state:
“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord (Jesus), and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.”  (Psalm 22:27)