I wrote this blog post in the early morning hours after returning from a trip to South Asia on an assignment capturing testimonies for our partners. God was impressing on me the importance of the work that I am currently involved in and giving me so much hope about how God views the stories that I was capturing.

You will see photos from our trip throughout this post.

Over the past few years, a concept has been taking shape that I believe the Holy Spirit is prompting me to pursue. In the Bible when we read the stories of faith that so profoundly change and transform our lives there is very often a silent partner in the background. A scribe would often follow the man or woman of God into the battle that was raging in the world in any particular time period of history. The more this individual did their job well the more invisible they are to us today. Perhaps the best way to understand this concept is to imagine who some of these silent partners to the gospel might be if Jesus were to have come to earth today rather than 2000 years ago. I believe Luke is a great example of one of the most visible of the typically invisible characters that we see represented in the stories of the early church. These scribes accepted the call right along with the other disciples and in some cases, as with Luke, we hear a little bit more about their behind-the-scenes role as the writer of 2 of the Gospels.

Today much emphasis is placed on heroic warriors (harvesters) and that is as it should be. And He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest. Luke 10:2

Recently I was talking to a young chaplain at a local manufacturing company after a presentation from one of our front-line workers in a persecuted region of the world. The conversation was centered around the question “Why are so many young people coming to faith in Jesus while under persecution?” I was struck by one of the comments that a young man made as my friend gave first-hand accounts of the Gospel springing up miraculously in his country. He said, “I have heard about these radical conversions and miracles growing rapidly in countries like yours but, quite honestly, I thought that these stories were misinformation propagated by the Church and missionaries.”

What happens when the enemy’s propaganda is believed by the citizens of the Kingdom? What happens when the radio reports are drowned out by the big screen/surround sound misinformation of the enemy?

Riding in a richshaw in an average South Asian city

Where are the scribes in today’s Gospel story? Where are the supply line workers in the battle?

It’s not too hard to imagine a battle scene. There would be a command center and a battlefront in any war. Less visible to the citizens of the Kingdom would be the supply lines that bring vital weapons, artillery, food, and other supplies to the front-line soldiers. No less vital to the battle are the first-hand accounts that these supply line warriors bring back to the command center about victories, defeats, and the morale of the soldiers. These messenger soldiers are often not equipped in the same way that the frontline soldiers are. They may not have been as good at sharpshooting as their comrades in basic training. A good commander knows what positions are best for each combatant at their command.

Street kids observing church South Asia style

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 1st Corinthians 3:6-8

I believe that these types of messenger warriors are in desperately short supply in the battle for the Kindom today. They are more often conscripted in the enemy’s camp as double agents working for the enemy’s propaganda machine.

In the last two years since we have accepted the call to our current post as media coordinators at Nexus International and Wilderness Ministry Institute, I have often been asked, “What are you doing specifically to help spread the Gospel and bring people into the Kingdom? I believe the word scribe most apply illustrates the answer to that question.

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

I know that God will take care of us, but I would be remiss if I did not tell you about how lonely we sometimes feel in the task. We are praying that God will raise up a few more scribes to work with us in our small platoon called Nexus International and Wilderness Ministry Institute.

Ascribe Greatness!