30 Minute Martyr

Dear Friends and Partners:

God moved in penetrating ways during our recent project in India! Lives were transformed, Christians were encouraged tostand for and to share their faith, and the Kingdom of God grew mysteriously through the most unwanted way—persecution.

There is a very special young woman I need to tell you about; we will call her “Jackie.” We conducted a “Youth Festival” that Jackie attended. Ironically, as I will soon explain, during my message I clearly stated that to follow Jesus Christ, especially in their country of India, they may suffer persecution and even death. In spite of these strong Biblical Words, dozens of youth publicly turned to Jesus, and one was Jackie! After the Youth Festival had concluded, Jackie was attacked on her way home by extremists of a certain “religion.” They beat her on the head with a metal pipe, knocking her unconscious, and left her for dead in the street. Bystanders found her and they noticed still in Jackie’s arms was her Bible, which contained her name and address, so they carried her home. Her parents rushed her to the hospital and discovered Jackie had slipped into a coma. Surgeons did emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain. Three hours later she awoke, not remembering the attack, but, thank God, she did remember regular details of her life. She is now at home and expected to make a full recovery!

I am so grateful to God that Jackie did not become a 30-minute martyr! She had been a Christian only half an hour before she was attacked, just because she chose to follow Jesus. In addition, another young adult from the Youth Festival along with the main pastor we worked with, were both arrested for distributing Christian tracts. Please pray for Jackie’s recovery and for our dear pastor friend as he stands trial for the out-of-context charges filed against him by religious extremists!

The area-wide Festival Crusade we conducted was highly blessed by God! After all the persecutions and political strikes that were constantly taking place, our India project concluded with 1,500 people squeezing into a tiny lot of land. The Christians who attended were “lit up” with joy as they sang praises to the Lord, and dozens of people publicly professed Jesus Christ as their new God!

We saw over 200 public decisions for Christ, which is amazing given the circumstances! Plus, over 40 church leaders were equipped at our Leadership Development Conference. And, because of you, our ministry partners, we were able to purchase and distribute 40 Bibles and 20,000 tracts in the local language, and give a portable sound system for the church leaders to use in their ministries.

Perhaps the greatest thing God did through our India project was the new partnership our ministry began with 74 churches, through which 34 evangelists and 65 pastors are doing ministry in rural villages. The photo at the top of the page is of one of these village pastors, Paul, and he and I are standing in front of his church. We are calling this partnership our “Global Missions Program” where, as God provides, we will give training to these “Global Missionaries (GMs),” and provide Bibles, tracts, study materials, and monthly gifts to help these GMs support their families as they serve full-time in growing their churches and planting new churches. This GM Program is the beginning of the vision God has given me for equipping and supporting GMs world-wide…more exciting details to come. Thank you, our ministry partners, for helping these missionaries!

I want to say thank you to all those working with me in developing the administrative infrastructure of this ministry! We are working together as a team (staff, volunteers, and financial partners) with the common goal of proclaiming the love of God—the message of the cross—to as many as we can while we can. Thank you to everyone helping our ministry…we are grateful…I am grateful!

For Jesus, Jackie, and the Jackie’s of the world, I am…sincerely yours,

Scott Nute

I Remember You

When I saw him in the grocery store I immediately recognized him. The red hair‚ face‚ build‚ etc. I almost went up to him but just couldn’t do it. As I continued getting food I kept thinking I wished I had said something to him. Well‚ it just so happened that as I was leaving the grocery store he and his little girl were right behind me. I put the groceries in my Jeep‚ turned around and went right up to him and introduced myself. He had a curious look on his face so I went on to describe the context of how we knew each other from around eighteen years ago. His face then changed expressions and he said‚ “I remember you.”

God’s Memory

“Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible‚ I will not forget you! See‚ I have engraved your name on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15–16). It is easy for us to forget that God doesn’t forget us. From the second we were born a crying baby till we take our last breath‚ and every moment in between‚ God remembers us. He was in the delivery room watching. He was there our first day of kindergarten watching. If we graduated high school He was there. If we married He was there. When we hurt and were alone He was and is there. When I pitched for the Detroit Tigers it was nerve-racking as I ran onto the field towards the mound to enter a game. As I stepped on the mound before I threw my first pitch I would look behind home plate and “see” Jesus sitting in the front row smiling‚ clapping and shouting‚ “You can do it‚ Scott!” That was all I needed to focus. The past fifteen years since my baseball career ended my life has been in a mysterious “on hold” phase. I had many deep things to work through‚ of which some are still being worked through today. There was a realistic component of me being “forgotten” during this time.

It seems years of chronic, painful feelings can “feel” as if they have transformed and hardened into the following apparent facts, which are false facts: “I have been forgotten.” “Everyone forgot me.” “God has forgotten about me.” We will even forget about ourself and leave parts of ourselves behind without realizing it. I had forgotten a part of myself! Recently while in my truck a song came over the radio‚ a very old song‚ these words hit me deeply‚ “Remember yesterday‚ walking hand in hand‚ love letters in the sand‚ I Remember You! Through the sleepless nights‚ and every endless day‚ I’d wanna hear you say‚ I REMEMBER YOU!” As I listened to this song I imagined Jesus tapping me on the shoulder‚ turning me around‚ smiling and saying‚ “I remember you.” From the time I was a baby boy playing baseball in diapers till I pitched for the Detroit Tigers. From the time I began preaching fifteen years ago throughout this entire “on hold” phase. From birth until I die‚ Jesus was letting me know through the explosive voice of a rock singer in a stadium filled with one person—me—that He has never forgotten me… He has always remembered me and always will! That same night I had to speak at a retirement home. I said to everyone‚ “Jesus is tapping your shoulder‚ saying “‘I remember you!'” After the service as I walked out of the chapel a young woman‚ an attendant‚ was waiting for me with an elderly woman next to her in a wheelchair. They had been several floors up in the elderly woman’s room listening to me speak through their building’s live TV program. The Lord spoke to her heart through the program and she prayed to receive Christ! She then wanted to talk to me so she came downstairs‚ wheeled the woman she was watching down to the chapel and told me what happened. It was powerful. Whoever you are‚ wherever you are at this moment‚ God has a message for you… “‘I will not forget you! See‚ I have engraved your name on the palms of my hands’…I REMEMBER YOU!“