Moving Mountains with Mustard Seeds

Pico Duarte is located near Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic.
 It is the tallest mountain in the Caribbean at 10,164 feet. 

Matthew 17:15-20
15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

First of all, how can a mountain be moved with only a mustard seed's worth of faith? I can imagine the disciples tiredly climbing up the mountain on one of their trips to Jerusalem, and jokingly telling the mountain to get out of the way. To truly understand what it means to move a mountain with a mustard seed we need to dig into the story. 

Jesus accuses His disciples and the gathered crowd of unbelief. They were lacking in faith. Perhaps the disciples didn't believe God was powerful enough to deliver this boy. I doubt it, since the disciples were firmly entrenched in Old Testament theology. They know Yahweh has all power to do all things. Most likely they disbelieved God's Holy Love. Did God truly want healing for this boy? Perhaps the boy's oppression was a result of his dad's sin? Is it God's will for little children under demonic oppression to experience freedom? In Jesus' earthly ministry, He was all about making the kingdom of heaven a present reality. Jesus claims that His life is the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah's words, 

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind..."  Luke 4:18-19

The ministry of Jesus is not only an affirmation that God is all-powerful, but that he is also all-loving. When we are encountered with a mountain standing in the way of the Gospel we can confidently ask the Lord for it to be moved. This past June, Jamie and I decided to step out in faith move our family to the Dominican Republic. We are confident that this is how we can best live out the Gospel message in our lives. There has been some smaller mountains standing in our way, but thanks to the prayers of friends and family God has cleared the path before us. Right now we have raised 55% of our financial support. We also know of several others who are planning to support us, and when they do we expect this number to go up to 80% or more before we depart on October 14th! 

We are excited to leave, but we believe our faith will be truly challenged once we are engaged in ministry. Thanks be to God that the One in us is greater than the one in the world. Please continue to pray that God will infill us with His Holy Spirit, that we would seek to listen to His direction and guidance. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

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Life Update

       

 Thirty-four days and our family will be moving to the Dominican Republic! We have had many transitions this past month, of course the biggest one being the birth of our son, Gabriel Andrew Morley. Gabe is one month old today, and we are thankful to God for how well he has been doing. Almost two weeks ago Gabe had his first of many big traveling experiences. We moved from Marion, Indiana to Marysville, Ohio and are now living with Jamie's parents.
 
         This past Sunday Jamie and I were able to share at my home church, the Raymond CCCU, our passion and vision for working in the Dominican Republic. We are so thankful for the great generosity that was shown to us. Our family was prayed over, and also given a generous offering. We feel very blessed to have the Raymond church on our support team!

Praises

 We are very thankful that we have found two great homes for both of our dogs. June and Jazz now live with two different families. We pray that they will be a blessing for these families as much as they have been for us. Another praise is that we have been able to catch up with all of our family that lives in Ohio. We have raised 27% of our financial support, and know of several others who are going to support us. For everyone who is supporting us financially and prayerfully, you truly are apart of our ministry. When we go down to the DR and face different challenges, we will remember all the prayers that have already been said. We are grateful to all of you who are joining with us in this journey.

Prayers

• We are applying for a $3,000 dollar grant from The Grace Foundation. Pray that God will give us wisdom in sharing our mission with the trustees. 
• Our house in Marion still needs to sell. 
• Safe travels as we leave for Florida this Friday to visit friends and family. 
• Pray that God would provide the remaining 73% of our financial support, and that we would be faithful in seeking it out.

Grace Peace and Love to you all,

Matthew, Jamie and Gabe


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