Beautiful Juxtaposition

Hi - I took a screenshot of this map a while back, and I just can't stop looking at it:

As we were in the States a couple months ago, Alejandra and I got to spend time with friends from 3 of the 4 Latin American countries that are highlighted in red. Namely, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela:

And just a couple weeks ago, we had the privilege of going to an awesome Christian Brethren Missions conference where Alejandra and Jackson and I met a godly couple from the 4th country on this map that is highlighted in red... Angel and Orfelina are amazing Christians from Cuba who pastor and visit over 20 assemblies on the island, and it was wonderful to eat breakfast with them and hear about how God is bringing real freedom through His Son to those who have suffered under the country's government's oppression for decades... Along with them, we also had the company of our dear friend and colleague in ministry Bill Loudon who, along with his wife, also pastor and work alongside various Venezuelan immigrants... Thank you IBCM for putting on this amazing conference and letting us attend; thank you Gilberto Vanegas for coordinating it; and thank you CMML for giving our Cuban friends some nice used clothes.

In theory, we all agree that freedom is extremely important, and especially in the United States, even from its inception, it is a principle that is embedded into our very essence. Few people like visiting countries that have a low state of freedom, and it hurts us to feel that our own country may lose some of its freedom at any point. Especially in the United States, for better or for worse, many of us have been trained to say what we think and defend what we believe and stand up for injustice whenever we see it... Some would even go so far as to subconsciously consider that people like my friends from these countries above who immigrate to the US in hopes of finding more freedom, almost don't even deserve to do so, because they should stay back home and fight against the system...

Easier said than done - and when you understand just a tiny bit of the enormous sacrifice people make to depart their own country, you realize, "hey, if they're willing to go through all that just to leave - it must mean that to stay would cost even more..."

...Alejandra and I had the joy of visiting Alejandra's cousin and husband and baby in Germany recently, and since we were in Munich, we had the sobering opportunity to visit the Dachau concentration camp memorial site.

Perhaps the cruelest lie you could ever imagine that was written in capital iron letters on top of the gate at the entrance to the death camp was the grotesquely false hope "Arbeit macht frei" (lit. '"Work makes free"', or "Work shall set you free").

Obviously, the 41,500 prisoners that were tortured and killed in the camp experienced no such freedom, no matter how hard they worked, or how closely they followed orders.

What was the only thing that truly brought freedom to the thousands of Jews, Poles, Romanians, homosexuals, clergy, and communists who were treated so horrendously for, in some cases, years on end?

...The allied troops who went in there and defeated the Nazis...

In a similar way, I believe that Satan has captured millions of people with sin, and while he's at it - he tries to feed us that subtle yet terrible lie that "work will set us free" (Romans 5:12-14)... It won't. Only Jesus can, through the gift of eternal life (v. 15-20), and he has called people like us to proclaim that freedom to everyone we can (Romans 10:8-15; Matthew 28:18-20).

My grandpa Major Jack Killins was a medical doctor that helped those who were still alive at the time of the liberation of Dachau on April 29, 1945.

...As I walked through the exhibits and saw/read what took place there, I started weeping in gratitude for what my grandfather had done.

It is a beautiful juxtaposition that along with me, was the German husband of my wife's cousin, who was weeping as well.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). ----------------

USA Here We Come/Refuge Churches

Hello - While international travel to the US has been down recently - Alejandra and I are traveling to the States today along with our baby boy Jackson.

My mom is also coming with us which is amazing, because she hasn't been to the States in 5 years! ...We'll be dropping her off with my sister on our layover in Atlanta, and then we're heading up to the Midwest (my dad will be arriving to Atlanta shortly thereafter).

It'll be fun to travel with little Jacks, and hopefully we'll be able to figure everything out along the way. I confess that I haven't done a good job of figuring out where we're going to stay and how we're going to get around and everything, but if anyone is up for helping and receiving us, please just let me know. Especially Alejandra has mentioned that she finds a lot of inspiration in thinking about Mary the mother of Jesus, and how she was so flexible in adapting to such awkward situations, especially when Jesus was just about to be born, as well as when Joseph and Mary had to flee with him to Egypt.

This next picture is just hilarious, which was what my sisiters and I looked like when we were traveling as kids:

Even though I'm not a part of the movement of boycotting travel either to the US or Venezuela as a form of protest against any particular government - I love it when my family and my friends and I are treated with dignity and respect wherever we go. Thanks especially to the churches and families who have welcomed Alejandra and I better than what we deserve, and who have encouraged us to use and develop our gifts of the Holy Spirit for the building up of the body of Christ. Let me know if there is any church in particular who would like for us to visit in these next few weeks.

Sam and Alejandra Killins Missionary profile: https://www.cmml.us/m/702 -------------- Hi - Here's an update about what God has been doing recently in Refuge Church Parkway, Refuge Church Duitama, and Refuge Church Cucuta:

The leaders of Parkway Church have been meeting every week to clarify our mission and vision and coordinate our different ministries and pray.

Within the past few months we've invited several Christian artists to sing and share the gospel

Every Friday night we go out to the Parkway to give out hot drinks and share the gospel with anyone we can. Simultaneously we also have a Bible study at a house near by, and we sometimes share a meal together.

Refuge Church Duitama is growing steadily and besides meeting every Sunday morning to worship, break bread, and learn from God's Word - every Friday night they get together to pray. Recently they also baptised 8 new believers including a couple of Alejandra's and my friends from Bogota that we met at the hospital when Jackson was born, and we've been discipling ever since.

Refuge Church Cucuta continues to work with a fair amount of street vendors and street musicians as well as Venezuelan immigrants. Whenever I make it out there I've also been sharing the gospel with barbers and victims from the violence in the Catatumbo region.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! (Ephesians 3:20). Thanks for your prayers and support, Sam and Alejandra Killins Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/m/702

Whom Shall I Fear?

Hi - One of the main passages that gives me a lot of encouragement as a missionary is Matthew 10... I think that many of the principles Jesus mentions in this passage can be applied to us today, even though it's clear that Jesus gave these instructions to the 12 disciples who were about to announce the Kingdom of Heaven throughout Israel... What we've received freely we're supposed to give freely, and we're to let our peace fall upon those who receive us well... To those who reject us we can shake the dust off our feet and move on, because in the end God is the one who will judge... Being a Christian is like being a sheep among wolves, and so we need to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves... It shouldn't surprise us if we are perscuted, betrayed, hated and slandered; because that's the way they treated our Master, and it's an honor to be associated with Him... Men and women equally, we should shout abroad the truth of the Word, even from the rooftops, and we should not be afraid - the worst anyone can do is kill us. God cares about the sparrows, and we are way more valuable than many sparrows, so let's keep acknowledging Jesus publicly here on earth. As we do, Jesus will acknowlege us before our Father in heaven, and no one other than Him can take away or save our soul. My encouragement to everyone is that we receive those who come in the name of the Lord, who teach us the truth in love, and who live righteously; whether they be Jew, Gentile, male, female, slave or free... Even just in giving people like this a cup of cold water - we will surely be rewarded. Thank you Christian Missions In Many Lands, for including me in your missionary prayer handbook for 12 years. Thank you for keeping Alejandra and I on your website and for proding your services to us. God bless you, and CMML bless God. Galatians 1:10 Sam and Alejandra Killins Missionary Profile:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi - There has only been one time in my life where I put a stop to a baptism that was about to take place.

In the leading up to the moment of submerging my friend Camilo in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit, I asked him a few questions to see if he understood and believed the gospel, but I didn't perceive clarity in his confession of faith... Even though we were already in the water, I told him I wouldn't baptize him on that occasion, and so even though it was extremely awkward, we got out of the water and eventually we all went home.

Especially my friend Duvan kept teaching Camilo the truth and discipling him, and we finally saw that he knew in whom he had believed, and that he was convinced Jesus was able to guard him until that day that which had been entrusted to him.

My pastor friend Encarnacion and I finally got to baptise Camilo in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and it was such a joy to see our brother come out of the water declaring that he is a new creation in Christ.

Now jump ahead about a year and a half, and Camilo just got drafted into the Colombian military... "It's going to be tough" I told him, "but keep remembering who you are in Christ and be careful of the way in which your fellow soldiers may try to influence you. Instead, share what Jesus has done for you, and try to teach them what you know from the Scriptures... Comprehend the words of Him who died on the cross."

My friend Gabriel just cut his hair this last week before he had to go to the Cucuta barracks to present himself before the army, and all of this is significant because currently the situation up in the Northern border of Colombia with Venezuela is getting pretty dicey, and that's where Camilo could potentially be sent (please pray for him)... As many of you know - there were 80 people that were killed and there are more than 30,000 people that have been displaced from the Catatumbo region because of the fighting between two insurgent groups... The majority of the refugees from this violence are relocating in Cucuta.

Last week I went to see what the situation is like, and besides talking and praying one on one with the refugees, my friends Gabriel and Encarnacion and I got to share and sing the gospel to hundreds of those who were affected, as we tried to bring them a message of hope.

The plan is that next week I'll go back to Cucuta again, to keep getting after it with my friends, as we share the love of Christ, and help out in any way we can.

Along with us, please pray for Alejandra in my absence, as she keeps doing an excellent job of taking care of little Jackson, and sharing a little with other moms who have likewise recently given birth.

Please also pray for my mother-in-law who recently started her chemotherapy. Thanks, Sam and Alejandra Killins Missionary Profile: