Dispatches From The Front (missions DVD review)

via dispatchesfromthefront.org

LeAnn and I watched Episode 2 of the DVD series Dispatches From The Front by Frontline Missions (see the trailer above). We thoroughly enjoyed it!

Tim Keesee, the writer/narrater of the series, is an extremely talented worsmith. At times, I felt like I was listening to poetry made even more powerful being combined with breathtaking images (captured by top-notch camera work). Tim's insightful commentary helped captivate my heart in seeing the gospel lived out by my brothers and sisters in Christ serving overseas, as well as seeing the gospel advance.  It was a wonderful reminder that when a life truly meets Jesus, everything changes!  Marriage, family, outlook, thinking, behavior - everything!

My ADD friends might find Tim's narration a little slow, but I was completely enthralled.  Dispatches is in a documentary style, so I didn't expect a fast paced story. Of course, my personal interest in the DVD was extremely high because one of the countries featured in the video was Kosovo, including the Christian camp that 6 of our young adults at New Covenant helped at last year, to which 2 are returning (one of whom left yesterday for a 6-month trip, the other leaves Lord-willing in August for 2 years).

I highly recommend Episode 2 of Dispatches, and can only assume Episode 1 is just as good. Now I need to go convince our church's missions department to purchase them. :o)

Rated: 5 dispatches out of 5

Posted via web from erin bird's web nest

Getting the Word Out about a Persecuted Christian

I've been extremely busy, so I haven't had the time to blog (nor read blogs).  And I don't feel like I really have the time right now, but this one seemed much more urgent than one of my normal blog posts.

A friend emailed me about the following website.  I was so moved that I felt that in the very least I needed to use my tiny blog to help spread the word.

Free Gao

Be sure to also click on the link at that site to read about the torture this Chinese Christian lawyer endured back in 2007.  And I feel comfortable sharing about this because reputable organizations like Voice of the Martyrs are talking about it.

What Not To Say About Your Mission Trip

While she is actually LeAnn's cousin, I like to think of Kami as my cousin, too.  I've always enjoyed the times I've gotten to chat with Kami and play card games with her at the Rice Reunions.  She's witty, independent, fun, and serious about Christ, and turns out she's not too bad at writing either.  Neue (formerly known at The Relevant Network - of which I've been part for the past 3 (or has it been 4?) years) is highlighting one of her articles, "What Not To Say About Your Mission Trip".

And I can say "I knew her when..."

Prayer Requests

Need to make this quick, but I have two important prayer requests for you if you are willing to pray for these things:

(Please don't offer up half-hearted prayers. If you are going to do that, then please just move on to the next thing you were planning to do. But if you are willing to genuinely pray about these things before our Father, I appreciate it!)

1. I preach on Sunday at New Covenant. Pray that I will be prepared, share exactly what God wants me to share, and those who need to hear it will not only be present, but will make changes in their life accordingly.
   
2. The father of a college classmate sent the following email to friends, and thankfully it got forwarded to my inbox:

Dear Friend,

The King of Busoga (our tribe) died on Monday, 1 September 2008. This is a major, major event in our nation. He is being accorded a "state funeral"; Monday, 8 September 2008, the day of his burial, has been declared a public holiday in Uganda. From today up to tomorrow his body will lie in state in the Parliament of Uganda and there will be a special session of Parliament in honour of the fallen king tomorrow. This is a major, major event that has gripped the whole nation, and I as Bishop of Busoga am at the centre of the funeral services. I will be heading the special church service for the whole nation in honour of the fallen king on Sunday, 7 September 2008. I will further be heading the the funeral service for the king on Monday, 8 September 2008, which the President of Uganda will attend, and "who's who" in the whole nation and thousands of people. I have written to you, friend, because I want you to pray for me. I am going to share The Gospel. It is an opportunity of amazing proportions.

Yours in Christ,

Michael Kyomya

Praying for Kenya and Chad

I am not a news junkie, but I dip into the news enough to know what is sort of going on in the world. Every so often I'll hear of wars and conflicts around the globe, and it stops at that - information I have gained. But when you have a personal connection to the fighting, your interest changes.

My friend Adele is a missionary in Kenya, working with ELI. Kenya has been in turmoil ever since the December elections. Before, I would have never given much thought to what was happening in Kenya. Now I pray with my kids for Adele almost every night and almost every time I read her blog.

Then on Sunday, a friend of mine here at New Covenant shared a prayer request for his home country of Chad, Africa. Rebels had charged into the city and were trying to overthrow the president. My accountability partner, Nate, is also from Chad, and I've been following the situation via his wife's blog. Now the families of my friends, the country, and the Church in Chad have appeared in my prayers as well.

You may not have the connections I do into these countries, but would you still pray? Pray for peace. Pray for the churches in these areas to stand up for righteousness, for God's creation of people, and for the truth of Christ, and that they will be able to help their neighbors in this time of need.

AP Photo taken from Yahoo! slideshow on Chadian Unrest

Vote for Compassion!

It's time to exercise your vote! No, not for THAT election, but for one just as important.

Compassion International has been nominated for the MySpace Impact Awards in the "Poverty Relief" Category. LeAnn and I have been compassion sponsors since we were married (we currently sponsor two sisters from Tanzania) and can vouch for their ministry. I'd love to see them win the $10,000 prize because I know they will use it right.

So if you have a MySpace login, go to the Impact Awards page and vote for Compassion. (Note: I couldn't see the voting buttons in Safari 3, but I could in Firefox.)

By the way, I was thrilled to see Blood:Water Mission as the Dec. 2007 winner of the MySpace Impact Award!

Razooing Blood:Water Mission

I got an email asking me to join Blood:Water Mission's group on a new action-oriented social networking site called Razoo. If Blood:Water Mission gets enough members, they could be selected as winner of the Change Your World Contest, which would award them $10,000.

Blood:Water Mission is doing great things helping Africans get clean fresh drinking water from wells right beneath their feet. I'd encourage you to join Razoo as well, and after you confirm your email address, click on http://beta.razoo.com/groups/bloodwatermission to join the group and help them out.

I have a new hero...

I have linked to Eric Goodell's blog before, but I can't help but do it again. He has a superb (but mammoth) post about some of the things he has learned and experienced recently in Central America. His journal entry from June 21 is so good, that I'm posting much of it here for those of you without the time to read the entire online novel.

Pastor Bernabé is my new hero-on-earth. Thank You to Eric for sharing this:

I have learned a lot on this trip so far, but I can honestly say that the times that my eyes have been opened more than any have been with my conversations I have had with Pastor Bernabé [Ramirez] (pictured). Though much of my time has been spent here on the island has been spent in conversation with Bernabé, I think that more than anything, I have learned by watching this man’s life.

I mean, just two years ago Bernabé was a Doctor of chemistry making $204,000 dollars a year, had 14 employees, 3 chemistry businesses, a personal chauffeur, nice house and great recognition in the Latin American chemistry world. And simply because he wholeheartedly believed God called him back to his ancestors to preach the gospel, he abandoned it all and came.

He converted to Christianity 10 years back, literally saw a vision of him preaching the gospel to the Kuna people on these San Blas islands, and then fought it for 8 years before actually coming. Think about it, 40 years old, well established in his life, and yet he knew that he had to go. He said that it was like a feeling of anxiousness, a tingling in his feet such that he simply couldn’t resist it any longer. He just had to go. He forsook it all, packed his backpack, and came to the island not knowing anyone, nor having any training as a Pastor. He didn’t have a place to live or much of an income since leaving his profession. He has been supported by a church in Panama City but very little comes from there. And so there he was, one day a rich leader in the chemistry field, the next day on an island with an indigenous primitive tribe where the average salary is less than $5 a day.

Little by little, he took over an assembly of God church that had already been established on the island and gave it the name “Casa de Oracion Cristeana de Playón Chico” With the little he had, he began to fix up the broken down building, building benches and painting where it was needed. To this day, he is working day in and out to see the church raised up and the gospel message spread to the people of Playón Chico.

If the 180 degree turn in lifestyle weren’t enough of a challenge, the tests he faces daily are enough to make one throw in the towel. During the services, few adults come and when they do, it’s very inconsistent, and the children are running around making a huge scene throughout the whole service. It’s almost impossible to maintain a topic of doctrine two services in a row because the inconsistency in the attendance is so terrible.

He’s all alone and basically does everything by himself and gives his whole life daily for these people. He has to work hard in the hot sun and humidity in the fields trying to raise a little money to live on, to help feed his relatives on the island, the church, or works out on a canoe fishing for not only income but also to be able to understand what the people in the community experience on a daily basis. Imagine a Doctor, a prestigious, well known, educated Doctor of Chemistry out in the field covered in mud and sweat, sleeping in a hammock under a roof of palm branches, all to serve a people who don’t even seem to care? And it’s not just for a weekend or even a month long mission trip, but rather he is committed to doing this for the rest of his life if that’s what it takes to reach these people. Working, sweating, sacrificing, for what seems to be futile, and a waste of time, Bernabé is truly giving his life daily to serve God and these people.

When he came here, he had 15 acres of land passed onto him by his grandparents and had the option to sell them. But instead, he decided to become just like the people and farm the land himself. He spent an entire year alone in the jungle clearing land with his machete every day for 4 hours a day. He did this for two reasons: First, he didn’t want to have to be supported by the church. He wanted to work for his living and have food for his relatives on the island. Second, he wanted to experience what the Kuna people experience on a daily basis. He wanted to be able to talk to them about the things that interest them. Bernabé had an extremely formal and sophisticated education and could easily engage in a conversation of profound depth and philosophical topics with the brightest and wisest, yet with these simple Kuna people, he knew that he needed to master the topics that engaged these people’s daily lives; farming and fishing. He arrived to an island of people who had little if any education, with little understanding of the outside world, and a primitive lifestyle of farming and fishing. He wanted to better understand them, being able to sympathize with them, and build relationships with them even to his own pain and discomfort. Working out there for one day was hard enough for me, but it’s hard to imagine doing it day after day after day in the hot sun for weeks, months, even years in order to relate better to the people. It’s hard to comprehend that kind of sacrifice. But the amazing thing is that he doesn’t do it with an ounce of unwillingness or a feeling of superiority or obligation.

But the reason that I go into such detail about the life he has given up and the life he now lives is to give reason for my amazement when I see that this incredible man does it all with pure joy, and willingness, more than grateful to serve the Lord in even worse circumstances were they to come. Despite the apparent failures that daily plague his work, he never gives up hope, and keeps incredible faith that God is going to bring about the change in the hearts of these people and that God will finish the work He started on this island. Never have I seen such humility, such perseverance, and such faith in all my life and I can say that my life has been changed by the honor of spending 6 days with a person of such priceless and rare character. To sit there on a log in the middle of the hot, humid jungle with such an admirable man and to look into the eyes of someone whose love for God and for people drove him to such sacrifice was a real honor and privilege for me that day.

Leaving Teeth Marks in the Czech Republic

Long time no blog...

I've been itching to put some of my thoughts into this form of communication to help myself process all that took place during my time in the Czech Republic, and as a way to share what happened at the English Camp with some of you I might not get to talk with otherwise. So to begin, let me start in an unconventional way by talking about the book I took with me.

I knew we had some long stretches of travel, both by plane and train, to reach Hotel Malenovice, the location of the English/Business Camp. Being a bookworm who doesn't get to read as much as he wants, I wanted to take along a good book as a travel companion. I perused the stacks of unread volumes in my office. I knew I needed to pack light, so one book would have to do, but I needed something with some girth to last me the whole trip. I also decided I didn't want something too mentally challenging for travel, not knowing what state I would be in towards the end of the trip (I planned to get very little to no sleep to adjust faster to a different time zone), so something on the lighter side seemed more appropriate for my backpack. Then I saw it - after sitting on my desk for over two years (or was it three?), it was finally time to crack open flashBang by Mark Steele.

I have read articles by Mark before, and I find him to be absolutely hilarious. So I truly looked forward to reading a whole entire tome penned by him. And I was not disappointed. The book had me laughing to the point of tears at places (my teammates had almost as much fun laughing at my laughing...), which opened me up to the deeper points Mark was making. The subtitle of the book is "how i got over myself" and I enjoyed reading Mark's journey from showman for God to child of God. I would find much pleasure in handing this book out to many of the young adults I get to work with because I know they would enjoy the book and learn through it as I did.

But one of the chapter titles did not sit well with me. Each chapter title was intentionally a bit of a paradox, much like the book title itself. Chapter titles such as "slapHAPPY" or "dumbSHOW" didn't make sense until you read the chapter. But even after reading Chapter 2, I didn't like the title "teethMARKS".

Mark talked about how many of us think that love kisses. But Mark argued that true love leaves teethmarks. A kiss only flatters, but doesn't last. Teethmarks, on the other hand, leave an impression that stays with the person. Having a teething 10 month old son, I would argue from personal experience that teethmarks just hurt. :o)

So we arrived in the Czech Republic, enjoyed a day in Prague taking in the amazing sites, travelled by train out east the next day, and made it to the hotel. After a day of preparing for the arrival of the students, camp got started on a Sunday with English testing and getting to know names. I was so amazed how on Sunday these people were just faces with a name, but by Friday these people were friends we hugged goodbye. Here are some of the highlights of the week for me:

• My English class (pictured at the right). We laughed SOOO hard all week long. Man, did we have fun! They were such a great group to work with. I wrote in my journal to LeAnn that this group could take the worst of lesson plans and make the teacher seem like a genius. They had such a desire to learn, they had the most amazing attitudes, and they loved every moment we had together. It was such an honor to me that God would place me with that group. So Lumir, Tadek, Monika, Simona, Basia, Petr, Adam, and Roman - if any of you are reading this: thank you for letting me be your teacher for the week. You helped dispel every fear I had of teaching such high level English students and made it the most fun I've had in a while. And a special thank you to Adam for letting me be his English apprentice (sorry, inside joke there...)
• The change in my English Reading/Conversation Group. While I had fairly fluent English speakers in my 9:00-11:30 am English Grammar class, I had a new-to-English conversation group. It was fun watching and hearing their English improve all week long. But the bigger highlight to me was watching a group of mostly athiests or agnostics have little interest in our reading time on Monday (we would read a section of the Gospels in English each Reading time and answer questions about it to work on reading skills, comprehension, and conversation in English) have tons of interest and honest questions on Thursday and Friday.

There are of course many other highlights, stories, and pictures to share. But let me skip to our debriefing on the Saturday after camp.

After a good breakfast and a few last goodbyes, our team gathered for a time of worship, prayer, reflection, and debriefing about the camp. As our team talked together and shared our experiences, I realized that through our love of our students, time with the campers, and just being ourselves, we had made an impact on the campers and they on us. It wasn't just a kiss that was nice in the moment and faded after the camp ended. We truly had left an impression on the campers - or to use Mark Steele's phrase, teethmarks. Guess I like Mark's chapter title after all...