Chris & Sherry Waye

Reaching. Training. Planting.

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Living in the Shadows

June 18, 2016 by chriswaye 1 Comment

“I defy the Pope and all his laws! If God spares my life for many years, I will cause a boy that drives the plough to know more of the Scripture than he does!”

It was in the 16th century that the great preacher from England, William Tyndale, would make this bold proclamation. At the time, no english translation of the Bible was widely available, and only a select few had it’s latin translation making Scriptures virtually unknown to the common man. It was his deep passion to make the new testament available and readable to every man, woman, boy, and girl in Britain. Tyndale would succeed in his efforts, although not without great cost; that price tag being his own life.

William Tyndale, like other great heroes of the faith, are common names in the Christian world. Many a man has devoted his life’s work to the cause of Christ and making His name known among the nations, but in every case there is much more working being done behind the scenes that goes often unnoticed.

Humphrey Monmouth. To you, this name probably means very little, if anything at all. In fact, it was only just a year or so ago that I heard this name for the first time while stumbling into an old church in London, so you are not alone. Monmouth was a wealthy cloth merchant businessman on London’s eastside. It was in the spring of 1523 that Monmouth would attend the St. Dunstan-in-the-West church in London. It just happened to be the very day that a passionate but underfunded William Tyndale would be speaking.

Monmouth would later meet with Tyndale privately and was deeply moved by his ambitions to put the Bible in that hands of every Englishman. Knowing the great risks involved both financially and to the peril of his own life, Monmouth took Tyndale into his home and used his assets to help move Tyndale and his work to mainland Europe. It would be in his own boats that he would smuggle the first new testaments across the English Chanel, later being arrested, and imprisoned for well over a year. He would give the jumpstart that Tyndale needed and be a major part of getting the english Bible into Britain.

William Tyndale would see his work finished before being caught, tried, and executed for heresy and treason Oct 6, 1536. His last words were “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes”. Just three years later, his wish was granted with the publication of King Henry VIII’s 1539 English “Great Bible”.

Had it not been for a businessman with a heart for God, willing to “live in the shadows” for the cause of Christ, and help carry out one mans dream, we certainly would have a different history to read. The truth is, most of us will live, die, and be forgotten. Most of us will not have lasting ministries that mark the pages of history, but will live in the shadows as Humprey Monmoth did. The real question is, what will we do with the life that we have been given? What opportunities will we cease for the Kingdom? Who’s work will we get behind and make a success?

John 3:30 says “He must increase, but I must decrease”. No truer words could be spoken of what our life’s priority must be about. Would we allow ourselves to be used of God, with the gifts, strengths, talents, finances, opportunities that He has given us, so that He might increase in this world. Do we have to be Paul, or can we be Barnabas? Do we have to be Tyndale or are we happy enough being Monmouth? Do we have to be in the spotlight, or can we give ourselves to God and allow Him to use in whether seen or unseen?

Perhaps there is a ministry in your church that, though unseen and unheard, you could fill. What can you do to allow your pastor to better fulfill his calling in shepherding the flock? Where can you plug in and help lighten the load, jumpstart a ministry, support and encourage a missionary? The possibilities are near endless if we will die to ourselves, our dreams, our pride, our ego, and look to build the name of the Lord, and not our own.

Filed Under: MailChimp Tagged With: Missions

Praising God for His Work & Planning for the Future

June 14, 2016 by chriswaye 2 Comments

When we landed in London in February of 2014, we had great expectations of what God would do in us and through us. We know that anything that we have and will accomplish in the world of church planting will not be done in our strength, but in the power of the great God who sent us there. Not long after landing, we began work with our co-laborers Travis and Teri Snode in the planting of a new church in SE London. In August of that year, after holding Bible studies for several months prior, we launched the Downham Baptist Church. Hundreds of hours of planning and work went into the launch of the church, and countless more since it’s start. It’s been nearly two years since then and we are excited to see how the church has continued to grow! 

Though our furlough has just begun, we very much look forward to our return to London where we will begin work on another church plant. London is filled with pockets of areas that are without a solid Bible preaching church. With the rise of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the ever decreasing belief in a God at all, there is no better time than now to plant a church in London!

We have a great desire to see a church planted in one of the more international parts of the city. The boroughs in the eastern part of the city are made up of a largely international population, many of whom have immigrated from places with very little gospel access. Our time spent working among a primarily Buddhist people group this past year will greatly help us understand the hearts and minds of those we seeek to reach in this particular area of the city. 

With Downham Baptist, we were able to acquire and old and unused church building from the London City Mission. It has been a huge blessing for the church as a meeting place. Finding suitable and affording facilities for a church plant are, among many other things, one of the major difficulties in church planting in London.

Still, there are several old and unused church buildings that are scattered across the city and the country. We have been in contact with another pastor in London that is helping us to possibly get into one of these unused buildings. We ask for your prayers that God would give us wisdom and direction in the exact location that He would want us to plant in.

Meeting places, however, are just one small objective when it comes to church planting. We are asking God to raise up laborers, and send us those that we might train for ministry. We desire to see men and women transformed by the power of the gospel and ready to make disciples of Christ. It will only be through this muliplication process that a city such as London will ever be reached. We are praying for men that we might one day see as pastors in what are now empty shells of old church buildings. 

Please continue to pray for Downham Baptist, our co-laborers Travis and Teri Snode, and for us as we make plans to plant a new church in the very needy city of London.

Filed Under: MailChimp, Missions, UK

I Will Trust the Lord

May 25, 2016 by chriswaye 5 Comments

To help collect her thoughts during a very emotional time, Sherry wrote this earlier in the week while we were with Lawson in the hospital. I am very proud of her, and often challenged by her faith. I share this with you so that it might encourage someone else as it has encouraged me.

Throughout my Christian life I can look back and see how God has built and strengthened my faith in Him little by little and step by step. For me this building has been so gentle. The most painful period of growth of faith for me has been this last year. I have seen my faith tried. I have tried to depend on myself and my wisdom (or lack of it) and what I could control. In this I have failed. I have been humbled and found that only trusting Christ with my life can give peace. I am so thankful for the sweetness of trusting Christ with my future.

But I have recently not been able to shake the thought that I was so thankful that my faith had never been tried in the area of my children. I am ashamed to admit that the thought has been in my mind that I can trust you with almost everything God, but I don’t think I could trust you if it meant facing the loss of a child or watching them suffer. This is the most painful fear that this momma’s heart could possibly imagine and I just felt like there is no way I am strong enough for that.

Saturday afternoon, as I watched my oldest son have his first epileptic seizure, I thought I was watching him die. I now know after being better educated about seizures that it was not as serious as what I thought I was seeing, but at the time I thought that my strong, smart, healthy, boy was gone and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. He remained unconscious for twenty minutes after the seizure and I begged God to let him wake up again. Even as I prayed I didn’t believe that God would do it. Not that I didn’t believe he could do it, I just thought that I was so unworthy of his mercy that He wouldn’t. The fear of those 25 or so minutes was the greatest that I have ever known.

I forgot in that time of fear and panic that God has never shown me his grace and mercy because I deserved it. God didn’t save me for all eternity because I earned it. He hasn’t lovingly led me for all of my Christian life because of something good in me. He hasn’t allowed me to serve him because of anything that I am.

God is good because He is good. He shows me mercy because He loves me. I can trust him with my eternity and with this temporary life on earth because He is worthy.

I now know that my son is going to be ok. Epilepsy is scary because there are so many unknowns. But the future is unknown to each of my children, my husband, and every other person on this earth. Only God knows his plans for my son and for any of us. I can trust God with him the same today as I could before these seizures.

I never thought that I would praise the Lord for allowing me to experience what I did this weekend. But I do. Do I want to ever see my son like that again? NO! If and when it happens again will I be afraid? Absolutely! But I am so thankful for the chance to know God’s peace in a time like this. I am so grateful to have this area of my faith strengthened in ways I never imagined it could be.

As I am in the hospital for the last night watching my boy as he has just fallen asleep, the fear of another seizure is fresh on my mind. But I will trust the Lord with him tonight. I know that so many parents have been through so much worse than this. I am so humbled that the Lord is so gentle in growing my faith.

Filed Under: Family, MailChimp

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