The Last 175 Years And The Churches Challenge Today…in 60 seconds;

Generations of liberal mainline churches with a low view of scripture doing humanitarian projects and neglecting the soul, are often countered these days by Evangelical churches with a high view of scripture and favoring compassion ministry as they attempt to course-correct on generations focused only on evangelism.  Sometimes this reaction results in reckless generosity, which then results in naysayers of mission work, mostly of the short term variety.

The current tide of compassion ministry is also a reaction to decades of gnosticism in the church; a false dichotomy of the spiritual and physical, sacred and the secular…kicked off by the backlash of fundamentalists towards liberal churches focused on humanitarian efforts, and a pessimistic eschatology that eagerly expected Jesus to return any minute, since the world appeared to be going to hell in a handbasket.  After years of Evangelicals treating humanitarian work as the carrot dangled as enticement to listen to a salvation message, we finally have some care for people’s physical well-being…albeit not with a good grasp of why, outside of a gut that says we should be all about compassion…after Chan and Platt and Stearns and Claiborne and (fill in the blank) have got us all bunched up.  With time will come a more thought-out understanding of the whole gospel as lived out by Jesus…the Gospel Of The Kingdom…a call to salvation and cultural transformation…helped by applying the lessons so often missed from an Old Testament blueprint called Israel (did we miss the fact that they started out in more dire circumstances leaving Egypt than any people group alive today?).   All of the vital components for spiritual, societal and economic progress…God centered progress…are right there.

Good Kingdom language has regenerated souls and renewed minds at the heart of it, which I believe can lead to cultural transformation for the glory of God. God so loved the world…yes, Jesus will return and renew this broken world…but God still so loves the world, and the world has physical humans living physical lives in it, needing spiritual rebirth, and a hand up in Kingdom living.

The nations still need to be discipled, starting with the church saturated ones that unfortunately got a “hole” gospel on accident…sometimes liberal dependency without salvation, often conservative salvation without the tools to think Biblically about life and possibilities.

January 2012 Hungry For Life Update

Click here to read!

HFL April Update 2011

My son Taylor in Haiti

I returned from 17 days in Haiti a few weeks ago, after being with our church team for the building of the house above, and then traveling to northern Haiti with our project manager to begin assessing a new partner.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get through everything we needed to do…there was such concern among the Haitians regarding the election announcement and what might happen (rumors of every government building in the country being leveled and an apparent run on machetes) that we decided to “skip town” for a few days and head to the Dominican Republic.  The border was only 30 minutes from our location, so that’s what we did.  I’ve been across that border twice before, but always in a vehicle…this time we went on foot, which was quite an experience, because it was market day (when both countries open the border for selling of products back and forth).  There is a new bridge for this, but we found out the hard way (by braving the chaos all the way across) that this bridge is NOT for immigration!  So, we had to go all the way back through the crowd and mayhem (with our Haitian wheel barrel “porter” carrying most of the bags) and over to a different crossing.  Once across, we jumped on a bus and spent a couple days 45 minutes north in a small fishing village called Monte Christi…a calm place with nice locals…apparently not much visited anymore because of the popularity of all inclusive resorts in that country…we had a hotel almost completely to ourselves.  Since neither my companion Paul or I speak any Spanish, it made our taxi rides (at 20 miles an hour…bad tire) and meal ordering real interesting.  But, we had a nice couple of days before hearing that “Sweet Micky” had won the election in Haiti, and there was no uprising, just celebration. 

One new discovery I made once we got back to Haiti was a beach fishing community just 30 minutes west of Terrier Rouge where we were staying.  They were living very lean, with houses made of thatched branches and pieces of whatever they could find…the main food was of course fish…and lobster (!!).  When you can’t put in on ice, you have to eat it.  I was struck by the irony of their gorgeous surrounding, including a supply of some of the most beautiful shells I have ever seen, in pieces in a pile…they eat the residents of the shells and just toss them aside…and here we were, probably and hour or two from Labadee, the private beach leased by Royal Carribean for tourists, where these shells would bring in much needed revenue.  Even though we didn’t make any future plans to work with this community (Paul still needs to go back and finish assessing the ministry we went there to visit in the first place), I haven’t stopped thinking about the possibilities… 

Once I returned to Utah, we were joined by three folks from the Canadian office for training.  We now have our own server up and running (thank you Ben!) and our Teams and Project Services people are trained!  Even though we still have some teams going out with help from the north, we have already begun the process for our first “wholly owned” team going to Guatemala this November.

Thanks to Kristie, Steve and Angela for getting us there!

Please pray for our staff that are raising support (Shawn, Dana, Christie, Jessica, Aaron and Angela) and are at varying points away from their targets.  Now that we have our systems in place and a schedule of church activity expanding, it is imperative that they be able to engage with HFL to the degree they have planned as soon as possible; some full time and some part.  I hope you will join me in interceding on their behalf, to see their support gaps shrink to nothing.

For the fame of Christ,

Mike

So much more than being nice…

After Perspectives class the other day, I’m chewing on a reality that struck me in a fresh way…

Christ followers do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the marginalized, stand up for the oppressed and seek justice, as carrots to dangle in front of the world to butter it up for a message…those things are the visible manifestation that the Kingdom of God is here now…a kingdom manifested through the radical love of Christ followers to transform the world….the eradication of needless suffering but also transformation in every aspect of life/work/culture…and the message of Christ is of course a crucial aspect of that kingdom activity, in word and deed.

Doing these things in obedience to the 2^nd great commandment as worship (and manifesting the 1^st one in the process) is even a greater concept when you realize you are BEING the Kingdom manifested! 

If we aren’t doing these things, what are we saying?  “Hey Jesus, thanks for joining me in MY kingdom…I’ll give you some airtime on my terms.” 

It also occurred to me that “let your kingdom come” was always something I understood as a prayer for “part two”….ie the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom in restored creation outlined in Revelation.  I think I was mistaken….Jesus said the kingdom is HERE.  I think another way to pray that is “let your kingdom penetrate my soul and be manifest through me”.

Mike

October HFLUSA Update

http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=40ce3188b009756381ee7beb1&id=54463e87a9

The August HFL Update

Can be found here; http://us1.campaign-archive.com/?u=40ce3188b009756381ee7beb1&id=fcb0522baa

May Update

Family and friends,

In case you haven’t heard, CONSUMED has been cancelled for Friday May 21st…we had a scheduling issue with our venue, but as soon as we have new details about the next event, they will be posted in here and in various places.

I returned this week from an HFLUSA facilitated Vision Trip with South Mountain Community Church (SMCC) in Kenya, with a significant sense of gratitude…so thankful for the team we took and the quality of our time.  Our primary goals were to see the results of the church’s financial involvement in various projects, interface with people on the ground (both ministry personnel and people at large) and explore new opportunities to partner with the Pastoral community in one of the poorest regions of the country.  The trip was also tied to relationships SMCC has forged with African Theological Seminary (ATS).  Our experiences will largely inform on SMCC’s future plans in Kenya.  Some moments worth mentioning;

We had asked for someone to arrange a meeting of Pastors from the region of Marafa so that we could discuss leadership and theological training…with expectations that there might be a handful of people, but when we arrived, we discovered there were around 80 Pastors and church leaders waiting for us!  Surprised and encouraged, we discussed future training opportunities for these men and women of God, who are hungry for education.

 

One of the highlights of the trip was our team taking a wheelchair to Semini, the 15 year old boy I mentioned in February that had never been to school.  His father was a bit overwhelmed by the gift, which we told him came with the love of Jesus.

 

We surveyed the area where a dorm for disabled boys is being built with funds SMCC attenders provided through The Advent Conspiracy fundraiser at Christmas.  We learned that to show they had “skin in the game”, parents of the disabled boys had dug  giant trenches around the peremeter for pre-foundation work and fittings…a feat they accomplished in ONE DAY!

 

It will be so nice to get this building finished, given that currently the boys are all sleeping in the girl’s dorm bathroom!

 

Some of our team members have children sponsored through World Vision in Marafa, whom we visited in the interior of the region.  Interestingly, we found out the father of Pastor Paul Robie’s sponsored child is also a Pastor.

We also met various business people who had benefited from micro-loans given through a World Vision program, which SMCC had funded a few years ago.  We were extremely impressed with the World Vision staff in Marafa, who excelled at hospitality.  Our favorite quote from them; “we are running about 45 minutes late on our schedule, but we thought it would be a good time for tea.”

 

Finally, after travelling north to Kitale we watched seminary graduation at ATS.  Pastor Paul gave the commencement speech and congratulated the graduates, looking a bit like someone you might see on a deck of cards!

Thanks to all who prayed for us while we were on this trip.  Aside from one bout of heatstroke the day after we arrived, no sickness, no major challenges and no drama…but plenty of good experiences to base future ministry on.  This was a trip for the books.

Prayer requests;

• For Kupenda, HFLUSA’s partner ministry serving the disabled in Kenya; for wisdom and resources as they work on strategies to staff and expand the work in Marafa.
• For our staff.  There are seven people in various stages of raising support and transitioning into full or part time ministry.  Your prayers for us as an organization are much appreciated!

For the fame of Jesus Christ,

Mike

All HFL staff raise their own support to serve North American churches and those overseas.  If you are interested in joining the Bells support team, please go here.

 Hungry For Life International is a Canadian Charity (#862048758RR0001) and a U.S. Non-profit (#30-0312349) © 2003-2010 Hungry For Life International. All Rights Reserved.

HFL Update April 2010

		Last Sunday morning I had the privilege of standing in front of a congregation in West Jordan, Utah and explaining to them the opportunity they will have, a little less than a year from now, to transform lives and to be transformed themselves through sending their first team to Haiti.  I could see from the body language in the room, that my comments about spiritual poverty having led me to seek out the abundant life Jesus talks about in serving the under-resourced of the world was resonating, and that the vision of their Pastor to move in this direction was paying off.  Thus begins a process, one that will ultimately deepen this congregation in ways they can not anticipate.  Ironically, I left that congregation and went to another (my own), where I was implementing “phase two”; the initial interest meeting for a trip this October.  Some of our current and future U.S. staff were in the room, and when I asked them to share how Haiti had affected them, the room got an earful of passion.  One individual is thinking about spending the entire month of October in Haiti this year, so that he can serve in the north and help facilitate HFL teams in the south! Speaking of staff, I want to share this moment from the retreat we took to join HFL Canada a few months ago in British Columbia.  The trip consisted of current and future staff, some raising support and some volunteering, and a few spouses.   It was a great opportunity to explore the future for many, and solid confirmation for others that this is in fact the direction they want their lives to take…serving the church to change the world. Please join us in ongoing prayer for these things; That the leadership of churches we have contacted would be moved to action with us.  For Dana Snyder, Shawn Glenn and Christie Morgan as they begin raising support. For discernment and divine appointments on the upcoming Vision trip that South Mountain Community Church is taking to Kenya For God to continue bringing strategic connections in personnel and partners to HFLUSA. For the fame of Jesus Christ, Mike   The following was written by Dave Blundell, HFL Executive Director. So I wrote a book. Perfectly legitimate questions would be “Why did you think another book needed to be written?” and “In the world of commercialized Christianity, isn’t there more than enough stuff to ‘help’ me grow in my walk with Jesus and be more effective in the life I should live?” For certain … my hesitancy to add more “stuff” to the shelves of bookstores, coffee tables, and Amazon’s website caused me to turn off my computer more than once. However, as a reader and a leader, I am tired of reading about how poor much of the world is and how poorly the Western Church is doing. (It’s pretty easy to get an audience by being constantly critical.) Instead, I want someone to paint a different picture. I want to read something that motivates me with the vision of a different, and possible, reality. I want something to move toward, not just away from. I want to read something transformational, not guilt-driven behavior modification. I want someone to help me be part of the solution, not just the problem. So … more than once, I picked up my computer again and kept writing. The book that resulted is an extension of the message and mandate of the work of Hungry For Life International. With a passion and renewed purpose to expand our impact, this book is intended to simply compare and contrast what is, against what could be. Targeting the Western churches, but more specifically those who influence them, my purpose is to spark personal spiritual transformation that results in a different global social reality. Writing a book makes you feel vulnerable (at least it did me), especially when the financial risk at least equals the emotional risk. Regardless of the commercial market metrics that will tell us whether or not this book has been “successful,” I will be thrilled to one day hear a story that, out of sheer boredom, some young person picked up a dusty copy from their parent’s shelf and was transformed by the truth that God’s glory and the injustice of needless suffering was far more important than their own comfort. Click here to visit Dave’s blog and find information on purchasing the book Hungry For Life: A Vision of the Church That Would Transform the World.   www.consumedworship.org

All HFL staff raise their own support to serve North American churches and those overseas.  If you are interested in joining the Bells support team, please go here.

 Hungry For Life International is a Canadian Charity (#862048758RR0001) and a U.S. Non-profit (#30-0312349) © 2003-2010 Hungry For Life International. All Rights Reserved.

Servanthood

I haven’t arrived, but I think I know the way…delivered at SMCC 11/2009.  Recently loaded on Vimeo. 

Walking With God: How to Develop the Heart of A Servant (Mike Bell) from SMCC on Vimeo.

How Generous Is Enough?

From Dave Blundell, Executive Director of Hungry For Life International;

When we are evaluating how much we should give of our time or treasure…we often think in terms of how much is enough.  Those gifted with the spiritual gift of giving ask, “How much can I give?”.  The rest of us ask, “How much do I have to give?”  In other words, “What is the minimum I need to do to stay out of spiritual hot water?”  We look for some objective number or line or measure to tell us if we don’t need to feel guilty for not being more generous.

This requirement of rules to tell us if we are spiritually acceptable is old religion and not the stuff of Christ-following.  There is no place of enough.  There is no arriving in generosity if we are giving 10% or give more time then the next person.  There is no arriving in a place of grace where we can ever say we are doing enough; only a journey toward an ever increasing generosity.  I know this because no one will ever be as generous with their lives as was Christ.

Another Brennon Manning quote: “We have all experienced the sadness of a Christian life that is secure, well regulated, but basically impoverished.  We long, at least occasionally, for a generosity that would lift us above ourselves…It is natural to feel fear and insecurity when confronted with the radical demands of the Christian commitment.  But enveloped in the lived truth of God’s furious love, insecurity is swallowed up in the solidity of love, and anguish and fear give way to hope and desire.  The Christian becomes aware that God’s appeal for unlimited generosity from His people has been preceded from His side by a limitless love, a love so intent upon a response that He has empowered us to respond through the gift of His own Spirit.

How can I ever think I have given enough?

Hungry For Life Update

Written by Steve Johnson, HFL’s Haiti project manager, during an assessment trip to Haiti ARISE Ministries in February 2010, a month after the devastating earthquake;

There will be “a new Haiti” were the words out of Pastor Marc’s mouth, as he shared his vision with our group tonight.  A vision for the Haitian people in the Grand Goave area to rise from this catastrophe.  As we sat and listened under the moonlight and ruffling of the ever-famous mango trees, we all couldn’t help but wonder how many opportunities lay ahead for the Haitian people.  For once the spotlight has shone on Haiti and the arms of compassion have opened wide, and with it comes opportunity.  Opportunities to rebuild.  Opportunities for more jobs.  Opportunities for some to forge out a future.  And most importantly: opportunities to transform lives for Jesus Christ.

There have been many ideas put forth in the last week and even more so since arriving here today and this evening.  Ideas about what can be done different this time: structures built stronger, new materials used.  All these ideas hinge on one critical component: local leadership.  Only through local leaders that can mobilize their people to help rebuild “their” Haiti can all this be possible.  This is the model that Hungry For Life is built upon, and there have been many success stories throughout our history that illustrate this fact.  Our partnerships with local leaders allow the churches in North America to help bring compassion to desperate people at desperate times.

“A new Haiti” will open up new partnerships.  New opportunities for North American churches to get involved in being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ here in Haiti. Pray for these churches, the ones that now have Haiti on their radar and on their hearts.

On The Home Front…

Friends and family,

I was scheduled to be with Steve (who penned the update above) right now in Haiti, but chose to wait.  The earthquake changed our original plans, so Steve will gather the information necessary to connect churches in Canada and the U.S. to projects in Haiti this year.  Right now we have three churches in Utah planning on sending teams!

As I stated in the update I sent from Kenya last month, our next stop was in Kisumu in the north, where we visited partners in the surrounding region who are implementing agriculture projects and building a dispensary/clinic…with one gigantic hole for a septic system!  This is being accomplished with grant money HFL received…

We also met with the Mayor of Siaya, a village we have projects in, who asked the pastor with us to pray before the meeting (not something you normally hear before a meeting with a government official in the states).

But I have to say, the highlight of this leg of the trip was visiting the Mukumu Children’s Home outside of Kakamega, Kenya.  These adorable orphans have been rescued from the abuse of street life by an amazing woman known as “Momma Grace”.  Four of the kids are HIV positive, supplies are lean, space is in short supply, but this woman presses on in providing children a safe place to do life together in the name of Jesus.

The house had only recently received electricity, and when we arrived at night, the kids were watching a snowy black and white television, which displayed a Kenyan soap opera.  Given the fact that Momma Grace does not have the resources to think about entertainment, we thought a surprise was in order…so the next day, we returned with some food supplies, and a present in a big box with an antenna for the roof…

Considering many of these children had never seen a color tv, or a cartoon, Ice Age 3 was thrilling!

In July, an HFL team will come to build a new kitchen behind the house!  You can view a music video with the children of Mukumu Children’s home by going here and clicking on “Promo Video”.

Three days after I returned from Kenya, around 150 people gathered for CONSUMED, where we focused on the reality that a prime motivation for radical love from our lives comes from a realization of God’s radical love for us individually…sometimes a hard thing to comprehend, but true and extremely important to internalize.  Our next CONSUMED service will be at K-2 The Church, May 21st, 7pm.  This is an opportunity for Christian churches in Utah to gather together in unity, seek the face of God in worship and focus on issues close to His heart.  Visit www.consumedworship.org  for more details.

For the fame of Jesus Christ,

Mike

___________________________

All HFL staff raise their own support to serve North American churches and those overseas.  If you are interested in joining The Bells support team and being part of the adventure, please go here.

Hungry For Life International is a Canadian Charity (#862048758RR0001) and a U.S. Non-profit (#30-0312349)
© 2003-2010 Hungry For Life International.  All Rights Reserved..

The Poverty In OUR Lives

Mandy Begg posted this on wapo in July of 2007. I re-read it this morning as I was cleaning up the blog…wow. Haugen is dead on.

Gary Haugen (executive director of the International Justice Mission), from his book Terrify No More;

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” If this is true, then why do good men and good women do nothing? As I consider this question, I find three deep sources of poverty that conspire to keep me and my good neighbors on the sidelines in the great struggle against evil: a poverty of compassion, a poverty of purpose, and a poverty of hope.

I am frequently amazed at my own shrunken circle of compassion, especially when I come from a faith tradition that teaches again and again of God’s great compassion – and passion – for the world. To be honest, do you know what I’m passionate about every day? Me. I am enamored with the shriveled world of me and mine. Most often, my first thought in the morning and my final thought as I drift off to sleep at night revolves around me. I have a poverty of compassion. Aleksander Solzhenitsyn said there are two standards by which we judge events in the world: near or far. If it is near to us, we care about it. If an event is happening on the other side of the world, I have a hard time working up concern or compassion about it. It’s how overwhelming tragedies such as Rwanda become tolerable disasters of bearable proportions. It’s how little girls in Cambodia who have been robbed of their childhood innocence can suffer without the Western world taking notice. It was the simple and clear teachings of Jesus that challenged me on the narrowness of my circle of compassion. In Luke 10 he said, “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Then a lawyer, who wanted to make it complicated, as we often do, asked, ” And who is my neighbor?” In response Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The application of that parable makes me ask myself, ‘Which way are the borders of my heart heading, inward or outward?’ Do I find them shrinking more and more tightly around me, closing out an increasing percentage of the world’s problem? Or am I touched by the stories I hear of suffering in other parts of the world? Do I find my heart softening when confronted with troubling stories of the suffering and oppression of people from other countries, different cultures? As I expand my exposure to other peoples, other tradition, other problems, I better identify with the pain in others’ lives and develop a more magnanimous compassion. I am discovering the mysterious joy of opening my heart to the world.

The second poverty that causes me and other good people to do nothing is a poverty of purpose. I marvel at the way forces conspire to bend the purpose of my life toward increasingly petty things and away from the grander purposes outside myself for which I sense I was truly fashioned by my Maker. I am amazed at my capacity to be distracted by small and unworthy things. It is sobering to look at the headlines that were competing with the Rwandan genocide years ago. How much impact, comparatively, did those other things have upon mankind? I am equally amazed at my capacity to wage scorched-earth war over the petty things – battles that diminish others even as they diminish me. Jesus rebuked the leaders of his day, especially the religious leaders, for neglecting the weightier matters of the law – justice, mercy, and the love of God. That stings me. C. S. Lewis once wrote, ‘ We must picture Hell as a state where everyone is perpetually concerned about his own dignity and advancement, where everyone has a grievance, and where everyone lives the deadly serious passions of envy, self-importance, and resentment.” Who in the midst of the preoccupations of that hell would have the energy and generosity for the larger battles? This leads me back to a self-audit of small and unworthy things. What might it mean to our country if the readers of this book resolved to abandon every petty, small, and unworthy battle this year? What if they resolved to give themselves fully to larger things that matter, to things of God and His kingdom? In fact, in a world of so much acute suffering, hurt, and need, for what purpose have you and I been granted so much?

A third reason good men and good women do nothing in their time of history’s testing is a poverty of hope. In the face of overwhelming evil and injustice, we often feel powerless. And that powerlessness paralyzes us and steals our hope. When the problems are so big and so bad, can we really make a difference anyway? When police officers in Svay Pak are part of the problem and many barriers stand in our way, can we even hope to bring rescue to the victims? Should we even try? We are paralyzed in a poverty of hope because, first, we underestimate the value of what God has given us to transform lives. Second, we underestimate the value of a single life. And third, we underestimate God’s determination to rescue us from a trivial existence if we will just free up our hands and our hearts from unworthy distractions and apply them to matters that make a difference in someone else’s life. Perhaps the saddest part of this story for those of us who have the ability to set a powerful example for others is not our own poverty of compassion, of purpose, of hope, but rather the way we end up leading others into or along the path of poverty. What would this nation and world look like if we began to lead with riches of compassion, grandness of purpose, and an abundance of hope?

Indeed, I think the God of history takes attendance. And he convenes a tribunal of our grandchildren, who will someday ask us, ‘Where were you?’ ‘Where were you, Grandpa, when the Jews were fleeing Nazi Germany and seeking safety on our shores?’ ‘Where were you, Grandma, when they were marching our Japanese neighbors off to internment camps?’ ‘Where were, you, Grandpa, when our “African-American neighbors were being beaten for registering to vote?’ Likewise when our grandchildren ask us where we were when the weak and the voiceless and the vulnerable of our era needed a leader of compassion and purpose and hope – I hope we can say that we showed up, and that we showed up on time. And that the very God of history might say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’ “

Love Your Neighbor As…Your Cousin?

What does it look like to “love your neighbor as yourself”? 

Well, we have the example of the good samaritan in triage mode.  I think I get the idea.

As I was pondering the expression of that in my own life, I realized that for me, most of the time I love my “neighbor” like I would love a cousin, not as I love myself.  You know…you might send a cousin a card or money for his birthday, visit him once or twice a year (maybe).  Say hello on Facebook. 

Ug.  That’s lame.

How do I love myself?  Let me count the ways…

Why is it hard to love on a radical level?  Two reasons; 1.  I want to love myself first and 2. I really have not internalized God’s radical love for me.  If I had, I would be turning that love on others violently.

Hmm.  I think I know what the homework assignment is…

Hungry For Life update 2/2010 (previously emailed out)

 

A Pocket of Change story; see pocketsofchange.org for more info, stories and photos. It’s a village you’ve definitely never heard of, near a city most of us will never go to, in a country that few travel to. But in a village in eastern Ukraine, there is a story of a world transformed. Brothers Mikhailo and Vasille grew up in this small village about two hours outside Nikopol. Large smokestacks tower in the distant landscape, their emissions spreading a fine haze of pollution over the village. For 70 years, the  3,700 residents here were told that Communism was the answer and that God did not exist. But God reaches out in even the darkest of places, and Mikhailo became the very first Christian in his village more than 10 years ago. He prayed for his family and soon after his brother Vasille too became a Christian. Together they planted a church and began the challenge of reaching out to a truly lost people. There are many challenges here. Some still believe God does not exist. Others follow the majority religion of the Ukraine, a religion of rules and regulations, not relationship. The brothers find it hard to witness: their neighbors, the people they grew up with, view Christianity as a cult and focus on things that are profitable for their bodies, not their spirit. But the brothers persevere and believe that through God, all things are possible. And for Vasille and Mikhailo, their biggest prayers were answered when both their wives became Christians and now their children have followed the same path.”I have nothing to dream for anymore,” Vasille says with contentment. Ten years after the church was planted, there are now nine adult members and a few more that attend on a regular basis. It’s a tiny church, fitting a maximum of 20 inside its white plastered walls. They might not have much here. But the Christians in the village are filled with the joy of the Lord, and they loudly sing their praises to Him as they worship together with fellow Christians from across the world.

On the home front…

Well, not exactly the “home front”…I’m writing from Watamu, Kenya. I’ve been working with Chad Martz, our director of international operations on an assessment of Kupenda (Swahili for “to love”) a ministry that supports schools with disabled children in the Malindi and Marafa districts here. As I’ve stated previously, Kupenda has become an HFL Field Partner working with South Mountain Community Church in Draper, Utah to build a new disabled boys dormitory in Medina, Marafa District.  The church raised $30,000 towards a $47,000 building budget during Christmas…a great accomplishment!  We would appreciate your prayers for God to touch hearts and close the financial gap on this project…currently the boys, who were living in a condemned building, are living in the bathroom area of the girls dorm…wall to wall bunk beds in essentially a closet space!  If you wish to contribute, visit www.25tolifecampaign.org , write “Marafa” next to your name and simply modify the amount. Some of the disabled and deaf children we met at the school in Marafa…    Another reason this dorm really needs to be built…   This is Semini.  We took a trip up to his home to see him.  He’s fifteen years old and has never been to School.  Because of a bout of Malaria as a child, he suffers from cerebral palsy and various other motor and mental impairments.  Semini’s parents have always been at a loss to figure out how he could attend school with the care he needs…so, he has spent his whole life at home on the ground.  His family is very poor and cannot afford the simplest amenities.  Besides the boys dorm going up, Kupenda plans to hire more staff at the Marafa school, which would provide Semini with things he has never experienced, like education, physical therapy and a wheelchair. On our way back from Semini’s home, we got stuck.  A few branches in the trench got us out…   Marafa is a very poor, isolated, dry region with limited resources.  In April, I will return with a team from South Mountain to assess further partnership opportunities.  There is still some room on that team…contact me if you are interested in coming. Soon Chad and I will head to Kisumu in northwestern Kenya, where HFL Canada has been using $349,000 of Canadian government grant money, partnered with churches in Canada and Kenya to start an “extreme makeover” in community development (this is the community mentioned on the front page of the pdf newsletter I included with our last update). Finally, please pray for Haiti.  As the “shock and awe” dies down, the media will spend less and less time there…meanwhile the country will continue to need massive amounts of aid in resources and time.  HFL will be coordinating reconstruction once the damage has been assessed at our partner ministries.  If your church is already interested in being part of the rebuilding process, please contact me…at this point we have at least three churches in Utah that plan to participate later this year. For the fame of Jesus Christ,  Mike P.S…   @ South Mountain Community Church, 7pm.  Worship with a focus on LOVE.  Visit www.consumedworship.org for more information.     HFL staff raise their own support to serve churches and those overseas.  If you are interested in joining our support team, go here. Hungry For Life International is a Canadian Charity (#862048758RR0001) and a U.S. Non-profit (#30-0312349) © 2003-2009 Hungry For Life International.  All Rights Reserved.

The Upside Down Kingdom

I have pondered the peculiarity and brilliance of God’s economy in a fallen world for some time, as I’ve chewed on the Christ follower’s call to demonstrate the kingdom of God here and now.  Some things that are striking and so beautifully contrary to the world system;

The “foolish” confound the “wise”.

The rich serve the poor.

You become a servant to be the greatest.

Slavery to Christ is true freedom.

If you try to live safe, for yourself and on your terms, you will die forever…if you live radically, for God, and give yourself away, you’ll live forever.

The Lord and King of the world died for the peasants, and offers eternal co-rulership to all who trust in Him and follow His example.

Hillsong: I Heart Film

Don’t miss this great opportunity to experience worship from one of the most talented groups in the world, in a live simulcast in 441 theatres across the country! Compassion and justice are a big part of this band’s ministry.

God’s Greatest Adversaries Are His Gifts

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts.  And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.

John Piper

Thank God For Recessions

Yep, you heard me right.

A little financial chaos is just what the doctor ordered.  Instead of relying on an endless supply of resources, some of us might have to actually depend on God to come through for the first time ever.  Some might refocus lives that have spun out of control financially…examine direction, do some course correction.

Half the world’s Christians live day to day, depending on God to help them make it through because they have next to nothing.  Spiritual maturity is born out of this fire.  So, who’s been better off?

For some, they will find that out soon enough, as they slip from one category into the other.  But God is God.  Economics may change, but He remains faithful.

A Miracle From Guatemala

The doctor looked at Merari.  “You have two months to live” he said.

Merari had experienced a seizure days before and had quickly gone to the doctor.  After some tests, he was told he had a malignant brain tumor…and that death was around the corner.  “Certainly I should get a second opinion” he thought to himself, as he wrestled with the emotions that come with such news.  After finding another doctor, the diagnosis was modified; “you have two WEEKS to live.”

Merari, the young Pastor of a thriving church in San Lucas, Guatemala…husband, and father of three young girls, stared death in the face.  It seemed there were few options…surgery might delay the inevitable.  Guatemala is not exactly the best place to have brain surgery, so he prayed…and soon was able to secure a hospital and doctor in Arizona that would perform the surgery.  As he travelled with his brother, he had a layover in Atlanta and fell to the ground…unable to use his legs due to the pressure on his brain.  His brother secured a a wheelchair for the remainder of the trip.

Upon arrival at the hospital he was told that he had a 50/50 chance of living through the surgery, and even if he did, some of the malignant tumor would remain.  On top of that, he would certainly lose the use of his limbs due to the brain damage that would result.  “Well Lord,” he thought, “I’m ready to come to you…whatever you want for me, if you wish for me to die, to live, to be healed, to be an invalid, I will accept whatever you choose.  Just please, take care of my family.”

In the middle of the five hour surgery, Merari suddenly woke up!  This startled the operating room staff, but also allowed for a fascinating test…Merari could still move all his limbs.  He was put back to sleep and the operation was finished.

Upon awaking, Merari could still move everything.  The doctor was dumbfounded.  But through an unfortunate miscommunication, Merari’s anti-seizure medication lapsed, and he had a massive seizure, causing his throat to close as he shook violently on the bed.  He lost consciousness and the hospital staff were unable to revive him.  He was pronounced dead.  His brother called home to tell the family that Merari was gone.  He lay on the table clinically dead for five minutes, before suddenly begining to breathe again, sending the hospital staff into a flurry of activity…a second time escaping his apparent demise, and miraculously again with no brain damage.  He walked out of the hospital days later.

In order to try and shrink the remaining tumor and prolong his life, the doctor recommended radiation treatments, which Merari agreed to have.  He lost all his hair, but never felt sick.  The doctors marvelled over the fact that he could exercise every day while getting radiation treatments. 

Once the treatments were done, a shocking report was given…the remaining tumor matter was completely calcified…Merari was no longer terminal…as a matter of fact, a word is used concerning him that almost never gets spoken in cancer therapy…cured.

And what of the charges?  Merari had purchased the two plane tickets used to get he and his brother to Arizona with the only money he had.

The brain surgeon waived the $90,000 fee for the operation.  The support staff followed suit.  The hospital followed suit.  The radiation treatments usually would have cost $60,000.  The clinic dropped the charges to $30,000, asking for half up front…ironic as Merari received a whopping $15,000 coming  in “get well” cards, mostly from people he didn’t even know.  After the radiation was done, a generous friend offered to pay the second 15k and gave Merari a credit card to use so that he could get the miles.  When the statement came, the friend called Merari.  “Why didn’t you use my card?” Merari assured him that he did, but the charges never appeared, even though the Radiation center claimed they had been paid, and the credit card company said there was no problem they could see.

Is it a miracle when  a terminally ill person is spontaneously disease free?  Yes.

Is it a miracle when you radically beat horrible odds on a terminal diagnosis and brain damage…and close to a quarter million dollars in medical fees vanish?

You be the judge.

Pastor Merari is overseeing community transformation projects all over Guatemala…and seeing a massive response to Christian love in action among poor rural communities, including the Mayans, who traditionally don’t trust outsiders.  He says nothing in his life is the same after cancer.  His love for the downcast, the poor and the margenalized has only increased…and God keeps showing up to change people’s lives.

Pastor Merari Rodriguez is pictured above, answering questions about a Mayan community development project…cancer free, five and a half years later.

From Joani: Words From A Previous Generation

This is from The Valley of Vision  <<a book of Puritan prayers>>. Good stuff. Old English but still the point is taken:

A Colloquy on Rejoicing
Remember, O my soul it is thy duty and privilege to rejoice in God:
He requires it of thee for all his favours of grace.
Rejoice then in the giver and his goodness,
Be happy in him, O my heart, and in nothing but God,
for whatever a man trust in, from that he expects happiness.
He who is the ground of thy faith should be the substance of thy joy.
Whence then come heaviness and dejection, when joy is sown in thee, promised by the Father, bestowed by the Son, inwrought by the Holy Spirit, thine by grace, thy birthright in believing?
Art thou seeking to rejoice in thyself from an evil motive of pride and self-reputation?
Thou has nothing of thine own but sin, nothing to move God to be gracious, or to continue his grace towards thee.
If thou forget this thou wilt lose thy joy.
Art thou grieving under a sense of indwelling sin?
Let godly sorrow work repentance, as the true spirit which the Lord blesses, and which creates fullest joy;
Sorrow for self opens rejoicing in God,and draws down divine delights. Hast thou sought joys in some creature comfort?
Look not below God for happiness; fall not asleep in Delilah’s lap.
Let God be all in all to thee, and joy in the fountain that is always full.

The Descent Into Reality

It’s already started.

I’m not sure whether I welcome the contrast I’m about to experience…it would be so much easier to have simply gone to Guatemala from Utah…at least it would have been less jarring…but instead I will be coming off a week at sea on a cruise ship, a wonderful gift from friends for my family…but I will have to face the realities of oppulent indulgence contrasted with the very poor.  Even on the islands we visited…I couldn’t help but think as I watched the night shows on the ship…some of the people we passed in the taxi during the day, sitting on their porches outside their 300 sq ft homes…will never see such productions. 

Now back in Puerto Rico by myself, I transferred from the nice hotel we were in together, to a one star hotel…a little taste of Latin America.  There are no cockroaches and there is air conditioning…I still have nothing to complain about…but I’ve started the descent into reality.

The Whirlwind

It makes my head spin.

How did I get here?  One minute I was a worship leader at a church…the next, working for a global relief and development organization.

I know how I got here…God spinning me on my heels…holy discontent…but it’s surreal how quick change can come…

www.bellhouse5.com and www.hungryforlife.org

I’m sitting in Puerto Rico contemplating life.  Tomorrow I go to Guatemala for seven days of ministry asessment, vetting potential partners for churches in the U.S. and Canada to join hands with in worship through tangible love and compassion.

More to come…

The Danger Of Resourced Conversions

Something came to me recently.  I was thinking about the condition of my heart, and how for so many years I have been more concerned about the study of Christianity instead of the living of it…and trying to understand what happened to me…and why my experience likely reflects the experience of many others.

Then it hit me.  I had a resourced conversion.

When I came to faith in Christ at 23, I had a job, a place to live, health care, a car, family, friends and opportunity on the horizon.  And fortunately, I didn’t have any debilitating emotional baggage.  Subsequently, the Christians I knew and the faith community I joined did not have to show me radical love…and I’m not sure how many of them would have, because most of them were in the same situation…most of them had never seen radical love either.

What happens when the radical love that is part and parcel of what it means to follow Christ, is not modeled for new Christians?  They don’t practice it or model it for others.  As a matter of fact, the first time I ever tried to do show radical love, I was not prepared for it emotionally, tried to do it in my own strength, and ended up running away from it because it overwhelmed me.

So, what is the antedote when the majority of people in a faith community have never experienced radical love, shown radical love, or don’t have people in their immediate sphere of influence who need radical love?

Getting biblically literate on this issue and going to find the people who need it.

I am convinced that being the light of the world and the salt of the earth has nothing to do with a bullhorn and everything to do with a towel and water.  Jesus said we should emulate him, and if my brothers and sisters in Christ near me don’t need their feet washed, there’s a whole world regionally and globally of Christians with dirty feet for me to care for…and a world of unbelievers who need to see radical love in the Christian community because it is the most compelling evidence of the truth of the gospel.  It’s absence has the opposite effect; people who claim to follow Jesus and look like slightly nicer versions of pagans don’t compel much of anything, and may have only had a conversion to being religious…a scary proposition. 

“Let your light so shine before men that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Jesus.

Beware the danger of resourced conversions…they can lead to spiritual poverty…and sometimes prove to actually be something worse.

Why I Have To Go BACK To Haiti

Here’s Haiti in one sentence;  the best and worst of everything.

The good: the faith is strong in believers, the people resilient, the atmosphere…happy.  For the most part, people don’t complain about their lot in life…if I didn’t know how poor the country was and how many resources they lack, I would have thought they were all on one big unnending camping trip!  The Pastor’s house we stayed at is buzzing with activity all the time…children in the back porch area, sometimes getting water from the on site tank, sometimes eating the only meal they had that day.  Salt and light, in your face.  The countryside, gorgeous in the north where we were, helped by unending rains weeks earlier.  The children….so precious, so delightful….so vulnerable…

The bad: no plumbing for most…community wells for water…untreated water.  No electricity, except by generator for the few.  Living in mud huts.  No real good medicine.  Scant amounts of food.  Permiscuous males who father children with many women and support no one.  Children with no parents being looked after by relatives who cannot afford them.  Wounds that aren’t healing well.  Bugs.  Heat, heat and more heat.

The ugly:  so many children, regardless of their happiness, showing signs in their hair color or their bodies, of malnutrition.  Measuring a beautiful little girl and being told she has cickle cell anemia and won’t live.  Measuring a high school boy and being told he probably has aids because the doctor won’t reveal the test results to the family and his mother died of it years ago.  Having the Pastor’s wife lock us into the house with her on the outside to deal with a dangerous man.  Voodou flags flying from some places.   Watching a man go into a catatonic state after having some sort of seizure and having no resources to help him.  He died days later, leaving a wife and small children.

One child that captured our hearts was Widlan.  5 years old, mom is dead, dad lives in the Dominican Republic and never comes back, living with an aunt who can’t afford him, scant clothing, dirty…yet full of life.  The first night we met him, Joani held him in her lap and rubbed his arm…he became dazed, as if to say ” no one has ever done this before”…then fell asleep…we loved on him alot.

 

 

As I said, there are things about Haiti that just make it wonderful.  Something about this picture says that to me;

 

 

And there are times when Haiti is crazy.  This picture speaks for itself…

 

 

The work to be done in Terrier Rouge is unending; new school structures, more child sponsors, a new home for orphans and the elderly, church buildings…but such things create enormous opportunity for those of us in the west to stretch ourselves, serve the under-resourced and love Jesus physically…by loving the least of these…

 

 

That’s why I have to go BACK to Haiti.

 

For more pictures of this trip, including the time my wife and I spent in the Dominican Republic visiting our Compassion Kids, click this link;

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/Az8Wi4rU

Why I Have To Go To Haiti

Even though my plans have changed, I am still set to leave for the island of Hispaniola on Monday…first to the Dominican Republic for a few days, then to Haiti.  I’m sure with all the hurricane activity in that region, some people think I’m nuts.  Some think I’m nuts for wanting to go in the first place.  I’m not even telling some family members that I’m going…what they don’t know won’t keep them up at night.

But I WANT to go. 

I WANT to see for myself, what I have read so much about.  I WANT to connect personally with some of my brothers and sisters in Christ, living in the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  I WANT to serve these people…because Jesus said the greatest among us would be those that serve the least of these…and because those in humble circumstances have an exalted position in the kingdom (James 1:9).  I WANT to get out of my comsumer driven, comfort filled lifestyle so that I actually have to depend on God for something.  I WANT to seek out Christ-followers who, because of their trials, trust God so much more than I do, and learn from them.  I WANT to because Jesus said that it’s HIM that I clothe, feed and take care of when I do those things for people living in abject poverty.  I WANT to go because God says that we are to spend ourselves in these types of ways, that our light would shine before men, and they would see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.  I WANT to go to Haiti specifically, because it’s my closest, poorest global neighbor.

That’s why I WANT to go.  That’s why I HAVE to go.