A Pastor’s Prayer Journey
Two Preachers Sharing Prayers & ScriptureArchive for friendship
How a small Church can make a big difference
Many churches live in a state of defeat. We mumble and grumble about our size about what we can and cannot do. Sadly we miss out on opportunities to make an impact for the kingdom. We have believed the lie that we can do effective ministry when we get to a certain point or size. Yet God calls us to simply be faithful where we are at with what we have. So with that said let me share with you how God is moving in an incredible way in our missions program.
Last year myself along with several other members from our church went to Liberia Africa. At the time this was my third trip to Liberia. On this trip we visited with Danny Buegar who was the pastor of the United Christian Church of Monrovia. This is a church of 200 members. Their church building was simply made of some bamboo and thatched roof. During the rainy season the members would get wet during the service. But really to know more about this church you need to know more about Liberia.
Liberia ended a 14 year civil war just a few years ago. The war devastated the country. Unemployment is a staggering 85%. And even those who work do not make much. A doctor makes about 5 dollars a day. To say there is a health crisis would be an understatement. Nearly the whole population struggles with Malaria. Children under 5 have a 50/50 chance of survival. To compound health issues most Liberians do not have access to clean drinking water. Could things be worse? The answer is yes. Besides all the health problems, Liberia is a society of uneducated people. Nearly 3/4 of the children do not attend school. Spiritually Liberia has great needs. In a country where brutality has been the norm there is a great need for the peace that can only come from Christ. So that is some of the bad, but let me share some good.
For several years our church has helped out with some teaching and training teams and also have sent some supplies to Liberia to help the Liberian people. A year ago God was calling us to do more. And so we went to prayer and asked God to use us. And this is how He used us.
Our children had a VBS program in which they raised $8,000 to purchase three water systems to help clean water for Liberians. Shortly after this event we decided that we wanted to send a team to Liberia that would be more than a few teachers. We had been told by the Liberians that churches would send money to help them but very rarely would they send people. And of those people who came they only sent a few men. So we put together a team of 26 people. Half of that group was women. Knowing that the needs were great we decided first that we wanted to make sure that the Monrovia church would have a place where they could worship without getting wet. We also wanted to build a building that could be used as a school for children and we wanted this building to be a place where training could take place for other churches throughout Liberia. Besides the building we wanted to do more to help the people of Liberia. We wanted to get more water systems that could go to different places around Liberia and bring a medical team to this desperate country.
So that is a little of what we wanted to do. Let me share in just a nutshell what God provided and what He continues to do. Over this last year God provided over $150,000 in money and supplies. 5 water systems were purchased. Over $15,000 worth of tools were donated to help in the construction part of the church. Literally thousands of dollars of medical supplies were given to help towards a medical clinic. $30,000 was donated by individuals and churches to help towards the building project. Thousands of dollars worth of clothing, food, school books, VBS supplies, Bibles and Christian materials were donated and shipped to Liberia. A shipping container was purchased to send all these supplies.
Besides all of these funds and supplies going to Liberia the team of 26 people had to raise $3,000 each to make this trip. The team raised all their funds(some time when I have a chance I need to share how God provided in amazing ways.) But let me share with you what the team was able to accomplish. First we set up a medical clinic and saw in just 4 days over 600 Liberian people. We held a VBS which had 400 children attend. We held a woman’s conference that had over 100 women in attendance. During our visit we set up 5 water systems plus trained those who would be providing the water. Let me say that God was incredible. And we thank and praise him for all he has done.
So where does this leave us? Well we are still trying to finish the church/school building. We believe that with $45,000 more we will have this building up and serving the people of Monrovia. Right now all the foundation work is done. Our trip has also left us with a hunger to do more for the kingdom of God. We plan to send more medical teams in the future. We also want to help with the local churches to plant more churches and to provide more water systems. We believe that God has called us to be faithful and so we plan to dream big and see what God does. We would love for others to team up with us and do something incredible for the Lord. We would love to hear from you. Maybe God has you reading this post for the very reason of going to Liberia with us or helping us financially finish the building. Who knows but God has His plans. All we have to do is be faithful and He will do the rest.
It’s My Silence You Detest: Reflections on Envy
Friends,
I’m sitting in my office listening to an old Delirious song called “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel.” It’s probably not ironic that I am listening to this song considering the subject matter I wish to broach and yet I didn’t plan it this way either. What I mean is, it didn’t just happen to start playing even if I had no particular awareness that it was the song that would be playing at this particular moment in time. It’s an old song, a very good song in my opinion, but probably not one that most people are listening to in their offices right now. Be that as it may, it is playing right now and I am not ashamed to admit that I am enjoying this song, at this moment, as I write this post.
I was brutally awakened the other day to the significant fact that I have been out of high school 20 years this year. 20 years! To some of you that probably seems like small change, but I’m not writing this to get into a spitting contest with anyone. I was ‘visiting’ with some school chums at my ‘myspace’ page the other day when I received a note back from one of them who said to me, “Did you hear about so-and-so dying?” A further inquiry revealed that this young man I had gone to school with 20 years ago had, in fact, committed suicide. Turns out he was 38, had an 8 year old daughter, and I guess a business that wasn’t doing particularly well. (I have sparse details and some of these could be slightly inaccurate, but that is beside the point. All of us most likely know someone who has ended up this way, left someone behind, died at their own hand; stopped believing life worth living in spite of life’s troubles.)
I’m not going to splatter the details of what I know about this man all over the web. I knew him from high school and aside from that I had no knowledge of him whatsoever. We played on the Freshman basketball team together and shared the same high school halls and the same hometown for four years. I know about him. He had a nice blue truck with a loud stereo. He was popular among our peers. And, I confess, I was a bit jealous of his good looks, his impeccable wardrobe, and the way the girls fawned over him. I suppose he was a nice enough chap, but the truth is that he always intimidated me and I was, confession time, afraid of him.
There’s no point in me speculating about the manner of his death or the reasons that precipitated it or served as a catalyst. All I know is that if the story I heard is true, then he is gone. Dead. 38 years and a lifetime ahead of him. Now nothing. And that causes me great sadness, indeed, it tears me up; breaks my heart.
When I first heard about his demise, I got to thinking: I never spoke two words to him. Seriously–I cannot recall a single conversation that I ever had with this man and I am not one for forgetting. How does one go through 4 years of life (perhaps 7 if you count junior high) and never talk to a person even once? Never once! I always thought that he thought I was not worth his time, but I never asked him either. I have no idea what he thought about anything, not that it would have mattered much then or now, because I never asked. The point is that I never spoke to him, either from fear, apprehension, intimidation, or simple refusal. I only had a 100 or so people in my graduating class so it’s not like it would have been difficult to do so.
Whatever the cause, the effect was always the same: Silence.
Instead, I was enamored by someone who was full of all that I desired: Popularity, good looks, wealth, friends, girls, possessions. I think it was safer for me to sit back and admire him from a distance so that I could envy him. It was easier for me to envy from a distance than to risk rejection up close. I know, it’s hard to figure those things out when you’re in high school and I am not likely to sit around beating myself up over this matter. Still, as I look back and reflect on those moments, I wonder if even now I treat people like that: Being so enamored with their being that I admire or envy them from a distance instead of getting up close, risking rejection, risking humiliation; putting fear aside and stepping out on faith? In a sense, it is a form of arrogance, isn’t it? I spent all those years thinking he was better than me, but in reality, it was I who thought I was better than him. Thus, I never took a single step at all in his direction preferring distance, safety, and the comfort of my own opinions and ideas than simply approaching someone with an offer of friendship.
It’s like us to be this way. We just think that ‘oh, so-and-so won’t want anything to do with me.’ And it may turn out to be so, but how do we ever know if we never take the chance? Why do we let ourselves convince ourselves what others think or believe or feel without asking them first? Well, for one thing, it is safer. It is much safer to simply ignore people we have already formed any opinion about. It’s much easier to simply let their lives be their judgment and God’s and ours. And I wonder how many people each day die at their own hand because we have already formed an opinion about them and judge them with our silence?
Bill Hybels wrote a little book called Just Walk Across the Room. He wrote this:
Whether the experience was about my own need to reflect on a powerful conversion experience or whether it was all about taking a walk across a marina parking lot and offering hope to someone down on his luck, I don’t know. But one thing I’ve learned is that life’s greatest moments evolve from simple acts of cooperation with God’s mysterious promptings–nudges that always lean toward finding what’s been lost and freeing what’s been enslaved. (16)
I think if the Lord had a word of judgment for the church it might go something like this: You sing my songs, you preach my Gospel, you give my tithes, you are pro-life, pro-truth and contend for it, and so much more…and yet… and yet…it’s your silence I detest.
Father, have mercy on us silent ones. We love your grace and delight in your salvation, but we know better. Forgive me Lord for knowing this man for the better part of 25 years and never speaking a word to him. Forgive me for envying him. Forgive my arrogance. Lord help us to realize that other people are not on this planet to be objects of worship or envy. Remind me Lord that the hurting people around us belong to you and that you have asked us to speak–to give freely what has been given freely. Lord, you know the secret prayer of my heart just now. Perhaps in Your providence, you will answer my prayer. Have mercy on us all.
Soli Deo Gloria!
