My Heroes

Recently I had the privilege of gathering together with some of my heroes in the faith. While highly publicized preachers and oft cited missionaries are known by many, these heroes of mine may never be published or heard of. Nevertheless, they each hold a special place in my heart for various reasons that I will describe below.

A Devoted Family: The Vegas of Panama
Moises and Talsidia Vega were instruments of God in realizing my calling to missions. Back in 1996 I went on my first short-term journey to their home in Panama and worked alongside them to help establish a church. This couple, along with their beautiful family that includes 5 children, have been serving the LORD faithfully in helping to spread a passion for Jesus throughout their land and beyond. In particular, the Vegas have been instrumental in reaching out to the indigenous "Indian" tribes that trace back to the ancient Mayans. We've made some long treks together through the jungles of Panama ministering to those forgotten people. I have never encountered a family that is so dedicated to the cause of Christ from oldest to youngest as the Vegas. For this reason, they are my heroes and I pray that my own family can be used in such wonderful ways to reach to "the least of these". Visit the Vegas website to see more of what I'm talking about: http://www.mgpanama.com

A Modern Apostle: The Bejars of Peru
I first got the privilege of working with Juvenal and Katty Bejar in Peru several years ago. I have been amazed at their truly apostolic ministry in mobilizing churches to start literally hundreds of new churches in their own country and beyond. I often call Juvenal my "modern day Paul" because he is so influential and catalytic in establishing churches. Juvenal is the pastor of a house church in Lima that has planted 14 other churches all pastored by men whom Juvenal has discipled. He was not content with this admirable accomplishment, but went "national" starting several years back to mobilize Peruvian churches to send apostolic teams to other cities to start new churches. I once had the privilege of leading a missions conference for Juvenal's house church network and was amazed when they applied the principles I had taught and put together their resources to send 4 long-term missionaries to Asia! They have others that are in training currently to follow suit. One of the most admirable qualities of the Bejars is their humility. Although extremely influential across Peru, I have watched and learned from Juvenal that influence is not something to assert, but rather it is a stewardship to humbly use for the glory of Jesus. It is my prayer that I can have vision and humility driven influence like the Bejars.
Go to http://robinsonadventures.blogspot.com to read several of my earlier accounts from working with Juvenal in Peru.

In Love with the Church: The Mennas of Ethiopia
Finally there is my brother Yosef Menna from Ethiopia. Though I just met Yosef a little over a year ago, I have watched and learned from this faithful Ethiopian disciple of Jesus. I had the privilege to partner through prayer and finances for a season with he and his family and watched as they mobilized an entire denomination in their country to become missions-minded. Yosef wrote a training guide to help Ethiopian churches send out indigenous missionaries using their own finances. What started small has now spread to over 800,000 Ethiopian believers contributing to support 1000 Ethiopian church planting missionaries that are turning their country upside down. Yosef is truly a man that knows how to maximize the potential of the Church. It is my prayer that I can love and serve the Church with the same passion and dedication as the Mennas.

So there they are . . . three heroes of mine. You may never read of them anywhere else but here, but I can guarantee that they have left their mark on my life. And anything the God should choose to accomplish through me and my own family, these saints of God will have played a big part in preparing for. Take a moment now and pray for these families and for mine, that we can become more like them. Click on their hyperlinked names to see how you can become more involved in their ministries.