Back from the edge meanderings

Missionary God: Lesson 6

2011-05-29T18:15:00.001-07:00

This is the sixth installment of Pastor Jeff Jackson's Missionary God series. This is by far one of the best teachings on the nature of God as it relates to being a missionary. Enjoy.

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Time: 45:38

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Interview with Matthew Bradshaw from Sagebrush Community Church

2011-05-15T14:26:00.001-07:00

by: Matthew Ellison

Matthew Bradshaw is the Global Outreach Director at Sagebrush Community Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sixteen: Fifteen had the privilege of walking Sagebrush through the missions coaching process several years ago and continues to assist them as they further their vision. We recently helped facilitate a connection between Sagebrush and PHX 10/40 Interface, one of our newest ministry partners. This connection is quickly becoming a fruitful partnership for Sagebrush, PHX 10/40 Interface, and most importantly the refugees that God has brought to Phoenix.

Matthew Ellison: Why has Sagebrush made engaging refugees (or as you like to say "New Americans") in the Phoenix area through PHX 10/40 Interface part of Sagebrush's overarching missions strategy?

We saw an opportunity with PHX 10/40 Interface to give our people a cross-cultural experience in a local area. We saw the value of the 10/40 Interface and could not resist getting involved.

Matthew Ellison: What does that engagement look like? What kinds of things are you doing?

With the 10/40 Interface, you are paired with a new American for one week, approximately 40 hours. In that time, you have certain tasks you must complete together to help teach your new American how to adapt and acclimate to their new environment. Basic chores like going to the grocery store or using public transportation can be very difficult when you are in a foreign country. Our goal is to ease that transition and show these people the love of Jesus is a real and practical way.

ME: Do you find that this compliments or distracts from Sagebrush's global vision? Please explain.

We believe this compliments our global strategy very well. We understand that many people in our church will never experience what life is like in a foreign country. However, this doesn't mean they cannot have an impact on the nations. The nations have come to us; we cannot neglect their presence or ignore their need.

ME: Can you share a brief story of how God has impacted people from your church as well as the lives of refugees through your partnership with Phoenix 10/40 Interface?

We had a volunteer in April connect with a New American on a deep level. She was able to break bread and build a relationship. Our volunteer even invited her New American into a family member's home. Through their time together they forged a relationship and at the end of the trip, our volunteer received a gift from her New American. With big tears in her eyes, she told us that she had just given her a hug and was so moved. She couldn't believe how generous her new friend was, and how much she cared for her. Our volunteer was changed, and her heart was melted all because they spent a week "doing life together". You can't put a price on that!

Interview with Jeff Jackson, Phoenix 10/40 Interface

2011-05-15T14:20:00.001-07:00

by: Matthew Ellison

Matthew Ellison: Share how local churches that want to make reaching immigrants part of their global vision can partner with Phoenix 10/40 Interface?

Whether we like or not and whether we agree with or not, God has chosen to permit immigrants to become part of almost every local community in America. Some of those immigrants have come legally and some have not, but the reality is that God has chosen to allow them to live among us. Why might He do that? I believe it's because He desires every local church to be able to actively obey and fulfill the "great commission" of making disciples of all nations, (ethnic groups). Phoenix 10/40 Interface provides an opportunity for leaders and members of any local church to be exposed to ongoing multi-ethnic potential disciple making. The experience gained and the opportunity to discuss and even view a variety of methods of reaching immigrants with the 10/40 Interface leadership team could be a real catalyst for moving any local church forward in this area of ministry.

ME: Can you share a brief story of how God has impacted a church as well the lives of refugees through the ministry opportunities that you facilitate through Phoenix 10/40 Interface?

It's difficult to limit to one, so I'll just use the first team we hosted as an example. This was church from Southern California that has been heavily involved in global missions for years. With the arrival of a much younger senior pastor whose heart is to continue to reach the far corners of the world but to add reaching the world in the church's own backyard, they sent a team of 10 people ranging in ages from 40 to 70 years old! Every team member's life was so radically touched that they stirred up the interest in others, and we recently hosted a second team, with one of the same members from the first team. Three of those team members connected so tightly with their refugee, (we call them New Americans), that they have driven over to Phoenix to spend time with them. And, Three of the New Americans found jobs as a result of the new boldness to try and speak English that they received after having spent time immersed in English with their American friends. That church is now in the process of preparing a ministry to reach out to the immigrants in their own community, and they now have a good sized core of people who have done it and can be the spark that God may use to stir up many other members of the body.

ME: God in His sovereignty has brought the mission field to us, please exhort churches reading this not to miss out on this historic opportunity.

God has given us His "end game" in Revelation 5 and 7. He has given us a clear picture of where history is headed-what He is moving everything towards. There will be a worship service with people from every tribe, nation, and tongue. He commissioned His church, His body, to make disciples of all ethnic groups-which would be people from every tribe, nation, and tongue. But here's the beauty of what He has done by bringing the world into our neighborhoods-He has given us the opportunity to participate in obedience to the commission He gave! Up until recently, the majority of the members of a local church participated in in-direct ways of obeying the great commission: by praying for, supporting financially, and caring for those specifically called to go to the ends of the earth. This obviously MUST continue to happen. But now, every member can participate DIRECTLY by reaching out to the people in their own communities who God has brought from around the world. Now, He has made direct obedience to the commission a realistic opportunity. And I believe that He will ultimately hold each responsible for what they did with this amazing gift of His grace-the gift of world's people brought right into day to day lives here in America.

A Way to the Unreached

2011-05-15T14:16:00.001-07:00

by: Rebecca Tarantino Intern at Sixteen: Fifteen

As many of you may recall, Matthew 28:18-20 is known as the Great Commission. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has commanded his followers to go and share the gospel with all nations. However, some nations cannot be reached, because the leadership of the nation has banned missionaries from entering into the country to share their faith. The most unreached countries are located within the 10/40 Window. This rectangular area's latitude is between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator. In the 10/40 Window there are approximately sixty-eight countries from Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia that are unreached. These countries contain two-thirds of the world's population. Ninety percent of the people in this area have never heard the Gospel. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam are the three main religions in this region.

Though these countries cannot be reached there, we can reach them from here. Many future leaders of these countries attend colleges here in the United States. We have the opportunity to show them love and share the Gospel with them. In Phoenix, Arizona there is a ministry called 10/40 Interface. Tune in for an interview with Pastor Jeff Jackson, founder of 10/40 Interface.

Missionary God: Lesson 5

2011-05-01T18:25:00.001-07:00

This is the fifth installment of Pastor Jeff Jackson's Missionary God series. This is by far one of the best teachings on the nature of God as it relates to being a missionary. Enjoy.

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Time: 1:00:26

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Missionary God: Lesson Four

2011-04-21T12:40:00.001-07:00

This is the fourth installment of Pastor Jeff Jackson's Missionary God series. This is by far one of the best teachings on the nature of God as it relates to being a missionary. Enjoy.

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Time: 52:02

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Missionary God Lesson Four

2011-04-12T11:54:00.001-07:00

This is the fourth installment of Pastor Jeff Jackson's Missionary God series. This is one of the best teachings on the nature of God as it relates to missions and being a missionary. Enjoy.

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Time: 52:41

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Missionary God Lesson Three

2011-04-05T18:33:00.001-07:00

This is the third installment of Pastor Jeff Jackson's Missionary God series. This is by far one of the best teachings on the nature of God as it relates to being a missionary. Enjoy.

Download
Time: 1:00:02

Subscribe to the Shepherd's Staff Podcast on

Download iTunes.

Missionary God Lesson Two

2011-03-24T09:10:00.001-07:00

This is the second installment of Pastor Jeff Jackson's Missionary God series. This is by far one of the best teachings on
the nature of God as it relates to being a missionary. Enjoy.

Download
Time: 49:42

Subscribe to the Shepherd's
Staff Podcast on

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Missionary God Lesson One

2011-03-15T11:43:00.001-07:00

Shepherd's Staff founder Pastor Jeff Jackson is a seasoned missionary, church planter, and missionary trainer.

It is God that seeks out man. God is the One Who seeks, it's not the other way around. If anything, man runs and God pursues. God is a Missionary God.

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Time: 59:35

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moment by moment

2011-02-08T17:33:00.003-08:00

"At first when presented with what we were actually going to do each day; pick up our New American at 9 am and take them out into the city (that isn't mine) and teach them English one on one and not return to the complex again until 5 pm I was overwhelmed. I did not know how to teach someone English and I had thought there would be a curriculum of some kind. There was, but the Lord held it and revealed it to me moment by moment.

The Lord guided my steps each hour, gave me ideas on how to teach English while we were walking around the city. The idea that we were both thrown into an uncomfortable situation together caused a bond to develop and then with Jesus escorting us, we learned to communicate, and trust Him for the directions and results.

I watched my New American (Devi) grow more trusting of me and more confident in herself as she made her way around the city. We together learned the city lay out and discovered resources that were available. My heart has gained a new friend, I have fallen in love with a people I had no exposure to before this. I am in awe of all the Lord taught me as I was teaching Devi.

It was a wonderful experience for both of us. ( I think I might have learned more than Devi did,) and my faith has increased in experiencing the faithfulness of the Lord for every stage of the week. Through us, I think He revealed His great love for them as well. I would highly recommend this ministry opportunity, as you will find you are a better Christian for having done it.
I look forward to the next time I will be able to return."

source: http://phx1040interface.org/?p=101

Phoenix 10/40 Interface: a better 'cross-cultural' experience

2011-02-08T17:33:00.001-08:00

Having been to a lot of different countries on a lot of short term missions trips, Phoenix 10/40 Interface, in some respects, offers a better 'cross-cultural' experience, exposure and education than many much more costly trips. I was challenged, stretched and stressed as well as richly rewarded as I spent 40 hours of one on one time with my NA, New American. I helped her in acquiring language and job skills while adapting to her new city and American culture, all the while looking for bridges to share the God Story with her. I can't get into her home country, but having come here and it was a privilege to welcome her. I think every church could actively participate in ministry to the 10/40 window by sending at least one team a year to Phoenix.

source: http://phx1040interface.org/?p=98

My New Americans

2011-02-08T17:32:00.003-08:00

If you want to be in a place where you have to trust Jesus. The 10/40 is it. I have grown so much in one week that it's difficult to place words on it. When Jesus moves He moves in BIG ways that will grow you and the NA's that you are with for the week. It was an honor to serve my NA's (New Americans) and laugh and even get a little lost, but in it all The Most High is there. Worshiping in the apt complex with the sliding glass door open for everyone to hear. These people in the 10/40 are beautiful and need to be shown the love of Jesus in practical ways that show them that there Americans that give themselves to serve them serve the Most High. James said that he left a piece of his heart there and he is right, I miss Maki and Chandra and I cannot wait to see them soon.

God works and when he does we all benefit from the Love of our risen Savior. These NA's are here and the fields are very ripe for the harvest. It's about serving them and not ourselves. Every bus, train ride, and pounding of the pavement was a blessing beyond what I thought could happen. I love my new friends and long to just take a train ride with them both soon.

Source: http://phx1040interface.org/?p=104

Eye Opening

2011-02-08T17:32:00.001-08:00

"Seeing some of the day-to-day struggles of the refugees was eye opening and overwhelming. It was very rewarding to play a small part in helping them feel welcome in America and letting them know that the body of Christ cares for them. I pray that the seeds that were planted will bear much fruit and that one day all the families of Serrano Village will worship the Lord Jesus Christ together."

source: http://phx1040interface.org/?p=95

NY Times article

2010-11-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

The article in the New York Times has been published. It's amazing to me how much time the writer spent here in Phoenix and how long the interviews were and then how short the article actually was. Check it out yourself:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/09/us/09refugees.html

I'm back in the saddle again.....

2010-09-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, we're still "in process" with the community garden. Requirements from the city have increased the price substantially, but we're pressing on. We even have two fundraiser in California that will benefit our project. The hair salon my daughter Katie works at, (Ciao Bella in Rancho Bernardo,) will be holding a Cut-A-Thon for us on Oct. 10. And also on that day, Mary, the mother-in-law of my oldest daughter Jody, has set up fundraisers for us in 4 different Shakey's pizza restaurants in Southern California, (she manages the one in Temecula.) Helen and I will be going over for the fundraisers, along with Peter, a 20 year old refugee from Burma who is of the Chin people.

We're also doing a fundraiser with the Phoenix Suns NBA team on Sunday evening, Dec. 5, when they play the Washington Wizards. If things go as they look like they might, we could actually begin the grading within the next few weeks and have the land and the refugees ready to plant by February 1.

Believe it or not, I was interviewed by a New York times reporter that is doing an in-depth story on people from Arizona that help immigrants. The guy interviewed the governor, the mayor, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and a few others, and I was asked to be part of the story from the "faith" community perpsective. It'll be interesting to see if he actually uses anything I spoke to him, and if he does, if it will be used in the context in which I spoke it. The article is due out some time in the next week. When I get the info, I'll post the link here.

Much more going on, but this is enough for now. I'm back in the saddle.

Only in America!

2010-08-23T14:06:00.001-07:00

I went with our civil engineer last week to submit our grading and drainage plan for review by the City of Phoenix planning department. We also submitted what is called an "inventory and salvage" plan which is also required in order to move forward. This is basically a summary of all plants, cactus, or trees on our property, each one listed by species, and then a blueprint of the entire property showing where each of them is on the property. Of course, an officially certified landscape architect must do this, and it isn't cheap.

But we did submit them for review and paid almost $1,700.00 in fees for them to be reviewed! Unbelievable. By the time we get this 2 and a half acres ready to just plant vegetables, we will have spent $50,000.00 And this doesn't include the cost of the water hook-up which was donated by the water utility company. Try explaining this whole process and how much it cost to refugees that are just learning what life is like in this great country. Only in America!!!

Something ongoing, something new

2010-08-10T15:15:00.000-07:00

I just came from a meeting with the city councilwoman that represents the district where our church is located. She seemed very interested and very positive about the benefit the community garden will be to our local neighborhood and of course, to the refugees. Even though I'm not sure how much she can really help with the mound of regulations the City of Phoenix is requiring us to meet, (all of which take money that we don't have,)I think it was valuable and strategic to meet with her. Please pray that she will find favor with the city planning department and that they would give us some grace for such a worthwhile cause, especially one that is completely non-profit and charity oriented.

I'm now a part of the founding board of directors for a new entity here in Phoenix called the Phoenix Refugee Connection. This is a Christian organization that will endeavor to inform local churches about the needs of the refugee community and help them mobilize to meet that need. We want them to see that God has made it possible for them to fulfill the great commission to make disciples of all nations, right here in their own communities.

Missionary God

2010-07-29T07:25:00.001-07:00

Download

Time: 54:26

Culture Matters: Right in Your Own Neighborhood

2010-07-29T07:21:00.001-07:00

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Time: 48:39

A New Entity

2010-07-29T07:15:00.001-07:00

Message taught by Pastor Jeff Jackson at a recent missions conference

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time: 45:13

Unreached People Groups

2010-07-29T07:14:00.001-07:00

Message taught by Pastor Jeff Jackson at a recent missions conference

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time: 45:13

Why So Angry?

2010-07-29T07:12:00.001-07:00

Message taught by Pastor Jeff Jackson at a recent missions conference

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time: 1:03:39

Two Applications

2010-07-29T07:11:00.001-07:00

Message taught by Pastor Jeff Jackson at a recent missions conference

download

time: 56:01

A public declaration to a religious hodge-podge

2010-07-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

The community garden project is still in motion. We'll be going to the city of Phoenix this week to try and get the permit for grading to begin and then move forward from there. There are a few potential obstacles that could crop up, so please keep this in prayer.

This morning, I had the opportunity to teach at the Bhutanese church that was launched out of our church. They are meeting in a small 2 bedroom apartment. With the outside temperature close to 110 degrees and close to 35 people in the living room, it was definitely a "missions" type environment...which I LOVE!!!

About a month ago, I assisted Pastor Phillip with a water baptism at this same apartment complex. 11 people chose to obey Jesus and took this monumental step. We did it at the main pool and quite a few of the people that lived in the apartments surrounding the pool area came out on their patios to check out what was happening. These onlookers were refugees from around the world, some of them Muslim, some Buddhist, and quite a few were Hindus, (which is what those being baptized were before choosing to follow Jesus.) They looked genuinely intrigued at what was happening. What a joy!

God is on the move.

Why So Angry

2010-07-23T13:52:00.001-07:00

This is a recent message I taught at a Calvary Chapel Santa Maria missions conference. How is the Missionary God working in your life?

Download

Time: 1:03:09

Online missions preparation

2010-07-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

A few of the Shepherd's Staff guys were here on Friday and Saturday. We're moving towards offering some online missionary training and so we plotted out where we want to go with it. We also filmed some teasers for a few of the courses and then did a round table discussion on various missions topics. You should be able to see some of what we did on the SS website some time soon. The site is: www.shepsstaff.org

It's cooking here in Phoenix....again. We've been 112 and 113 for 4 of the last 6 days. This is now the "stupid hot" season. It's brutal.

The surveying of the property is set to start this week. It'll be close, but it does look like we might make it in time for the refugees to plant by September 15. Please keep that in prayer.

Tidbits

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

Good news from the doctor yesterday...no surgery on my knee is needed! I will be gradually moving away from using the crutches in a few days and I'll also begin Physical Therapy for the knee within a week. God is good.

Things are proceeding with the garden project, but of course, new obstacles arise. We just found out that because of the size of the property we will garden, in order to get our permit from the city we need to have a complete site plan that includes drainage, elevation, and so forth. This increases the cost for the civil engineering that is necessary to produce what the city needs. Even with this extra cost we're still close financially, but I'd appreciate it if you could still keep it in prayer.

I just came from taking a Karen man to the motor vehicle department so that he could take an oral exam as the written driving test. This guy has been here 4 years, speaks very little English, has a wife and 5 boys, (and the youngest boy, age 2,) has Down's Syndrome. I took an upstanding Karen young man who is 17 to be the interpreter. Suffice it to say it was disaster.

Thank God that a very educated Karen woman has translated the Arizona driver's handbook into Karen. This guy will study in his language for the re-test on July 21.

Refugee ministry is never dull.

He did it again!

2010-06-16T18:24:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update...the Rotary club approved the plan!!! Thanks to those who prayed and to our gracious God who heard and moved. Many details to be worked out, but we're moving forward with God's hand clearly upon our efforts.

All 8 cylinders needed, right here in Phoenix, U.S.A.

2010-06-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last week, my wife and I had the privilege of hosting a Hungarian pastor and his family for a night as they drove back from Southern California to St. Louis. Pastor Adam graduated from seminary a few weeks ago after a year and a half of study. The whole family leaves for Hungary in a couple of weeks, where he will step back into his role as the pastor of what is likely the only evangelical Christian church in his city of 65,000 people. His humility and his ability to summarize the plight of his people and their country was astounding. The challenges he faces as he pastors in a very difficult environment are huge. Keep him in prayer.

Even though I can't remember the exact way the conversation unfolded as we stayed up late Wednesday evening discussing what God was doing, I felt prompted to share with him something that I'd like to share with you.

Knowing the foreign field experience that God has permitted me to have, he asked if I was content with not being able to live or even travel outside the U.S. in recent years. In other words, he wanted to know if I was content doing what I'm doing here in Phoenix. Trying to answer that question provoked me to share an analogy with him that I used to use fairly regularly.

To make it as simple as possible, until God planted us here in Phoenix and permitted me to work with refugees from all over the world, I genuinely felt like I was an 8 cylinder engine that regularly ran on 7 cylinders, but not contented to be doing so. Although I know this is probably an expression of my lack of spiritual maturity, the familiarity of life and ministry here in the U.S., (first in Southern California, and then in Nevada,) just didn't seem to require all 8 cylinders to be running to be the blessing I felt God wanted me to His people and to those who don't know Him.

But anytime I buckled into a seatbelt and a plane lifted off from LAX taking me to some overseas destination, as soon as the plane crossed the shoreline of the West coast, Texas, or the East coast, something inside of me came alive that seemed to be lying dormant while I was living and ministering in the U.S. It was like that 8th cylinder was now needed to do what God had called me to do, and it was exhilarating and fulfilling. But as soon as I boarded the plane to head back to the U.S. that cylinder seemed to go dormant again and remain so, as much as I tried to revive it for ministry here in the U.S. Strange, I know.

But now, right here in the U.S. Right here in Phoenix. That 8th cylinder kicks in regularly, (although not all the time.) Plunging into the world of refugees and entering into their apartments and their lives, is sufficient exposure to that which is foreign to require that 8th cylinder to begin operating. And the exhilaration and fulfillment, right here in the U.S., feels SOOOO good!

Can anyone relate?

Closer, but not quite there yet...

2010-06-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have kept up with this blog and that care about what we're trying to do with getting our church's land ready for refugees to farm on, I'd like to ask you to amp up the prayer. Next Wednesday, June 16, will be another appearance before a key Rotary club. If this goes like our advocate with the club envisions it, we could be within $3,000 of our goal of $30,000. for the fence and soil preparation. If they go for this, it will be an act of God, close to what He already did in getting the water utility company to donate the $70,000. water hook-up work we needed done. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE keep next Wednesday in prayer.

Quick update

2010-06-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

The missions conference in Philly went great! Thanks for praying that I'd be able to make the trip. If you'd like to hear the general session messages or the workshops, you can check out www.ccphilly.org

My knee continues to be a challenge. The ortho doc told me last week that I probably have cartilage damage, so he wants me to have an MRI to be sure. If it is cartilage damage, then I'm going to need arthroscopic surgery on it. So, I'm still gimping on my crutches. I can bend my knee quite a bit, but the doctor says I shouldn't be putting any weight on it. Another month or so on crutches doesn't look like fun, that's for sure.

Things are progressing with fundraising for the block wall for our community garden for refugees. We're doing another presentation at another Rotary club this Friday. We're about one third of the way there, with approximately 10,000 raised of the 30,000 that will be needed. We're doing all that we can, it's in the Lord's hands as to whether it will come together within the time frame that we'd like to see, (finishing the wall by the end of June.) Please continue to keep this in prayer.

We just finished our latest session of English as a Second Language classes here at the church. We had a consistent 20 people, mainly Iraqi refugees attending. Some great relationships were made and practical help was given as an expression of God's love to each and every one of the folks that attended. We'll be taking a break until mid-September due to the high cost of electricity that is necessary to air condition our church building during our "oven-baked" summer.

Thanks to you, the KNEED has been met.....

2010-05-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks to those of you who prayed about my knee situation. It is improving and I was given the green light to make the trip to Philly this Thursday. I'm still on crutches because I still can't put weight on it, but the swelling is way down and the pain has really lessened. It'll be a bit of a challenge with getting around on crutches and possibly having to teach from a wheel chair, but I can do it and I'm blessed at the opportunity. Mike, a young guy from our church is making the trip with me and he'll be a great help.

Things are still percolating regarding the fence. We met with 7 of the Burmese, (Chin people) who are eager to get started with farming the land. We are now waiting for the response of the other group of Rotary clubs. Of the 30,000.00 we need, 11,000.00 has been committed. We are still believing that we'll be able to build the wall by mid-June.

Next week will be the conclusion of the English as a Second Language classes that we've been doing at the church. We've been having them every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 10 a.m. to noon, and it has gone well. The ministry is led by Pastor Issam and we have a few of our people, along with 5 volunteers from other churches. The 20 or so refugees that regularly attend are primarily from Iraq, some of them who are Christians and 7 or 8 who are Muslims. We also have a couple of older gentlemen from Bhutan and a woman from Mexico, and have seen a couple of Korean ladies attend fairly regularly. Some solid relationships are being built and God's love in practical action is being displayed to all of those that attend. We'll break for the summer, starting up again in late September, (when it will still be over 100 degrees every day, but less than the 110 degree and above normal temperatures here in Phoenix in July and August.)

Finally, in the next few weeks, we'll be nailing down how best to house teams from various
churches around the country that want to come to help us by way of our new ministry: Phoenix 10/40 Interface. Once we've solidified the plan, I'll let you know the details of how this will work. It may be that your church might be interested in a little different "spin" on what we believe is a unique short term missions trip.

Two steps forward, a buckled knee step back

2010-05-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

Cool things continue to happen, but another pothole along the way has been encountered. Cool things first.

Last week I met with the main guy from IRC and the leader of another Rotary club, a much larger one. The gentlemen from IRC answered all of the questions that the very thorough Rotary club leader asked. It was incredible to see the Rotary guy really catch the vision and grow in confidence that if the funds are raised, the project will actually become a reality. The experience and the on-going similar type projects that IRC brings to the table seemed to really solidify to him that it has a real potential to actually work! He has now summarized all of his findings and has forwarded it on to his and a few other clubs.

Meanwhile, we received a couple of missions board members from the church in Albuquerque. They are continuing to raise funds also. As of now, with their fundraising and the one Rotary club, it looks like we have about 35 percent of the needed funds raised. If this bigger Rotary and a few others come on board, we might be able to meet our goal of having the wall up by the middle of June, so we can plant the last week of August.

On a personal note, I've had another strange health issue. On April 26, as I was walking from my car to the church office, my left knee buckled. I didn't fall and at the time, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. As my legs have continued to weaken due to the Kennedy's disease, I've fallen a few times, and my knees have buckled fairly regulary. Well, apparently, this time was different....because of the Cumaden blood thinner that I've been taking due to the blood clot I had.

Within 24 hours my knee started to swell and stiffen and by Wed. I couldn't move it. I made a trip to the VA, got checked out and discovered that there was some soft tissue damage and because of the Cumaden, my knee joint and the surrounding area was filled with blood. Above my knee cap, it looked a mushball, (larger than a softball,) and it was very painful. The doc said I had to get off of it, ice it, and then stop taking the blood thinner. I was given crutches, and last week actually got a wheelchair, which has made mobility a lot easier. But, I still can't drive, and I've basically been cooped up in the house for two week now...and I don't do sitting around very well. My already sore "buns" where I have lost a lot of muscle mass due to the Kennedy's, are screaming all of the time now as I pretty much spend 24 hours a day sitting down.

The swelling is down a bit, but I still have only limited motion and can't put any weight on it. I'm scheduled to fly to Philadelphia on May 20 to speak at a missons conference and then teach at a Sunday morning service at a fairly new church plant outside of Philadelphia. If I had to fly today, I couldn't do it. I need MAJOR prayer that God will get my knee back in shape, at least enough to make the trip...which I REALLY want to do. I see the ortho doctor this Thursday and I'm thinking that's the time when I'll need to make the decision.

A wall in 50 days..Nehemiah (and God) did it, why not us?

2010-04-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

We found out a few days ago from the City of Phoenix that because of the zoning area our church sits in and because our property fronts a major street and residential houses, a chain link fence isn't an option. We need to go with a block fence, a six footer. We need it to be 1,440 linear feet. Thus far, the bids we've received are between $28,000.00 and $34,000.00

Funds are being raised from different sources, including at least one local Rotary club and the possibility of a few more Rotary clubs joining together to help us. We're also exploring the possibility with Rotary that there might be a fencing contractor who would be willing to donate some materials or labor, or maybe even both to lower the cost, or maybe even cover the entire thing--which certainly is feasible based on what God has already done to get us this far.

We really need to get it done by mid-June, about 50 days from now, (I think I've heard about that being done before!) If we do so, then we would be on target to have the soil prepared, the refugees trained, and planting started the last week of August for the fall growing season here in Phoenix.

Pray that we get the right 10 families. Currently we are looking at 4 Chin families, (from Burma,) 2 Karen families, (also from Burma,) and then 2 Bhutanese families, and possibly two families from an African country.

Phoenix 10/40 Interface is becoming a reality. More on this next time.

Connected and ready for use

2010-04-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, the connection to the agricultural water supply through SRP is finished! Their crew was out here bright and early Monday morning, including a huge excavator. They wrapped it up yesterday and we now have an access point that we will tap in to for our property once everything is done. Amazing!

The next step is the fence. We need about 1,700 linear feet of 8 foot fence. Expensive? By normal fence company prices, it will be at least $20,000.00 But hey, God has moved once and I don't think He'll bail out on us now. In fact, I've been invited to speak to the board of a local Rotary club that may want to get on board and help raise funds for the fence and then the grading we'll need.

I'm pondering the reality of the great missions quote: "Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God."

It's already been proven true once again.

Public utilities...He influences them too!

2010-04-02T14:22:00.001-07:00

A few posts ago I talked about our church property and the potential of using about 3/4 of it for refugee families to do organic farming. For those of you who actually prayed about the situation, (and of course, as an encouragement for those who didn't, that maybe they should consider praying,) our incredible God has answered!

The SRP folks, (one of the two public utilities in Phoenix that provide water,) came out a few weeks ago, looked in detail at the situation and told us that to do what really needed to be done to connect their system to our property, would probably cost close to 70,000.00 (not the 25,000.00 we previously thought.)

When we explained to them a little more clearly WHY we wanted to get this done and the potential benefit it could be public relations-wise for any organization that might help us get it accomplished, they were intrigued.

Two days ago they called us and said they were going to do it for us.....FOR FREE! They love what we're doing, they love the idea of helping people who have suffered so tremendously, and they love the idea that they, a public utility, can do something that will take 10 families out of the public assistance realm that they live until they find high enough paying jobs.

They even said it should be done by May 1! Now we can concentrate on the fence we need to put around the property, the soil preparation and a few other things that will total about 20,000.00 But hey, if He can move public utilities to do something like this, He can certainly move some private companies to get on board too.

What happens when...a few answers, part 1

2010-03-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I shared a few thoughts regarding where things are at with the ministry here in Phoenix. I used the phrase "what happens when" as sort of a skeleton to hang certain facts on regarding the fulfillment of the vision for this little multi-ethnic church in the midst of this fairly large city. Here are a few conclusions that I've come to:

1. We really are swimming upstream by attempting to build a truly multi-ethnic church, when the majority of the ethnically diverse congregation are refugees and are struggling with learning English, finding entry level jobs, and just trying to survive the radical changes they've encountered as they have begun their new lives here in our country.

2. Other than the Lord, the greatest need of any refugee is to acquire English as quickly possible.

3. Our little local church does not have the resources from within its own members to sustain ministry to most of our members, let alone try to continually meet the needs of the larger of community.

So, what do we do?

A. We take the step of inviting other churches around the country to participate with us in the unique ministry that God has provided for us. We become, for lack of a better definition, a "mission outpost" or a "mission church".

B. We seize the uniqueness that Phoenix offers as a major hub for refugee resettlement, recognizing and then promoting the fact that many of the people groups from what is called the 10/40 Window, are now living within a few miles of where our church building sits.

C. We ask churches to consider a "short term missions trip" to the unique destination of....Phoenix, Arizona!!!

There's much more to this next step in fulfilling the vision that God has given us. I'll continue next time.

Latest and hopefully last health update....

2010-03-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

I'll make this brief. Last Saturday, the 13th, I had similar pain to what I had experienced the week before. The VA in Phoenix put me in the hospital and I spent another 6 days in the hospital, having just been released a few days ago on Friday, March 19.

Suffice it to say that the dead tissue from the kidney is causing major problems with my system and is incredibly painful as it is processed through my body. While in the hospital this time, I had a bunch of more tests, including a renal angiogram, which showed the blood clot, but also showed that I actually have an extra artery to my kidney that most people don't have. What's good about this discovery is that it means I only lost 25 percent of my kidney, not the 50 percenet that it looked like before.

With all of the testing complete, they still don't know what caused the clot, where the clot came from, and whether or not I'm likely to have another one. The doppler on my legs, the echo cardio-gram, and the esophagus ultra sound of my heart didn't show any clots any where.

So, I'm now going to be on Cumaden for a while in order to insure that another clot doesn't form.

This is enough writing on my physical issues. I'll get back to the things I really want to write about it in the next few days.

Thanks to everyone who kept me in prayer.

If it's unusual, it'll find me

2010-03-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

Here's the update that I sent out to my church members about what happened to me the past few days. Which is the PRIMARY reason I haven't shared my conclusions that I referenced in my last e-mail.

First, let me say thanks for the love and care you showed for Luke Rider. He was blown away by your interest and genuine love for the work God has given him to do.

We arrived back in Phoenix last night at 9:00 p.m. We drove back from California with our son Travis, his wife Liz, and their two kids, JT and Isabelle. They had planned on spending a week vacationing here beginning last Friday night the 5th, but as usual, that pesky dad (me!) had to go and mess everything up. Here's what happened in summary form:

I arrived in San Diego Wed night at 9 p.m. so that I could be there when my dad went to the hospital at 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning for his surgery. The plan was for my mom to take my dad at 5:30 for his surgery prep and then my brother Rick and his wife Marie, and I would head to the hospital at 6:30.

But, at about 11 p.m. I had this sharp pain in my lower left abdomen area. Within a minute, I could feel it go around my side and then to the center of my back, with most of the pain hitting in the area that I figured was near my kidney. I had a kidney stone years ago, so I knew that pain, and this wasn't like that, but it was definitely painful. The pain then went all the way around my other side, like I had just tightened a belt of pain around my mid-section!!!

I thought it might just be some sort of reaction to that incredible diversity of scrumptous food we ate at our food fellowship for Luke, so I was thinking that if I could use the restroom, it would go away. I did, four times, and the pain was still there and seeming to increase. I didn't sleep all night and laying down made it even more painful so I tried sleeping sitting up, thinking one more use of the toilet would do it. Finally, at 6:00 a.m. I thought I'd better pull my trump-card. I called my good friend, Dr. Nick Yphantides, who lives in San Diego, but who I knew was speaking at a conference in Washington D.C. I told him what was happening and he said to get to the emergency room ASAP because this could be serious and he rattled off a couple of potential scenarios. I then called the VA nurse line in San Diego, described my symptoms and they said the same thing, GO NOW to the ER at the VA hospital in San Diego.

So, I rattled Katie, (my youngest daughter who is 23 and doesn't do mornings,) out of her sleep and told her I needed her to drive me to the hospital and the great trooper that she is, (like her mother and older sister Jody,) she jumped out of bed and she was chauffering me to the hospital within 5 minutes.

The pain was getting worse as I waited for 2 hours to actually see a doctor and jumped through the administrative hoops the VA requires. Finally, the doc came in, checked me out, sent me for X rays, then gave me some morphine for the pain. The morphine did nothing...nada! At this point the doctor really took an interest in me, gave me Dilotten, (not sure on that spelling,) and finally, I had some pain relief. He then sent me for an abdominal CT scan. Within an hour, the parade of 20 or so inquistive doctors began.

The CT showed that a blood clot had somehow clogged one of the main arteries to my left kidney and cut off the blood supply so that 50 percent of the kidney had died! The pain was from the kidney tissue dying, having had it's blood supply cut off abruptly. And, since it had been about 10 hours already, there was no fixing it--I just lost the use of 50 percent of my left kidney.

And apparently, this happening is almost completely unheard of. Blood clots usually go to the lungs, brain, or some other place. Almost never to the kidneys. So, doctors from different specialities started showing up and asking me questions, and all of them said things like, "this is very unusual", "unique", "out of the ordinary", and so forth. A couple of them told me that they don't have a response for this in their guidelines for treatment. One of a group of 3 urologists that came to see me said that this would take someone smarter than them to figure out. When I asked them if they could go call that guy, they said they didn't know who it would be. And of course, during all of this, Katie and Jody would say "dad, you've always gotta be different", and "we knew you were unique but it doesn't have to extend to these kinds of things" with those quirky little smiles they both have.

So, I had a ton of tests done over the next few days, took a ton of pain killer, and wished I was back in Phoenix doing what I love to do in God's purposes there. But, I was able to encourage a fellow Army vet in the next bed over from me as he is facing some radical changes as a result of a heart attack and discovering he had diabetes, (things I've had.) I developed a real love for him, his name is James Washington, he was shot by a Vietnamese sniper in 1973. I also had the privilege of having a World War II vet put into my room the final night I was there. It was hard to talk with him because of his deafness, but he was in pretty good shape for 87.

Of course, my family lavished God's love on me and although the VA isn't a Banner hospital by any stretch of the imagination, God took care of me, as He always does.

They were ultimately unable to find the source of the clot--they checked my heart and did other tests, but it remains a mystery. So, to ensure that my blood doesn't clot again I'm on Cumaden blood thinner, and for the next ten days I also have to give myself injections twice a day of a different kind of blood thinner. I go to the VA tomorrow for my first appointment here and then again on Friday.

But honestly, the biggest pain now is that I've had hiccups non-stop since Friday morning!!!! It's driving me crazy. My throat is raw, my voice is ragged, my chest and shoulder muscles are sore. The only time they go away is when I'm actually eating something of substance, and, if I can be patient long enough, they will go away when I sleep. I've tried every person's recommendation for sure-fire hiccup relief and none has worked. From drinking water upside down, to drinking with my nose pinched off, to drinking as much as I can without taking a breath, to drinking water through a filter like a paper towel, to pressing behind my ear lobes, to rubbing the roof of my mouth with my forefinger, to taking a teaspoonful of sugar and just swallowing it with no water....nothing has worked so far. Prayer-wise, as goofy as this sounds, this is a major priority. I honestly can't keep a normal conversation, and there is no way that I can teach until these stupid things go away. (Having said that, my son Travis will be teaching tomorrow night...it'd be great to see all of you come out!)

So, that's the scoop for now. I'm basically being forced to slow down for a few days since I can't really talk normally, which is what I spend most of my time doing every day.

I'm blessed beyond belief by God's love for me through each of you special people. I'll keep you posted.

What happens when.......

2010-03-02T13:12:00.000-08:00

--What happens when a small, local church is primarily serving a segment of its community that has a 70 percent unemployment rate and those that do work are making minimum wage?

--And what happens when your average American Christian visits a church like the one I just mentioned and the majority of the congregation comes from countries that most Americans have never heard of?

--And what happens when that visiting American Christian is greeted by people from the congregation, the majority of whom speak English with a heavy accent, if they can speak English at all?

--And what happens when that visiting American Christian hears the bible-based message from the American pastor of that multi-ethnic congregation intentionally speaking slowly and as articulately as possible?

--What happens when all of these things are happening, and more?

Most of those visitors encourage the pastor after the service that it's a great work that God is obviously doing here.

And then they are never seen or heard from again.

Because of these things and a few others, the Lord has shown myself and the leaders of our church that we need to begin viewing what we're doing as a "mission" church, station or outpost rather than a stand alone, completely independent local church.

What does that mean? What would that look like?

I'll try to explain next time.

Weeding ceased--families supported...maybe!

2010-02-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

Our church sits on 3 and 1/3 acres of property that is completely paid off. We actually occupy about 2/3 of an acre with the remaining 2 and 1/2 acres sitting as an empty lot. It's been empty for 44 years. Every spring and summer we battle the weeds and pick up the trash so that the City of Phoenix doesn't write us up for violations of various rules.

One of the refugee agencies that we work with is the International Rescue Committee, (IRC). They have a micro-enterprise arm that helps refugees set up small businesses and one of the type businesses they help set up is organic farming for refugees who come from a farming backround. But here in Phoenix, there isn't alot of property available to do so....hmmm. You guessed it. I contacted them and we are in the process of trying to turn our lot into what the IRC folks say could be sufficient land to support 10 refugee families full time, (each farming 1/4 of an acre during the 4 growing seasons that Phoenix has).

The major obstacle: City of Phoenix water is not an option, just way too expensive. The only option is what is called SRP water which is used for farming and is one tenth the cost of city water. But, to access it, we would have to pay to bring it from across the major street of Dunlap over on to our property. This will take approximately 25,000.00 dollars. No way we can do it...but it looks like God may be bringing it to pass through a church in Albuquerque that has a heart for people from Burma. They are in the midst of raising the funds for the water. We'll also need funds for an 8 foot block fence around the whole property. We haven't estimated the cost for that yet, but it won't be cheap.

Would you mind keeping this in prayer too?

FOLLOW UP: The apartment complex I mentioned last time is still headed for foreclosure, the deadline is March 8. No miracle yet on that front, so please keep praying.

"Legal right", but no heart to exercise it....

2010-02-16T11:55:00.000-08:00

In the recent update that I sent out to my mailing list I talked about a couple from Croatia who came to this country with nothing and have been very successful in real estate--specifically in purchasing rundown apartments and fixing them up. They now own two low-income apartment complexes in tough neighborhoods here in Phoenix and the vast majority of occupants in their complexes are refugees. This couple genuinely loves refugees and they have bent over backwards to help them in numerous ways.

When the economy was good, the average time for a non-English speaking refugee to find entry-level, minimum wage work was about 3 months. Since the economy has slowed down, it is now taking 8-9 months for them to find work. The challenge: the resettlement agencies and available funding from other sources is sufficient to cover their rent for a maximum of 5 months.

Because of this couple's love, care, and concern for the plight of refugees, they have been VERY patient with refugees who are unable to pay their rent. They have been carrying the load themselves for some refugees who are 4 to 5 months behind on rent. They don't have the heart to evict them, even though they have the legal right to do so. They know that the refugees would literally have no place to go if they were forced to move out of their apartments. With all the refugees have already suffered in their own countries and in the countries where they lived in refugee camps, this couple just can't bring themselves to play a role in adding the experience of homelessness in America to the baggage these special people already carry.

Well, this last Saturday, while I was visiting one of their complexes, I had a meeting with the wife. In tears, she told me that the other complex, the one they owned first, is now in foreclosure proceedings. Her and her husband have used up their resources, and they were unable to pay the full mortgage payment on the complex for the past two months. Her heart was broken. But it wasn't over the loss of income she would experience or the damage that would be done to their credit. Her heart broke because if it's foreclosed on, a new property manager will be brought in by the bank or a new owner will come in, and it's very likely that many refugees will be evicted when they are unable to pay their rent within the legal time frame.

She said there is a group of people thinking about investing, but it doesn't look good. The deadline is March 8. The clock is ticking. Would you mind praying?

Pre-boarding announcements

2010-02-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

I'm in the midst of putting together my next update that I send out to my e-mail list. Once I launch that update, I'll be boarding this blog again on a regular basis. Thank you to those who have responded here and through other means. I'm continually amazed that so many folks genuinely care about Helen and me and want to hear the latest events in the story that God is permitting us to live out.

Almost ready...

2010-02-03T16:41:00.000-08:00

If anyone is out there that still checks this blog? I believe the time might be near to gear up again. Does anyone care?

Flunky blogger temporarily off line....

2008-06-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quickie to let you know that as a blogger, I make a great plumber! I haven't stopped pastoring or helping refugees, it's just that doing those two things has cut way back on the time I have to keep the old blog updated.

It's obvious that blogging hasn't had the priority in my life and in my time management that it could or even should have. But for now, I'm convinced that immersing myself in the lives of the folks that I'm here to serve face to face must take precedence.

As the governor of California once said in a previous role.....I'll be back. Just not sure when.

Thanks for praying.

Helping more refugees... "Chin" up!

2008-04-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

I've been spinning a number of plates the past few weeks....maximum multi-tasking, which I really do enjoy. I've gotten a number of estimates from different construction type companies for everything from re-doing the flooring to replacing plastic stained-glass type windows and going from very old wooden doors to a few hollow metal doors and some more secure wooden doors. I've driven more than 400 miles in the last two weeks, all in Phoenix, helping Karen refugees in varous ways. I could go on, but I'll spare you.

We've had two Sunday mornings at the new time and although it "feels" a little awkward, I believe it is proving to be the good move we thought it would be. For those of you that pray for what we're doing, please keep the worship aspect of the church in prayer. I REALLY need someone to not only lead worship, but to also lead us from doing all hymns read directly out of hymnals, to more contemporary worship using a projector and worship software. I've been working with a few Karen young guys, teaching them songs and so forth, but it just isn't my gift and thus consumes way too much time for me and creates way too much frustration.

This past Sunday a different group of refugees from Burma began using our facility and I believe eventually will become part of our church. The Chin people are also an ethnic minority group that have a rich Christian heritage. They too are on the list for extermination by the government of Burma, (Myanmar.) But, different than the Karen, the majority of them fled south and were living in refugee camps in Malaysia before being re-settled in America. As of now, there are a total of about 70 Chin people living in Phoenix now, and the majority of them are now meeting at our facility. The Lord has blessed them with a pastor of their own too, just like the Karen. Their language is completely different than Karen, but they can communicate with each other because both groups speak Burmese fairly well and as both groups learn English, that will also provide a greater ability for them to communicate with each other.

Senior pastoring again..and the changes involved

2008-03-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened since my last post. I was installed as the senior pastor of the church and stepped into the many responsibilities that entails, not the least of which is teaching Sunday morning services again week in and week out, for the first time in more than 5 years. I LOVE IT!

We will be making some radical changes in the next few months in order to begin fleshing out the vision the Lord has given us. Beginning Sunday, April 12, the English service will move from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and thus, the Karen service will now be held at 11:00 a.m. There will also be a change in the format of the Sunday morning service to make it a little more contemporary and by God's grace, more appealing to a younger group of people.

We'll also be changing the name of the church from West Dunlap Baptist Church to Cross-Connection International Fellowship. The name is really an expression of our vision to have a multi-cultural, multi-generational church and our recognition that true unity from diversity can only come by connecting through the Cross and as a result of the ultimate Connection with our Creator that is available through what Jesus has done on the Cross.

This past Sunday, March 30, I had the opportunity to teach the Sunday morning service at Calvary Chapel North Phoenix. A 20 person Karen choir came with me and blessed the congregation with their unique and God-honoring style of worship. If you'd like to hear the message I did about the Karen based on Eccl. 3:11, you can check it out at: http://www.calvarynorth.org/ and then click on RECENT SERMONS.

Lots going on. More later.

4 out of 25...an accurate picture?

2008-02-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

I've received approximately 25 phone calls in response to the article that appeared in the paper on Monday. Of those, 4, (approximately 15 percent of the calls,) have been venomous, displaying ethno-centrism at it's self-centered finest. I'm thinking that's probably a fairly accurate picture of the percentage of people that live in the U.S. and who for whatever reason, just can't see any reason why anybody from another country should ever be permitted to come and start a new life in America, (which is what almost everyone of THEIR ancestors did!)

But hey, God is SOVEREIGN, and based on what I know about Him and His love for all people, I can't help but see that those from other countries that end up living in our neighborhoods are surely another one of His methods of gathering some from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, to Himself. As it becomes more and more challenging for outsiders to get in to many countries to live, work, serve, and tell about Jesus, He has seen fit to bring them right into our local communities. Another incredible display of His glory and goodness. What an awesome God we serve.....eh?

I pray the Lord gives His people the ability to see things through a kingdom of God perspective first and foremost, not an American perspective, as important as some think that is.

Let's keep our eyes not only on Him, but on the end-game scenario recorded in Rev. 5:9 and 7:9, which is where all of human history is headed.

Who'd a thunk it? Piggybacking on the new Rambo movie

2008-02-25T12:39:00.000-08:00

When I saw the new Rambo movie a few weeks ago, I was so stirred by the fairly accurate way the movie portrays the treatment of the Karen people by the Myanmar, (Burma) military, that I wanted to stand at the end of the movie and yell to the crowd as they departed that many of the suffering people depicted in the movie now live here in Phoenix as refugees. I was ready to do it, but I forgot that at the end of movies these days, the volume of the music is increased as the credits roll...for more than 10 minutes!

So, I thought I'd take a shot in the dark and call the Arizona Republic, the largest newspaper in the state, and tell them that their readers might be interested in knowing about the people that are referenced in the new Rambo movie...especially since about 500 of them are now living in Pheonix as refugees.

Surprise, surprise, they thought it was a great idea and so last week, Pastor Ramey, Pastor Tha Hgay, Say Pwei, Htoo Wei, and myself were interviewed by a reporter from the paper and a photographer came and shot pictures during the Sunday morning service.

The story came out in today's paper, (Monday, February 25, 2008.) Although it is inaccurate in a few instances and includes a statement from me that I didn't make, the main point comes across. And my phone has been ringing off the hook.

If you'd like to see it, here's the link:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0225refugee0225.html

Finally, believe it or not, a few hours ago I answered a call from an obviously older woman who started out by asking me the difference between an illegal immigrant and a refugee. I explained the difference quite thoroughly, and then she proceeded to tell me there's no difference and that these are the kind of people who are ruining America, and I'm helping them do so. Being the feisty sort that I am, I asked her if she was descended from the American Indians. She said no, that her ancestors were from England and of course, "that's completely different". I then told her as a Christian, I am called to help the poor and the oppressed and before I could finish the point I was going to make, she yelled an expletive in the phone--at which point I said "goodbye" and hung up.

Then, about 45 minutes later, another call came in that I couldn't answer because I was out helping a refugee with some governmental things. On this one, a woman who sounded like she was in her 40's, said that she saw the article and that she thinks it's wrong for me to help them, that if I had kids, she hoped my kids would be adversely affected by the gangs that this group of people would produce, and that my motive really was to just use these people to raise money for the church! She concluded by saying that I needed to get a "real" job and stop using helping people as an excuse to not work.

YIKES--these responses were shocking, but I guess not surprising.

Please keep all of this in prayer, especially the continued need for the Karen to learn English, find jobs, and hopefully have no contact with the kind of people I mentioned above.

Refugee 101....almost complete

2008-02-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

I mentioned a few weeks and posts ago that a "pilgrim-mentality" produced by the worldview of a pilgrim was essential for effectiveness in ministry to the refugee community. Well, it's that mentality, produced by that worldview, that has caused me to not keep this blog as updated as I'd like to.

One of the many practical consequences of living with a pilgrim's worldview is the ability to priortize time and expend energy in an effort to accomplish that which is really essential--for the glory of God and the true good of other people.

I'll get a bit deeper in to this very soon, but for now, please know that refugee ministry 101 is nearing the end. Because of an incredible amount of time, meetings, thought, and driving, I'm feeling like I have a fairly good grasp of the bigger picture in this unique ministry.

Refugee ministry's "domino" reality

2008-01-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

The plunge into refugee ministry in the good ole U.S. of A. has been interesting. I already knew, at least intellectually, that they were facing some incredible challenges, but now that we're in the midst of it, the reality of what they face daily has been driven from my head down into my heart and soul. When a refugee encounters an urgent problem it doesn't just effect them indivually or their immediate family. A "domino effect" is initiated that hinges on the willingness of others, sometimes many others, who are open to being inconvenienced.

Here's one example: Yesterday, while talking with Pastor Ramey about the vision for the church and some planning issues, we interrupted by a phone call. A young woman named Eh Wa was on the phone and it was obvious she was very upset and had been crying. In her broken English, she told Pastor Ramey that her 22 year old brother Daniel, (many of the Karen have been assigned English names for the ease of the non-Karen congregation members,) had been having very severe epileptic seizures, was vomiting regularly, was bleeding from his tongue after biting it, and had a headache so bad he was incredibly lethargic. She was in a panic, neither she nor Daniel, nor her Karen neighbors drive or have a car, and so we stopped what we doing and drove over to the apartment where they live.

We knew Daniel needed medical attention immediately, but which hospital should we take him to? Which hospital takes the type of insurance that refugees have? We had Eh Wa call his social worker to find out, and as you can imagine, that wasn't a quick or easy conversation. We decided to take him to Phoenix Baptist hospital, and knowing that he wouldn't be able to answer the questions the doctors would ask and Eh Wa's English wouldn't be sufficient to translate, we had to call Tansy to see if she could come and help translate. Well, she needed to pick up her daughter from pre-school about 45 minutes after we were scheduled to meet her at the hospital, and that was across town. So, her husband had to leave work around 11:00 a.m. to go and pick up her daughter so she could meet us at the hospital.

It's a much longer story, but suffice it to say that after a brain scan and blood tests, it was determined that Daniel didn't have enough of the prescribed medicine in his blood--the medicine that keeps the seizures at a minimum. Turns out that he had put medicine he had recieved in the refugee camp in Thailand into an empty prescription bottle from the medicine he had been given here. And somehow, he hadn't ended up taking the right medicine, and thus the huge seizures had come upon him. He should be fine now that we know what the cause was, but it would be great if you could keep him in prayer.

This episode, along with a few others, has convinced me again that I need to get serious about learning the language. With all that has gone on with the move and getting established, I have put language study on the back burner and it's clear it needs to be moved to the front. Additionally, I need to move more intentionally in getting English as Second Language opportunities set up for the Karen. I'd very much appreciate prayer for these two things--my learning Karen and them learning English.

Pre-dawn view of Sheriff's Joe's tent city

2008-01-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have heard about the hard-nosed, no-nonsense law enforcer, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County in Arizona. Turns out we now live in his county, and so do the Karen living here in Phoenix. VERY early last Saturday morning, (3:30 a.m.), I accompanied Pastor Ramey and a Karen man who had gone awry from the law and had to surrender himself to serve 15 days in Sheriff Joe's tent city. I now know where Sheriff Joe's county jail is located, that he doesn't make anything easy for those who break the law under his jurisdiction, and that at least the few deputies we met were all-business, probably like their boss if you know what I mean.

A few hours later, Helen and I played limo drivers with our two cars in order to get a number of Karen children and teenagers to a local park for their soccer league picture day. About 45 Karen kids play in a soccer league of about 200 kids that is sponsored by a large Baptist church. Self-less servants of God go out of their way to make it possible for not only the Karen kids, but many refugees from African countries to play in this league. It was a joy to serve in this way and to see this type of ministry in action. This type of thing is CRUCIAL for refugee kids in particular, helping their acclimation to life here in America, obtaining English skills, and avoiding too much free time--where trouble is usually found.

On Sunday, I was blessed to teach at the Karen service and then the English service. I shared from Acts chapter 2 on the three foundational reasons for the existence of the local church, and the response was very positive.

And finally, we unpacked our last two boxes today and even put a couple of pictures up on the walls. And believe it or not, I've even been doing some handy-man type things and I haven't injured myself yet or done damage to the apartment--which is no small thing!

Headline: Asian street gang unloads Pastor & Wife

2008-01-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

Today, (Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008) marks the culmination of our first week in the Phoenix area! It is definitely strange to be back in the "big city" and have so many stores, restaurants, and gas stations less than 10 minutes away, along with literally millions of people...and I absolutely LOVE IT!

We had about 10 guys help us load in Mesquite, and it took us right at one hour. When we drove into our new apartment complex here in Glendale, there were so many Karen young people hanging out waiting for us that it looked like an Asian street gang gathering. I'm fairly sure that's what many of our neighbors were thinking as they peered out their windows towards the parking lot here in the complex. Of course, that would have been what they thought until we arrived and they observed all these Asian kids joyfully unloading the Budget truck of the tall, slightly overweight, gray on the sides, goofy looking white guy and his good looking wife. There were at least 20 of them, along with Adam and Tansy, and believe it or not, we had that 24 foot truck unloaded and everything into our upstairs apartment in 45 minutes!

The reality of what we've actually done is smacking us in the face pretty much everyday as we arrange furniture and unpack boxes in this apartment that really is spacious compared to most apartments but seems so confining compared to the large home we've been living in. Everything has to be put in just the right place in order to maximize the space we have. And sometimes, much to Helen's dismay, something can't be placed where it would have the most visual appeal because to do so would be to not adequately make use of the limited space we have in the most efficient way. In contrast to our house in Mesquite, functionality in this small apartment many times must take precedence over the placement of things in the way that is most pleasing to the eye.

Finally, the Lord has impressed upon me afresh that it's time again to seriously resurrect the "Pilgrim" mentality and worldview that we had when we went to the mission field. I'll explain what I mean in my next few posts.

Thanks for praying for us...He responded to your prayers.

Still here...just incredibly busy

2007-12-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm still alive and that I've been extremely busy with details and preparation for the move to Phoenix. We pack up a 24 foot Budget truck on Dec. 27, in Mesquite, and then will be unloading at our two bedroom apartment in Glendale, Arizona the next day.

Please keep us in prayer as we take this next MAJOR step in the journey that He has prepared for us.

Discontent with deeds alone

2007-11-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the unexpected opportunity to teach the Wed. night service at the church we fellowship with here in Mesquite when we're not traveling. It's too long of a story to give details as to why this took place, so I'll summarize: My brother, who pastors the church had to spend the day at a hospital in Las Vegas with a former family member who had been stabbed out in a small Nevada town and then was Life Flighted in to Vegas for treatment. His body will heal, but he is in major need of a spiritual overhaul--pray for Randy if you think about it.

When I found out at 5:00 a.m. that I'd be teaching in just over 13 hours, I immediately sought God's direction on what He would have me share with His people that might be a source of challenge and encouragement considering all that is happening in the world, in the U.S., and in many of their lives.

I settled on an interesting request made by Moses in Exod. 33:13. For him to ask God to "show me Your way," was astounding, based on the depth of relationship Moses already had with God and the incredible deeds he had seen God accomplish. Moses was on a continual pursuit for more and more interactive relationship and thus knowledge about God and it was this desire that prompted his request.

Unlike the majority of the nation of Israel, Moses wasn't content to know God only for His deeds--deeds graciously done on their behalf, deeds that brought them pleasure and comfort and blessing. Their problem was that if God wasn't constantly acting in this way toward them, they immediately questioned His goodness and regularly longed to be back in slavery.

And God did respond to the cry of Moses' heart. Psalm 103:7 makes clear that He did show Moses His ways, but Israel only saw His deeds because in their mind that was all that mattered, God meeting their needs as they understood and defined them.

And so it is with many of His people today. It is so easy for our heart's cry to be for God to act, to do great deeds, to do the things that we think He should do for us so that we can have pleasure, an easy life, more convenience, and so forth.

With Moses, I want to know His ways--His pattern of thinking, His manner of making decisions. I want to have understanding His priorities and to grasp the wisdom behind what He does and what He permits that moves everything towards His ultimate goal. I long to know His ways too, so that regardless of what He permits in to my life, I'll be able to trust that it has come with his permission and in some way, will move me towards being able to glorify Him more effectively.

I closed with Psalm 86:11,12. Check it out.

Refugee suicide...my first exposure

2007-10-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday of this week, one reality of ministry to refugees forced its way into my life for the first time. I received a call informing me that one of the Karen refugees that attends the church in Phoenix--a young man in his early 20's, had taken his own life earlier that day!

He had been in the U.S. for a year already, had been working, had purchased a vehicle, and yet was struggling learning English and adjusting to life in America. He had been in an accident a few days before, an accident that didn't cause any injuries, but which totalled his car. What pushed him over the edge?

It could have been his inability to communicate with those involved in the accident, the police at the scene and his own insurance company. It also could have been the reality that the pay off from the insurance wasn't sufficient to cover what he owned on the loan of the car and he was now looking at owing a few thousand dollars and having nothing to show for it. Ultimately, only God and the young man really know why he did what he did.

But personally, I know one thing for sure. I need His grace to be able to minister to these people so that the abnormally high suicide rate among Southeast Asian refugees isn't reinforced by the Karen or Chin people.

I'd appreciate your prayer for them individually and as a group, and for Helen and I to be able to love them and help them make the huge adjustment to life in America--an adjustment that seems so challenging to some that they would choose death over trying to make it.

LIFE and LIGHT, a summation

2007-10-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

As you can probably tell, I've only scratched the surface of what the Lord has shown me regarding LIFE and LIGHT. And to be honest, it would take much more time than I have to give in order to express on this blog even half of it. So I think it's best for me to summarize as succinctly as I can the key points I've learned and then leave it alone.

In John 8:12, Jesus said that He was the LIGHT of the world and that those who follow Him will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the LIGHT of LIFE. To follow Jesus is to no longer walk in darkness, where proper interaction with everything external to us, never actually takes place. Because He is the LIGHT, He brings illumination, He makes it possible to see everything as it really is--as God designed it to be seen. But that's not the key point. The key aspect of His being the LIGHT of the world and illuminating things properly, is that now those things can be interacted with as God intended them to be. This is crucial to understand and it's the thing I had missed for so long.

And in His LIGHT, seeing everything properly, God Himself is also seen in a new and proper way. When He is seen for who He really is, there will be an insatiable desire to interact with Him properly. And when we take that step to interact with Him properly through the death and resurrection of His Son, we actually receive LIFE as He intended us to have it.

For the first time ever, we begin a proper, ongoing interaction and exchange with our Creator--dependent on Him and receiving an "abundance of LIFE" that we had never experienced before. This is a "fullness" of LIFE, where we are alive at every level, as we were originally designed to be. And once He gives us this LIFE--proper interaction and exchange with Him, He then gives us the desire and the ability to interact and exchange with everything else around us in the way He originally designed us to do so. He is in His proper place and everything else in its proper place--all of which magnifies His greatness, His splendor, and His glory, yet also brings satisfaction to us.

If you think about it, one of the things that made the earthly LIFE of Jesus so unique, was the fact that He interacted with everything: God the Father, the Holy Spirit, HIMSELF, the devil, His parents, His siblings, and every other person--He interacted with all of them in a way that no one else ever has--because He did so in the way God designed--for His glory, and their good!

As followers of Jesus, we now have and live in His LIGHT--which makes true LIFE with our Creator possible. And because we now have LIFE as He intended us to have, we then can function as LIGHT in the day to day world in which we live, interacting with everything in the way He designed, and having the blessing of perhaps being a vehicle of providing LIFE to others.

Another ALS connection...prayer needed

2007-10-05T13:13:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I spent about twenty minutes on the phone with a woman named Jan, a woman in her mid-50's that is very successful in business and was recently diagnosed with ALS. Through a good friend of mine who met a good friend of hers, I was made aware of her situation and her friend cared enough about her to call me and ask me to give her a call.

Her legs have weakened to the point where she is now in a wheel chair and it has only been about 8 months since she first noticed her foot was acting strangely while she was exercising.
Although I don't have ALS, (but do have something similar: SBMA,) I've been down the path she is just beginning and I sense that God gave me a special ability to encourage her and challenge her during our conversation.

Please keep Jan in prayer. Her business was expanding and life was in many ways better than it had ever been--and now this! It was clear in talking to her that she needs the life that can come from knowing her creator and I'm convinced that she is open to considering Him at a level she never has in the past. Pray that Helen and I will be able to meet with her and her husband and be an expression of His love and truth.

And of course, continue to keep the situation in Myanmar, (Burma) in prayer.

"Eternal" LIFE pondered and defined

2007-10-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

With the fresh understanding God gave me of what LIFE and LIGHT mean, so much more of the bible and my own life began to be more understandable. The common understanding of "eternal" LIFE never did sit well with me. Limiting the concept to a LIFE that never ends, that goes on forever and ever, although true, just doesn't express what it's really all about. Jesus had much to say about LIFE, and as the very essence of it and creator of all living things, it's definitely worth the effort to really try and understand what He was talking about.

As sort of a study "geek", I'm big on trying to find the real definition of things and then expressing them in a simple way. And I've learned over the years that it's valuable to listen to those whom most people would consider experts on any given subject--those people who actually work within a certain field as their primary vocation. What would their definition be? So, it makes perfect sense to me to look at what Jesus Himself had to say about "eternal" LIFE and to discover whether He Himself may have given His definition of the concept. And sure enough, He did, in John 17:3. According to Jesus Himself, "eternal" life is: knowing God the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom God the Father has sent into our world.

According to Jesus, the primary meaning of "eternal" LIFE isn't living forever, although that is an aspect of it that is brought out in other places. No, the key thing to understand is that "eternal" LIFE is "knowing" God the Father and His Son. The word "knowing" in the original language was the word that expressed experiential knowledge of something. In other words, the knowledge that is the result of constant/regular, interaction with something--not just intellectually but also emotionally, physically, and so forth. It's not just mentally acknowledging facts as true, but actually having a personal interaction with that which is external to us. Just a life itself is interacting with and exchanging with that which is external, so "eternal" LIFE is interacting with and exchanging with that which is external to us: God the Father and His Son! It's an interaction and exchange in the context of relationship.

With what I've written so far as a bit of a backdrop, I'll try to bring this all together next time by sharing what I now understand Jesus to mean in John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the ligh of life."

Until then...

A breather for an update...

2007-09-27T17:34:00.001-07:00

I've been on the run again the past few weeks. I was in Phoenix last week and I'm actually writing this from my hotel room in Farmington, New York. I'm representing Shepherd's Staff at the pastor's conference held here at CC Finger Lakes. I head back to Philly tomorrow afternoon and then back to Vegas on Saturday morning.

God has revealed what He would have us do regarding the incredible need of the Karen refugees now living in Phoenix--we'll be moving to Phoenix a couple of days after Christmas. If you've been seeing the news at all about what's happening in Myanmar, (which is the country of Burma,) you're seeing why the Karen are now refugees in our country. The Karen's homeland is Burma, (Myanmar,) and the same government that you're now seeing deal with protesters is the government that has been trying to exterminate the Karen and other minorities for many years. Please keep the situation there in prayer.

I'll share much more detail later, but for now, please keep us in prayer as we need to step into "missionary status" to take this step. More on that later too. And I will continue sharing my thoughts on life and light once I'm back to a normal schedule next week.

Meanderings on LIFE, part 4

2007-09-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

I concluded last time with John 1:4, where the apostle John says that in Jesus "was life". He's already said in the previous verse that everything that was created was created by Jesus--or to say it another way, without Him, nothing was made that was made...which would include all LIVING things. And now in verse 4, He makes clear that LIFE itself is in JESUS...implying that Jesus IS LIFE--has it as part of His essence and that He is then the source or originator of everything else that is alive.

Now think of the burning bush incident recorded in Exodus 3:1-14. What caught Moses attention wasn't just a bush on fire, it was the fact that the fire was burning, but the bush was not being consumed. For fire to exist--to be alive--as with every other thing that's alive, it must have an interaction and exchange with something outside of itself. In other words, fire must consume fuel, just like everything other living thing. This bush was on fire, but the fire wasn't consuming it. It gave off light, it surely did illuminate it's surroundings, but the main issue was: it didn't need anything external to itself to be what it was...sort of like it...had LIFE in itself.

From the midst of that fire, God begins a conversation with Moses. A few verses later, Moses asks God what he should say to Israel when they ask him what the name of the God of their fathers is. When they ask, "What is His name?" Moses wants to know what he should say.

God's response is: "I AM WHO I AM" and then God summarizes by telling Moses that he should say to them "I AM" is the one who sent him to them. What does "I AM" declare? That He is the one who exists, who has always existed, who has LIFE in Himself. The fire that Moses stands before, a fire that needs nothing outside of itself for its continued existence, is a visual proclamation of the reality that God has LIFE in Himself, that He is self-existent. What the Creator has permitted us to discover about LIFE apparently doesn't apply to Him. We were certainly created in His image and according to His likeness--like Him in so many ways, yet clearly unlike Him in others.

Enough for now....

Meanderings on LIFE part 3 (LIGHT)

2007-09-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

In pursuit of obtaining a biblical definition of LIFE, you inevitably run into an obvious connection with LIGHT. From the description of creation in Gen. 1 forward, LIGHT and LIFE seem to intersect regularly. In fact, LIGHT is created first and it appears to be almost a pre-requisite to LIFE...like without LIGHT there really can't be LIFE. And guess what? That is true. In the realm of physical LIFE alone, LIGHT is crucial in a myriad of ways.

So I studied LIGHT. Here's the mind-boggling conclusion I came to that was so obvious I had never seen it before: Yes--LIGHT does illuminate, reveal, manifest, make known--it does those things for sure. But is that the ultimate purpose of light? I had never forced myself to think it through further than that. This time I did. And I discovered that the main purpose of LIGHT is to MAKE PROPER INTERACTION AND EXCHANGE POSSIBLE!

LIGHT provides the possibility of proper interaction with that which is external to us...which is why it is so tightly connected with LIFE! Without LIGHT, that which is really there, outside of ourselves, although perhaps needful, is potentially dangerous to us. If there is no LIGHT, we can't see it for what it really is or where it's really at and so our interaction with it can be dangerous, (think of walking through the woods with no flashlight on a moon-less night--holes, trees branches, bushes--the external environment is dangerous in ways it isn't in daylight or if you have a light.) Proper interaction and exchange are made possible by LIGHT.

The Apostle John says of Jesus in: John 1:4 In Him was life and the life was the light of men.

To be continued....

Please pray regarding Phoenix

2007-09-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

As I write, it's 112 degrees here in lovely Mesquite, NV. I saw that Phoenix broke a record this summer by having 32 days where the mercury was over 110--and I'm guessing that we have had even more than that. Needless to say, I'm ready for some cool weather.

And speaking of Phoenix, Helen and I are now in the midst of serious prayer regarding actually making a move to Phoenix in order to serve the Karen refugee community and the church they are attending. These are the brothers and sisters I mentioned a while back--the ones who have suffered so much at the hands of the Burmese military and who have spent many years living in refugee camps inside Thailand. There are now close to 200 of them, most having arrived from the camps within the last year, that are attending a small baptist church and trying to learn how to live life here in America.

I'll write more later, but I'd appreciate your prayer for the meetings we'll have with the Karen leaders and the church leaders on September 20.

Meanderings about LIFE, part 2

2007-09-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

Once I wrapped my mind around the basic idea of life being "interaction and exchange with that which is external", it forced me to look a little deeper at what God said to Adam regarding the consequence of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, (Gen. 2:17.) Before that act of disobedience, Adam and Eve were certainly alive physically, but they were also interacting and exchanging with God relationally through communication and intimacy as He designed it to be. He said they would "die" the day they disobeyed and ate and obviously, many things at many levels changed as a result of their disobedience. But I believe the KEY consequence was that they no longer were interacting and exchanging, (through intimate communication,) with their Creator as they were designed to do and as they were doing previous to their disobedience. They no longer had LIFE at all the levels they were designed to have it--the most crucial level of LIFE ceased, they really did die.

And so, as is obvious to anyone even fairly observant, from then until today, the majority of mankind has LIFE at the basic physical and emotional level, but no true life at the most crucial level--no intimate interaction and exchange with the one who created them.

And this is where Jesus comes in.

A breather to update you

2007-08-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

I've been moving at warp speed the past week and a half and that has kept me from getting to the next point regarding what I've discovered about "life". I've been North of the San Fransisco bay area for meetings, then in Phoenix for a few days of further ministry to the Karen people from refugee camps in Thailand that are now living here in the U.S. And I then spent the last two days in Las Vegas.

Lots happening which I'll fill you in on, along with continuing to share what I've learned....but it'll be a few more days. I'm off to a men's overnight retreat tonight, then on to San Diego on Sunday. While in that area, I'll be attending a Padres game with my pastor, (Pat Kenney) and Dr. Nick--I'm really looking forward to it. Then on Tuesday I'll be in the LA area for Shepherd's Staff related meetings.

I'll be back......in a few days

Physical LIFE--a "bare bones" definition

2007-08-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

With the responses I've received, I believe I'll go ahead and meander down the path of sharing what I've discovered regarding what "life" actually is and the place that understanding should have as we continue to sojourn on this planet in what my brother refers to as our "earth suits."

What I'm about to try and summarize may sound a bit philosophical or even "heady" to some of you. Others may think that what I'm trying to describe is beyond my intellect and that I really have no business trying to delve into things that I don't have the academic backround to understand or express. If you're in either group, please be patient with me because I believe that what I've learned just might be a blessing to you as it has been to me. With that disclaimer, here we go:

Making a decision to disconnect or discontinue using a machine that has been doing for a person what they are unable to do themselves, (like breathing,) is to decide that the "life" that person has had up to that moment, will cease. At the most basic, physical level, breathing is so tightly connected with "life" itself, that it wouldn't be improper at times to use the words interchangeably. As every person on this planet knows intuitively and by experience, life cannot continue without breath. Cease breathing and in minutes, life as we know it will end.

But what is really taking place when we breath? We are having an interaction and exchange with that which is external to us. If we breath, we have the capacity to take in air from outside of ourselves, have it fill our lungs and then have an exchange with it. We take from it what we need, (like oxygen, nitrogen, and so forth,) and then place back into that air what we no longer need, like carbon dioxide. We then exhale, or launch that air back into the space that is outside of our physical bodies. This whole process of intake, exchange, and exhalation usually takes place in less than a second.

There are two other key abilities that are also tightly linked with life itself, EATING and DRINKING. Ceasing either of those things will also cause life to end, but after a much longer period of time. If you stop taking in liquids, you'll only continue to live a few more days. Stop eating and after a certain amount of weeks and months your body won't be able to function properly and life will end.

With those basic observations understood, here is the simplest definition of life that I can come up with. This is what physical life is--which is what we ALL have:

Life is the capability of an entity to interact with and have an exchange with that which is external to itself in order to continue existing as it does.

The key concept is interaction and exchange with that which is EXTERNAL to itself. Without taking in from that which is external to us, there will no longer be life. In other words, life, by its very nature and at its essence is DEPENDENT on something other than itself. Life is not independent, self-existence.

I'll bring this to a close right here by pointing out that if the bible really is God's word and it is what it claims to be--the Creator's self revelation, the story of His creation and the saga of His interaction with his creation, then it's not suprising that it refers to something called the "breath of life." (Gen. 2:7 6:17 7:13)

Physical life isn't all there is though. More on that next time.

Advanced Directives--provoked to think!

2007-08-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

Because of the things that the Lord has permitted me to face over the last few years, I've learned to look at the important issues of life with a little more intensity, thought, and from angles that I had never viewed things from before. Additionally, I'm no longer satisfied with assuming that those I communicate with understand key words the same way that I do. I now strongly believe that because people really do pour their own definitions into certain words, if at least one person in a conversation doesn't actually provide their understanding of the definition of a key word, it's incredibly easy for the two of them to move forward thinking they're on the same page when in reality, they're not.

Not many months after my diagnosis with Lou Gehrig's disease, (ALS) in 2004, a very abrupt neurologist that examined me told me in a very frank manner that I needed to create an Advanced Directive, (AD) because of what I would be facing ahead. There was no emotion visible, no hesitation, no change of inflection in her voice. She said it with the same demeanor that she probably used when she told someone that she had to work late. At that time, I wasn't totally sure what an AD was, but I was sure that I didn't want to let THIS doctor know that I didn't know.

Of course, I researched it later that day and discovered what an AD was and determined that although I'm fairly confident that I wouldn't encourage a person to create one using the same sort of people skills that this doctor did, I do recognize that putting one together is a wise thing to do.

And one of the issues that must be addressed in creating an AD for an ALS patient is: Under what conditions will the respirator be disconnected, or unplugged? To come to a reasonable conclusion about that decision, you, and your intimate loved ones, must come to a consensus regarding the definition of LIFE itself.

Now having been involved with the pro-life movement and ministry to the disabled and elderly for many years, I had some awareness of the various ways people refer to life issues, and I was familiar with the term "quality of life" to a degree. But even in that phrase, there is an assumption that people are understanding the word "life" in the same way. Here's a newsflash: They're not!

So, I set out on a journey to find out what the bible had to say about "life", because after all, who would know more about it than the one who IS life and who gives it to everything and everyone else that has it? I also stumbled down the scientific, non-spiritual path to discover what those headed in that direction had to say about it.

And I have come to some conclusions. Anyone out there interested in what I've discovered? If so, I'll meander that direction for a while. If not....well... I may meander that direction anyway, just not as soon.

A glimpse outside the "bubble"

2007-08-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

If any of you have spent any time in a developing nation then you have had a glimpse outside of the "bubble" that we live in as Americans. The reality of that bubble was brought home to me afresh during our time on the cruise.

As I mentioned before, the crew of the ship, (I believe the crew is more than 1,000 people,) was made up of folks from 57 different countries. The vast majority of them were from developing nations. If you know me at all, you know that I love people from other countries and cultures and I absolutely love to ask them questions about their backrounds, families, and so forth. So of course, I did exactly that with many of the crew members. And, for someone who does so on a regular basis, I wasn't surprised at how eager they were to tell their stories. I also wasn't surprised to learn from many of them that very few of the passengers, the people they serve, ever take the time to really ask them about themselves and their countries.

What stands out though, at least to me, is how many of them are married and have husbands/wives and children back in their own countries, and how "normal" it has become for them to be separated from their loved ones for a minimum of six months at a time. The majority of them spend less than three months of any one year period at home with their families and their people! And what's even more astounding is that they are incredibly THANKFUL for the job that causes it to be so.

You see, as difficult as the job itself is, (and these guys work 7 days per week for 6 straight months,) what the job makes possible for their loved ones back home, at least to them, makes it a worthwhile trade-off. The better life that they can afford for their families because of the cruise ship work they have, they themselves aren't able to experience with their families the majority of the time.

With the jobs available to them in their own countries, incredible dilemmas are faced everyday and decisions need to be made that honestly, we're never forced to make here in America. For example, with a 4 dollar per day salary, there are times when they literally have to decide whether they will feed their 3 children dinner that night, or, purchase the medicine/prescription that their other, hospitalized child needs in order to get better. They can't do both, so which do they do?

Those are the kinds of decisions they no longer have to make when they have a job that pays what the cruise ship job pays, (which is quite a bit less than minimum wage in any of the 50 states.) And of course, because of what they're making on the ship, now they can even consider purchasing all of the materials necessary for their children to go to school, or even sending them to a private, rather than public school.

I thank God for those occasional glimpses "outside the bubble" of life here in America.

What a trip?

2007-07-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome time on the cruise. Seven days was just right...long enough to really relax yet short enough to not go bonkers spending too much time on a floating resort. All three stops, (Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas,) were awesome and the weather was great the whole time. And yes the adage you've heard regarding cruise ships is true: You get on as a passenger and you get off as cargo! There is just way too much food accessible too many hours of the day.

I LOVE the international crews that these ships have--this one had people working on it from 57 different countries! I meet as many of them as I can and look for opportunities to connect with them. Our final night I met the Filipino guy who was singing in the restaurant and it turns out that he was in college in Cebu City during the same years we were in Cebu--and it was the college less than one block from where our church met at that time, (University of the Visayas.)
He wasn't a believer at the time, but he did come to the Lord a few years later. It looks like I'll be able to correspond with him by e-mail. I also met a girl named Alesia from Belarus. When I greeted her with a Russian word and told her I had been to her country, she almost dropped the tray she was holding. Turns out she's from Minsk, the very city I visited back in 1995. She said I was the first one she's met on the ship that knew anything about her country or had ever visited it.

I was able to read a few books on the trip, the most enjoyable one being the latest by Bruce Olson, called: "Bruce Olson and the Motilone Miracle." It's a follow up to his classic book, "Bruchko" and gives the history of what's happened with him and the Motilone indians from the mid 70's through 2006. If you're at all questioning the reality of the gospel and whether God is making a measurable impact in people lives, you need to read this book. Thank God for giants of the faith like Bruce Olson.

So, it's back to the regular life and ministry groove. I'll be speaking at CC Cedar City in Utah this weekend so if you think about it, pray for me.

30 years...and counting

2007-07-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, July 22nd, Helen and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. The Lord has blessed us with the opportunity to go on a 7 day cruise out of Long Beach, California, to Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas--what's called the Mexican Riviera. We're going with some close friends from our church in Mesquite and we're really looking forward to it. (Even more so, now that we've had our grandkids here the past five days--we're exhausted and ready for some R&R.)

I was in the Army and stationed in Japan when we got married. I flew back to Southern California, our wedding ceremony took place on Friday and we left for Japan on Sunday. Looking back at it, the grace of God was SO evident towards us before we ever came to know Him in a personal way. Considering I was 18 and Helen was 16 on the day we married, the deck was really stacked against us. Of course, unbeknownst to us, our Merciful God was the dealer and although some of the hands He has dealt us over the years were incredibly challenging, He was definitely the one that kept us in the game.

When the bible talks about rejoicing with the "wife of your youth" in Prov. 5:18, my story is succinctly summarized.

Not sure if I'll have time to post from the boat, but if not, I'll be back with more meanderings upon our return on the 29th.

And the hits just keep on comin.....

2007-07-18T21:14:00.000-07:00

The memorial service on Saturday for my pastor's wife was one of the most incredible events I've ever been a part of. It was truly a fitting tribute to a woman, daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, dear friend, and example to many. Joyce Kenney absolutely magnified Christ in her body both by her life and now by her death and her memorial not only honored her, it glorified her Lord. Please keep Pastor Pat in prayer as he is now facing the difficult time of things returning to normal for everyone else--while his new "normal" will at times seem to be absolutely impossible for him to adjust to. The next few days, weeks, and couple of months will be crushing. Your prayer for Pat and Joyce's kids, Noelle and Jordan, are also much appreciated.

About 2:30 a.m. on the morning of the memorial I was actually wondering if I'd be able to be a part of the service. My oldest daughter Jody had to be taken by the paramedics to a hospital near her house because of the pain and effects of a tubal pregnancy. She went in to surgery around 4:00 a.m. and by God's grace, the doctors were able to repair the damage done and keep her tube and ovary intact. She remained in the hospital until Monday afternoon and in order to make her first few days back home a little easier, Helen and I brought our five year old grandson Anthony and his almost one year old sister Kristen, back to Mesquite with us. Suffice it to say that Helen in particular is exhausted after two and a half days of riding herd on our adorable grandchildren, (I try to help in between trying to get some work done in my office in our house.) Kristen just learned to walk and you have to watch her pretty much every minute she's awake or she'll eat whatever she can fit in her mouth. Needless to say, we're not accustomed to this kind of thing anymore...and it's hard to remember that there ever was a time in our past when we did it everyday.

And then, in the wee hours of this morning, (Wednesday,) our youngest daughter Katie called and told us she had been in accident around 10:30 last night. Her and a girlfriend were returning home from a concert on Interstate 15 when a drunk driver lost control of his car, ran into two other cars, and then spun into the driver's side rear end of Katie's car! Katie and her friend and none of the other drivers sustained any injuries, only the drunk driver wound up having minor injuries that warranted a trip to the hospital, (sort of the way it should be for a change...right?) So, the first steps of the trail of dealing with our insurance company began today--a trail that I'm fairly sure will put a large portion of my patience to the test.

As always though, God's fingerprints were visible again as the "hits just kept on coming."

Because we were down in the San Diego area for the memorial service we were able to help with the grandchildren so Michael could be with Jody at the hospital and as I mentioned, bring the grandkids back to Mesquite with us. And to do that, we needed to use Michael and Jody's larger vehicle, which meant our car was at their house so that now Katie can use it while her car is in the shop.

I've seen His hand engaged in my affairs again. Any sightings of His workings in your life the past few days?

2007-07-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

Because I take what God has revealed about Himself and His relationship to all of His creation seriously, I've been making continual progress in viewing all things through that truth. To help myself do so, I've developed a "grid" through which I filter what is taking place in my life. This "grid" looks like this:

1. Since the God of the scripture claims that He is in control of all things and He is trustworthy

2. Then whatever just happened to me, He has permitted

3. And even though I may not understand it right now

4. The fact that He permitted it to happen means that it serves a purpose in my life

5. And that in some way, it provides an opportunity for me to glorify Him

--I define glorifying Him as reflecting and revealing or unveiling in some way His character, nature, worth and value.

6. So I consistently ask Him to reveal to me how or in what way this can glorify Him

7. And what my role is in bringing glory to Him in response to what's happened

I've found that when I use this "grid" as the lens through which I perceive things taking place in my life, I'm able to see the bigger picture much more easily and His fingerprints on all things are much more visible.

2007-07-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

I was in Indianapolis from Thursday through Saturday and as always, His fingerprints were all over the trip. From the hospitality, love, and encouragment lavished on Ron and I at the home of Dave and Ginger, to great conversation with Pastor Bill and Jed over awesome food at P.F. Changs, and then having an incredible time of fellowship with friends who serve in Central Asia and others who have served in and love the Ukraine, the time there was exceedingly abundantly above all that I could have asked or even planned.

Helen and I head to Escondido on Wednesday. I'll be sharing at the memorial service on Saturday for Joyce Kenney, the wife of my beloved Pastor Pat. Joyce's battle with various versions of cancer that began with breast cancer, ended last Thursday morning while I was on the plane from Vegas to Indy. Please keep Pastor Pat, his daughter Noelle, his son Jordan, and his grandchildren in prayer as they begin the "process" that is grief. Pat has already been a living demonstration of the truth that walking with Him in this world includes being "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." (2 Cor. 6:10)

By His grace alone,

Jeff

Paul and James...sight through the right filter

2007-07-04T16:02:00.000-07:00

As I shared in my last post, the reality of the true and living God sitting at the controls of the universe He created is something most Christians say they believe in, at least intellectually. But the fact is, most of us don't perceive our day to day, moment to moment lives through that truth--we don't screen everything we see and experience through that lens, that filter.

The apostle Paul was obviously someone who did see things the proper way, as is clearly evident from what he communicated in his letter to the Philippians, particularly chapter 1, verses 12-26.
It's because of this truth and His understanding of the sovereignty of God that he could write with confidence what he expressed in Romans 8:28. Without God's absolute sovereignty over all things it would be impossible for ALL things to produce a good end for those that have a personal, interactive relationship with their Creator.

But what does perceiving things through that filter look like moment to moment for those today that know Him and trust in His control of all things?

I'll try and share a few things that I've learned, but that will have to wait until I have some further time. For now, I must proceed with doing things and meeting with people that I have been planning for the past month or so. I'll let you know in a few days how things unfolded.

James had a handle on this truth too. I'll close with what he had to say in James 4:13-16.

Seen any "God-connects" lately? If so, let me know.

Blessings,

Jeff

Why a surprise?

2007-07-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

It was incredibly surreal. As we were nearing the church where I was scheduled to speak yesterday morning, something familiar but totally out of place caught my attention. A group of Karen, (pronounced Kuh-Rin) were walking down the sidewalk in the 103 degree temperature at around 8:30 in the morning, headed toward the church that I would speaking at. How did I know they were Karen? They had on their colorful and very distinctive native dress and they walked as a group and with a posture that declared they were'nt from these parts! I had already been pondering how radical it was that some of them were in the U.S. and now I saw them in my environment for the first time and it was just one of those moments that you know you'll never forget. They were walking on concrete sidewalks with apartment complex after apartment complex on their left and a very busy 6 lane road to their right, on the other side of the curb. Was this for real?

A half an hour later I was speaking to a group of about 75 Karen people with Adam, one of the key leaders of the Karen congregation translating my message into their language. Then, the Karen pastor that led the service invited me to help distribute the communion elements as we celebrated the death and resurrection of the Lord.

The pastor had been in a refugee camp in Thailand up until 10 months ago and as the service unfolded the reality of what he's facing hit me. Talk about a challenge. Pastoring alone is a huge challenge, how much greater is the task when you and everyone in your congregation have been dropped into a location on the other side of the world that not only doesn't speak your language or navigate according to your cultural norms, but is in many ways the exact opposite of everything you've ever been exposed to. Your young people are going to public schools with more than a thousand other students and the adults are traveling far away to work in factories which are the only jobs available because of the language barrier everyone is trying to overcome. He's trying to improve his English at the same time everyone in his congregation is doing the same. Talk about a daunting task.

But oh, what a beautifully familiar taste the whole service had. From the incredible harmonies of Karen worship to the report on how the Karen youth helped their local soccer league team reach the championship game, and the truth filled song the teenage boys sang in English as a "special number", I was overwhelmed with God's goodness the whole morning.

As if that wasn't enough, right before the service I was introduced to a family that has been serving in Mongolia for the past 9 years. Why is that significant? The previous Wednesday I had met in Las Vegas with a couple who are being led by the Lord to serve in Mongolia and had questions that I just didn't have answers for. (Sounds like it might be a God-connect moment, heh?)

Michael, the missionary from Mongolia had just arrived with his family in the Phoenix area so that his six month old daughter could have heart surgery. It's a very long story, but suffice it to say that months ago, before they knew they'd be leaving Mongolia to go to Phoenix for surgery for his daughter, his two brothers and his parents had planned to be in Phoenix THIS WEEK for a little get away, (they were all from out of state.) And not only that, his older daughter who lives in a different state and is a professional dance instructor just happens to be in Phoenix THIS WEEK for a big dance event. He didn't know he was even leaving Mongolia a month ago, they planned their trips many months ago, and now as his daughter goes in for surgery this Thursday, basically his whole family is in the area.

It would take way too long to explain to you the number of ways that God showed His sovereignty afresh over the last few days, but He certainly has. There are no accidents or coincidences if the God of the scripture is who He claims to be. Why then are we continually surpised when we see Him orchestrating things like this? Why is it so difficult to consistently believe what His word says about His being at the controls of the universe He has created and sustains? Especially when He has revealed truths like that contained in Psalm 135:6? I haven't gotten it all figured out, at least not yet.

I think over the next few weeks I'll begin meandering down the path of what I've learned about seeing Him in the day to day, moment to moment, warp and woof of life, with "God-connects" abounding. Until next time, keep in mind that He is at the helm of the ship that is our universe.

Blessings,

Jeff

A unique opportunity

2007-07-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

I'm in Phoenix right now at the home of some very close friends. In less than three hours I'll be speaking at a local church here that houses a small church made up of refugees from a country in Southeast Asia. The vast majority of these precious people have spent at least the last 10 to 15 years or more living in refugee camps inside Thailand--and now they live in America!

I've spent time with many of the Karen people in the largest of those refugee camps in Thailand and there is a possibility that I may be given the blessing of actually meeting some of the ones I met over there. It's incredibily surreal.

Since I discovered a few days ago that I would have this opportunity, I've been begging the Lord for just the right words from Him to share with them. Having factored in some of the huge challenges they are facing with their transition to life in this country and the reality that they may be here the rest of their lives, I've concluded that He would have me speak to them from that letter that the prophet Jeremiah wrote to his own people who had been taken from their land and were then living in exile in a very foreign and strange country.

One of the verses from God's word that is commonly used as a word of encouragement is Jeremiah 29:11, (check it out.) That particular verse is actually just a portion of the letter that I mentioned above. I'm going to share with my Karen brothers and sisters what Jeremiah had written to these people regarding the attitude they should have, what they should be doing, and what they should be seeking and praying for as they were forced to adjust to life in a place that they never dreamed they'd be living in. The world has come up with a summary phrase for what Jeremiah instructs them to do: "Bloom where you're planted."

If the world gets the concept and the Word of God certainly teaches the concept, have we gotten a handle on it yet? Just wondering.

Blessings,

Jeff

Up and running...finally

2007-06-25T10:06:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's obvious I wasn't ready back in February to really get this thing going! But, the time has come and I believe that this is the real launch, the "real McCoy" of my meanderings.

If you're reading this in response to the update that I just sent out and you'd like to throw a blessing my way, please take the time to try and understand how to reply using the blog.

C-ya

Jeff

First post...

2007-02-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

Greetings everyone.

The response to my latest was a bit overwhelming. More than 40 of the folks on my update list wrote to me within the first 36 hours and made clear that they value what many of them referred to as my "unique and honest" reflections on life as God is permitting me to live it.

Quite a few of them recommended that I set up a "blog" and even though I'm basically a techno-lamer, I've figured out how to set one up and now I'm beginning to learn how to actually use it.
Your patience will be much appreciated as I learn how to navigate in what I've heard referred to as the "blogosphere."

In His grip for His glory among the nations.

Jeff