Are We There Yet?

The Good Samaritan

2011-12-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

Back in May of this year I spoke at River Pointe Church. This message was greatly inspired by Steve Moore's book "Who Is My Neighbor"

Empowerment

2011-10-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

Absolutely love this video from Poverty Cure. It captures what we aim at our core for Attack Poverty to be all about!

Spontaneous Generosity

2011-09-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

On this day 10 years ago I was shocked and appalled by what my eyes were seeing on the conference room TV at work. It just didn't make sense, it couldn't make sense. In this post I could reflect about that day and how it affected me, our nation and how we should never forget...all good things, but instead today I want to focus on something that is in exact contrast to the horrors we endured that fateful September day.

This story takes place in Uganda. I traveled there just 5 months ago with a group of friends from my church. This trip was part of a long-term community development initiative I set up for our church to care and show up for others. Erika was one of the many friends on my trip. It was her first time in Africa and she brought along some family pictures from home to use as conversation starters and to show to her new Ugandan friends. One of the pictures that she just happened to grab at the last minute to bring along was of her wedding day.

(Erika is pictured third from the Right)

Now the pastor we partner with in Uganda is Gerald Kittabwa and at the time of this story, he was engaged to be married to Jalia. Erika met Jalia towards the end of our trip and was sharing her family pictures with her. When Jalia saw Erika's wedding picture she was so interested to see what an American wedding was like and soon began comparing the different traditions. Erika say the obvious interest and just spontaneously asked, "Would you like to have my wedding dress for your wedding?'. The wedding was just 3 short months away.

It's important to note at this point in the story that I had mentioned to the team to not make any promises to our new Uganda friends that they could not keep. So when I heard Erika had offered her dress I was a bit concerned about how this could really come about. There is no guarantee for shipping anything from the US to Africa, and three months was barely enough time. How were we going to get this dress to Jalia? Erika had no idea, I had no idea.

Fast forward to the month of July. Erika is at her bank back home in Texas and was explaining to one of the bankers why she didn't have her driver's license. Which was because she had lost it during her recent trip to Uganda. Just then the banker says, "Oh a girl here is leaving for Uganda on Friday!" "Excuse me?!" "Where?" "Kampala, the capital city." Gerald travels frequently between Rushere and Kampala! This now was sounding very doable! So Erika got everything together and handed over the wedding dress for "special delivery"! Gerald and Jalia received the dress one month before the wedding!

Incredible.

Spontaneous generosity is a beautiful thing! Instead of dwelling on the horrors this day holds in our nation's memory, let's all stop and think how different the world would be if we like Erika just practiced a little selfless, spontaneous generosity!

Go here for more pictures from the wedding!

Neo Relix Film Festival

2011-08-23T18:16:00.000-07:00

Uganda Man was selected into the Glen Rose Neo-Relix Film Festival . We are very excited about this! The Festival is September 2-4 in Glen Rose, Texas. Over 70 films from 16 countries were submitted to the film festival, only 45 were selected. The film festival asked for films in the following genre’s – Sci-Fi, Horror, Faith-Based and Conservation/Endangered species.

They will award:

Best Foreign Language Film, Best Short, Best Feature, Best Texas Based Film, Best Sci-Fi, Best Horror, Best Faith-Based (Contemporary and Traditional), Best Endangered Species and Conservation, People’s Choice “Best Picture” Award

If you are in the area head over to Glen Rose next month and vote for Uganda Man

For more on the film, check out Ugandaman.com

Uganda Man Premier

2011-07-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

For more check out ugandaman.com

Uganda Man Trailer

2011-07-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the trailer I've been promising. Uganda Man is a feature film about the story of water and hope, and highlight's Attack Poverty's work in Uganda. Premiering July 30th at River Pointe Church!

Ugandaman.com

Introducing Attack Poverty

2011-07-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share with you about a new non-profit that I founded called Attack Poverty. Our vision is to empower people to attack poverty in their lives and community. We want to give people access to tools and resources that empower them to break the chains of generational poverty. It's about a hand up rather than a hand out, and it's about development rather than relief.

Since I had created two other initiatives that are doing this kind of work (Friends of North Richmond and Friends of Uganda), the natural next step was to create this non-profit.
Attack Poverty sets the stage for continued growth of our current initiatives in North Richmond and Uganda, involvement of additional churches and organizations, and launching new "Friends" initiatives in the future.

Go here for more on Attack Poverty!

The Global Water Crisis

2011-06-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this graphic of the global water crisis. I think it's a great visual of what's really going on with water and the lack of it.

http://awesome.good.is.s3.amazonaws.com/transparency/web/1106/clean-water/flat.html

Who is My Neighbor

2011-06-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Who Is My Neighbor by Steve Moore is a book based on the Bible story in the book of Luke about the good Samaritan. This book greatly influenced a message I recently gave at my church. It comes with access to a corresponding website that includes helpful videos and even an online assessment tool that will help you discover your passion and give you direction in how to get involved in serving others and making the world a better place by developing relationships with people who are not like you.

This book is a great read for those wrestling with how to respond to the needs of the global neighborhood we share. What I enjoyed about this book is how the author takes the fire hydrant of information about the needs of others and turns it into a manageable stream leading to compassionate action.

Forces for Good

2011-06-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

In their book Forces for Good, Leslie R. Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant put together a great resource by compiling thorough research of twelve high-impact non-profits in the country. What they discovered in their research was six common denominators or practices that were present among these high impact non-profits.

In a nutshell, the six practices they discovered are:

1. Working with government and advocating for policy change, in addition to providing services
2. Harnessing market forces and seeing business as a powerful partner
3. Creating meaningful experiences for individual supporters and converting them into evangelists for the cause
4. Building and nurturing non-profit networks, treating other groups not as competitors for scarce resources but as allies instead
5. Adapting tot he changing environment and being as innovative and nimble as they are strategic
6. Sharing leadership and empowering others to be forces for good.

The conclusions based on their research is just excellent material, but the power of this book comes in the ninth chapter titled "Putting It Into Practice". In this chapter, they walk the reader through the six practices and provide diagnostic questions as well as resources on how to start putting the practices into action in your own non-profit. I found this book to be a great help. Those who are starting non-profits or are seeking to improve the non-profits they lead, will be inspired and equipped by this book to lead their organization to truly become a force for good.

Bridges Out of Poverty

2011-06-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

When I read, I'm one of those people that marks up their book, dog-ears the pages, and underlines the things I want to remember. This book Bridges out of Poverty was so helpful and educational for me I think I've underlined more of the book than what I left alone. If you are serving people of any age that are in or have grown up in poverty this book is a must read!

In this book, Ruby Payne decodes the mystery of the hidden rules of poverty, middle class and wealth. She make the argument and sets up the proof that in the United States our educational and business systems are set up and operate within the hidden rules of the middle class, so if you grow up in poverty it's incredibly hard to make your way in the world if no one has taught you the hidden rules of the middle class. To quote the author, "Two hundred years ago slavery was thought to be an economic necessity. It was not. One hundred fifty years ago it was believed that women were not capable of voting. That was not true. We fervently hope that by 2100 individuals and society at large will no longer believe that poverty is inevitable."

This book really is a must read for all those who are serving those in poverty and have the intention of empowering people to attack poverty in their lives and communities.

What Can I Do?

2011-06-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

I have just completed a big reading stint. Over my next few posts I will discuss these books the first was written by a guy I've had the privilege of traveling with to South America. His name is Dave Livermore and his most recent book is What Can I Do?

This book is about making a global difference right where you are. It so easy to become overwhelmed by the needs in the world, to the point of paralyzing us. In this book Dave does a great job of taking what can seem overwhelming like creating change in the world and shows us how to do that in the places God has already placed us.

The great thing about this book are the spaces along the way where you can interact with the book, Dave really helps you think through your strengths, natural interests, life experiences, etc. with various interactive charts and graphs and end up with some great options to naturally begin making a difference in the world right where you are!

To quote the author, "Don't underestimate what God is doing and can continue to do through your life. Yes, you! When we align our lives with redemptive causes, God promises to do far more than we could begin to ask or imagine!

Uganda Man

2011-06-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

During our most recent trip to Uganda we shot a documentary film. It was quite the undertaking! The one hour film tells the story of the people of Rushere as well as explains what the Friends of Uganda initiative is all about. Yesterday I got to preview the latest version and it so beautiful, moving and amazing! This film project is just incredible and does a great job of telling the story of what God is doing in Rushere.
The Uganda Man trailer will be posted here soon.

"I Refuse"

2011-05-25T18:11:00.000-07:00

I am currently studying the story of the Good Samaritan for a message I will be giving this weekend. As I look at it the main idea of the story is that God wants me to care about people who aren't like me. In my study I came across this song. It's pretty much my message in song form. Listen and consider these challenging lyrics by Josh Wilson.

I can't do everything, but I refuse to do nothing. What a great place to start in helping others!

Finishing the Task

2011-05-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a short trip to New York City. The city was all a buzz over the end of the world that was supposed to happen on Saturday, May 21st at 6pm. It was interesting to see people's responses and engage in various conversations about the topic with fellow riders on the city's subway. Well, as you may know by now, it didn't happen. I'm not an end times expert by any stretch of the imagination but here's one reason why the world didn't end last Saturday:

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."- Matthew 24:14

The job's not done. There are still people living on this earth, as small as it's become in recent years, that still have not heard about the good news of Jesus Christ.
Watch this:

For more information about Finishing the Task, visit their web site at www.finishingthetask.com

Friends of Uganda 2011 Trip

2011-04-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago now I returned with a River Pointe team from Uganda. This trip ranked right up there as one the best missions trip I'd ever been a part of! Now that's a pretty big claim to make as I've been a part of over 40 different mission trips in my lifetime. So what made it so awesome? I'm still trying to get the words out of what I know to be true in my heart. So with this post I'll give it my best shot. What set this trip apart?

Hospitality
There is just something about the Ugandan's welcoming spirit and heart for their community. I was humbled by their spirit of hospitality and have so much to learn in that regard!

Relationship

This is really basic, but if mission trips aren't based on relationship people just become projects. the beauty of this trip is that it is built on a relationship that began a year ago with Africa Renewal Ministries and Pastor Gerald a local church pastor in the community of Rushere that we are serving.

Miracles

We saw and heard of God's miracles displayed in: people being healed of disease; the faith of children asking for healing; people giving their lives to Christ; and the multiplication of humble gifts and offerings of faithful believers in the US.

Empowerment

I feel called to empower people to attack poverty in their lives and community. This was affirmed for me by seeing it firsthand in Rushere. We provided water wells through the ministry of Living Water International, but the people of Rushere took it took the next step by creating jobs around these wells, developing a revenue stream to sustain these wells, and creating a water authority counsel to oversee the whole thing. This was very exciting!

Generosity

I have so much to learn about generosity! This 8 year old boy named Issa gifted me this rooster...his rooster! I have never felt more honored or humbled all at the same time. Issa comes from a very poor family in the community, his father converted from Islam to Christianity and financially struggles to send his seven children to school. May God multiply the generosity of Issa upon his family!

Advocacy

I was deeply struck by what can happen when you just show up, listen, observe and then plead on someone else's behalf. Change happens, people get involved, and individuals actively care for people they may never meet...that is the power of advocacy!

To learn more about this work in Uganda check out the Friends of Uganda blog.

Uganda 2011 Trip

2011-03-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

Back in February of 2010 I took a life-changing trip to Uganda. You can read all about that trip right here on this blog, just search the word "Uganda". As I result of that trip I launched an initiative for our church called Friends of Uganda. You can learn more about that here. Now, one year later I am returning with a team of 10 to follow-up on the work we started and to serve the community of Rushere, Uganda alongside Rushere Community Church and my Ugandan friend Pastor Gerald. I am very excited to see what God does as a result of all of us coming together in the name of Jesus, and the spirit of collaboration for the community transformation of Rushere-town!

Follow our journey here: http://richardlogan.ontheroad.to/uganda/

Water for the Thirsty

2011-03-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

Another great video from Living Water International. Water is the foundation to sustainable community development! I love the method, the message and the results.

Page CXVI from Living Water International on Vimeo.

Haiti Trip

2011-02-12T14:41:00.000-08:00

I have been home one full week and I still am not sure what to make of my recent trip to Haiti with Living Water International. It was amazing, shocking, frustrating and at times even maddening.

Amazing:
Repairing nine water wells
Providing clean water to 10,000 Haitians!
God at work around the world
The simplicity of water and it's complexity to all other community development

Shocking:
Children playing with condoms as if balloons
Naked children
Such a wide scope of poverty...it seemed to be everywhere, not centralized or just in a few areas
Worst mortality rate of anywhere in the world
Post earthquake life expectancy is 29
No natural resources

Frustrating:
Wrong thinking: Haitians saying "Haitians are ugly, Haiti is ugly"
Hand-out philosophy: It seemed every child from age 3 and up knew one English phrase: "give me a dollar."
40% of Haiti's national budget is from foreign aid

Maddening:
Dumping garbage in the Caribbean
Burning plastic and tires
Corrupt government

There is no easy answer for Haiti. It appears to be a tangled mess of broken systems. More money is definitely not the answer. In my opinion what this country needs is empowerment. More focus on developing the local people, giving them the tools and freeing them up to be leaders and change agents. For example, we've got to stop sending doctors over that push Haitian doctors aside in the name of "help". As cliche as it may sound, Haiti does not need another hand out, it needs a hand up. That's very easy for me to say but I know it is much harder to do. Charity is always easier and quicker than development! In conclusion it is going to take much more than money and man-made solutions to see Haiti develop and become all that God intended it to be as a country. It is going to take the supernatural power of God in harmony with humble servants and greed-free hearts.

To see our Haiti journey as it happened check out this "on the road" blog.

Here is a pictorial review of our trip:
Cap Haitian Airport

How we traveled around

Sharing the simple Gospel message...

Teaching health and hygiene, awesome turnout

Headed to Haiti

2011-01-27T07:18:00.001-08:00

As I prepare to leave tomorrow for a well repair trip in Haiti I was inspired by this video

AC- A Haitian Pastor's Prayers from Living Water International on Vimeo.

To follow my team's journey along the way I will be live blogging here

Haiti 1 Year Later

2011-01-22T06:46:00.000-08:00

This photo is of one of the massive tent cities in Haiti as it appears in January 2011. I will be in Haiti in less than a week. It's hard to believe that a year has passed already. It's also hard to believe the level of progress that has been made. I have very mixed emotions about going. Our team will be repairing damaged water wells and teach health and hygiene classes in the name of Jesus. I'm excited about directly "attacking" the Cholera epidemic by providing more people with access to clean water, but I'm very burdened for the broken systems in this country.

Here is an amazing interactive look at Haiti one year later:

This is a look back at the year of hardship that the New York Times put together.

This is an interactive aerial view of Haiti before, after and 1 year later.

Charity vs. Development

2011-01-03T08:00:00.000-08:00

When it comes to community development the charity approach can give off the message that we are trying to change the poor, as if there is something wrong with them, which is in direct contradiction to the Gospel message that God indwells and love each one of us in a unique way. The charity approach can create a real distance between people, making it hard to have a relationship - much less a genuine friendship. The better way is the "development approach".

Here's the difference:

Charity Ministries vs. Development Ministries

Do for others Enable others to do for themselves
Improve conditions Strengthen capacity
Give a man a fish Teach a man how to fish
Address crisis situations Address crisis situations
Event - oriented Relationship - oriented
Address needs by giving something Need addressed when participant can do problem solving
What 'we do for them' focus Focus on what participant can do for selves w/skills/info

Taken from Empowerment by Mary Nelson

Empowerment & Community Development

2010-12-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

Empowerment, a funny word that is often misinterpreted. I just completed a book by Mary Nelson of the same title.

This was an excellent book about community development from a godly perspective. This book give you a new perspective for looking at under-resourced communities. And it's one that is sadly to often overlooked. The empowerment approach is a biblical approach which focuses more on developing people's skills and abilities, rather than simply helping the poor live better lives.

One of the first big things that the author takes on is that of labels. She says that "Labels lead to low outcomes. Labels like 'poor people' or 'poor communities' often create a one dimensional impression of people and communities. Often, people locked in low income communities -'labeled people'-can't see God's vision for their community,
or think they have nothing to offer and begin to believe the negative labels about themselves.

This book is highly practical and will help you develop new tools to enable you to gather the appropriate information that will both affirm and empower the individuals in who you are seeking to enhance capacity. The kinds of questions we ask will greatly impact the effectiveness of our empowerment efforts. This short book is clear, succinct and a must-read for anyone invovled in faith-based community development.

God Is With Us!

2010-12-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

God is With Us from Living Water International on Vimeo.

God & Cities

2010-12-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Tim Keller answer's the question "What is God's Urban Global Mission?" No one other than Tim Keller could pack more insight and information into 17 minutes. Simply amazing! There really is so much here in this short video that I had to listen to it about three times. Watch and be inspired to join God in the city!

http://conversation.lausanne.org/en/conversations/detail/11644

Friends of Uganda Update

2010-12-17T13:04:00.000-08:00

Each Sunday in December at our church we have been taking up an additional offering to be used for the Friends of Uganda initiative, and each week we have shown a different video to tell the story. In this video Ruth and Proscovia, two River Pointe church members from Uganda, talk about the water problem in Uganda and the potential impact of Friends of Uganda!
Here is the latest video:

For more on this initiative go here.

Why Go on a Mission Trip?

2010-12-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

So why should you go on a mission trip?

1. It will cost you something.

2. God calls all believers to go.

3. Numbers and statistics will become human, breathing men, women and children with names. There are two billion (2,000,000,000) people living on less than two dollars a day. Too many people can't find enough calories, too many children live in virtual slavery. But until you go and play marbles with those children, or walk next to those women carrying 40 pounds of water on their head, or plant corn with meager tools on the side of a mountain alongside a sustenance farmer, they are still just a number.

4. Perspective. It will change the way you view the world.

Top 10 Mission Resources

2010-12-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

There are so many great mission resources that it can be overwhelming. If you wanting to become a missions pastor or just learn more about what God is doing in the world, here is a list of resources to consider in no particular order:

10. Missions Launch -Helping those who help the world. A great blog and good to follow on Twitter.

9. Living Water International Website This is an excellent resource to educate yourself on the global water crisis.

8. Go Do Something I follow them on twitter, they also have a blog.

7. Operation World This is a premier and definitive prayer guide for every nation in the world!

6. Culture GPS This is an app for your iPhone or other device that navigate you through intercultural difference. It's not exhaustive but it is a great start down the path of cultural intelligence, and it's cool that it's an app!

5. Joshua Project This is an incredible and exhaustive online resource about unreached people groups

4. The Mission Exchange This is a power packed site with webinars and resources

3. The Chalmers Center for Economic Development Here you can actually take classes on helping the poor.

2. Mission Infobank Here you will find maps of almost any data you may be looking for

1. Mission Catalyst is probably my favorite right now. They send a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip believers fro global ministry with current news and resources.

Friends of Uganda

2010-12-09T07:50:00.000-08:00

I am very excited about the Friends of Uganda initiative that we have launched at my church. It has it's own blog and you can read more about it here. This past week we began telling the Uganda story to our church with this video. These two women are form Uganda and members of our church. It was awesome to have them share their perspective.

Global Media Outreach

2010-12-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to go on a mission trip but just couldn't seem to pull it all together?
Have you ever thought there was no way you could easily share the Gospel with people around the world?

You can have an incredible global ministry right from your home if you have access to the Internet. You can become an online missionary with Global Media Outreach a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

This is truly amazing! This a live view of people coming to Christ through the Internet and online missionaries in real time!

Check it out for yourself.

You can be a part of this. I have been doing this for a few months now. We have a team of online missionaries at our church. We started with just a small underground group. Eleven of us have been doing this and we have answered over 1,500 emails between us and we have 138 ongoing relationships with people from all over the world!

This is such a dynamic way to live on mission. For more details on how to become an online missionary, go HERE.

To Transform a City Part 2

2010-11-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

My favorite part of this book was Eric Swanson and Sam Williams take on Isaiah 61:1-6. This simple passage should be in the toolbox of every believer who think about or is working toward community transformation. The first six verses show us how transformation happens. Here is how what it says:

Isaiah 61:1-6
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
2 to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   a planting of the LORD
   for the display of his splendor.

4  They will rebuild the ancient ruins
   and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
   that have been devastated for generations.

5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
   foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

Eric Swanson and Sam Williams write in their book To Transform a City that this passage shows the following process of transformation:

1. It begins with one person who is yielded to God (Isaiah 61:1)

2. It comes through proclamation AND demonstration of the gospel (Isaiah 61:1-3) The works verify the words and the words verify the deeds.

3. Transformation begins as people are transformed (Isaiah 61:3)

4. Transformed people want to transform their communities (Isaiah 61:4) They challenge the status quo. Though things may have been destroyed for generations, they rebuild, restore, and renew.

5. Transformation occurs when the work is taken over by others (Isaiah 61:5)

6. Transformation is recognized by how the city identifies your role (Isaiah 61:6) In this generation, the most important ministerial titles will not be those conferred by a seminary or ordination board-they will come form those in the community!

(taken from pages 53-55 To Transform a City)

To Transform a City

2010-11-24T07:00:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading this book by Eric Swanson and Sam Williams. In a nutshell it is about the whole church + the whole gospel for the whole city. It is a great roadmap for city transformation and should be read by those who involved in such efforts. The authors do a great job exploring the importance of cities, the role of the church and offering up practical guidelines for partnering with others for the good of the city.

This book will inspire you to fall in love with your city in a new way, giving you new eyes to help you see the world as God see it.

Adopted!

2010-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

The following is a talk I wrote, but never gave. I wrote this after an extensive study on the biblical concept of adoption. Today I adopt a son into my family! I am so excited!

Here is a transcript of my message on adoption:

This summer I spoke about the topic of the goodness of God and I shared from my own life how I have experienced God’s goodness. I told the story of meeting my wife Diana and the joy of celebrating the birth of our first child, a daughter, 13 years ago this month. And then I shared how we were unable to naturally have any additional children and the pain and the questions and the frustration wrapped up in the middle of all that. Yet God was still good.

We questioned how God could be good when we felt he put us together to create a family with multiple children. But we never got pregnant again. God how could you allow this to happen? Is it something we did? Are you punishing us? Do you care? Are you good? Are you good to us? And in all those questions God was still good.

Even when we struggled to see his goodness, it didn’t change who he was.

Eleven years went by for my wife and daughter and I and God was good. And then seemingly out of nowhere last year, I received an email from a co-worker about a baby boy right here in our church that needed a home. God was good!

God moved all kinds of potential barriers and slow moving government systems and in his goodness He quickly placed this little boy with us and we became his foster parents. Well here’s an update. This little boy is now no longer a foster child in our family…he is our son! Signed sealed and delivered, legally he’s ours! The adoption is final and now Aaron has been given the family name. Isn’t God good?!!

As I reflect on our adoption story of Aaron it’s caused me to remember another adoption story…God’s adoption of us! Did you know that God adopts you into his family when you choose to follow him and accept his free gift of salvation?

But what does that really mean? What are the implications of being in the family of the Creator, the sustainer and owner of the universe? That’s what I want us to really explore today. What does it mean in lives of followers of Christ that we are adopted by God?

Adoption is mentioned 5 places in the New Testament, and in all of the places that these letters of Paul were addressed they had significant Roman influence. One commentary says: “The profound truth of Roman adoption was that the adoptee was taken out of his previous state and placed in a new relationship of son to his new father...All his old debts are canceled, and in effect the adoptee started a new life as part of his new family...on the one hand, the new father owned all the new offspring's property, controlled his personal relationships, and had the rights of discipline. On the other hand, the father was liable for the actions of the adoptee, and each owed the other reciprocal duties of support and maintenance." Knowing the Roman adoption laws helps us understand why Paul finds such a strong metaphor for the status and privilege that Jesus brings his followers.

Ephesians 1:5 says, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his family bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do and in gave him great pleasure.”-NLT God decided “in advance”, it was always a part of his plan; he decided to adopt us in advance of anything we could do to win him over, or to earn such great privilege.

Galations 4:4,5 says, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

So what does all this mean in my life today? To be adopted by God? To be called his son?

There is a beautiful story in Scripture that casts a great light on this subject! We find it in Luke 15:11-24 and it the story of the prodigal son lets read it together.

Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.

So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.   "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

The key here in this passage is this phrase, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son”. It shows us how the grace of God effects our relationships with each other.

At the end of the passage the father says, “my son was dead” did he think he was physically dead? No of course not so what does that mean?

And when the younger brother returns the main thing he’s talking about is “I’m not worthy to be called your son”…he says that twice.

This got me to thinking, What did sonship mean in these days? Because I don’t really get it or relate to it looking at the surface. So what did sonship mean in ancient culture what does it mean in the Bible.

I really wanted to know so I did some digging, some study from some people who are much smarter than me and I am indebted to theologians like Timothy Keller and J.I. Packer for their study on this topic.

Sonship was a status. A status in a way then that it isn’t now….the boy had lost the status because in ancient culture it was so much more important. It was the sons job to carry on the family name…and the family name was everything…what the family stood for, the values, the beliefs the culture and the reputation and so sons knew that it was their job to carry on the name as well as to carry on the family business. In those days the oldest son got almost all the inheritance and the younger son received what was left and the daughters did not get any of it. So back then, and even today in some parts of the world, you didn’t survive if you didn’t have a strong intact family, a family with means.

In those days you didn’t just go out and accumulate wealth, wealth had to do with land and animals and means of production and it was so crucial that the family “fortune” stayed intact and that’s the reason why the oldest son had that job. The economic security of the entire family was dependant on keeping the wealth, the land together…keeping it all together. It was really the only way people could survive. Now we begin to realize that to be a son in those days was an office almost, a status, it was extremely important, it was a big deal!

So it must have been incredibly shocking when Paul the apostle wrote these words in Galatians 3:4 to a mixed audience of beleivers…men and women, listen to what he says: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”

In every other religion on the face of the earth the Gods were kings and everybody was their subject. But here we have a God that comes in and says I’m not just a king and you are my subjects…I’m your father and you are my sons, my heirs. This was offering a kind of intimacy with God that no other religion had.

Now I suppose a women could hear this and feel like this whole deal about sons is kind of gender insensitive. Why would we go back to a time when sons had all the power…why should we take a term from “then” and use it today? Well, remember the historical setting here: When Paul says to a group of Christians…men and women, “in god’s family EVERYONE is son!”, this had to rock those women’s world that first heard this. You are all sons, you are all heirs…this is Gods way of looking at women and saying I love you just as much, I honor you just as much…you inherit just as much as the men. This teaching was so diametrically opposite of the culture it was originally heard in. Remember, in the Roman law daughters did not have the same privileges and so if Paul used the language of “sons and daughters” it would weaken what he wanted to say about the status and security of Christians. Paul is radical in that he calls both men and women “sons” of God, saying that in Christ women have the same status as men – even if the culture fails to recognize it.

So what does this mean in my life today, if I really grasp that in Christ Jesus we are all sons?

The first thing it should give us is an incredible deep security, in our recent adoption of Aaron, as in the adoption of anyone, the granting of sonship on someone is not a gradual change in nature it is a sudden change in legal status. In our case we signed a piece of paper stating that the state was no longer responsible for Aaron...my wife and I are. And it was immediate! For Aaron to be adopted by us meant that prior to his adoption he was legally outside our family, he had no relationship to the inheritance and now suddenly he’s in! It’s the same with Christ. But I have to admit that’s not how I naturally see it, I don’t really grasp the security of that.

I think we tend to be like the younger brother who comes back and says, “I’m not worthy to be called your son”, which is true, “so make me like one of your hired men”...in essence…let me work off my debt. I don’t deserve the status of sonship…I just want to be able to pay you back bit by bit.

But the father will have none of that…bring a robe and put a ring on his finger. A signet ring probably, which is a way that you made a contract, you put the family seal on it. This is huge!

So often when we first come to Christ we think of our salvation only in negative terms, as debt taken away and things taken off of us, things like guilt and wrath etc. But our change in legal status involves so much more! We don't just get a pardon, we get the full rights as sons. God sees us as he sees his own son Jesus!

The son is saying here “I don’t want to be a son I don’t deserve it, I want to earn my way back, let me earn your approval” and the father is saying “No, you’re a son” and he adopts him in a sense, he grants sonship on him just like that, in one stroke! We are all like that. When we first come to God we all say I’m not worthy, and that’s true…I just want to earn it, I’m gonna try to live a good life and I’m gonna come to church and try to read my Bible, I’m gonna try to pull it all together and maybe someday at the end God will let me in, but the biblical God will have none of that! Our status with God is not dependant on what we do but on what God does, because we are not hired servants but adopted sons. When we believe in Christ, we can have the deep comfort of knowing that God is not going to torture us when we slip up, but like the father in the parable, he is running with open arms to forgive us and restore us.

When you believe in Jesus Christ you get full rights as sons and that is an absolutely secure position. In our story this morning the younger son wanted to be a hired man…an employee and when an employee totally messes up their life and fail their employer, what happens? IN the famous words of Donald Trump: “You’re fired!”

There’s no security in being an employee. But if you’re a child and you blow up your life what happens? Mom and Dad get more intensely interested in you then before! Why? Because it’s totally different than being a hired man, it’s a status, it’s a standing, its secure.

Although the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is one of the best loved of parables, the lesson it teaches us is often overlooked. Jesus was underlining the fact that the reality of the love of God for us is the last thing to dawn on us. As we fix our eyes on ourselves, our past failures, our present guilt, it seems impossible that the Father should love us, so many of us go through life with the prodigal's suspicion. Where our concentration is on our sin and failure, all their thoughts are introspective, and that's why, in the Greek text of 1John 3:1, John's statement about the Father's love begins "behold", behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us.

Like the prodigal, we have a native inability to believe that salvation is completely by grace and love. We are slow to realize the implications of this. We have the status of sons, but we have the mindset of a hired servant.

We have the status of sons, but we have the mindset of a hired servant! Do you want to be a hired man or woman? Or do you want to be a son?

As sons we not only get an instant deep security but we get Intimate access. A child has access that no one else does. Imagine the access if your father is a king or president. How much more God’s children have access to the creator of the universe, not only to his provision and support, but also his dear love and fatherly compassion.

I once heard a story of a missionary who adopted a poor young orphan girl who was very standoffish for a long time and one day he was sitting at his desk and she came to him with her shoes and said, I need a new shoe lace and he was so moved because she was treating him as a father. A child has access that no one else has. And if you’re a child of the king you have even greater access.

Sonship is a legal relationship that you can rest on no matter how you’re feeling or doing, you know he’s committed to you. It’s also an existential relationship you can take the legal to use in prayer to say I know you delight in me I want your love, I want the embrace, I want the delight and in prayer you can access his love in a way you never would have thought otherwise possible. Why? Because in Christ Jesus, you’re all sons!

Future Hope. So what does it mean when the Bible says you’re heirs? When the Bible says that we are heirs, our inheritance is not something temporary such as land, money, or material possessions. Our inheritance is the new heavens and the new earth. In the new heavens and new earth that God is developing we are going to rule and reign together with him. In ancient times father expected their sons to take over the business what does that mean for us? God is in the business of perfecting this world, getting rid of every flaw, someday it’s going to be a glorious world, no blemish, no suffering no stain nothing, and God is saying that’s your inheritance.

The elder brother in our story is Jesus Christ because he came to earth to sacrifice himself, to give up his place in heaven so we could have it, to lose his sonship as it were so we could get full right as sons and the knowledge of that sacrificial love is what changes us, it’s what turns us into a family.

Jesus Christ gave himself for you he stepped forward to be killed and save us as from our sins and turn us into a family.

Adoption really is the culmination of Salvation in the Bible and should control the way we view the whole Christian life “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love...” (Ephesians 5:1)

So what does adoption mean in our lives: Security, Initimacy and Hope. Isnt it ironic that that what we all chase, long for, try and fill our lives with in others ways…and yet it’s all right here for us in God our heavenly father.

Thank you Father for giving us what we need to be a family, a knowledge of our sonship. Help us to live it out. We don’t have the access, we don’t have access, we don’t have the confidence and security that we should have because we don’t grasp our status and we do not love each other , we don’t share with each other and shape each other because we are not living yet as family as brothers and sisters. But we know that your son gave himself for us , the more that sinks into our hearts the more we understand this the more we will change.

Have you been adopted in to God’s family? What’s holding you back? Perhaps fear of the unknown? That’s exactly what kept me from coming on board to the thought of adoption for so many years…and it wasn’t until I surrendered all that I could move forward.

Why go on a Mission Trip?

2010-11-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

So our worship pastor just returned from his first out-of-country mission trip. He went with a team from our church to Cuba. I knew he had been greatly impacted by the trip and I wanted to hear what he had to say about it all...so I ran across the hall and caught this totally unrehearsed response...

Why Go On a Mission Trip?

My Personal Adventure in Missional Living

2010-11-15T13:50:00.000-08:00

I started this blog to be a clearinghouse of sorts, for all things missions. Here you will find stories, resources and hopefully inspiration to life on mission yourself! The subtitle of my blog is "adventures in missional living". As I see it, missional living is really a "think-of-others" style of living. This isn't really easy, or natural...at least not for me. I tend to think of myself and my needs first.

Missional living can play itself out in a number of ways. For my family it is playing out in a very interesting, exciting and personal way, in fact our biggest adventure in missional living starts this Friday!
For our family missional living has looked like thinking of others, making room for others, and specifically it has played out in us becoming foster parents. About a 9 month old boy was placed with us, altering both of our lives for ever. This Friday we will be adopting this most precious little boy. He will become a permanent part of our family, and we all will be forever changed as a result! This has has been scary, exhilarating, hard and easy all at the same time!

So to truly live on mission do you have to foster a child, or adopt an orphan? No, not at all. It simply starts with considering someone else's need before your own. And when you begin to do that I believe God will take you on an exciting and possibly life-altering journey.

Who's needs can you put in front of your own today?

Under the Influence

2010-11-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I spoke on Psalm 1 at my church. Here is that message:

Friends of Uganda

2010-10-25T05:24:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about the new initiative we are about to launch at our church. We are calling it Friends of Uganda. The foundation of our church's Missions ministry is community development and transformation through Jesus Christ. We define community development as a long term commitment to making a community more liveable through personal, spiritual, physical and economic transformation.

What excites us about development is that it is not done to people, or for people, but with people. Development is a process of ongoing change that moves all people involved-both the “helpers” and the “helped” closer to being in right relationship with God, self, others and the rest of creation. In particular, as the materially poor develop, they are better able to fulfill their calling of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their families with the fruits of that work.

We are currently doing this locally in North Richmond, Texas with the Friends of North Richmond Initiative and have been asking God to show us where we could be involved globally. As a result of our strong relationship with Living Water International, I was introduced to Africa Renewal Ministries (ARM). A respected ministry in Uganda, Africa that specializes in adopting needy communities in Uganda for the purpose of spreading the gospel through church planting and community development. So in February of 2010 I headed to Uganda to meet Pastor Peter Kasirivu the founder of ARM and pastor of Gaba Community Church. Search "Uganda" right here on my blog for more on that trip.

Our church has the opportunity to be actively involved in a church-planting movement in Uganda by adopting a community, specifically Rushere, starting a church and addressing the key development issues for that community such as access to clean water, child sponsorships, building schools and clinics, and helping launch micro-finance enterprises. No one has done anything in Rushere, no NGO’s have come, UNICEF hasn’t come, Rushere is a frontier of unmet need and ripe with potential for the Gospel to be shared and the community to be transformed. I'm excited!

We have developed this website to tell the story of transformation. I invite you to check it, read the posts, watch the videos, and most of all look at all the pictures that tell the story. My prayer is that you would fall in love with Uganda and the people of Rushere. You can even give to this initiative on the site if God moves you in that way. You can have the assurance that 100% of your gift benefits the people of Rushere!

New Websites

2010-10-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

I've been working a lot on a couple new sites related to missions and I want you to invite you to check them out. The first is the missions page on our church website. Our church recently updated it's website. It's a lot more user friendly and makes great use of video. Check it out here.

In my next post I'll talk about the other site I've been working on.

Diaspora Missiology: The Bottom Line | The Lausanne Global Conversation

2010-10-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Right now the 3rd Luasanne Congress on World Evangelism is taking place in Cape Town, South Africa. I have been following the conversation through Twitter and various bloggers.This is an excellent article on reaching the scattered. It's about placing the same amount of emphasis on going and reaching the unreached as we do on staying and reaching the unreached coming to us. If you live in a city the nations are coming to you! The Diaspora for sake of this conversation is is the dispersion or spreading of people who were originally localized.

Click on the link below to read this article:

Diaspora Missiology: The Bottom Line | The Lausanne Global Conversation

Who Is Your Neighbor

2010-10-20T07:27:00.000-07:00

About a year ago I read a great book that really had an impact me. and it's funny because I was sure I had blogged about it, but in searching my own blog I didn't find anything on it. I'm guessing I read this book before I started blogging. The book is The Monkey and the Fish by Dave Gibbons. In his book Dave looks at the global shifts going on all around us and serves up a "third-culture" way of being the church. The questions he raises are excellent! I stumbled across this video of him speaking at the Verge conference in Austin, Texas last year.

Jesus, commands us to love our neighbor. But who is your neighbor?

Dave Gibbons: Engaging in 3rd Culture Mission [VERGE 2010 Main Session] from Verge Network on Vimeo.

Haiti Pump Repair

2010-10-12T07:00:00.001-07:00

I am leading a team to Haiti from my church with Living Water International in January of 2011. We are will be repairing 5 pumps/water wells and doing health and hygiene classes. The kids that are involved with our church's children's ministry raised all the money to repair the pumps!

This video shows a little bit of what takes place on a pump repair trip to Haiti.

Well Rehab Program in Haiti from Living Water International on Vimeo.

"If" always gets in the way

2010-10-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

If.

If is the enemy of go.

If I had more time I would go

If it only cost less or were free

If I had a passport

If I wasn't afraid of traveling to a foreign country

If money wasn't an issue
If I could be guaranteed that I won't get sick

If my walk with God was better

If my kids didn't need me so much

If I just had something useful to offer
If only God would show me that I'm supposed to go

If only I was younger

If I was older

If only I felt more confident

I am a missions pastor at a local church, so part of my job is mobilizing people to be on mission and part of that includes going on a mission trip. I know that a mission trip is not the "end all", but it is an excellent kick-starter for a think of other's lifestyle. Recently, I've been doing some thinking about what keeps people from going on a mission trip and I have concluded that one of the contributors is this tiny little word we stumble over. The word if. "If" is a paralyzer that always gets in the way of going. Confront your "if " today and ask God where he is sending you. It might be next door to your neighbor, it might be half-way around the world. As a follower of Jesus we are all called to live sent.

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:16-20

Making a Difference

2010-09-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

I've been spending a lot of time in the last month researching Haiti as I prepare to take a team there in January. In past posts I have shared books articles or videos I have come across. Here is the latest inspiration...it's the story of a young couple who moved there right before the earthquake. Whether you plan to go to a foreign location or serve right where you are; you will find this couple an inspiration to personally make a difference.

Can I Make a Difference?

2010-09-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

"The TV news shows and online news streams work to keep us riveted to tragedy after tragedy. Each upcoming story is crucial. Then fifteen or thirty minutes later, there's nothing you can do about all you've seen, which spans the country and the globe, except feel punished and depleted in mind and soul. And there are the charity ads, the local fundraisers, the church announcements. There are ways to volunteer that feel meaningful, but how can it not seem too little? Focus on the demands of your family, friends and work, as if it weren't more than enough.

But it nags, doesn't it? Get's caught a little in the throat. Should I, could I, be doing something that really makes a difference? What would it look like? WHat do I really believe about helping other people especially if it get's demanding?"

These words are taken from Kent Annan's book, Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle - Living Fully, Loving Dangerously.

If you have ever pondered those thoughts of personally making a difference in someone else's world I would encourage you to read this book. I just finished it and I must say it is very inspiring. I had a hard time putting it down. What you will find here is a first hand experience of a twenty-something couple who left the comforts of home in the US and moved to Haiti to live with a poor family they didn't yet know. What follows is the adventures, victories, pain and doubt that comes with the decision they made to follow Jesus "through the eye of the needle". What I appreciate about Kent is the candor in his writing, it really draws you in to his personal journey and gets you thinking about your own.

Missionary Stories for Kids

2010-09-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

My 12 year old just finished this book, Missionary Stories From Around the World. I asked her to read it and give me a review. She said that it was really exciting and easy to read. She thought it would be great as a read aloud book for kids up to fifth grade.

If you are looking for a resource to get kids excited about missions this book would be a great place to start. It contains twenty-nine short true stories of missionary heroes. This book will be a great place to start expanding your child's worldview as it shows them a God who is active all over the world.

A Daily Declaration

2010-08-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was just recently in Guatemala and attended a church where this "Daily Declaration" was read. I really liked and wanted to duplicate here on my blog. As you read this "Daily Declaration" read it in the spirit of living on mission and giving your life away.

A DAILY DECLARATION

God,

Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. I will not let petty inconveniences such as long lines and/or lack of something - be my masters. I will avoid negativism and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark. Today I will make a difference.

I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity. I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom. I will drink every minute as though it is my last. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. While it is here, I will use it for loving and giving. Today I will make a difference.

I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through the trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on victoriously. No failure is fatal. It's OK to stumble...I will get up. It's OK to fall...I will rise again. Today I will make a difference.

I will spend time with those I love. My spouse, my children, my family. I want to be wealthy in relationships. Today I will spend at least five minutes with the significant people in my world - talking or hugging or thanking or listening. Today I will make a difference.

Guatemala Water Trip

2010-08-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

I just returned from Guatemala where my church sponsored a well with Living Water International (LWI). I landed in Guatemala city and then drove to the LWI compound in Antigua. Antigua is a beautiful colonial city that sits at the base of a volcano.

I traveled with a great team who drilled the water well and taught health and hygiene classes in a village outside La Maquina that sits in the shadow of active volcanos. This village was home to 40 families. Many where subsistence farmers, others worked in the town of La Maquina.

The need for access to clean water is big here. Some people have wells on their land but they are only 10 to 20 feet deep, and in most cases the same depth as their outhouses, causing serious health risks. It was not uncommon for us to see women washing their clothes in a nearby muddy river.

We drilled down to 125' and found a strong aquifer at 105' to 120'! We were able to develop a strong well that was producing 30 gallons a minute! It was really cool to do this work right alongside the villagers and to see how engaged they were in the process! While we drilled part of our team taught health hygiene classes for the children in the mornings and for adults in the afternoon. We were so pleased to have 35 adults out of the 40 families attend on that first day of health and hygiene!

My personal highlight would be the meals that the village prepared for us every day. They were just such beautiful expressions of grace, hospitality and selflessness. Each day we went to a different little home made of rough hewn timber with light coming through the seams and dirt on the floor. We would eat with animals at our feet and children peeking curiously through the walls at the gringos who had invaded their home. The best part was at the end of the meal how everyone would just sit and talk, and rest, and enjoy what had just taken place. I wish I had more of that in my culture.

I am grateful for this experience to rub shoulders with my brothers and sisters in Guatemala and to provide water for the thirsty in the name of Jesus Christ. I am moved by the tears of gratitude from grown men and women as we celebrated the gift of water on the last day and dedicated the well to the glory of God. May many come to know Christ the one who gives living water as a result of this new well!

Guatemala Water Well

2010-08-25T06:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a short video of the first time we pumped water out of the Living Water well we drilled in La Maquina, Cuyotenango, Suchitepequez, Guatemala last week.

Water for Haiti

2010-08-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

US Teams Haiti from Living Water International on Vimeo.

If you have been around my blog much you can probably tell that I'm a pretty big fan of Living Water International. In January I will be leading a team from my church on a well repair/health and hygiene trip like the one shown in this video. I am excited for my church to be active in this great work!

Guatemala

2010-08-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

Saturday I am heading with a team from my church to Guatemala to drill a water well with our partner Living Water International. This will be my second drilling trip so I am excitedI plan to blog along the way so keep checking back for pictures, progress and updates. Please pray:

for our team that we would have safe travel
for our families that we leave behind
for success with the well
that the message will be clear that this water is from God
for success with our health and hygiene classes

Leading with Cultural Intelligence

2010-07-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading this book: Leading with Cultural Intelligence by my friend David Livermore. David and I first met while traveling together and training youth pastors in Quito, Ecuador and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

This book is a must read for anyone traveling to countries outside their own for mission work or for business. There are great resources and helpful tools throughout each chapter to help grow ones cultural intelligence. Dave talks about how cultural intelligence goes way beyond modifying your behavior to real transformation of cross-cultural behavior from the inside out.

I love what he has to say about being ethnocentric. Ethnocentrism is when we evaluate other people and their culture by the standards of our own cultural preferences. We really cant help but see the world in light of our personal cultural background. But it is highly possible for you to underestimate the degree to which we have become a product of our culture. We are most ethnocentric when we assume that our experience is what's normal and best.

I think the reader of this book will see and perhaps be frustrated at times at how hard it is to increase cultural intelligence. Dave says it takes four things: Drive, Knowledge, Strategy and Action.

If you are serious about improving your cross-cultural relational skills, get your hands on a copy of this book!

The Externally Focused Quest part 2

2010-07-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

Last month I finished reading The Externally Focused Quest. I've written a short review in a previous post, but here I would like to share some great insight form the authors Eric Swanson and Rick Rusaw. IN Chapter 8 of their book they focus on evangelism and the importance of mobilizing what they call kingdom laborers, not just community volunteers. They do a great job explaining the value and balance of Good News and good deeds.

Here is an excerpt from that chapter:

Sometimes people ask, "But what if the people we serve don't respond the way we'd like them to?" The truth is that many people won't come to faith regardless of what evidence the have (Matthew 11:20). So in Luke 17:11-17, we read of Jesus and ten lepers. Lepers were the outcasts of society. Jesus did what only he could do: he cleansed all ten of the lepers. Interestingly, only one in ten returned to Jesus and made the God connection by giving praise to God, We think Jesus knew all along that only one would make the God connection, and yet knowing that nine would go on their merry way didn't prevent Jesus from healing them. He healed them not because they would convert but because they were broken.

I think that is a very powerful concept to remember when we are helping others! Later on in that same chapter the authors quote John Stott and his insight regarding motives in service:

To sum up, we are sent into the world, like Jesus, to serve. For this is the natural expression of our love for our neighbors. We love. We go. We serve. And in this we have (or should have) no ulterior motive. True, the gospel lacks visibility if we merely preach it, and lacks credibility if we who preach it are interested only in souls and have no concern about the welfare of people's bodies, situations and communities. Yet the reason for our acceptance of social responsibility is not primarily in order to give the gospel either a visibility or a credibility it would otherwise lack, but rather simple uncomplicated compassion. Love has no need to justify itself. It merely expresses itself in service wherever is sees need.

We love. We go. We serve.

The Externally Focused Quest

2010-07-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

I just finished an excellent book on becoming the best church for the community. So often I think churches can focus on trying so hard to become the best church in the community, instead of realizes that they exist for the community. This book is actually a follow up ot the Externally Focused Church written in 2004. The Externally Focused Quest is a must read for all church leaders and anyone who has a vision for the world outside the walls of their church.

When you read this book you will want to be close to a computer so you can look up all the web addresses that the authors mention of examples and resources. This book is packed with them!
I loved chapter six that focused on partnerships and collaboration. Eric and Rick discuss how this is a must for churches desiring to become the best they can be for the community.

I think what is so great about this book is it's practicality! If you want to lead others in any city reaching efforts, or even making an impact on your block you have to rush out and get this book. It will inspire you, encourage you and give you the tools to put feet to your dreams about loving your community.

Be on the look out for the next book in this 'series" titled To Transform a City. It should be out in September of 2010. I've pre-ordered my copy at amazon.com and excited to get my hand on it!

God & Poverty

2010-07-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

Bono "preaching" about God's view of the poor...inspiring.

When is God Good?

2010-07-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Have you ever doubted God's goodness in your life or the world around you? Here is message I gave a couple weeks ago at my church.

Sowing Seeds

2010-07-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

On a recent mission trip to Oaxaca, Mexico part of our team had quite the memorable experience. One morning in the village of San Mateo Mixtepec where we were staying we got up and went out on a prayer walk asking God to show us opportunities where we could show Christ's love in a practical way and use open doors to share the Gospel.

As we were walking up the mountain we ran into a woman who was expecting to give birth in about a month. She told us that she would be planting her corn with her husband in the morning. We asked her if she would like some free help. She said that would be great so we got directions and told her we'd see her the following day.

We had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into, but it turned out to be the most memorable highlight of the trip. We drove as far up the mountain as we could and then we spent the next 30 minutes climbing up to their corn field which was literally on the side of the mountain at about a 45 degree angle! We helped them plant their 2 acres of corn by hand all morning at an elevation of 6000 feet! Sustenance farming...that was a definite first! How we did that without falling down the mountain is a mystery to me!

This was my view looking down to the silver truck that we drove in. We had to climb down that ravine and then up to this corn field.

The view back up the mountain side that we just planted.

When we were done we asked them if we could pray with them. We prayed for their crops to have the best yield they had ever experienced! May God grant not only great corn harvest, but also a great spiritual harvest of the seeds planted in the hearts of the people of San Mateo Mixtepec!

Reaching the Unreached

2010-07-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

I just returned with an awesome team from my church who were on mission for a week in Oaxaca, Mexico. This region of Mexico has the largest concentration of people in the western hemisphere who are still unreached and primarily unengaged with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We were serving alongside one of the missionaries that our church supports on a monthly basis; his name is Peter Cawthon. Peter took us into the mountains of Oaxaca to the village of San Mateo Mixtepec. Living at an elevation of about 6000-feet is a people group of 1000 Mixtepec Indians whose ancestors settled there in the 1500’s. We had a great week of serving alongside the villagers. We did daily prayer walks through the village, showed gospel films, helped them plant their crops, cut their wood and improve their school buildings among many other things.

Let me tell you a little of what we learned about this people group. They are a very stoic group, who see themselves at the bottom of the humanity totem pole. They are among the poorest in Mexico and are looked down upon because of they are darker, shorter and poorer than all other Mexicans. They think that everyone is out to get them and that they deserve every bad thing they have coming to them. They see themselves as last in line and if there was a ‘proverbial handout’ that they wouldn’t receive anything. On top of that they believe that Jesus is angry with them because their sins killed him. They have a very fatalistic worldview.

This village of sustenance farmers is known as ‘the village of young widows’ because the majority of the men drink themselves to death in their 30’s and 40’s. Spousal abuse is very common here in this male dominated society.

So how do we share with young Anastacia pictured here, growing up in the mountain village of San Mateo that God is good?

Or with Lovia a grandmother from this same village who’s husband died 12 years ago from alcohol poisoning? We did that through engaging their life in their everyday, helping them with daily chores, conversations, praying for the sick and just loving on these people.

May God grant a great spiritual harvest of the seeds planted in the hearts of the people of San Mateo Mixtepec!

Same Blog, New Look

2010-06-29T06:14:00.000-07:00

I decided it was time to freshen up the old blog a bit so here is the new look. I have been out of the loop on blogging for awhile as my laptop got stolen on my last mission trip. So if you are reading this blog on a computer you found in a backpack on a road (it feel out of an enclosed trailer) in Oaxaca City, Mexico enjoy it! I would like to have my journals back though so feel free to send those to 5000 Ransom Road Richmond, Texas USA 77469 in care of Richard Logan.

Stay tuned for pictures and stories from my recent mission trip to Oaxaca and enjoy the new layout!

The Church & Economic Development

2010-05-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a lot of thinking and studying about the church and economic development in impoverished communities.

Questions I've been asking...

Can the church play a role?
Is it supposed to?
Is the Gospel of Jesus something to just be verbally shared?
Does the Gospel just transform individuals or can it transform whole communities?
Do I believe in a whole Gospel for the whole person and the whole of society?

Here are some conclusions I am coming to...

1. The church is God's primary and intended instrument to serve the poor and bring about community transformation.The church does not exist for itself it must engage the poor. Isaiah 58:6-12, Luke 7:18-23

2. It's so natural to associate poverty with the financially poor, but I believe we are all poor. We all suffer from sin brought on through the fall of man. Romans 5:12

3. Because of our sin problem we all need reconciliation. We need to be reconciled with God, with one another, even with ourselves. We all need poverty alleviation for all our relationships. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19

4. Economic development outreach can be done by the church and one used by God to bring about community transformation.

5. It is of the utmost importance that the church correctly assesses and understands the needs and assets of the community they are trying to help before they can design any strategies for economic development.

6. The church must bring the poor to the table, give them a voice and allow them to speak into and lead the economic development process for their community.

Multiple resources for further study of this subject can be found here at the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College.

Stand Up & Speak Out

2010-05-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

Speak up for the people who have no voice,

for the rights of all the down-and-outers.

Speak out for justice!

Stand up for the poor and destitute!"

Proverbs 31:8-9 the Message

Forgiveness for Congo Rebels

2010-05-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

I came across this great redemptive story yesterday and want to share it here.

Caught in the crossfire: The struggle to forgive Congo rebels

4/29/2010

By Charles Braddix

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (BP)--“We need to clear the room,” a translator announces. Then, he says quietly, “This woman was raped by rebel soldiers, and she’s never told anyone before. She’s been too embarrassed and too ashamed to let anyone know.”

Among those sitting on the rickety, handmade benches of Mizeituni Baptist Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a church member in her 70s. She uses a wooden staff to support herself. As others go outside, she remains.

The doors close, the windows are shuttered. In the darkness of the rustic building, the woman’s story slowly unfolds, her face etched in pain at the memory of what she is about to tell.

“When the soldiers came, many people began to run,” she says, “but I stayed at my house. I was not able to run away … so I hid under the bed.

“They knocked down the door, dragged me from under the bed, took me into the bush, tied me up and raped me.”

Afterward she returned to her house and said nothing.

“Now I have found that I have a venereal disease. And I am very angry and sad.”

This story is repeated again and again across the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Millions of Congolese are now refugees, having fled the atrocities committed by both government soldiers and rebel fighters.

Government troops and rebels converge on a village, and the inhabitants are caught in the middle. Murder, looting and rape are the norm. The innocent become victims of stray bullets and deliberate atrocities.

These horrors trace back to 1994 and the Rwandan genocide. One million people were slaughtered in 100 days. It pricked the world’s conscience. The aftermath, however, is much, much worse.

Fighting spread into neighboring eastern Congo. In Rwanda, it was quick and deadly; in the Congo it is a slow burn. The world was shocked about Rwanda. It knows little about the Congo where 5.5 million people have died during the past 16 years.

It is the deadliest conflict since World War II.

“The war in Rwanda and the Congo has caused great stress on us,” says Athanace Habimana, pastor of Hekima Baptist Church in Goma. “But because we had a compassionate heart, we wanted to get out among the people. This included the rebels.”

Habimana is head of the Baptist Union of East Congo. The union consists of 90 churches with 12,000 members. Together with International Mission Board (IMB) missionary Rusty Pugh, he developed a strategy to reach the rebels.

He went into their camps and witnessed to them.

“Later … we did training with seven pastors using [Bible] storying,” says Pugh. The pastors went into the camps for two weeks at a time, sharing Christ through a series of Bible stories that explain man’s separation from God because of sin and the salvation offered in Jesus Christ.

Pascal Ndiho coordinates this dangerous ministry. “Without the permission of the commanders, we are not allowed to go and reach the rebel soldiers,” says the Congolese pastor. “We must identify ourselves as servants of God and that we are there to share the wonderful news of Jesus Christ.

“We show them the advantages of being in Christ.”

Their efforts have been striking.

“They have started small groups among the rebels,” says Pugh, “and because the rebels are always moving, new groups have been formed by the rebels that were trained by the Goma pastors … so the groups are multiplying.”

To date, more than 500 rebels have been baptized.

Eight of these men gather in a small compound to tell their stories. At first their tales are sketchy, almost rehearsed.

“I did bad things,” says one. A second echoes the same line.

They are quiet, then they begin to open up.

One nervously fidgets with his automatic weapon. “I murdered people and I raped women,” he says, “… and I enjoyed it.”

“I have even killed children,” says another.

Their faces bear evidence to the seriousness of what they have done. Their piercing gazes instill fear. “I really didn’t think about what I was doing,” says one. “I was just doing what I thought I should do. …”

The eight soldiers accepted Christ through the efforts of Habimana, Ndiho and the other pastors. Their faces soften when they talk about the change in their lives.

“We try not to think about what we did — to remember — but it is hard,” one confesses. “We know that we have hurt many people and have a lot of sin. But it is very different now.”

“The difference is that before I did not know God,” says another. “What I did, I did for me. Now I know that I committed so many sins, and I feel very guilty. But the pastor said that God can forgive me … now I know I can be forgiven because of Jesus.

“It was the happiest day of my life.”

The elderly woman who was raped by other soldiers in her village 30 miles from where the eight former rebels sit still struggles with what happened to her.

God might be able to forgive them, “but they are still very bad men,” she says. “If I was able to meet them, I could forgive them,” she continues, “but they should be put in jail for what they did to me.”

For pictures click here.

Charles Braddix wrote this story on behalf of the IMB.

100 People

2010-05-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

I get excited when I hear about churches doing aggressive, faith-driven, missional activity. I just came across a church doing just that. It's The Austin Stone in Austin, Texas. They have started the 100 People Network. The goal is for 100 people from their church to start the process of being sent out in 2010 to unreached people groups for at least 2 year terms! They have done a great job putting together people, "goers", senders, and mobilizers; and providing them with great resources.

Check it out for yourself here.

Water is Life

2010-04-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

In the past 18 months I have been fascinated with water. I have been trying to learn more about how to conserve it, how to share it with those who need it, and how to be an advocate for the water crisis in the world. In my search to learn more I stumbled across an amazing website this week. It is a beautifully designed site that tells the story of the last great supply of fresh drinking water on earth. Can you guess where it is? It's in the US...and Canada. It is the Great Lakes.

To learn more yourself check out the Water Life site.

Lessons in Generosity

2010-04-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

Last week American Idol aired their "Idol Gives Back" show. It is a show where stories of problems around the world are told for the purpose of raising awareness and raising funds. Idol Gives Back, has become an Emmy Award-winning television event and music celebration has raised more than $140 million to benefit charities around the world and across the United States. The two-hour fundraising event returned to FOX on Wednesday, April 21 and raised more than $45 million. Beneficiaries for this year's event include Children's Health Fund, Feeding America, Malaria No More, Save the Children's U.S. Programs and the United Nations Foundation.

Two years ago we watched this as a family and after the show my daughter went to her room dumped out her piggy bank and said, "Here Dad, take it all. I want this money to be used to help the people we just saw".

This past week we watched the show again and as I was laying in bed with my 12 year daughter doing our bedtime ritual, she told me that she wanted to give up her next 3 allowances to help others. On both of these occasions I was so moved and impacted by the generosity of my daughter. Would I give up all my savings to help others? Would I give up three paychecks? Now, I realize she doesn't have the financial obligations that I do, but I still think God wants me to learn some lessons in generosity from a child, my child!

20 Questions About Serving Others

2010-04-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

"For Christ's love compels us...

And he died for all, that those who live

should no longer live for themselves

but for him who died for them and was raised again."

- 2 Corinthians 5:14,15

I was talking to a friend today about how his church was planning a month-long service project. He was venting to me about one of the Sunday School classes at his church that after hearing about the service project they began to place all sorts of parameters on how and when they could serve based on their personal schedule and preference, and the type of service activities that the group likes to do.

"Is it too much to ask a group of people to just show up and serve?” he asked. This really got me to thinking about serving and what it means to serve.

Is serving never about me? Can it sometimes be about my preferences and me, or is it always about others?

Is it painless, or is serving sometimes painful?

Is serving disruptive, or is it easy?

If I don't like doing it does it count?

Why do I serve? Is it to feel better about myself, or to help others feel better about themselves?

I really am struggling with what it means to serve. I mean, is it this whole thing where I try to become like Jesus and be 'put out' for others from time to time, or is it something that's a part of my lifestyle?

Do I choose when I want to serve and when I don't want to serve? Or is my whole life supposed to be about serving others?

What if I don't get anything out of it?

What if I don't want to serve others can I opt out, and what happens to me if I do?

Can I schedule times for when I want to serve, but when it doesn't really fit my schedule or lifestyle, or things I like to do can I still opt out?

What does it mean to be a servant? Is it a project? A box I check off, or a life that I live? And if I reduce serving to something I do once or twice a year do I actually do more harm than good to myself? Does it create a "there I served" checklist approach to serving?

If one says they are a follower of Jesus Christ but only wants to serve others when it's convenient to them, is it okay to question whether they are truly following Christ?

What does it really mean to serve others in the name of Jesus Christ?

Don't Forget Haiti

2010-04-21T06:46:00.000-07:00

If you have been around my blog you can tell I'm a big fan of Living Water International. This video shows what's happening in Haiti right now. Well rehabilitation is the fastest, simplest, most-cost effective way to provide long-term water solutions in Haiti. In this way, LWI teams can restore water to thousands of people a day. The water trucks and bottled water handouts of the large relief efforts will soon be gone, so long-term solutions are more crucial than ever. I am excited to lead a team from our church to repair five wells in January.

Haiti - Right Now from Living Water International on Vimeo.

Blessed are the Peacemakers

2010-04-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Sudan is entering into the most important time in it's history.

Matthew 5:9 says,

"God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God."

Want to work for peace?

Here is something very practical you can do
to work for peace over the next 5 minutes:

1. Watch this video (about 2 minutes)

2. Use the time remaining to pray.

Pray for peace for Sudan.

Take these moments right now and work for peace
and move God's kingdom forward,

it's what people called the children of God do.

Salam Sudan from World Relief NEXT on Vimeo.

Missional Church

2010-04-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

This simple film does a good job explaining what missional church is:

World Water Day

2010-03-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

I just summited an essay to Helium's World Water Day Writing Contest sponsored by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. This contest is an initiative aimed at raising awareness of water issues in the weeks surrounding World Water Day. My article is currently rated 3rd out of 101, but that changes daily. A winner will be declared from the top 10 ranked entries, so I am hoping to move up to the top 10 by tomorrow's deadline.

Here is my essay:

I could feel the sun beating down on my neck as we walked out into the bush of East Africa's Rushere, Uganda. My guide was leading me out to see his village's primary water source. When we arrived at the watering hole, I satisfied my cynical western mind that no one could possibly be using this water; but perhaps they used it when it was fresher. Depending on how the sunlight hit the surface, the color was somewhere between chartreuse and pea soup green. The buzz of flies was in my ears, and the smell of something sour hung in the air. The scum on the surface was about an inch thick and the water beneath it opaquely brown. I was standing below a man made dam that was built to catch the rainy season flood waters. It hadn't rained for months, and this water was now nearly gone. To top it off this water wasn't even free. The people here are paying for water that I wouldn't use to wash my car. This water will be used this for cleaning their children, washing their clothes, cooking with and drinking.

When I learned that this water wasn't free it only further cemented my naive thought that water in this condition, wasn't possibly being used. People had to be going somewhere else and collecting cleaner water. My safe and rational thoughts came crashing down as I turned to see across this scum-filled pond a father and son walking down to the edge, and then slowly wading out into the water. They used their jerry cans to brush aside the scum from the surface and then slowly pushed them beneath the water's surface in order to fill up with this life-dependant commodity that in its current state held the potential to kill them. After what seemed like five minutes their cans were full and they began to lug the now eighty pound cans of water back up the hill from whence they came. I could only hope they would boil it before consumption.

As I stood there in the hot African sun and watched this I was flooded with all kinds of thoughts and emotions ranging from disbelief to shock, and from sadness to anger. These thoughts were interrupted by what seemed like a very out of place sound. It was that familiar ring in my pocket. I reached down to look and see who might be calling me and smiled as I saw an image of my friend Rob. I quickly answered and was struck by how clear the call was and how close Rob sounded even though he was over seven thousand miles away. As I walked along and got caught up with my old friend I thought about how good it was to hear from home, and couldn't believe how great the cell service was out here in the African bush. I thought of the times when I've been out in rural areas back home in America and had struggled to find a cell signal, and here I had “five bars” of signal, impressive!

My Ugandan friends here in Rushere have access to incredible cell service and yet lack access to clean life-giving water. I suppose they can call and talk to somebody about their water problems, about their daily struggle with water and how they watch their children die from diarrhea and other water-born illnesses, and how their life expectancy reaches to just the mid-forties; but they are still left without this basic life-dependant commodity. How does that happen in a country? How does access to great cell phone service surpass access to clean water?

If you would like to change this, use your cell phone today to call NGO's like Living Water International and find out how you can be actively involved in bringing clean water and teaching health and hygiene principles to those who need it most. Living Water International doesn't believe that just drilling a well is enough. Having a clean water source is essential to the health of a village; however, if clean water is carried home in a dirty container and children aren't taught to wash their hands, disease will continue to be a concern. Living Water International is committed to providing, at minimum, an introduction to health and hygiene principles at every new well they drill. The combination of clean water and hygiene education reduces the number of deaths caused by diarrheal diseases by an average of 65%.

As I hung up with my friend Rob I was struck by how this water problem in front of me is just a small window into a much larger worldwide problem with water. More people die from dirty water every year than from all forms of violence, including war. I can choose to be overwhelmed to the point of inaction or I can choose to start here at a scum-filled pond in Rushere. I choose to partner with experts like Living Water International and invite my friends back home to join me in a clean water revolution for Rushere.

To join in check out these sources:

www.water.cc

Living Water International: 877-594-4426

Can Music Be Missional?

2010-03-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

I just downloaded an amazing album from my old friend Robbie Seay. Robbie used to lead worship for one of my old youth groups on Wednesday nights, and he also lead at our high school summer camp for 4 or 5 years. As I listen to this it brings back some great memories! I have always appreciated his authentic approach to worship music and love that, that hasn't been lost over these years!

The album is Miracle and it has such a huge missional thread running through it, from 'Kingdom and a King', to 'Lament', to 'Let Our Faith Be Not Alone', to the very last song 'Your love is Strong'. I am so thankful today for music that inspires, for music that moves my soul and encourages me along the way! Thanks Robbie!

I've been listening as I type this and I keep flipping back and forth on which track is my favorite; but I've finally figured it out. It's Lament. Get in a quiet place throw on your best pair of headphones and get lost in this honest heart cry for God's justice and grace to be known in our world. Make this your prayer today!

Uganda Day 9

2010-02-19T11:20:00.001-08:00

Today we headed out to the town of Jinga which sits on the Nile River. We are going white water rafting. On the way we passed many tea plantations and drove through a beautiful forest. I can see why Winston Churchill dubbed Uganda "The Pearl of Africa"!
The white water rafting was amazing! We went down several class 4 and 5 rapids. Class 6 on the Nile, are impassible in a rubber raft.

Lunch on the Nile!

On the way home the owner fell asleep on my friends shoulder in our taxi. Funny!

Uganda Day 10

2010-02-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

Today we did some shopping, packed up and had a last meal with Beau and Stacey the Living Water International country directors for Uganda. It was great to spend time with them in their home. They have been missionaries here now for one year and they came here from Katy, Texas, not far from my home. Patrick, our guide for the week told me that Living Water has done more in one year in Uganda to provide access to free and clean drinking water than, the government has done in 15 years! Glory to God!

This trip will leave it's mark on me, it has been great for my faith. I am so excited to head home tomorrow and share with my church the things I have seen and begin putting together a thoughtful plan for strategic partnerships with the ministries here that will lead to sustainable community development...which is so much more exciting that just aid. Development as opposed to aid, that's what we what to be about!

Uganda Day 8

2010-02-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

Today was quite a day! This morning we went to Loving Hearts Babies Home a ministry started by Africa Renewal Ministries for abandoned babies. This ministry is young so they only have four babies right now and the good news is they all have homes to go to!

For lunch we met one last time with Pastor Peter from Gaba Community Church. I am so inspired by his vision and his heart for his country. I was impressed with his leadership and with the systems and structures that have been put into place for strategic partnerships with western churches.

After lunch we drove back to our guesthouse and walked to and through a slum in Gaba. It was a crazy, unbelievable experience. This slum is home to close to 2000 people! Their contaminated water source is in the shadow of a water treatment facility. I discretely shot some video here on my phone that I was holding to my chest, so it's quite shaky and not always aimed in the right place, but you'll get the idea, it's quite sobering!

As we walked through the slum children would run up to us shouting muzungu! muzungu! which means white person. They wanted to hold our hands. I kept thinking of that verse, "Let the little children come unto me". These children were dirty, completely or half naked. One little baby girl had burn makes on her stomach from falling into a charcoal fire. The latrines here where built up 6 feet high and locked, residents have to pay to use them, and when it floods sewage seeps out into the slum. This was poverty like I had never seen. Children with nothing! I've never seen a child with nothing, no clothes, no toys, nothing. The dirt, the smell, livestock, babies sitting in dirt, disease, saddness, crime, and an ad for a job in prostitution. This is life in the slum.

Uganda Day 7

2010-02-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

Today was pretty much a travel day back to Kampala. We managed to hit and run over a goat on the way, crazy. We shopped at the Equator, stopped by these drum makers on the side of the road,

and then headed to another Bridge Africa International guesthouse where mission teams stay.

It is huge with a beautiful view of Lake Victoria. The staff here take great care of us, washing our clothes and making delicious meals. It's good to rest after all of the in-country travel we have done and all we have observed so far.

I have to come clean on one thing that I don't like about Africa, and that is the tension that it brings. I prefer comfort and ease to tension and hardship. Africa is very weighty and I am feeling much of it's weight today.

Uganda Day 6

2010-02-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited about today because we are driving to Rushere, the community for our church to potentially adopt. As we turned off the highway and down the dirt road headed into the town of Rushere we looked over into the open field on our right and saw a herd of wild zebras. We stopped the van and went out into the field to take these pictures. Which now that I think of it may not have been the smartest thing to do because in Africa they say that where there's zebra's there's lions!

It was breathtaking to see these amazing animals out in the open and not in some animal reserve! We jumped back into the van and headed on to the city of Rushere. Rushere is a city of 30,000 people made up of mostly dairy farmers. Most of the milk in Uganda originates in Rushere. The president of Uganda grew up very close to Rushere and has a weekend home near here, so there is a healthy interest from the government to see sustainable community development in Rushere. Gaba Community Church planted a church here about one year ago. They sent Jerald a member of their church who had been through the Gaba Bible Institute to become the pastor of Rushere Community Church.

He is pictured here with some of his key leaders. This church has grown from 35 to over 100 with many people walking over an hour to worship here. Since so many walk from so far they have started what they call home cells where they invite neighbors in weekly to share stories, pray, read the Bible together and share their belongings with those in need.

Currently the church is on rented land and in a temporary building. This is affecting their outreach as culturally you aren't taken seriously unless you own land. It gives people a sense of security that they are not going to show up one day and the church is gone. So many people are waiting to become a part of this congregation until they purchase land. This is their number one prayer request right now.

Pastor Jerald shared his vision for this to be a city church that reaches the village, to do more than just spiritual things, they want to be a church of faith in action. They want to do developmental things in the community like providing clean water (there is only one bore hole in this city for 30,000 people and the tap water in unreliable, you can go months with any water coming out of the faucet and it is very expensive), schools and clinics to address the big HIV and Malaria problems in this city. They are spiritually concerned about Rushere, specifically with the Muslims who are building a mosque a few hundred feet from their church and with an occult movement called Bacwezi that involves the traditional worship of demons and a strong attachment to cows because "Jesus was born with cows". Pastor Jerald reported that this movement has almost 300 followers because these people are so desperate for miracles. They read the Bible but they are searching for a god they can see. The desperation is a physical need that becomes a spiritual need and the followers see the human leader as their healer who promises healing but for a price. One woman said she had spent over 3 million shillings (the equivalent of over $1500US) and nothing improved for her. About one dozen people have come to Rushere Community Church and have been delivered from the Bacwezi cult.

Pastor Jerald describes his community as "people desperate for God, but lacking direction. This town needs a church with a vision to take the church to the godless places. We will be that church!" After our visit with Pastor Jerald and his key leaders we took an hour walk out into the village to meet some of the members of his church. Here are some pictures and video from our walk:

this is where at least half of the village pays to retrieve it's water

(for more on this read my post on Uganda's Clean Water Problem Parts 1 & 2)

We prayed for this woman who was suffering from headaches, chest and knee pain

Suppose there are snakes in this tall grass? We were guaranteed that there were!

After walking about an hour and climbing a couple of hills we arrived here at this beautiful

spot. This was a very surreal moment for me and it's hard to blog about. As we sat here and

heard how we were the first Muzungus (white people) to visit this village, read Psalm 23

together, and then prayed together I broke down and wept. I was just completely undone and I will remember this as one of the top moments of my spiritual life as I was overwhelmed here by the goodness of God in the midst of harsh poverty!

This was by far the most incredible day so far!

We headed back to Pastor Jerald's house where he graciously shared the only food he had in his little apartment.

We said our goodbye's and then settled into our home for the night, a hospital guesthouse
overlooking Rushere.

My shower for the night, there was no water flowing from the taps here

It reminded me of the Texas Hill Country. Tonight I will be calling my church during their

morning services to report on what I am doing here. I am looking forward to that!

Uganda Day 5

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Today we participated in the dedication of a new water well and a water catchment system.

It was amazing to hear at these two different villages that were miles apart what clean water means to them and to hear it from their perspective. Water is life. I got to meet a member of parliament from the office of the first lady of Uganda. The first lady, Mrs. Janet Kataha Museveni is a very hand-on leader and so well loved by her countrymen that they refer to her as mama. She is very open about her faith in Jesus Christ and determined to work closely with Living Water International to provide clean water to those who desperately need it in Uganda. At the end of the well dedication we were served a traditional African meal by the school teachers. There really wasn't anything at it that I wanted to eat except for a banana, but I did eat several things, just not the cow stomach soup. We ended our long day back at the $12 a night hotel with a delicious meal of fried goat and chips.

Uganda Day 4

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Today was the day our team was thrust right into the mix of great human need in the subsistence farming village of Bakiharie just 3 kilometers from Rwanda. Subsistence farming is where farmers grow only enough food to feed their own families. Today I saw things I've never seen before in my life:

- people fetching water from the same place where livestock were standing and people are bathing, washing clothes, etc.

- children with that hunger stupor in their eye

- children just staring at me like something they had never seen before

- children caring for children

- people forced to use stagnant water for lack of access to clean water

The village women here seem to do everything and are treated simply as a utility. Obviously they bear the children, but they also work the fields (often with a child tied to their back), gather the wood, charcoal, and water; cook the meals and wash the clothes, all while it seems that most of the men sit around and talk.

Today we also saw a rain-water catchment system in a place where the terrain didn't allow for drilling a bore hole. Here Beau Abdulla, Living Water's in-country leader for Uganda explains how it works.

Another highlight was sitting in on Living Water's Health and Hygiene classes. I was blown away by how hard water is in these remote villages for living clean, all that they have to go through and I just go to the tap. It was fascinating to see how revolutionary was this teaching was for keeping water clean, using the latrines that the government had built, and not defecating near the water source. It was really cool to see mostly men at the training and being challenged by fellow Ugandans. It was really driven home in the classes that they are ultimately responsible to teach their community to change it's ways and to lead by example when it comes to clean water.

This day really was a turning point day for me as I saw Africa...really saw Africa, the real Africa. Seeing life in the bush and watching people existing, just staying alive but not really improving themselves. "Tomorrow" is a hard concept here and planning ahead is unheard of because "you may not even be alive tomorrow". Life here is about surviving through today. My life is so far removed and foreign from this, it is truly a lot to process!

Hope for Uganda's water problem

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It was incredible to witness firsthand the hope, the joy, and the enthusiasm of people receiving access to free, clean, safe water for the first time in their lives! Hope for a better life and clean water provided by Living Water International. These pictures and videos say it all.

This is a song school children wrote about Living Water Int'l

A dance of joy & thanksgiving at the dedication of the water well

A pictorial view of Uganda's water problem

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This is an unknown water source in Kampala, Uganda's largest city. Most likely run-off from up hill.

I was surprised to see a jerrycan of water in a nice shopping mall in Kampala

Here's what my pastor friend Gerald told be about this body of water shown above:

Uganda's Clean Water Problem part 2

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Water is life, and life revolves around water.

We were just driving along when we came up on this large water source. We stopped and visited with them about their need for clean water access.

Uganda's Clean Water Problem part 1

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In Uganda the yellow jerrycan represents our most basic human need for water. If you are a woman or a child it is your job to fetch water for your family every day at least twice a day...but where will you go to get it?

(The source of this water is unknown, but most likely run-off water from up hill. This is in Kampala, Uganda's largest city)

So, you grab your jerrycans and you head to the nearest water source because this isn't the only thing you have to do today. But what if your nearest water source looks like this?

It's a matter of survival. You have to have water! I met some friends that were paying for water that I wouldn't even wash my car with, but water is life. I have to have water so I will do whatever it takes to provide it for my family.

I have to confess that when this pastor in the video was telling me about this water source my western mind just couldn't wrap itself around the concept that people were actually using this water! So in order to handle it I made the mental assumption that people did use this water back when the dam was full but they're certainly not using it now. So we went down and shot the video that you see here and we continued on our walk towards a remote village. As we were making our way around this contaminated water source the pastor told me that people have to pay to fetch this water it is not free. This further drove home my protective mechanism that people certainly are not paying for water that looks like this. We walked a little further and as we got to the other side of this water source we came to a clearing where I could look back across it and this is what I saw.

It's hard to put in words the emotions I felt at this moment of seeing this man and this child fetching water. Uganda has a clean water problem!

Uganda Day 3

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Today we headed over to Gaba Community Church for an excellent meeting with Pastor Peter. I t was exciting to hear his story and learn more about Africa Renewal Ministries. , and the community of Rushere that our church is considering adopting. I can see River Pointe developing a very strategic partnership with them! This video is from that meeting. I just sat my Flip camera on a stack of books so there's nothing fancy about it, but the content is exciting.

(Video coming soon)

After our meeting we put all our stuff in the van and drove for about 7 hours, passed the Equator,

and checked into a basic hotel in Ntungamo...$12 a night, breakfast included. Ntungamo is also the location of Living Water International's Field Office for Uganda.

The Americans in country informed me that the shower in my room is commonly referred to as a widow maker. I was sure I liked the sound of that, and when I saw it I knew what they meant. You had to flip a switch about an hour before you wanted to shower to have hot water. Here's a picture:

The inside of my hotel door, interesting!

Life on the streets of Ntungamo outside our hotel.

Uganda Facts

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76% of the population of the country lives slightly below the international poverty line of US $2.00 a day
It is currently subject to a severe food crisis
Life expectancy is 45 years
English is the native language followed by Bugandan, and then 400 different dialects around the country
The unemployment rate is 45%
Kampala, the capital city is home to 3 million people and sits at 3800 feet above see level
400,000 residents of Kampala live in slums
Most families have 5 to 7 children
320 Ugandans die each day from malaria. This number is only accurate to the point that it reflects just recorded deaths. Those suffering from malaria out in the villages that never go to the clinic and die are less likely to be accounted for in this number

Uganda Day 2

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Today I woke up to this beautiful chorus of birds like I had never heard before. We are staying at one of two guesthouses that are used by Bridge Africa International. I had a great nights sleep and woke up promptly at 7am. This is a beautiful place where we are. It's sub-saharan and lush and green even thought we are here at in the dry season.

A JACKFRUIT TREE

After breakfast we headed into Gaba right outside of Kampala. We headed into the Gaba slum to find Gaba Community Church started in 1989 by Peter Kasirivu. This church started here in this slum with just 15 people. It has now grown to 2000 and they have started 185 churches throughout Uganda! One of the ways he has accomplished this is by starting Gaba Bible Institute for training church planters. This was an exciting day for me to meet Pastor Peter. He is one of the people I was most looking forward to meeting on this trip. His vision and leadership is very inspiring. In addition to starting this church Pastor Peter started Africa Renewal Ministries (ARM). I am here to develop a strategic partnership between River Pointe and ARM.

ARM is all about sustainable community development which our missions department and church are very interested in. The ministries of ARM include:

church planting
child sponsorship
building schools
building clinics
drilling clean water wells
helping students go to college
church partnerships that reach and transform communities

After briefly meeting some of the staff from ARM we headed by wooden boat with a little outboard motor across Lake Victoria to Bethany Village.

Bethany is a community started by ARM for orphans, neglected children and kids needing a second chance that their parents cannot provide. They currently have 185 children in residence ages 6 to 20. They live in homes of 12 to 14 kids with house parents. Each house has it's own garden that the children maintain. This place was amazing, they have a campground, a church, clean water system, schools and a diesel generator which provides electricity 2.5 hours a day. It was cool to see how self-sustaining they are. I was again stuck by how huge the vision of Pastor Peter and Gaba Community church is. They are very much an outwardly focused church! As we walked around the village we kept hearing stories about how the body of Christ around the world had been a part this endeavor. The generator was from a church in Canada, one of the schools was built by a church in Holland, and on and on the story went.

BETHANY VILLAGE

GRAVITY WATER SYSTEM THE CHAPEL

LUNCH TIME @ BETHANY VILLAGE