Dear BAGBR Churches,  

Mark 8: 4 “….Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 

This is the great question that every missionary asks?  There were 4 K people which could have been the number of men only or a total, but either way—it was a desperate situation  in a desolate place.  The crowd had followed them for three days and all their personal supplies were consumed, and yet they continued following Jesus.  There was no access to food near enough for them to go and be resupplied with bread. 

Whenever someone is dispatched to the mission field—this is often the situation.  After people have spent all the supply of the world and religion, they are still left empty. Lostness is about deep emptiness and hopelessness. And although it may not be verbalized, it can be masked by outward religious activities and even entertainment. But, there remains in the heart the reality of undeniable hopelessness.  When doing missions there are few, if any, churches to help in the mission field with kingdom advancement—so in one real sense—it is a Desolate place. 

What is the missionary to do?  Notice what Jesus asked of them…and then what He told them?  What do you have?  Prepare the people by organizing them for a feeding.  What do we have? …The Gospel—and that is enough to address the desperation of everyone! What do we do? …Go to work with a sense of expectation (faith) believing He will do His work with what we have been given! Jesus gives thanks for the bread, breaks it, and starts giving it, and all they did was serve it.  The supply never ran out AND there were leftovers.  When we are sent, we are NOT empty handed! When we start we are NOT alone! When we serve our supply of bread, it  will NOT run out!

In  Christ,
Tommy Middleton

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