Salgado DR Mission Newsletter

Dear friends, mision partners, brothers and sisters in Christ,

Forgive the lengthiness of this month’s update. As we draw to the end of one year and enter another, we reflect on everything that we have experienced, the good and the bad and we feel compelled to take the time to express our gratitude to those who the Lord has used to provide for our family and every ministry need met. We are extremely grateful for each and every person who has taken time out to pray for this ministry, for the church, for our family. Especially those who take the time to personally reach out to us on occasion for much needed encouragement.  For every person who has donated any amount throughout the year. Thank you, we love and appreciate your love for the Lord and the desire to be involved in mission work.

Anyone who has followed us for any length of time has probably read in a newsletter, or a post on social media, or maybe has heard me in person speaking somewhere say that, “Those who pray for and give to missions play a role just as important as the missionary on the field.”  I say it often, especially when doing some speaking back home or talking missions with anyone. I say it a lot because we really believe that. The church or person who gives any amout faithfully over time, or the grandmother who wakes up early every morning to pray for the missionaries that she has pictures of or names of on her fridge. Both play a crucial role in this long term partnership in the Gospel we call mission work.

When it comes to funding a missionary, some would say very simply that if it’s God’s will He will provide, and they take the position of not seeking to share needs or raise money. They firmly believe that in this way they are truly trusting the Lord. That’s fine, if it is their conviction, and I believe that if it’s God’s will then He will provide too. But to leave it so simplistic would really be to miss something important on the other side of the same coin. Something clearly revealed in the Scriptures that should not be avoided. We understand and believe that God has ordained all things, absolutely. But He has also ordained the means by which to reach those ends. One confession puts it well when speaking on the decree of God. It says that: 

“God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree.   

And it wouldn’t take long reading through the epistles before you would start to notice a couple of things:

First, Paul absolutely depended on God and prayed expecting God to answer, and God often did. 

At the same time we see other examples of Paul making his needs known to the churches. He also expected the brethren to help him with his needs and the needs of others. Both are true and they go together.

Yes, at times he worked with his hands out of a conviction and even necessity. In Philippians he writes that at one time “in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.” (Philippians 4:15) This is incredibly astounding. Consider the great Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the gentiles, the great missionary. Now consider churches that he himself and perhaps others had planted, unwilling to give or help Paul so that the Gospel may go forth in other places?! If we lost all of our support, and only one (fairly young) church supported us, we would have to do the same. We too have had to do a little tent making  as of late until we acquire some new mission partners to help ease the burden of new needs and to prepare for future plans we have. But that hasn´t always been the case.

One realistic downside of bivocational missionaries to consider, is that it is easy to become overloaded and overwhelmed, and hence comes the possibility of becoming less effective and their longevity on the field may then soon be in play. Unless somehow, they had established in the past a business, or a high paying career before they moved to a foreign mission field, and they were able to somehow keep it going and make money for their family and ministry without sacrificing all of their time. But those are exceptions, and often bivocational missionaries usually end up spending less time working for the Lord (of course everything we do is unto the Lord, but I mean specifically mission work and ministry here) and more time working just to survive and make ends meet. 

And as the Lord opens more doors, it also comes with more expenses and needs. In the past we taught English at another school free of charge for almost two years. We still even recently have helped that school. But there are seasons of life and ministry when you just do what you gotta do. So we are teaching at another school now. We are willing to do it and even enjoy it in many ways. Sure it is a blessing and the opportunities to share the Gospel are many. But, add a wife and children in that mix of a very demanding work load, both in ministry and secular work, and you will eventually have a recipe for burnout. Especially on the field where the needs are often much greater when working with the poor, and people aren´t so individualistic and private, but need and desire much more attention and time spent together with them. Often needing more time and resources than you have available, and need more than most Americansdo. It is this way with ministry in many other cultures, it’s just different. And if we are honest, most people culturally as Americans just like thier privacy and in general are better off financially. And that’s ok. I say this to mean that just because something is common and or easily done in the States, it doesn’t mean it will be so in a different setting. And though bivocational ministry is always difficult, it proves to be even moreso where the people are poor, often sick and less educated. In those situations, things usually take much more time, energy and money.

But why do some missionaries seem to always need money? Well, first we would certainly agree that the most loving thing we can do for a person is to share the Gospel with them and point them to Christ. To this we say yes and amen. Yet at the same time, it would very unloving to preach the Gospel and ignore someones obvious urgent, basic needs, especially if we were in any position to help them. Of course we cannot help everyone, and the “poor will always be with us.” But this is no excuse for not being as generous as possible and we must remember that we were saved not just from something, but also for somethings, 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Time and time again we see in Scripture the duty of the believer to compassionate, merciful and generous as we saw exemplified in the life of our Lord and the Apostles and the early church. When the other Apsotles extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas as they were getting ready to go off to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples of the gentiles, they reminded Paul of something that was important to them beacuse it was important to God..

“Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”  Galatians 2:10 

In the book “Controversies in Missions,” a compilation of essays written on various controversial topics in missions, a chapter on Carl F. H. Henry’s regenerational model puts it this way:

“The particular eloquence of Henry’s position is this: one need not deny the important biblical commands regarding social justice in order to arrive at prioritism (the Gospel proclamation is the priority), and the way one does this is by understanding the full weight of the doctrine of revelation within Christian theology. When this is done, it becomes clear that there is a direct correlation between the doctrine of revelation and the priority of proclamation. However, such a prioritist position by no means renders what the Bible says about social justice as irrelevant or unimportant. In fact, the opposite is true. A high view of the doctrine of revelation, especially concerning Scripture, also gives rise to a robust social concern because the moral imperatives for God’s people are divinely revealed.”

This is in no way a “social gospel” as some understand it. But rather biblical ministry centered on God’s revelation and the ethical demmands put on those who are transformed by the very same Gospel proclamation. The latter (compassionate generosity) actually gives evidence to and establishes that the first and main thing, (Gospel proclamation and salvation) actually took place to begin with. One is a priority, yet both are necessary and biblical. The author offers a very helpful illustration from every day life to help us understand how both are necessary, while rightly keeping the main thing, namely Gospel proclamation, the main thing. 

“I might say that I am going to go to the bank to make a deposit and then to the post office to mail some bills. I furthermore declare that the bank is my top priority because if I do not deposit my paycheck, then the bills cannot be paid. Clearly, one has here a case of priority in which both things remain necessary. I still must deposit my check and I still must pay my bills. Yet one of these takes priority because the second thing depends on the first thing having taken place. It is the same with evangelism and social concern. The gospel must first be preached before converts can be discipled and, indeed, the content of Christian discipleship remains mired in obscurity apart from the proclamational foundations of the apostles and prophets, which is divine revelation. Thus, the logical priority of evangelism does not render compassion as optional. It simply affirms the ultimate place of Scripture and the unequivocal role given to proclamation in the life of the church.”

Consider this text in James:

“If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.” James 2:15-17

But now back to my first point on the funding necessary in order to do both of these things:

So we have the Apostle Paul, who was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write and explain the mysteries of God being revealed, praying to the Sovereign Lord, and at the same time He makes his needs known to the churches and seemingly expected them to meet those needs. We see true dependence on God through prayer, AND communicating to the churches his own needs and the needs of others. Why? Because He understood that the means to reach the goal of the church, IS the church. Specifically, the emphasis in the NT is overwhelmingly on the local churches. 

God´s people have a mission, to go and make disciples of all nations, baptize and to teach all that Christ has commanded. God´s people also have the real responsibility to be intentional in going, sending, praying for and providing for that mission and showing mercy and compassion to others in the process. There are ethical demmands that are put upon the beliver through the commands in the NT. It´s not rocket science, but for some at least, its hard to stay balanced. Many people error and fall off of one side of the horse or the other. It just isn’t as black and white as some would like. We live in a tension in this area. Consider the beautiful mystery of God’s Sovereignty and the will and responsibility that man has. His decrees and His means to reach His intended purpose.

Who´s mission is it?   God´s. 

Who has He commanded to fulfill the mission?   God´s people. 

Who´s doing the calling?   God. 

Who´s Word are we preaching and teaching?   God´s. 

Who did He choose and inspire to write and preserve it? God´s people.

Who is the one preaching and teaching?   God´s pèople. 

Who is forgiving sins and doing the saving?   God. 

Who is being saved and who is He using to proclaim the Gospel?   God´s people.

Who is opening the minds of people, illuminating them to understand the Scriptures? God is. 

Who does He use to do this?   God´s people. 

To Whom belongs the cattle on a thousand hills (and everything else in the universe)?   To God. 

Who is doing the praying and who is doing the providing?   God´s people.

Who has He entrusted precious resources to, to be used for His glory?   God´s people.

At the same time, who is really doing the providing and Sovereignly answering specific individual prayers of provision for His people who are doing His will on His mission? God is.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point by now. His plans will be accomplished and cannot be thwarted, no doubt about that. But He has revealed and commanded how it is to be done as well. And we are very much responsible for being about the will of God in the work of the church. He will do it, and He will do it through His people. Paul knew this. But many who lean too much in either direction fall into error and become unbalanced, inconsistent or worse, unbiblical.

To deny the real responsibility we have before Him would be somewhat foolish and would require the systematic focusing on some particular texts of Scripture, while at the same time ignoring of a lot of other texts. Or putting Scripture against Scripture versus putting the two things together. It would be akin to an error as in saying, God will provide for me but I refuse to work. Or that God will cause me grow in knowledge but I refuse to read or study. For the above mentioned reasons, we have come to the understanding that it is ok to ask for help and make needs known for us and for others. We simply say “these are the needs, pray about helping.” If the Lord puts in someone the desire to help, then praise the Lord! We have examples of it in the Scriptures and we simply accept it and live in the tension between the Sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. There is no need to even try to reconcile the two, we see both in the Bible and they do not oppose eachother in any way.

Why even address this? I feel the need to expalian this mainly because of our critics, who themselves are of an extreme position and choose not to communicate or share needs out of their conviction. Unfortunately, the same often suffer need more frequently and unnecessarily. God has blessed and given the specific gift of helping/giving to some. (1 Cor. 12:28)  People who desire to see the Gospel taken forth and to help the poor and others. There are people and churches somwhere, right now praying about which mission to give to. We could testify time and time again about how the Lord in His providence would bring such people across our path through their own prayers in seeking who to help, while at the same time answering our specific prayers for provision. Many of who we have never even met or had any prior contact or relationship with! The Lord really has provided and answered an innumerable amount of prayers like these. And He always did so through His people, whether a church as a whole or through individual brothers and sisters.

Having said all of that, we are extremely grateful to God and to our mission partners who pray for us and support us. Especially those who have done so faithfully over time. Without your prayers and donations we just wouldn’t be able to do what we do for as long as we have done it. That’s a fact. Thank you and God bless you.

There really is so much more I can say on the topic, but I will leave it there for now. 

But in other news:

Nito seems to be better and is much more active now, but still experiences ocasional headaches and dizziness. The doctor has been unavailable for a few days but the results of the holter are ready and we should have another appointment very soon. We will update soon after we have that apppointment and know more. Pray for Nito.

Since we were unable to have the surgery done for Yeison’s legs over the Christmas break, the surgery has been pushed back to the Summer because of school. He will need casts on both legs for a little while and need more therapy afterwards. The summer is the best time to take care of that. We have already done all the tests that the doctor who will perform the surgery requested. Perhaps one or two may have to be done again due to the time that will pass from now until then, but this should not be a problem. Everything else is in order. Pray for Yeison.

We brought in the new year as we usually do here, with a fellowship meal with the church in Hato Mayor followed by worship and a message. It was a wonderful time.

Pray for me as I have several things on my plate these days. Lord willing, I will be in Haiti again in the next couple of days. I will be meeting with Leonel and others, do some teaching and to take some food and clothes to some of the brethren from the market there on the border. The plans to help teach and prepare men from a few local churches we are partnering with there continue. 

At the end of the month we have a brother coming (Pastor Stephen Atkerson) to teach for a conference on early church practice. He has come in the past and has taught all over the world, literally. and the teaching on early church practice are a tremendous blessing to the church. I have slowly been translating his book on the topic with another brother helping in the editing process. Lord willing the first chapter will be done and printed to distribute during the conference as a small introduction on the topic. 

A few months ago I was approached by a theological magazine that is now available all over Latin America to be the editor of the missions section of the work. This month my first article on the need for Latin American countries to train and send out more missionaries was published in the magazine. I am the only editor that doesn’t have a doctorate on the team and have no idea why they sought me out, but a brother who is a seminary president, a pastor, author and the general editor of the work contacted me himself and well, here we are.  They like my Spanish to English translations as well. To God be the glory.

I was also recently approached by a small Bible institue ran out of a local church that we fellowship with to begin teaching as one of the professors. I like the idea that it is a ministry of the local church and the pastor and I are good friends as well. It looks like I will be teaching hermeneutics beginning in March. Please pray for me. These projects mentioned that we collaborate with others on are completely labors of love. To God be the glory.

Please keep all of these things in prayer. Our family, the needs, the church and for the strength and grace to persevere through the many difficult moments of life and ministry, and above all for God to be glorified in this new year. Thank you and God bless.

If the Lord so lays on your heart to give back to Him by supporting this ministry,  you can send your tax deductible gift to:

CENTRAL MISSIONARY CLEARINGHOUSE
P.O. Box 219228
Houston, Texas 77218-9228
1-800-CMC-PRAY (1-800-262-7729)
Office: 281-599-7411
Fax: 281-599-7511

CMC (who receives funds for us) serves hundreds of missionaries, but they ONLY receive the funds for us and in no way have control over how the funds are to be spent or what we are to do as a ministry, which gives room to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and the liberty in making needed adjustments for emergencies and priorities. This is one of the reasons why we went with CMC. There are also three trusted pastors which sit as our mission board.

You may begin sending your support to the Salgado DR Mission at any time at the address above. (Checks should be made payable to Central Missionary Clearinghouse or C.M.C.) But please include a note on a separate piece of paper that says Antonio and Christen Salgado / Dominican Republic.

You can also  give to the ministry here in the DR online through “click and give” at the CMC website.

You can also donate to this ministry online with Paypal. Click the donate button below and you can send support of any amount directly to the ministry. You can choose the option of doing a one-time donation and this is the fastest option to get funds to us.

Unfortunately through Paypal we are not set up for receiving recurring donations at this time. But the other online giving option above does the recurring monthly donation option. Simply register one time and that’s it.

For tax exemption, you must send your donation through Central Missionary Clearinghouse (CMC) at the address above.

We do not use a sending agency that gets a percentage of the money donated, so you can be sure that your gift goes directly to the mission field.

Whatever you decide, thank you so much for praying for us and helping this ministry. God Bless You!

Salgado DR Mission newsletter

Dear mission partners, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ,

As I write this we are still in the States. We have been here about three weeks now spending time with family. This trip has been very different from our trips in the past. Although we don’t come home very often, we do try to stay a bit longer than a month. For Maya and “little” Tony (who is bigger than me now) and myself, it has been almost two years since our last visit. I hoped to speak a little if possible and visit with some supporters and churches, but this trip was not planned for very long and the purpose of this trip was, sadly, to see and spend time with those loved ones who may not be with us for very much longer. I have only had the time to speak at two churches this whole month. One church close to home in Florida, and one in Louisiana. But we want to be close to the family as much as possible.

This trip was put together rather quickly due to the declining health of Christen’s father who has Alzheimer’s and is in a home. Thankfully, we have been able to check him out and bring him to the house we are staying in for days at a time for some much needed time together. But it has really been an emotionally difficult trip for all of us, especially for my wife.

Prayers are very appreciated for her, her father (Edward) and the family. My mother (Clorinda) has been in and out of the hospital with several health issues over the last few months with her health on the decline as well. Our time here has been spent traveling back and forth between Ocala and Tampa trying our best to prioritize who we can visit with and for how long, but it has proven to be very hard. Please pray.

The reality of being here for these reasons, on top of having to be away from Sahira and Yeison for this long has been very hard on us all. Yeison told us yesterday he packed his bag and was ready to get on an airplane to come to us. He doesn’t understand why he can’t come with us and this has been heartbreaking for everybody. Being between two worlds, feeling pulled and stretched in both directions in every way imaginable is not easy, but is just a reality of missionary life. Emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally we are challenged all the time with tough decisions to make. I find myself constantly crying out to God for wisdom with feelings of helplessness and inadequacy. At times we feel like we don’t belong anywhere.

It will be seven years in August, in a different cultural context, and it will take a toll on anyone and certainly change you in many ways. Feeling too American to be Dominican, feeling too different to be comfortable back in an America at times, especially with the rapid pace of change for the worst here. You can probably imagine the confusion and strange emotions we deal with sometimes, especially the children. Praise God that we find our true identity ultimately in Christ and we understand we really are pilgrims and strangers in this or any land for that matter, even the land we were born in.

This helps us not to get too attached to places or things anywhere, but it’s never easy and very few people back home understand. Even well meaning  brothers and sisters who don’t know about life outside of their own context, or don’t have experience overseas or counseling missionaries, can fall short of giving us the counsel and encouragement we often need. Of course, any peace or comfort that we feel comes from Christ and the Spirit, reminding us and confirming God’s promises in the Scriptures. I thank God for His living Word. But humanly speaking, nothing seems simple and things are much easier said than done. It is God Himself who wills this so as to have us depend completely upon Him. This is when the rubber meets the road and we must surrender and simply have an attitude of the heart of “may Your will be done and not ours oh Lord”.

In a great article about the challenges of cross cultural church planting written by Jen Oshem, she describes just a few of the many challenges faced by those in situations similar to ours.

She is right on when she describes the following difficulties for families serving cross-culturally:

1. Traversing two or more cultures can prevent children from having a strong sense of identity and belonging. Also, the endless goodbyes with other expat families or with locals when the church planting family relocates can lead to loneliness and unprocessed grief.

2. Being immersed in a highly secular setting can have a greater influence on a child than their parents’ Christian influence. Kids might be exposed too early—and too often—to the realities of violence, poverty, sex trafficking, corruption, drugs and alcohol, and other dark, worldly trappings.

3. Physical health may suffer, as access to good healthcare may be nonexistent or far away. Everything from a middle-of-the-night fever to scoliosis can morph into a major, life-altering crisis.

4. Kids raised outside of their home countries don’t get to know their cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, or the neighborhoods their parents grew up in. They face significant gaps in knowing about their home culture’s norms (going “home” sure doesn’t feel like it) and everyone misses out on the support of extended family in the formative years.

5. Education is a constant concern. Learning in two languages is tough, not to mention dealing with special needs, keeping up with home country requirements, and navigating classmates’ and teachers’ expectations in a foreign country.

6. While everyone says, “Kids are so resilient,” the truth is they probably just don’t have the words to express the grief they feel in living through upheaval and uncertainty. Chances are their emotions are stuffed and saved for later. Many cross-cultural kids experience a season of processing trauma as young adults.

Even with the challenges faced, there is nothing else we would rather do. There is no other way we would rather spend our lives than to pour it forth in service for the glory of God. As we look beyond the trials and difficult moments, it is worth it. It is working in us an eternal weight of glory that greatly out measures any light momentary affliction we may face in this lifetime. And in comparison, as we consider eternity, yes it is light.

Although sometimes, it may not feel that way in the moment. Humanly speaking, is it hard? Yes. Are there moments when you want to throw in the towel and retreat? Yes. But, it is still so worth it. And the day we see our Savior face to face we will understand and even be thankful for those trials that formed us, grew us and forced us closer to Christ. We will understand and we will worship as He wipes away all of our tears, and we will finally be free from the presence of sin and suffering. Pray.

LA CENTRALIDAD DE CRISTO EN TODAS LAS COSAS

“Entonces él les dijo: —¡Insensatos y tardos de corazón para creer todo lo que los profetas han dicho! ¿No era necesario que el Cristo padeciera estas cosas y que entrara en su gloria? Y comenzando desde Moisés y siguiendo por todos los profetas, les declaraba en todas las Escrituras lo que de él decían.”

“porque si creyerais a Moisés, me creeríais a mí, porque de mí escribió él.”

Por que Cristocentrico? Hay mucho en las redes sociales entre los cristianos que usan este termino, muchos libros, sermones,  canciones. Pero que significa y exactamente, y porque se usa? Por que tanta enfasis? Tal vez la pregunta mas importante será,es bíblico darle tanta enfasis a la persona y obra de Cristo? Este tema es uno cual es simple pero a la vez muy profundo y tiene que ver con la teología del “cumplimiento” y es un tema que el mismo Antiguo Testamento da prioridad. Es el mensaje que Juan el Bautista predicó,Jesus y los apostoles predicaron, y es el tema que llega al mismo corazon del evangelio.

El Apostol Pablo declaro que Jesus vino cuando el tiempo fue cumplido. Por lo menos esto implica que hubo un tiempo de preparación. Preparación de algo grande anticipado. En el plan de Dios progresivo, todo de lo que había sucedido tenía su proposito y meta de señalar hacia, y exaltar a Cristo. La era de Moises puntaba a este momento de cumplimiento y dio enfasis a ese momento venidero. El envío del Hijo de Dios indicaba la culminación de ese tiempo. Hasta este punto en la historia, esto había sido la meta de TODO que había sucedido en el pasado. Hablando de las promesas de Dios, todos eran de, y son para Cristo.

El Señor prometió en varias ocasiones un Redentor, Salvador, el Mesias, el mejor y mayor profeta y dador de ley. Todos los tipos y sombras en el Antiguo Testamento eran solo sombras De el que ha de venir.  Se puede decir que nunca ha existido un verdadero rey, un verdadero,  profeta,un verdadero juez, un verdadero maestro. Por que en un sentido todos del pasado eran nada mas que sombras del Verdadero, el Señor Jesucristo!

Desde Genesis a Malaqúias hay algunos 353 profecias acerca de Cristo cumplidas en el Nuevo Testamento!

La Biblia fue escrita y preservada para nosotros, pero no es acerca de nosotros, las Escrituras dan testimonio de Cristo! Todas las promesas son a Él, a Cristo, y somos herederos de esas promesas por fe en Él.

“porque todas las promesas de Dios son en él «sí», y en él «Amén», por medio de nosotros, para la gloria de Dios.”

Agustín es que está acreditado con decir, “el antiguo está en el nuevo revelado, y el nuevo está en el antiguo ocultado”.

Desde Genesis vemos en el ‘protoevangelio”, la primera promesa de redención, que se cumplio en la cruz.

“Pondré enemistad entre ti y la mujer, y entre tu simiente y la simiente suya; ésta te herirá en la cabeza, y tú la herirás en el talón.”

En Deutoronomio vemos la promesa de un profeta como Moises… Pero mejor, mayor.

“»Un profeta como yo te levantará Jehová, tu Dios, de en medio de ti, de tus hermanos; a él oiréis.” Deuteronomio‬  18:15

En el Nuevo vemos El Padre decir lo mismo de una nube de gloria en la transfiguración.

“Y se les aparecieron Moisés y Elías, que hablaban con él. Entonces Pedro dijo a Jesús: «Señor, bueno es para nosotros que estemos aquí; si quieres, haremos aquí tres enramadas: una para ti, otra para Moisés y otra para Elías.» Mientras él aún hablaba, una nube de luz los cubrió y se oyó una voz desde la nube, que decía: «Éste es mi Hijo amado, en quien tengo complacencia; a él oíd.» Al oír esto, los discípulos se postraron sobre sus rostros y sintieron gran temor. Entonces Jesús se acercó y los tocó, y dijo: «Levantaos y no temáis.» Cuando ellos alzaron los ojos, no vieron a nadie, sino a Jesús solo.”

Moises y Elias, quienes siempre han representado a la ley y los profetas, en este instante muy significante, desaparecen y el texto dice que alzaron los ojos, y no vieron a nadie, sino a Jesus solo! ¡A él oíd! Esto es el mensaje de la Biblia. Jesus es el verdadero Profeta, el verdadero, Rey, el verdadero Maestro, el verdadero Juez, el Sumosacerdote de el mejor y nuevo pacto basado en mejores promesas, y el verdadero y mayor dador de la ley, Su ley, ¡la ley de Cristo!

Todo punta a Cristo, los sacrificios, el templo, el tabernaculo, el Sabado, y podemos escribir ejemplos inumerables de los tipos y sombras de Cristo en el Antiguo Testamento. Pero el Nuevo lo declara con mas claridad.

Cristo está-

“sobre todo principado y autoridad, poder y señorío, y sobre todo nombre que se nombra, no solo en este siglo, sino también en el venidero.”

Cristo es-

“Él, que es el resplandor de su (Dios) gloria, la imagen misma de su sustancia y quien sustenta todas las cosas con la palabra de su poder…”

¡Es Cristo que sustiene todo en la creación!

En Cristo-

fueron creadas todas las cosas, las que hay en los cielos y las que hay en la tierra, visibles e invisibles; sean tronos, sean dominios, sean principados, sean potestades; todo fue creado por medio de él y para él. Y él es antes que todas las cosas, y todas las cosas en él subsisten.”

Todas las cosas por medio de él fueron hechas, y sin él nada de lo que ha sido hecho fue hecho.”  San Juan‬

¡Cristo es todo! Y en la infinita sabiduria de Dios el Padre, el lo decretó asi y El Espiritú lo glorifica y nos guia hacia Él.

Como critianos, debemos tambien ser Cristocentricos por queCristo es el centro y en la Palabra de Dios es asi.  Y si Cristo es el centro de la Biblia (Y el universo) entonces debe ser el centro de nuestras vidas tambien. Nuestra nueva identidad está en él y en todo momento debemos adorar y dar gracias que por fe, y con un corazon humilde podemos acercarnos a este Rey de Reyes y Señor de Señores a quien merece toda honra y gloria y poder por los siglos de los siglos amen.

El gran misterio en todo esto es esta hermosa verdad:

Pero Dios demuestra su amor para con nosotros, en que siendo aún pecadores, Cristo murió por nosotros.Romanso 5:8

Arrepientate de tu pecado y de confiar en ti mismo.  Venga a Cristo, crea en Cristo, confia en Cristo.  Tendras paz para con Dios, perdon de tus pecados,  descanso para tu alma. Centre su vida en Cristo, porque él verdaderamente es el centro de todas las cosas.

 

Antonio Salgado Jr.

Fundador de Sociedad Misionera Cristiano Bíblico,

Salgado DR Mission Newsletter

Dear mission partners, friends, brothers and sisters in Christ,

This month we a wonderful update and praise report. Thank you to all who joined us in prayer for this. The Lord has truly heard our prayers.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. – Luke 18:1

For years my wife wanted another child, but I did not. My wife prayed for one and for me and the Lord changed my heart. We tried for years to have another child but were not able to. We continued to pray. One day out in the campo, God brought across our path a sick, weak, and injured little three month old boy. His mother was an extremely poor and mentally handicapped young lady who was the victim of a rape. Her own mother allowed her to be prostituted and sexually abused by men. This baby was malnutritioned, dehydrated had some physical problems in his neck, face and feet, including possible neurological damage from being dropped on his head on a cement floor at only ten days old. He was in bad shape and basically slowly dying.

We took him to a hospital to be treated and planned to have him checked out and help nurse him back to health. The family decided the child would be better off with us and would probably just die if left with the mother. We came home with him that night with mixed feelings. We found ourselves just staring at his little disfigured face and weak frame wondering if this was God answering a long time prayer of ours. Christen and I then put our hands on this child and prayed over him asking God to bless him, strengthen him, and allow us to care for him.

Shortly after we took him to the government agency here that oversees adoptions. We didnt know anything and were wondering what to do next. They asked us many questions, told us we would never be able to keep the child and even threatened to take him from us. By God’s grace one woman in charge allowed us to leave with him that day. They said it would be impossible.

We continued to care for him. Our children accepted him as their sibling and we quickly fell in love with Yeison. We saw him quickly become strong and active, though we still worried about him because of his mother’s condition and his head injury as a new born. Time passed but we didn’t find anyone who could help us. We continued to pray.

A few months ago we had a glimmer of hope hearing of other missionaries who successfully obtained custody or even were in an adoption process. We were told this was near impossible. We finally began learning more about the system, the process and the laws. A few months ago by the grace of God, we were finally able to get him a birth certificate. Before that, he basically didn’t exist. We learned a little more and eventually tried to get legal custody on our own with his mother present and a letter from a psychiatrist proving her inability to care for the child. Again they told us no, we would not be able to have him as our own. Even with the horrible conditions where he was born, the authorities argued he was better off with the mother (she could not care for herself or provide for him), than with a family that loved him, provided for him and has been raising him for three years.

We were very torn and grieved at how this could be possible. Doubts and questions swarmed our minds. Was this the Lord’s will? We began to pray even more for him and the situation. Shortly after we met a lawyer who agreed to help us and things started looking up. We were very nervous about everything being rejected and told bad news over and over. The process has been long and difficult. Misplaced documents, legalize this, get a seal on this, pay a tax on that. Go to this place and another and another with many appointments and meetings, sometimes for nothing and to make no progress at all.

We finally seemed to be getting somewhere a few weeks ago. We would pick up and drop off his biological mother during his whole process. Lots of trips, lots of frustrations and lots of disappointments along the way. Today we finally were interviewed by a very intimidating judge. She was short with us, very serious, and had us nervous. We had prayed before getting out of the car and before going in. When suddenly towards the end of a very long interview and nerve racking interview, her countenance seemed to soften and her tone was changing. She said she wants to send a social worker to where his mother lives and then to our home where the child now lives. But before ending the meeting, after years of praying and tears we heard what seemed to be the most comforting news we had heard in a long time. We had been told it would be impossible. We were told to give up, it wouldn’t happen. But we prayed and prayed and trusted the Lord.

Just a couple of days ago that same judge told us that SHE WILL BE GRANTING US LEGAL CUSTODY of this special little boy. Our hearts lept with joy and praises to the Lord!

He is a living miracle, he is a testimony to God’s faithfulness, and the Lord has taught our family so much through him and on this journey. He is a constant reminder of God’s grace given to us as His adopted children.

This is our story. The little boy’s name is Yeison. He is our son.

Our God is Good and Mighty and Faithful and True. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Pray.

 

In service to our King,

Antonio Salgado Jr.

Salgado DR Mission

 

…to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.- Ephesians 3:21