UNREACHED
In Revelation 7, John shares his vision of heaven with members from every tribe, tongue, people and language standing in the throne room before the Lamb.
Yet today there are still over 7,000 unreached people groups around the world.
For the last six years, my family and friends have been on a journey to find, vet and fund the task remaining.
Come journey with us to the ends of the earth as we share the supernatural stories of God at work through the men and women he has called to reach the UNREACHED.
UNREACHED
Sacrifice in Africa & Serving the High Seas: Stories from Moving Works and Peter Craig
Join us on an extraordinary journey as we welcome back Peter Craig from Moving Works, a passionate storyteller and missionary with a heart for telling stories of God at work around the globe. Peter takes us from the bustling streets of Bamako to the remote villages of the Qaeda Malinke people, highlighting the transformative power of faith and collaboration over traditional strategies. His stories remind us of the profound impact faith can have in overcoming challenges and fostering spiritual growth in even the most remote corners of the world.
Immerse yourself in miraculous tales from "Light on the Way," a film capturing moments of healing and conversion that transcend cultural boundaries. Witness the unwavering faith of a pastor who, despite facing personal loss, continues to spread the gospel and nurture his congregation. This episode also brings to life the visceral experiences of sacrifice, drawing parallels between cultural rites and the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. As Peter shares his journey, we are reminded of the resilience and beauty found in faith-driven communities, and the profound symbolism of sacrifice and redemption that spans across cultures and beliefs.
From the heart of Africa to the Port of Hamburg, we introduce you to Martin, a former port worker turned missionary, dedicated to ministering to seafarers from around the globe. Martin and his wife Monica's journey of faith highlights the impact one can have by answering a call to serve others. Their unique ministry brings hope and connection to isolated workers on container ships, revealing the immense power of compassion and faith. Through these captivating stories, we celebrate the diverse ways in which God's work unfolds, inviting you to explore, connect, and be inspired by the transformative power of belief and community.
Follow @unreachedpodcast on Instagram for more!
In Revelation 7, john shares his vision of heaven, with members from every tribe, tongue, people and language standing in the throne room before the Lamb. Yet today there are still over 7,000 unreached people groups around the world. For the last six years, my family and friends have been on a journey to find, vet and fund the task remaining. Come journey with us to the ends of the earth as we share the supernatural stories of God at work for the men and women he has called to reach the unreached.
Speaker 2:Hello friends, and welcome to another episode of the Unreached Podcast. I am Clint Hudson, your host, and I am back, as promised, with our friend Peter Craig of Moving Works, our last episode. Peter told some incredible stories, not only about how God was working in his life and helping him to dispel the idols that he had in his life as a filmmaker and how he felt compelled to do this work that was Christ centered, and not only to do it for the Lord, to tell God's stories of him at work around the world, but also to give it away for free and he told that story. But also he took us down to Amazon and told a story about getting lost in the jungle on the river and how God used that to plant a church and to see his kingdom come in the Amazon. Just an incredible story.
Speaker 2:If you haven't listened to that one, take a second pause, go back and listen to our last episode. But I also promised on the last episode that we were going to pick up in the bush of Mali, going to some remote villages, and so we're back with Peter Craig today. Peter, take us out into the bush, take us to Mali. Where are we heading today?
Speaker 3:So it was funny enough. Actually, now that I think about it, it was about a month later, from having gone to the Amazon, that God called us to go to Mali. Now Mali is in Western Africa. It's an oddly shaped country. Now imagine this Timbuktu is in Mali. So if you ever use the metaphor, Timbuktu, this is in Mali. So it's in the middle of nowhere.
Speaker 2:I literally learned this today. Thank you, because I said Timbuktu. I used that illustration yesterday.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Like we got to drive all the way to Timbuktu. I'm talking about West Austin.
Speaker 3:Yes, but gotcha, yes. So imagine Timbuktu, the literal Timbuktu. It's in Mali, so now on opposite sides of Mali, but it is a remote place. And now here's the beauty of what we get to do. We at Moving Works, we don't know all the stories and God has designed it in such a way that we are reliant on the body of Christ to find stories and partner to film the stories. So, god in his grace, I remember years ago I mentioned earlier in the first podcast that Romans says anything that doesn't proceed from faith is sin, which is like what? So I started changing my prayers. I'm like God, if this is true, lord, that moving works for us. My prayers, I'm like God, this is true, lord, at Moving Works for us, keep us in a place where faith is required, not strategy, not strength, not intellect, not personality, whatever skill set, even like faith, lord, help us be dependent on you and God has designed I'm so thankful God has designed our ministry to be reliant. We can't do things on our own. We actually have to partner with ministries and people and we go to countries where actually what we do at Moving Works is actually go to countries where Christianity is small and there are few resources to share the gospel in their language and culture and context. And so we make films in foreign languages and we need so much help. We don't know the languages when we're making the films. We actually don't, and so we're like, we're so dependent, and so God has been faithful to provide partnership over the years with people, and so at this point, the reason we I know nothing about Molly it wasn't a dream I had or an ambition I had.
Speaker 3:I got connected with a ministry called Reach the Rest and they had a good work in Mollyali where they go, and their strategy is to go to find believers and churches in a country and share the belief that, say, a church can send missionaries out to unreached people in their own country and so it's better than a Westerner just showing up in the bush of Mali. And so they go and they share God's heart for the nations in countries and they find leaders in that context or nearby context, the approximate context, to share the gospel and uproot their lives to go to an unreached people within their own country. I learned about all this as we were kind of getting ready to film and it's beautiful. So we fly to Bamako, mali this is the capital city and we go to a church, you know, and again, churches are different in different countries, which is beautiful, so formative to see worship in different languages, in different contexts. And so we are based out of Bamako and then traveled to what is called they refer to as the Bush of Mali, but it's along what they call the Kida Road, and it was interesting, there's an interesting history, but this road was built out into the middle of nowhere and it allowed us to kind of travel out there. I mean, I think the road was built across Western Mali. I don't know if it goes through the country entirely, but by God's grace there's a road. So, praise God, I think even the Chinese built the road. I don't know what their ambitions, but they don't know they're advancing the gospel. That's all they're doing. I think there's, you know there's China's doing different things in different countries. They built the Qaeda road that enabled us, enabled these missionaries, to get out in the middle of nowhere to the Qaeda Malinke people, and so God had raised up two men in Bamako with families. So imagine this if you're in Bamako and you're moving to the bush of Mali, that's like us moving to the Amazon. It's not like closer, it's not like. Well, you know it's in their own country. This is uprooting everything.
Speaker 3:And so I look back and again, I watched this film as well. It's called Light on the Way, the movie we shot. I'm so bowled over. We shot. I'm so bowled over. But honestly, I can just take a moment to be really stirred in an awe of God's work in our brothers and sisters around the globe. Because, watching this film, I see these men and women, these husbands and their wives and their children, going out in the middle of nowhere and this is not a safe place for them either. So they're Christians going amongst they're mostly Muslim villagers, and it's dangerous out there. I mean, it's just, you're vulnerable, you're exposed, and Bamako is a city where you can have an apartment. There you're living in a mud hut and, honestly, you're just living very, very basically.
Speaker 3:And so these two men, our stories about these two men were sent to these two villages to preach the gospel, and so our story was to document what happened in the time that they're there. So we went out there and it was just beautiful to see these guys and it's difficult, it's challenging God's work there. But what had happened? Just to spoiler alert for the film certainly God had used them to reach so many people. They don't know their language. This isn't when you go to countries. It's not like, oh well, it's one country in Africa, they're all speaking the same language. No, of course. I mean you could move 10 miles in the opposite direction and have to learn. It's like me learning Italian suddenly, absolutely you know. And so these guys had to learn languages, had to get jobs, and then started just sharing the good news. And so they had been there, I believe at that time a few years, with their families, and just started laboring. So I'm setting this all up, for this is what we're filming. We're going to film this story, and the work that God had done was stunning.
Speaker 3:Hundreds of people had come to know Christ by that time already, and so God was working, and looking back on the film, what I'm stirred by is the reality of how he had done it. They show up and again, this is the Lord, and distinctly through two different things. How God used One was prayer. So just showing up, not knowing the language, not knowing the culture. So just showing up, not knowing the language, not knowing the culture, and being embedded with the people. That might definitely see you as an outsider, or maybe even in a hostile manner, the necessity of prayer, that they attest God, using just prayer to reach the people, and in many ways it is through prayer, plus an outpouring of the Spirit that was very specific, which is healing. So two mechanisms getting there and really quickly understanding like we don't know how to do this.
Speaker 3:I have to learn a language, I have to get a job, I have to know the people, know the culture, and so the importance of prayer on its own, and then the importance of an outpouring of the spirit in terms of specifically in this culture, which is an animistic culture. I mean, you walk the markets in Bamako I've never seen this since and I've never seen it before like stacks of monkey heads, like imagine going through. You know you're going through a very it's like a bizarre of sorts an outdoor market and they have just stacks of monkey heads just stacked up and what they would use for witchcraft and different things, and so it's a spiritual people and a spiritual culture, but animistic, animistic, and so they believe in those sorts of things. Of course, what is that going to get you when they're false gods and stuff?
Speaker 2:This is great because what we've learned on the podcast so far is typically in animistic cultures there's a tremendous amount of oppression that happens, oh yeah, where they are so held to having to do X, y and Z. There are certain people that hold all of the power, and so when the power of God, the living God, comes in, when the light of Christ comes into those environments, it is almost like an explosion that happens, yeah, and so that's incredible to hear already that, like the power of prayer and healing people actually being healed, physically healed by the Lord, god Almighty, that's already making an impact in that environment.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, in the film, one of the men who were called with his family to go to these villages that uprooted themselves the pastor of the church there in Bamako felt like you know made the church congregation aware of these unreached people groups and through the spirit he felt like what he called. There is a darkness there, but there is a light on the way, and what's interesting that's why we called the film Light on the Way is that this man, that was the call. Funny enough, there's light on the way and it's God in him. Yeah, so God started doing amazing work. People started getting healed, people started coming to know Christ. They shared the Jesus film, which is a wonderful tool as well, and people came to know the beauty of the gospel.
Speaker 3:And so these two men in two different villages started fruit, started being born by the work of God, and so I love that idea of healings. A lot of times we might like look at healings and we think well, that in itself is something and it's remarkable. But they saw it as a testimony. Yeah, it was speaking, a truth, you know, and, of course, thinking it was evidence to the truth of the gospel.
Speaker 3:Yes, even a healing. Even Jesus said in his ministry you know, you might not this is my paraphrasing you might not believe me, but believe me on account of the works, like he's even saying, you might struggle with my words, but believe the works that I'm doing and which is compelling, like when we struggle, we can actually look at the work of God and garner faith in that. Seeing like that is that's impossible, but it happened. You know and you see hard-hearted people in Jesus's ministry that just would never, they would deny the works, they would just look. It's like they couldn't even see them. But in this, by God's grace, people were magnetized and so God worked.
Speaker 3:Now I do want to say in one of the families something tragic had happened. Three months before we got there, his four-year-old daughter had passed away from malaria, and so what's astonishing is the reality that, yes, there's fruit being born, there's beauty, there's the gospel spreading and there's cost and there's sacrifice. And so even just watching it again, just even three months in as we interview him about this, just seeing even a hint of joy and faith that there is loss, there's pain but there's reward, it's like even as I watched it I was like, oh man, I have so much to learn from this brother because he kept on talking about my reward is in heaven, like, where your treasures, your heart, will be like he's. Their lives have been set up in a way that their investments are in this eternal place and Lord, you have my daughter and Lord we're invested. Eternal place, and Lord, you have my daughter and Lord, we're invested. We're all in on what's to come eternity with you, and so just the faith to sustain a marriage.
Speaker 3:They buried their daughter in the bush of Molly and they had a gospel service and people heard the gospel through that and they believe in the video he shares. Like this is a seed, seed that's planted, like his daughter's, a seed that's planted believing that it will bear fruit. Oh man, if we ever think we have the market on the gospel or what ministry looks like or whatever, lord, let the beauty of going around the world and seeing different men and women of God living out their faith is so formative. You feel like just I feel like I'm a kindergartner in faith. Yes, oh man, I feel like I'm a kindergartner in faith.
Speaker 3:Yes, oh man, I have so much to learn from this young man, maybe the same age, maybe younger than me, living out his faith, having his daughter pass away and then clinging to hope that her death was a seed planted in this. What a heart of love for the village, that even that would be something that would spur them on to hope in Christ. And so, yeah, just even thinking about it, it's like, oh man, I have three daughters of my own. So, anyway, god had moved and here we are documenting and seeing the fruit, and so we started interviewing the people that came to know the Lord, and we were walking around the village and it's so funny, I feel like we're. This is really dumb. It's like I feel like we're doofuses. Wherever we go, I feel like a doofus. Like we have cameras, we're just walking around, we have no nothing, we're just shooting. Everything looks remarkable because it's outside our context. They're probably so fascinated with us being so interested in the most mundane things you know like wow, this is amazing wow, this is amazing.
Speaker 3:We, as we were driving out to the village we pulled off in this bigger town before we went out in the middle of nowhere and one of the leaders, as we were driving out there, he has two chickens and he throws them in our trunk of our car. Now, chickens and trunks of cars don't belong together. It doesn't sound pretty and we're like why do we have chickens in the back of our car? And so we drive out there in the middle of nowhere and they gave me the honor of slaughtering the chickens with the dullest knife in the history of knives. Now, this is all anecdotes, but it's an interesting thing. It really had an impact on me. So they said Peter, we want you to do the honors, and I've never. I'm actually I'm the type of guy that actually captures the spider, captures the bug and puts it outside. And I'm training, training, training my girls Guys, let's, let's, take it outside.
Speaker 3:Um, of course it was a horrific event to try to kill these chickens with a dull knife. But, setting that to side, the next day, um, I was given a goat to kill and they assured me the knife was sharper. So we're shooting, we're doing this, and they're asked hey, we're going to eat this goat and we're going to cook it right now. Would you do the honors? And with my horrible track record with the chickens, I don't know what they asked me, but I did and I remember getting around with Molly and men and it's a different context and they were like it's an animistic coaster, they'll sacrifice animals for the wrong reasons and they're like they are. We're sacrificing it for life. We're sacrificing it to be able to eat and provide that meal for several people. And so they gathered around and we huddled over this goat and they prayed and they wanted just the right heart posture as we sacrifice, because many people around that village would probably think something else is happening. And so they prayed and I remember man, this is really emotional thinking back on it. But they laid the goat down and they gave me the knife and I remember this goat looking at up at me and bleeding, like bleeding as in, like making it sound and um, putting my knife to its neck and it's no joke. And I I don't take this very easy because, again, I this is not what I do, you know and I, I slit the the neck of of this goat and this crimson, dark blood hits this red dirt and it just looks like pure black as it comes out. And I sat over this goat as it bled out and it was no joke but it really hit me.
Speaker 3:This Malian brother came up to me and was like this is kind of a rite, what he didn't tell me ahead of time. He's like this is kind of a rite of passage for Molly and boys and becoming men to kill an animal. So he huddled over me in this very pastoral moment that he's, like you know, just staring at this animal, its life, leaving its body, and reminding me of Jesus. You know, reminding me of Jesus, you know reminding me of like the perfect lamb. And so it's just like this animal did nothing.
Speaker 3:In some sort of smaller way, it's given its life, but Christ did nothing, did everything perfectly, and yet he bled out. How horrible that must have been to see his blood hit the dirt and him be slaughtered. So it was very kind, it was very kind and generous of this Malian man who knew English, come up and just like, imagine Christ and to take the sacrifice for us. And what a precious thing to do and to know that officially in Malilly, I'm a man now. So, um, that felt good too, but, um, it's an image that comes to mind, because I think it's an image that came to the um hebrew minds.
Speaker 3:They would know what a sacrifice is yeah they would know the, the bleeding of a lamb or a goat, they would know that sound, they know that plea for help and that I heard and it was it's kind of just terrible you know, to know what was going to happen in that cry for help.
Speaker 3:And yet Christ didn't cry for help. I mean, like he even laid his life down Willingly yeah, willingly. Not being held down, him holding himself down by his own love. Yes, holding himself. There weren't nails holding him to a cross, he allowed them. He's the king of the universe, he's the sovereign of the cosmos. He could have pulled it himself off, and he would be right to do so, but he did. He held himself there.
Speaker 2:Imagine in an animistic culture to hear that someone willingly bled for them.
Speaker 3:Not captured, not held down, but by his own love and his obedience to the father, his obedience to the father being led to the slaughter. And so it's just like an image and it's something maybe we miss on our culture to see death. We put death behind walls, we don't see it. Maybe if you're a meat eater, there's death, but we don't put those two things together.
Speaker 3:But, even in a Hebrew culture at that time you would understand death. And so the image of Christ on a cross becomes so much more visceral, the reproach you know, and you think like, well, this is where the bodies were burned, so they would know the smell and the disgust, and they had to remove the body. And it says Christ goes outside the camp, outside the city. And so you're like going Christ, the perfect lamb of God, the sinless son of God, going out to the corpses and the refuse to go and die. And so this image sticks in my mind as I even share it.
Speaker 3:I wasn't expecting to, but it's like, it's funny, turned profound to me that I look back and I'm like I think of Christ and I think of the horrific image of him on that cross and seeing the blood, his blood smacking the dirt and the most grievous, most beautiful thing ever you know, the worst and best thing you know, happening all at once. And so it's very formative for me and it gave me a taste. You know, I grew up in Illinois, I live in Austin, texas. I don't see death, I don't see death, I don't. I don't see blood. Often I have kids, I see blood a little bit, but it's like. But seeing this, this death, and being so intimately in contact with it, is very moving to me and so many of us in our Western culture.
Speaker 2:We know the end of the story of the gospel. Like we don't truly take the time to struggle through the sacrifice and the death of Jesus.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because we want to run to the empty tomb quickly, because that that is the beautiful story of God's, not only God's sovereignty, but the fact that God, that Jesus himself, was God. But for us, we don't picture Jesus's blood hitting the dirt. Yeah, and you had an encounter that causes you to look at that differently.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and again, I'm so thankful that I was cared for by my brother, my Malian brother, who had come up and care for me as a. You know like I wanted to take it serious. I didn't want to just to come and again what? What a discipling moment for me.
Speaker 3:I'm a grown man you know, like, oh, what do I have to learn about the cross of Christ? Are you kidding me? I have so much to learn about the cross of Christ, and to sit in the turmoil and the brutality and the ugliness and the beauty, the beauty of it. It's an interesting thing to be covered in the blood of Christ. It's like what you know, it's like it was something so terrible, something so beautiful. That's the beauty of the gospel itself is so terrible and so unfair.
Speaker 3:Christ, this is a perfect lamb, and I'm a rebel. I'm a defiant rebel of God, dead in my sins and transgressions, and here's this perfect lamb that lays his life down for us. You know, it's just like. So I'm thankful for the Lord to be met Now. Again, this is God's sovereignty in my moment, and if you're hearing this, this is God's work for you too. I'm sitting in front of the microphone and having to experience this because maybe God, in his sovereignty, wants me to share it. I wasn't planning on it, I haven't even gotten to my story yet. Think we do, maybe miss sacrifice that I think maybe the hebrew, the israelite would understand, they would understand the cries, the screams, the blood, and yet, and so when christ's story and that sacrifice comes to mind. It's different. What about that, with the person not only a person, but a perfect person? What? Not only a perfect person, but the perfect son of God, god himself dying in Christ, being the one to bleed out. So it's like ugh.
Speaker 2:So the story is called Light on the Way. Light on the Way If anyone wants to go watch it.
Speaker 2:There's no animals killed, no animals killed in the making of this film. Yes, yes, but I do want to make sure that everybody, if they want to take an opportunity to go and watch some of the story. It's called Light on the Way. It's on the website at Moving Works. But I want to make sure that we button up a little bit of the story, because there's a part of the story that's really impactful just specifically to what you talked about earlier. You talked about two different values of prayer and also healing, and there's a story about healing that I want to make sure you get an opportunity to tell.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. And so we're walking through the village kind of on a tour. One of the pastors was sharing, you know, the church, the missionary who was there sharing the village with us and we're walking around seeing different sites and we're invited into this cluster of huts and so imagine, like a kind of a mud hut, and these things are wonderful structures. They're not like rudimentary, the elements will get in, it is like they know how to engineer these things, but a cluster of them in such a way that it creates like almost like a sea. If you're looking from above you would see a sea of connected homes. And we are invited into this circle, the sea and this family is there. They're coming out, greeting us. So there's a hospitality too. There's not a hostility, there's a hospitality, and I think we are beneficiaries of a good witness. So this church planter, they know him, he's a good witness, he's a life-giving person because Christ is in him, and so we're invited in and of course they're speaking in different languages.
Speaker 3:We're not sure what's going on and we learn that the matriarch of this family, this woman, can't come out to visit us, and so kind to even consider the fact that she would need to in any way, but she regrets she couldn't. The family said she's sick, you know, seriously ill, and she can't come out. So they regret her lack of appearance and and so we're sitting there. Of course we're learning. And again, this is why I feel like we're doofuses. We don't know what we're. We're just kind of like what do we do next? You know, we're just like people that don't know what we're doing and so, through language and interpretation, they're like would someone like to pray for her? And they chose my friend, chris, who had traveled with me. He and I were I need help, you want to come? And he's like sure, I'll come.
Speaker 3:Well, we went to Egypt and we went to Mali and he was like, yeah, I'll pray. And so he prayed and you know, there wasn't anything specifically to this prayer. That was, I don't even know Chris's heart. I'm sure he was like well, the right thing to do is pray for the healing of this woman. And we prayed and it was one of those things that you pray and you go, okay, and then everyone agrees that we prayed and we leave, and so we do the rest of the much. We got word once we got back that after that prayer the woman was miraculously healed. And what had happened? The family in that home. They set out to the streets saying the God of the Christians healed our mother. And suddenly this cluster of homes becomes a launching pad for little missionaries, declaring the power. Again, going back to the story healing is a testimony. Yes, the power of God at work.
Speaker 3:And now that I've never put the two together, but literally what he said in the interview days before we went out there healing is a testimony. Suddenly, healing results in testimony. So the family members take to the streets. The God of the Christians not even that guy from America, you know the God of the Christians healed. And what was Chris's prayer? I'm sure Chris, my brother, my friend, has prayed for healing before, you know, and I'm sure sometimes, maybe, sometimes, no, sometimes, yeah, well, in this time, yes, yes, definitely, that god used my brother in his humble prayer. Probably I would say I would lack faith. I wasn't boy, he's, this woman's being healed right here now. You know, I didn't have that faith. I was just like, okay, cool, we're gonna pray. We're a little part of this. This is nice. And probably having my mind on other things and knowing me probably like, what are we going to do next? Almost like it's a nice gesture.
Speaker 3:Oh, this is what we're supposed to do. This is a Christianly thing. This is a nice gesture. We pray for you.
Speaker 2:Not expecting the. God of creation, the God of the universe to come down and say done, yeah, I'm going to do it.
Speaker 3:And so it goes to show like who God is and who we are. Again, you know, we take the hammer to the nail and toy around with it and he's like I'm going to punch this thing in myself. And I believe he did. And he did it for purpose, it wasn't a one-off. He did it to create faith and a testimony to the village, and so I don't know what happened beyond that, but for that testimony going out by through the voices of those who didn't even know God, the God of the Christians, the God of the Christians in an Islamic stronghold, an animistic stronghold, suddenly there's new missionary voices going out saying the God of the Christian has of the Christians, have power. And so you go back and what a privilege it is to go back to a place where there is fertile soil for this sort of thing.
Speaker 3:And I think this is maybe unfortunately. There are some qualities we have here in the States that are lovely for a certain theology and things like that and knowledge and understanding, but certainly we might lack faith to believe. And I credit God because I felt like goodness, I didn't. I even when I heard I'm like what you know, like it wasn't even on the table Like surprise, yeah, it's like well, of course. And I've known people that are like well, of course. And I brought my brothers, my Malian brothers were like well, of course, yeah, they weren't probably going. What they were probably going, yeah, cause that's who God is and that's it's a necessity. And, again, going back to faith, it's a necessity that that's who God is for where they are in their lives. It's not.
Speaker 2:It's not just a theological principle that he can.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:It's an absolute belief that he will.
Speaker 3:You know Jesus and our disciples is a necessity. That he said pray, that you said heal, and they're like this better work, like I'm out here on a limb if it doesn't, you know. And so it's like Lord, keep us in a place where faith is required, not strategy, not intellect, not schedule, but trust in the spirit. And certainly, again, I'm sure those men were like yeah, this is what God does, this is who God is.
Speaker 2:And I'm sure those men were like, yeah, this is what God does, this is who God is. And I think these films that you're creating much like maybe these episodes of these podcasts.
Speaker 2:They almost serve as like Ebenezer stones, these stones of remembrance, Like we can go back and we can look at the work that God did, because it's so easy for us to forget. So, man, thank you for sharing that story, and that was very, very conv? Uh, the way that we approach and operate in faith in our Western context. And so, man, I appreciate that a lot. So we've talked a lot about um.
Speaker 2:You know two episodes worth of going to different remote places to hear the stories of what God's doing there. And you know, having you guys get lost in the jungle in the Amazon and having you guys trudge through the bush to these different places with these guys that have called to leave their city and go out into the wilderness. Let's also hit this one last story about not going necessarily out into the wilderness but having an environment where somebody feels called to go to a place where the remote places of the world are actually coming to them. So it's, let's go to the port in Hamburg, germany. You have a really cool story that I think our people would love to hear from that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's pretty cool. So we're in Hamburg, germany, filming stories, and we had a collection of stories we're filming and again, you know Germany, there's very minority of Christian there and we were going to tell German stories that would speak to the German people, that they could share, and not that many testimonies there at all in terms of just films. That would be effective. So we wanted to serve and, funny enough, as we were filming, we lost a couple stories and we're like, oh man, you know, some story subjects had to back out and we usually shoot a collection of stories.
Speaker 3:And we had a church service and we met this guy his name was Martin and we started talking to him just randomly and he was a very lovely guy, knew English and we were just a really soft, genuine person and as we were talking to him we learned about what he does, and what he does is so beautiful and such a wonderful calling.
Speaker 3:So what he does, he used to work at the Port of Hamburg. Now the Port of Hamburg is the second largest port in all of Europe, so you have huge container ships, cruise ships, resources coming in from all over the world into this massive port and he used to work there as like just on the business end, like work in the I don't even know what you do, but he just accounting or whatever in the business end side of things. And. But God stirred his heart as he saw more and more what's called seafarers come in Now. These are men from all over the world that work on container ships and ships from different places that come into port to port and they are out there on their own for like nine months out of the year straight. So these are men who are trying to earn money for their families that are gone from their families nine out of 12 months a year. And a lot of these guys from like Southeast Asia, places like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, unreached people. A lot of them are Filipino, a lot of them, yeah. So Martin works at the ports and God stirred his heart for these seafarers. Men that work all over the world, come from many Southeast Asian countries that work on these ships, and his heart broke for them. And so God called him to go and visit them on the ships. So he, as a full-time missionary, became a missionary to go on these ships as they came in. A floating missionary, a floating missionary, a floating people group just floating into him. That's amazing.
Speaker 3:So he and his wife, monica so Martin and Monica, they decided to buy a house about 10 minutes from the port of Hamburg. The intentionality is be as close to the ports as possible. And he, he has a computer where he logs and sees what ships come in and from where they were, what is their native language, what all this stuff. And he orients his life about going ship to ship to ship, and so we're learning. First of all, we're in this church like what is this guy? You know this is awesome, you know it's like god. We lost some stories, but it seems like you might be giving us one, and so we're like dude, this is so incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, crazy story.
Speaker 3:So we were like Martin, can we go?
Speaker 2:on the ships with you.
Speaker 3:You know, first of all, again, it's like this would be cool. I've never been on one of these ships. And then what a beautiful ministry. And so he's like, yeah, come. And so probably within a day or two we're at his house, we're filming, and his story is so lovely, I mean, he's just such a gentle. I please watch this. What's the name of the story? The Messenger. I think it's a beautiful portrait of a heart captured by Jesus, and a heart for those who don't know him. Lovely man, martin and Monica.
Speaker 3:And so we join him, we interview him and we're like let's go out on a boat. So join him, we interview him and we had like let's go out on a boat. So our first boat experience was we went out onto a ship and it's a big one, and I mean it's like so you know, we're talking about container ships that cross the oceans, sort of things. These are container ships that pirates sometimes attack, you know. So there's a, there's a hint of danger, there's loneliness, there's a lack of, I'm sure, there's temptations out to sea, there's many things. And so these ships come in and we go on a boat and the interesting thing is we just met Martin. He invited us on. We have cameras. We don't know if we're allowed to shoot. We're like Martin, what do we do here? And he's like just come on and I have the small camera and so we're filming. But I'm like I feel totally uncomfortable because we're just invaded this thing. I don't want to upset his ministry, break trust or whatever, but we're halfway filming, halfway not, it's our first ship. He goes on and he immediately starts talking to this guy and I start filming. And this is our first experience.
Speaker 3:And we end up going on four ships altogether through two different trips to Germany. And our first encounter. He comes and he starts sharing with this guy and it's the captain of this massive ship. And I'm not kidding you, within the span of I would say, about five to 10 minutes, this guy's in tears. I mean just immediately like this guy's in tears. I'm like just immediately, like this guy's in tears. I'm like I was filming a little bit. Then I was like I better not film. You know, I don't want, I don't know what to do. But here's the interesting thing about it Now, as soon as you step on the ship, it's an English language ship.
Speaker 3:Suddenly, all the ships it's kind of like airlines, like the language of an industry is English, and so it's lovely. When you've only been here in Germany and shooting films, suddenly everything becomes English and it's like, did Lord give me discernment? I can hear language, but so he's just sharing the gospel and it cuts this guy to the heart. It's Pentecost, right, there's cut to the heart and immediately I think this guy had some interactions with Christianity, kind of knew it, but it's like just a heart of repentance and brokenness swept upon this guy. And, of course, me being me, I didn't shoot any of it and so I was like, because you know, I'm like, I don't know what I can or can't, or if there's a genuine ministry opportunity which actually we're there to shoot, I don't want to hinder as well. So it puts you in a really interesting spot and sometimes I lean on the let's, not because I don't want to disrupt the main thing. Oh, we got it, but we sure disrupted his heart, you know. So I didn't get it specifically, but I got them interacting afterwards. But it was just, and even such a pivot from conviction to joy, because this guy was cut to the heart in certain areas of his life and recognizing his need for God. And then this is what should happen a cut to a heart, repentance and then joy, because Martin shared the gospel again to this guy. If he had heard it, I don't know if he'd heard it once or none, but just a sweeping joy and just suddenly a brotherly affection with these two as they talked and discussed, and I mean then, then suddenly we understood we could shoot, because it's like our house is your house.
Speaker 3:Suddenly this Filipino I believe he was Filipino hospitality kicked in and it's like the ship is ours and we got to go film and do whatever. And he's got. He's the captain of this massive ship. Now, the interesting thing about these massive ships that are and we're talking so many football fields, you know, and so many stories it's like a skyscraper on end out to sea. There's only like 20 people on the ship still working it, but they're constantly working it.
Speaker 3:And so then, martin, what he does is he meets. He's such a I think God has given such a soft heart and such a almost like a reverse hospitality. He comes into their house and yet they feel welcome. It's just like a special tenderness to him. So he sets up shop.
Speaker 3:Now here's the interesting thing as well he wears like a captain's outfit, so it's almost like he says he wears it because he wants to honor the ship, he wants to honor their environment. So he's dressed as if you might, if you were a captain to some degree, you know, white shirt, collar, you know like kind of things on the shoulders he wants to honor, and sometimes he has a captain's hat and it's just to some people they might think, well, this, this little cheesy, you know what is this, you know. But it's like when you get to know Martin she's like, oh yeah, that's right and actually it's beautiful. And so he goes and he sets up in like a commons area Usually there's where they eat and he'll lay out. He's written books. So God stirred him so much that over this time with seafarers he's learned more about the needs and the loneliness and the temptation that they face and he's wrote several books specifically to seafarers.
Speaker 2:And so books a ton of time to kill for these guys, yes.
Speaker 3:What more do they have than time?
Speaker 2:So they're out to sea. What a great resource for them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so he writes books, gives them away and preaches the gospel. So he just goes and people come and now here's the thing. You think, well, this is weird, a stranger coming on and having a presentation and people show up, but they're out to see, they want a new face, you know, and they'll come and they'll sit and they'll enjoy and they'll laugh, and he shares the gospel and they're hungry for new news. Give us something new news and he shares the good news, the newest and best and greatest and oldest news there is, and so he shares the gospel. And man, there's so much I want to say about this. But so, by what we learned about Martin as well, he goes ship to ship. You know. He can do three ships in a day, five ships in a day. Sometimes he's on one ship for multiple days because a cruise line shows up and there'll be hundreds, hundreds of workers. Now their conditions on the cruise ship might actually be worse than and this is kind of a convicting thing the conditions for people who work on cruise ships can be pretty rough, and so, as people are whining and dining and enjoying luxury, many of the workers are in difficult scenarios, and he knows ships that treat their workers well, and some that don't, and so, even then, coming and serving people that are hurting and stuff, and as they serve people who are living it up, and so it's just an interesting world. You know, met with that. But he can preach the gospel to like 200 people at once, or two, or one in that moment when we first got on the ship, or 12 or whatever. But he goes ship to ship, not distinct, prioritizing one over another. As he has access, he goes and they let him on and in many cases, martin, there you are, you know they've been there before and they know him and so it's beautiful. And then, as we got to know him and film a story we see, like his, he has a book and it's like it's almost like a book you would sign at a wedding, but it's his home and so we he starts kind of opening his book and sharing it with us.
Speaker 3:This guy's reached the nations. I mean we're talking a country you didn't know exists. Yes, that country, all the way to countries there's no way you'd get in. So Iran and you know, like, oh my gosh, like so many African nations and so many from Southeast Asia that have come to his house. He has a photo book of people from all over the world. So over the years, not only has he gone on the ships, but he recognizes that these people have never been invited into any home, and so now they're coming to his home celebrating Christmas. There's one picture of him celebrating Christmas on a Chinese ship, so celebrating the birth of Christ with a bunch of like probably 30 to 40 Chinese men, and never know of Jesus. He would never get to China, but China comes to him. So, martin and Monica, they're in their home.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're inviting folks into their home yeah, so you see them To show the hospitality and the love of Christ, yeah, and so then they get letters written to them saying like my husband's never been invited anywhere in all his time out to sea, wow, and you invited him in. And so letters and care and reading the, just the, the, the encouragements of the people who had been there and they know and they celebrate, and so it's like man, god's super, duper, creative, he sends us to the nations. We're the nations, right we're. We're people that were unreached and God sent people. You know, like God sent people to us and now we get to go to people, and then sometimes he sends the nations to you and he sends you right, 10 minutes outside your house, but you also. What a step of obedience for him to follow.
Speaker 3:One have a heart of compassion and love and mercy for the lost, for the seafarers specifically. Imagine this that God gives a heart for the seafarer. Like many of you people, I'm assuming it was true for me, didn't even know that was a word. Yeah, and so now, but God has raised up one, taken a dead person, made him alive, given him a heart for the lost and making his heart for the lost a specific people group known as seafarers, and then doing it in his own hometown and doing it, you know, inspiring him in such a way that he would move to be so close that if he heard a ship can come and he can go.
Speaker 3:Now this is a spoiler alert but I want to brag about God's work in Martin and Monica. He has been on over. He kept on lowering the number, but I will give the range to respect him. I think the math is about 35,000 ships over his time. He says, just for safety and make sure we go low. It's like, say, 25, but it's like 25 to 35,000 ships and much more, probably even by now. 25 to 35,000 ships and much more probably even by now. And he has gotten to. If I did the math, my numbers and taking out low averages.
Speaker 3:I think he's preached the gospel over to about half a million people, personally Unbelievable. He says put. I think he said put 250,000, but that's his humility. He has no heart for ego.
Speaker 2:You know, it's just like a love of Christ. Just a cool 250,000.
Speaker 3:Lower it by 250. Wow, that's what Christ has done. Took a broken guy, and here's the thing. Funny enough, he actually wanted to study for a whole other thing, I think, like in economics. He didn't pass the test, though. He did something in economics, but he failed, and so he started doing this stuff at the docks and, and so he started doing this stuff at the docks and then he saw the seafarers and had a heart for them.
Speaker 3:And so it's funny. It's like even when things don't go your way, you know we get lost in the Amazon, or you fail a test for a career you really wanted God is orchestrating something. If we're porous or if we're malleable to his touch, we can be formed into something. And if we not reject it, not fight it, man, it's beautiful, the sculptor he is and what he can make. And so, martin and Monica, their faithfulness again, this is Christ in them. When we're looking at a person I say names, it's Christ in them that we're talking about. And so it's just like man, whether it be brothers and sisters in Mali, no-transcript. This is what God's doing all over the globe right now, as we're sitting in front of microphones in Austin, texas.
Speaker 2:Man, what a privilege that God's given you the opportunity to capture and tell those stories. Yes, thank you so much. That story's called the Messenger. The Messenger, okay, yes, and so again, for everybody who wants to go and check out some of these stories at moving works the messenger, go and watch that. You can find it there. I think in three seasons of this podcast, that may be one of the most unique and awesome stories that I've heard.
Speaker 3:Yeah, martin's story is incredible, thank you so much and and again.
Speaker 2:You just outlined the. You know how God uses certain circumstances. Martin, wasn't even the subject of the story that y'all are going to capture. No, he wasn't the reason that you guys were there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's, that's God. Right, Again, I said this earlier. I think we're kind of buffoons and it's like we're going there. It's like I do tell people we go to cultures that we don't know the language, we don't know the culture, we don't know the context as much, and I just say we're kindergartners, we're probably preschoolers, but you know, we, we bump into him and God had orchestrated this thing. And it's a freeing thing to understand. You're in the hands of a sovereign God. Yes, that when you lose something, that's okay. If you gain something, don't put too much on it. It's his, it's all his and he's orchestrating something. Again. This is where I go back to the fact that in the first discussion it's like this is God forming something in me. This is God's privilege and kindness and care and ministry to me, extended to you.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:So, like, who's the beneficiary of movement works? Peter Craig is the beneficiary. He could be so lavish to create a ministry only for me. Now, by God's grace, it's beyond that, and that might sound like a little egotistical. No, I think he's that generous and kind to. Actually he gave the most valuable thing in the cosmos the most valuable being there is Christ himself for little or less he would make a ministry just to remind me how good he is. Now I get to be that beneficiary and this is where I think at the beginning he called us to worship him. He called called not to make films but to worship. And I get to worship because I get to see how good he is and from that comes an honest fruit of worship Because I'm like you're awesome. Even as I discuss it, I'm reinstilled with zeal for the Lord Because it's like yeah, you're awesome All credit goes to him.
Speaker 2:Man Peter, thank you so much for taking time to tell these stories, for being on for two episodes, Just from our audience. Man, just I want to extend such a thanks to you, Like what an incredible opportunity we've had to just journey around the world with you and hear some of these stories. Man, how can people stay connected to what God's doing in Moving Works?
Speaker 3:Moving Works. We're a nonprofit, you know people can go on and visit movingworksorg. All our films are free. You can download, re-upload. We don't mind if you take our film, download it and re-upload it on your Facebook, your YouTube. We don't care about views. We really want the message out there. We also have a study guide with 25 of our films that if you guys, if anyone's interested in a study, a film study, where you watch a film, you get into Scripture, you discuss, it's great for discipleship groups or small groups or whatever it might be youth ministry, we give those away.
Speaker 3:Everything we make we give away. That's what God said to do. Every one of our films has a study guide with it. So a lot of them. I think we have around 70 to 80 different films you can watch. So I just we want to extend the invitation to enjoy the beauty and grace of the Lord, and I will say this these are crayon drawings. Jesus is so good, so beautiful. They don't scratch the surface of his beauty, but he invites us in, and so it's our honor to be able to make these films and share them. Also, honestly, if you have a heart for Jesus, you have filmmaking skills. We always love to talk, to partner with more people, to join the team and worship Jesus with us.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for being on the show, man. It's just been a pleasure to hear these stories and to travel with you. Man, would you mind praying for us here at the end?
Speaker 3:Yes, Lord, thank you so much for your grace as I share. It's just grace. It's certainly not us, it's you. Thank you, for I'm going to pray a selfish prayer. Thank you for my time at Moving Works, where I've gotten to see your beautiful, sovereign, mighty, loving hand at work all over the world, and what a grace. Thank you for that.
Speaker 3:Thank you for this podcast, thank you for the opportunity to share, giving me this opportunity to brag about you. You're so good and we're so flawed, and I want to confess like I don't see things perfectly, I don't get it right, and if there's anything not of you and even as I've shared, lord, let it go away. But if there is something that you want to speak through your spirit, through what has been shared, I ask that you do it, that you really encourage, that you convict, that you remind people to look up and marvel over the beauty, the beauty of Christ. And so, lord, thank you. I just want to very, very simply go back to the gospel. Thank you, christ, for your perfect life, your as we discussed brutal death and your glorious resurrection, because you love us. That doesn't make sense, but you love us and I thank you so much for that. So, lord, it's all because of you and we want to give you the praise, honor and glory, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to Unreached. Our sincere desire is that what you've heard today will cause you to see the mission of God differently and your role in it more clearly. If this adds value for you and we hope it does would you please rate and review the podcast wherever you listen. Also, share with your family, your friends, your church, your life group, small group, dgroup, wherever you do life, and if you want to connect with us, find us on Instagram at unreachedpodcast, or email us at unreachedpodcast at gmailcom.
