Growing Apostolic Ministry In A Spiritual Desert! ... Enlgish & Spanish

A spiritual desert doesn’t mean ministry stops; it means we discover what really carries us. We sat down with Pastor Cody Mayo to unpack a striking image that reframes leadership for a noisy, skeptical age: camels. Camels aren’t pretty, but they are built for sandstorms. In the same way, prayer, fasting, Scripture, and Spirit-led love look ordinary from a distance, yet they are the load-bearing practices that move people through harsh seasons and toward hope.

We trace the theme across Scripture. Paul learned at the feet of Gamaliel—“the camel of God”—a reminder that mentorship and formation matter when the road gets rough. Joseph’s lowest moment meets a caravan bearing the balm of Gilead, revealing ministry as healing on the move. Then Rebekah steps to the well, eyes open to the cost, and makes trip after trip to water ten camels. That steady service becomes her road to destiny; the very burdens she lifted end up carrying her to her bridegroom. Along the way, we explore a core warning from Leviticus: never consume what carries you. Don’t cut the disciplines that sustain your calling just because the desert feels long.

If you’ve wondered how to lead faithfully amid social media noise, post-pandemic fatigue, and cultural fragmentation, this conversation offers a clear path: tend to the carriers first. Kneel the camels at the well before you reach for the meal. Measure a church not by platform shine but by the ministry it sustains day after day. You were made for this moment, equipped to breathe in the storm and keep moving with healing in hand.

If this resonated, share it with a friend, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review with one takeaway you’re carrying into the week.

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Transcript

Tech Setup And Translation Notes

SPEAKER_01 0:47

So anybody that gets a message from anybody trying to get on Facebook, let me see if I can go to Brother Robinet's page and put that in there as well, just because I feel like I'm multitasking.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Thank you, Lord.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Thank you, Jesus. Okay. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Okay. See if this works.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Yeah, probably not. Oh yeah. Okay, so I posted also on Brother Robinette's page where we will be streaming to. Hopefully that works. If not, uh I'm not sure what I'll do. Thank you, Jesus. Yes, you should be able to share from there however you desire. Um little bit of experiment. Now YouTube is another matter. I don't think I'll be able to manage that today. But I do have a recording of this, and Brother Robinet will be um posting that later, and I probably should be giving my translator time to translate.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Um Robinet Buenos días, Mentoria Postolica.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Praise the Lord. Amen. Well, and we'll let's please keep uh Brother Robinet in your prayers, I believe. Um he's in uh Zambia, I believe he's in transit too. Amen. And uh I'm sure he appreciates uh even more than I do all the partners in prayer that are there in the background praying for this ministry. And again, he may be joining us later on, I don't know. Uh I guess it'll depend on internet connection. Amen. Amen. So uh today um we we do have German, uh, French, and Arabic translation for those of you who are seeking translation and are not familiar with that. Amen. And uh that's of course available over Zoom, uh over uh Facebook, of course. This is just in uh English and Spanish today. Amen. Amen. Well, today uh we're very excited to have Pastor Cody Mayo with us, if my pronouncing that correctly.

Guest Introduction And Context

SPEAKER_01 5:51

And he also serves as the Africa Middle East Field Supervisor for the ALGC World Missions.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Can you say what association? Uh that's uh Africa Middle East Supervisor del Medio Este, Medio de Africanos.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

For ALGC World Missions. Amen. Amen. We're very happy to have him with us tonight. And we're meeting each other here online for the first time, so I personally have not met him yet. That's always the great thing with apostolic mentoring. Amen, to get to know each other in the kingdom. Amen, to glean from each other, and to support each other in what we're trying to do for the kingdom. So without any further ado, I'd like to give the word over to Brother Mayo for tonight. Take your liberty in the Holy Ghost. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 7:49

I uh I want to say how much I appreciate the Apostolic Mentoring Network. And I give honor to Brother Robinet and the entire Apostolic Mentoring Team. And I appreciate the work that is being done for the kingdom. I want to talk to us today. About the need and the desire to foster and grow apostolic ministry in the 21st century.

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If we go back to the beginning, and we look at the apostles in Acts chapter 2, 2, the scripture says that the Lord added to the church daily.

Created For This Cultural Moment

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Paul is writing, or Paul is speaking, he says, I am verily a man which am a Jew.

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Born in Tarsus, a city in Sicilia, yet brought up in this city, at the feet of Gameliel. And when I when I looked up the name Gameliel, it is literally translated camel of God.

SPEAKER_03 12:03

And that's kind of that's a funny name. Little children don't want camels at their birthday.

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When we think of the beauty of creation, we don't think about camels.

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And it described them as mammals with long legs.

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And growths on their back. And it's clear so that they can go through sandstorms without losing their vision. Their noses can close, but they can still breathe. That way sand doesn't get in their nostrils.

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They have growths on their back.

The Camel Of God: Mentorship

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Because they were created for the desert. They earned the nickname the ships of the desert. Even today, aun Este día, camels transport burdens and cargo. Perdón, fueron creados. Where trucks can't go. In the wilderness, in ese ambiente desértico, or in the desert, or in elto, they are the most superior beasts of burden known to man. And Paul tells us I studied at the feet of the camel of God. Paul was a special case. There was no one else like him. He was educated. He was born a Jew. And yet was a Roman citizen. He hated the church.

SPEAKER_03 16:27

But he was going to be the greatest apostle of the church. Who could mentor a man like this?

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We live in a world today that like Paul is very different from anything that's ever existed before. There's more diversity. There is more religion and more hate for religion. Than at any other time in history.

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The world today could be called a spiritual desert in some ways.

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And if we're not careful, we as the church will say, How are we supposed to evangelize in 2025? We've been through COVID. We have social media. I believe that we were created for this time for this place and for this environment.

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I don't know how our forefathers would have ministered in today's culture. I don't know what Billy Cole would do today. I don't know what my great grandfather, how he would minister today.

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And we are created for our time. And we must daily grow, crecemos, and foster and accommodate apostolic ministry in our lives. Daily prayer. Daily fasting. Daily study of the word. The fruit of the spirit daily. The gifts of the spirit daily. So I started looking up camels in the Bible. And one place I saw the mention of these camels was in Leviticus chapter 11. In verse 4. It starts talking about the law concerning camels. And Moses writes to the children of Israel. He says, Nevertheless, these shall ye not eat. Of

Do Not Kill What Carries You

SPEAKER_02 20:47

them that chew the could divide the hoof as the camel. What Moses is saying is that you can't eat the camel. If you're making a journey, and you begin to cross the desert yet in a dry place in unry, you can't kill what brought you to this place for your own profit. And I want to encourage some apostolics that when we come to a dry place when we come to a desert and we begin to get hungry and empezamos a tener hambre, we can never afford to kill the apostolic ministry that brought us to where we are. And when ministry brings them to that place and things get difficult, that the first thing they do is kill the ministry that brought them here. That's why it's important that we grow apostolic ministry every day. As I begin to read more about these camels, I found a story in Genesis 37. Joseph has been his father's favorite son. And his brothers hate him for it. They have thrown him in a pit. They are contemplating killing Joseph. But God needs Joseph to save the entire world. As the brothers look up from eating their lunch, they see something coming across the horizon. And what do they see? The scripture says they see camels. And they're bearing the balm of Gilead.

Joseph, Balm Of Gilead, And Healing

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As Joseph is in one of the darkest places of his life.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

Remember that in this lesson that camels represent apostolic ministry. And true apostolic ministry looks like healing. It's a balm of Gilead. We pray and fast and read. Because we found a God that loves us. And ministry is showing that same love to somebody else. And in reading about these camels, there was another trend. I noticed that when the wealth of a king or a country is measured, that the camels were always numbered. Because the strength of a ministry, the strength of an organization, the strength of a church, the strength of a group, the riches, if you will, are how much ministry is taking place in that particular group. And I could go through every scripture that mentioned camels. The place that I found these beasts of burden mentioned the most.

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Was in Genesis chapter 24.

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The scripture tells us that Abraham was old. And the Lord had blessed him in everything. And that Abraham said unto his eldest servant. He said, I want you to make me a promise.

SPEAKER_03 27:30

That promise me that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the Canaanites. But go back to my country.

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And to my kindred and take a wife for my son Isaac.

Wealth Measured By Ministry

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And the servant says, What if this woman doesn't want to come with me? He said, Do I bring what do I do? He said, He said, I want you to go there. And I want you to find someone from of my kindred. And if she won't come, then you can be clear of this burden or this promise. And the servant promises Abraham. He says, I'll go back to your country. And I'll find your son. I'll find your prince. A bride. And in verse 10 of Genesis 24. It says the servant took 10 camels of his master. And it says that he goes back to Mesopotamia. And when he gets to the city in the evening, that he finds a well. And he makes his camels to kneel down by that well. And remember in this lesson that those camels represent apostolic ministry. Because anytime I go to a new place, the first thing I do is to make sure that apostolic ministry is taken care of. When I go into a new city, or if I'm called to a new nation, or if I'm even called

Rebekah At The Well: Many Trips

SPEAKER_02 30:17

to a new place with the Lord, the first thing I do is begin to pray and begin to fast and begin to take care of the things that have been taken care of me.

SPEAKER_03 30:40

I want to tell you, I've spent a lot of time in African nations and Middle Eastern nations.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

And I've learned that when you go to a foreign field, whatever is inside of you is going to come out. Whatever you've taken care of is going to come to the surface. And some of the worst things come out of them. Because what they took care of is what began to grow. I've seen other people that go on missions trips.

SPEAKER_03 31:50

And some of the most incredible things that you've ever seen would begin to happen and grow from them.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

Because what's inside of us, what we've taken care of, what we've made the effort to grow is going to come forth when we go to new places. And the servant in this story says he says to himself that the first thing he's going to do is take care of these camels. So he takes them to the well and he has them kneel down by the well. And if you'd allow me to paraphrase, he says, I'm going to stand by this well. And if a lady comes out of the city, and she offers to take care of my camels, if it's in her heart, to help me take care of this ministry, then that's what I'm taking back to my master. And as the evening comes, Rebecca comes out of the city. And she has a pitcher on her shoulder. To draw water with. And when she finished giving him drink, she said, I'll draw water for your camels also. Now this lady knew what she was getting into. She saw ten camels. She saw ten beasts. That any one of those animals animals could drink that picture that she had in her hand. At least six times. And Rebecca understood that she may have to make 60 trips down into that well to bring back water for these camels. To grow apostolic ministry. And we draw water out. And it's difficult.

SPEAKER_03 36:03

Rebecca was a small woman.

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Rebecca era una mujer pequeña.

SPEAKER_03 36:08

It became a job for her to water those camels. But she made trip after trip after trip.

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And there will be times if we're going to minister. That we're going to make trip after trip. It may become difficult. Our backs may begin to hurt. We may think, is this ever going to end?

SPEAKER_03 36:56

But we've got to understand. That ministry doesn't happen on the first trip to the well. We don't build churches on one trip to the well.

SPEAKER_02 37:14

We don't win nations on one trip to the water. But we go back over and over and over.

SPEAKER_03 37:30

And when the servant sees how this lady takes care of his camels. He says, Whose daughter are you? Who's your father?

SPEAKER_02 37:48

And she begins to tell him that she is, she is of Abraham's people.

SPEAKER_03 37:59

The scripture says the man bowed his head and began to worship the Lord. And he says, he says, I need to go back to your house. I need to talk to your family, to your father.

SPEAKER_02 38:20

And again, I just want to make the point. That when the servant gets

Caring For Ministry Before Provision

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to the house, the scripture tells us that the first thing he does is again takes care of those camels. And he goes into Laban's house. And he sits down at the table. And they tell him, You need to eat. And he says, I can't eat. Until I have told my errand. This man understood that the message was more important than the provision. And he begins to say unto Laban. I represent a very powerful man. A man who used to be part of this country.

SPEAKER_03 39:48

But he's traveling to a promised land.

SPEAKER_02 39:53

And his flesh or his son is looking for a bride. And when I went to the well, I met this lady. And because of the way she treated my camels, I know that she's the right bride. For my master's house. And Labor Labor Laban answers. He says, The thing that you've said. It is of the Lord. Rebecca is before you.

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Go and let her be the wife of thy master's son.

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As the Lord has called.

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Now remember through this whole lesson. We've called these camels beasts of burden. And the next burden that these camels are going to bear. That took care of them. Rebecca had no idea. Rebecca no tenia la menor idea that when she was making 50 or 60 trips to the well and bearing the burden of caring for those camels.

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That the same camels that had been her burden were going to carry her back to her groom.

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Camels are valuable. Because they bear burdens. In a superior way.

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And every time

Burdens That Carry Us To The Groom

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we care for ministry.

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We have been called for this moment. You have been called for the time and place that you're in. It's not for glamour. It's not for prestige. It's not for fame. We've been called to bear a burden. The church has been good to me. The church has given me everything I've got. But it gave me everything I have. So that I can give it everything I have. And we can get the bride to her groom. Can we pray together? Lord Jesus. Father, we pray you have your way and let your will be done in every life. Order our steps in your word. Protect us and keep us. In Jesus' name we pray. Thank you so much for having me today.

SPEAKER_01 46:04

Amen. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Brother Mayo, for that word tonight. Such a powerful word. Such an important message. We can so easily overlook the things that help us do the ministry the most. So important to pay attention to those things that have taken us to where we are. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

If anybody's ever been up close to a camel, it's advisable to keep your distance.

Closing Prayer And Reflections

SPEAKER_01 47:15

But we also have to take care of them. We have to tend to it. Amen. Thank you so much for that word. Thank you so much for that understanding tonight of apostolic ministry. Don't overlook the care of the ministry. There's a lot of work to do. And some of it can't be done with horses. There's a burden to carry. And sometimes we've got to sit down at the feet of Gamellio. And take that appointed time. And take it in. Humble ourselves. And to take in that ministry. That we can then sometime in the future be in the place in turn to minister. Thank you again so much for being with us tonight. And thank you all for being part of this tonight in Apostolic Mentoring. Now we can all, as Brother Robinet likes to say, do what you always do. And greet each other as we wrap up tonight's session.

SPEAKER_00 49:35

Thank you. Bless you all.

SPEAKER_02 49:44

God bless you.

SPEAKER_01 49:47

Jesus' name. Thank you, Brother Sayers. Amen. Thank you, Brother Sayers.

SPEAKER_02 49:56

Thank you, Brother Sayers.

SPEAKER_01 49:57

God bless you all.

SPEAKER_02 49:58

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_04 49:58

God bless you all. Have a good week. Love you all. Thank you again, Brother Mayo.

SPEAKER_01 50:03

God bless you, sir. Bye bye. Wonderful words.