Remembering the Victories
As a sport fan, I can tell you the nightmare of my favorite pro football team entering a game as a heavy favorite and departing the field of battle in agonizing and humiliating defeat. I purpose NOT to go there again but instead to remember fondly the games when my team was on the other side of the conflict with the odds stacked against them. I smile with glee remembering the championships won! Yes, the sweet glow of victory! We are the champions!
Last year, I stood in the Elah Valley, the very location where scholars believe that David battled Goliath. I remembered that this amazing story captivated me as a child in Sunday School. David versus Goliath. The match for the ages! The undefeatable champion versus the novice who seemingly lacked experience and ability. Standing at a brook, possibly the very brook where David chose five smooth stones, I began to chuckle to myself as I reminisced again, but this time about how I played Goliath to each of my three sons who were eager to portray David in our living room.
In 1 Samuel 17, we learn of nine actions that David took in effort to defeat Goliath. I will not take the time here to list them except to highlight what he did as recorded in verses 34-37. David remembered the victories of the past to encourage and convince King Saul that he was capable to defeat the giant. “‘The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” I love how God had prepared David, how David gave God the credit, and how he thrived with a God-given confidence.
This month, the Network211 team paused to remember the victories of the past given to us by God! We give Him the glory! We move forward in a God-given confidence that He will empower us to do even greater things in effort to obey the Great Commission. There are two victories that I will highlight.
First, on October 15, 2008 Network211 launched www.JourneyAnswers.comwith the intent of presenting the Gospel to ten million people. Project 10Million seemed like a very audacious goal but we pressed forward, asking the Lord to empower and to intervene. We were a small number of missionaries who knew the message but who were learning the Internet. We had the faith to believe that Project 10Million would be completed in ten years. But, the Lord accomplished this for us in five years. On October 14, 2013, just thirty minutes before the calendar would turn the page to October 15, Network211 made its ten millionth Gospel presentation. Project 10Million expanded then to become Project 100Million.
It is with your partnership that Network211 has presented the Gospel to over 37.9 million individuals with over 1.8 million of them making an evangelism response and over 313,000 making a discipleship connection.
Second, on October 15, 2016 Network211 launched www.TheWarriorsJourney.org (TWJ) with an inaugural banquet in Dallas, TX. The intent was to take all that we learned at Network211 and apply it to a specific “targeted” audience; in this case, the military community. We created TWJ to empower them with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ so that they would be equipped to navigate the issues of life with resiliency. TWJ is growing in what it has to offer and in influence with the military community.
It is with your partnership that Network211’s The Warrior’s Journey has presented the Gospel to over 500,000 individuals in the military community and seen over 21,000 people make an evangelism response. To date, sixty veterans contacted TWJ who had suicidal ideations, we praise the Lord that all of them are alive today as they found Jesus and answers to their life dilemmas.
These victories inspire us to see the fulfillment of Project 100Million and to start online interactive communities for more targeted audiences. These victories are your victories as you have journeyed with us to this point. We praise the Lord for what He has done and for what He will do!
Here are some action points for us as we march forward together:
1. Let’s continue our partnership! Your prayers are the backbone of this ministry, and your investment of funds, as $1 reaches 15 individuals, empowering us to present the Gospel and to lead people from “searches to churches.”
2. Please host a TWJ Honor Event at your church! We have created everything you need to honor the military community in your church. Please visit https://thewarriorsjourney.org/honor/ and learn how to host!
3. Please join us for the Network211 Holy Land Tour on October 6-16, 2020. Please visit https://www.holylandsstudies.org/network211 and register today! I guarantee that this trip will enhance your devotional life and your relationship with the Lord! And, if it will help inspire you to go on the trip, I promise to play Goliath to your David when we visit the Elah Valley!
The Lord blessed Network211 with victories as we continue our march to reach 100 million people with the Good News. This breathes life into us and inspires us to do even more, for His glory! Praise the Lord!
Blessings,
Mark
Dr. Mark Flattery
Network211 President
www.Network211.com
