Expansive European Gospel Expeditions In The Future

For many years I had wanted to go to Palos, though I had never met anyone who had been there. Since I was in nearby Portugal, this seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

I got up early and left Lisbon at 5 a.m. so I could arrive at a specific monastery in Palos by 9 a.m. It was a beautiful summer day, and I enjoyed roaming around the ancient grounds looking at all the artifacts. After a while I walked into a small room that was about six by eight feet. Above the doorpost was a plaque with these words: “The Birthplace of America.”

Like most people, I had always thought of Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims landed in the 1600s, as America’s birthplace. Yet, this plaque said that America was actually born in this tiny room!

Stepping inside, it was as if I was trekking back more than five hundred years. The room was just as it had been in 1491. There were two chairs opposite one another with a table between them. Above the chair on the right was a portrait of Christopher Columbus. I looked closely at the painting for a few moments and then sat down in the same chair Columbus would have sat in back in 1491. I looked across the table at the chair where a Franciscan monk would have sat as he listened to Columbus sharing his vision of a New World.

Columbus believed he could find a new trade route to India across the Atlantic Ocean. If he was right, European ships would no longer have to make the long and torturous trip around the tip of Africa to get to the East Indies. Columbus was convinced this new trade route would be faster and safer.

The Franciscan monk caught Columbus’ vision and took it to the King and Queen of Spain, who decided to fund it. Christopher Columbus got his boats and crew together, and the rest is history.

What is ironic is that Christopher Columbus was not Spanish. He was born in Italy and raised in Portugal. He had already taken the same vision to the Portuguese leaders, but they had laughed at him. They did not believe in the vision, much less the visionary. So Columbus went next door to Spain, where he found leaders who were willing to buy into the vision. As we all know, the vision of Christopher Columbus, funded by Spain, ultimately changed the course of human history.

I’ve often wondered, “What if the Portuguese leaders had changed their minds? What if they had not laughed but had decided to fund the vision and the mission of Christopher Columbus? What would our world be like today? Would Americans be speaking Portuguese instead of English? We will never know.

When I left the monastery, my driver took me to a very old Catholic churchthat sat on the edge of a rock wall that, centuries ago, had backed up to the Atlantic Ocean. I knocked on the church door, and a lady who spoke no English answered. My Spanish driver became our interpreter.

“May I go inside?” I asked politely.

“Sorry, no guests today,” she replied. “The priest is not here.” “Please, let me go inside,” I asked again. “I have come a very long way.”

“Sorry, the priest is not here,” she repeated.

What she did not know is that sometimes I make coffee nervous! I can be quite tenacious.

“Please, call the priest and tell him that an American church leader has come a very long way. Tell him I would love to have just five minutes inside your church.”

Finally, she agreed to call the priest. A few minutes later, she welcomed me in.

Grateful for the opportunity to visit this ancient and beautiful church building, I immediately walked to the front of the sanctuary. I stood there in silence, realizing that I was standing at the very altar where Christopher Columbus had dedicated his men and his mission to God. This was the very spot where he had dedicated his cause to Jesus Christ! This was also the spot where, following his first expedition to the New World, Columbus returned to give praise and glory to God for all he’d been able to accomplish. I pondered the historic reality of this one man who, more than 500 years earlier, had been able to articulate a clear vision, establish and champion a cause, mobilize men and resources-and, in the process, change the world forever.

While I was on the premises of this historic site, I walked outside to a nearby grassy lawn and looked out over the Atlantic Ocean. This was where Columbus had assembled his men, boarded three simple boats, and left port. This is where he had begun his journey to cross the Atlantic for the very first time, opening the doors to a New World.

I knelt beside a fountain on the lawn and prayed. I asked God for big things. I asked Him to help us, His Church, to fulfill our vision. I asked Him to make our future expeditions successful as we sought to complete the Great Commission. I asked Him to double the size of His Church so it would be harder for someone to live and die on this planet without hearing the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In June, 2019, the Global Dublin Hub was launched and the Hub Training begins in February, 2020. Pastors Nick Parks, Tunde Oke and Sean Malarkey are providing dynamic leadership. We expect between 150 to 200 pastors and leaders to fill this powerful hub.  While I was in Dublin last week, Pastor Parks and I taped a podcast to be released this fall to create awareness of the Dublin Hub launch.

Until The Last Person Has Heard,