Considering William Carey’s 11 Commandments of Mission, I think the failure of many missionaries is the failure of:

* cultural contextualization.
* making friends.
* leadership by imposing one’s leadership model onto the next generation rather than letting them lead.

(http://westloop-church.blogspot.com/2014/04/william-careys-11-commandments-of.html)

And I need to constantly remind myself of the verses (in my comment right above yours) that I often quote, so that God may have mercy on me and not let “my success” and “my spirituality” swell my small head!!!

1) It can make you proud, because you now start to think YOU did the work or the LORD (it’s kind of paradoxical, but anyway), so what you’re doing is something great, holy, and indispensable. What would God do without you? God and others should recognize you and thank you. The lowly things that ordinary people do are nothing compared to “your” work of the Lord.

2) It can be used to legitimate what you do. If people start to believe in God through your ministry, your ministry must be fundamentally good, and may not be challenged, right?

It’s not only UBF that falls into these traps. These dangers must have been there from the very beginnings, and it seems to me that 1Cor 3 and many other passages in the epistles address these issues.

* The wind of the Spirit blows wherever the Spirit pleases (Jn 3:8).

* God does whatever pleases God (Ps 115:3).

* The LORD does whatever pleases the LORD (Ps 135:6).

* Jesus is the ONE who builds His church (Mt 16:18).

It is apparent that the Holy Spirit is working in the Philippine UBF ministry. It is also apparent that the devil is knocking at the people’s heart here. But they are learning how to ‘rule over it’ (Gen 4:7).

Recently, I have noticed major changes in my own heart, while ministering in the Philippines. I had noticed how hard for me to listen first before I speak (James 1:19). I realized the importance of meditating on God’s word day and night (Psalm 1:2). And that I have a lot of plank in my own eye (Mat 7:3). Ultimately, I need to seek Christ first (Mat 6:33). Rather, ‘za-te-o’ (continually seeking) Jesus. I thought I was doing much of this, apparently, I was not.

Surely, I have the biggest plank in my eye. But I do want to add, that the Philippine ministry is not growing because of the hard work, endless prayers, among many other great works of the church. It is only through Christ and only through His grace that all this is possible (Mark 10:27).

I am thankful for the men, women, and children that makes Philippine UBF a godly ministry. They are certainly God’s gift. But no matter how great God’s gift may be, God – the gift giver – is much greater still.

First of all, there is the culture of the siesta. As you may know, especially those from Latin countries or countries with very hot weather, it’s a necessity to take an afternoon nap because its just too darn hot to do anything else. So these brothers are not sleep deprived when they come to early morning daily bread. Trust me I’ve taken my own siestas with them while I have been here. So they have plenty of sleep and to get up that early is no problem for most of them. Due to jet lag I would sometimes go down to the first floor of the Bible house to use the washroom but it was not unusual to see a brother or sister studying for their classes at 1 or 2 am in the morning. I heard one brother practicing his cello at 4 am! Also in the morning they can share their prayer topics and receive any direction they may need from Dr. William. Remember, Dr. William works full time as a doctor, has 6 kids to take care of and support and now burdened with the bible house construction but he also attends daily bread every morning. That’s what I call a spiritual example. If I was a young shepherd and saw such a busy man get a lot of things done through early morning prayer I would want to learn his secret also. As one servant of God said, “I’m so busy today and have many things to do that I need to pray 3 hours first this morning.”

Second, early morning basketball. Yeah, can you believe after daily bread the brothers go out to play basketball for two hours. There is a reason why they have to go so early–to beat the crowd. Filipinos love basketball and it’s first come first serve at the basketball courts. If you don’t get there early no basketball. So brothers are happy to get up early and play basketball early in the morning from Monday to Saturday–Sunday get ready for SWS. We have been going right after daily bread meeting so I usually dress in my basketball outfit to sleep so that I can just go and play right after daily bread. The brothers even don’t waste time putting on gym shoes and play with their slippers or bare feet! Sisters usually use that extra time in the morning to prepare food or wash their clothes or clean the Bible house. As my Bible teacher used to tell me and great men have said, “Those who conquer the morning can conquer the day.”

I’ve already wrote too much but I just wanted to clarify about what’s going on with early daily bread meeting here in the Philippines. I know anti-early morning daily bread people talk about sleep deprivation or works for salvation this is not what’s going here. This is my testimony firsthand. I think it’s just a complaint from people who grew up in a cultural of oversleeping, especially on the weekends until noon or who stay up too late watching videos or partying. Let’s practice what Jesus did in Mark 1:35, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” God bless your early morning prayer life.

I am eternally grateful for Dr. Ben digging deeper and finding the treasure (the Gospel) and recklessly proclaiming it. The peace that comes from knowing Jesus paid it all.

The works are better left unsaid. They are a natural product of ones salvation/conversion. How can a good tree bear bad fruit…impossible. I feel an orthopraxis (practice of faith) can be established in a church because of lack of trust in new converts. It isn’t enough for someone to believe, they must prove it somehow. Although one must be weary of the wolf in their midst, this is no reason to get paranoid. We must trust our brothers and sisters in Christ. Whether they attend our church or another. As long as He is front and center.

Also, to turn over leadership to indigenous people (#8) might also be practically very hard to do without dying to self, and simply trusting that God can do a better job than we can of “training” them.

1) I personally did not at all think, nor did I sense that anyone else was attempting to generate a revival, or to earn God’s blessing.

2) Usually, I never liked early morning prayer meetings in the past, because it felt forced. I felt guilty if I didn’t go. And if I did go, I didn’t feel good, because I felt tired and sleepy. Mainly, I felt that I was desperately trying to pray hard to get God to do something for me/us: people to come to conferences, meet our promised number, etc.

3) Very strangely, whenever I visited Manila, I looked forward to meeting the guys every morning at 5 am, because it was such a delight to meet everyone who came, not with a sense of obligation, but that they just seemed happy to come.

4) There was no real overwhelming sense of agenda to try to get God to do something for us, though we pray for various prayer topics.

5) Also, I did not sense that anyone was pressured to come. Also, those who came did not have airs about themselves, nor were they held out as exemplary.

6) How do I know? It’s surely purely subjective, just like how their Sat evening “loud disjointed noisy music practice session” sounded delightful like a majestic chorus of angels (Rev 5:11).

Someone else commented to me that my article comes across as though their “works” resulted in God’s blessing on their ministry. I would have to categorically say that it is not at all the case.

I believe that what they do is really the fruit of love, joy, and thanksgiving to God for his abundant Grace, and not an attempt to get a blessing from God.

Sorry for my long, tedious answer.

 
1. Set an infinite value on immortal souls.
2. Gain all the information you can about “the snares and delusions in which these heathens are held.”
3. Abstain from all English manners which might increase prejudice against the gospel.
4. Watch for all opportunities for doing good, even when you are tired and hot.
5. Make Christ crucified the great subject of your preaching.
6. Earn the people’s confidence by your friendship.
7. Build up the souls that are gathered.
8. Turn the work over to “the native brethren” as soon as possible.
9. Work with all your might to translate the Bible into their languages. Build schools to this end.
10. Stay alert in prayer, wrestling with God until he “famish these idols and cause the heathen to experience the blessedness that is in Christ.”
11. Give yourself totally to this glorious cause. Surrender your time, gifts, strength, families, the very clothes you wear.
Listed in Christian History, Issue 36, page 34

In your opinion, is their 5am prayer an attempt to generate revival by their own effort, or is this prayer the evidence and fruit of their revival? Are they trying to earn God’s blessing or return God’s blessing? How do you know? How do they themselves describe this meeting? Do leaders pressure their disciples to attend? Do those who come feel superior to those who do not? Are those who come held up as exemplary?

I’m asking this not because I doubt your assessment, but because I think the distinction is crucial for other ministries that want to follow their example and experience revival.

I concluded that this is not the work of any mere man, but the wind that blows wherever it pleases (John 3:8); it is surely the God who does whatever pleases Him (Ps 115:3, 135:6). Praise God, who receives all the glory for his grace in our very midst.