A Small Part of God's Mission

Missional.  It's one of those "Christian Buzz Words" like "Jesus Follower" and "Community." They all evolved out of a need to recapture the meaning of another word that was being over/misused.  Unfortunately though what happens sometimes is that they become a kind of sign.  "Cool church ahead!"

To be fair I like the word "missional". It simply means our every action is should further God's great mission in His Kingdom.  And it was built on a solid Biblical foundation--Jesus' words in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Yet like the other buzz words I fear that much of its impact has been lost in our hashtag culture. The grand visions-defeating addiction, stopping hereditary poverty, saving orphans and solving the refugee crisis-are too big for one ordinary person to tackle. We live in a world that seems to imagine that a FB like, a retweet, a pin, or hashtag promotion is the answer. I like awareness as much as the next blogger (IE a lot), but I am not fooling myself. When in the parable the Lord was asked, "Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?" He did not reply  ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you included my hashtag, you did it to Me" (Matthew 25:37-40).

Why is this on my mind? Let me share some pictures with you. 

In Kenya, in the Maasi region, there is a terrible drought.  Simply put the rains did not come in their season and as a result animals, crops, and people are dying.

The church in Leboo
 

In this same part of Kenya there's a church.  In the picture above they have a couple of guys from the Commerce church of Christ in Texas stopping by to visit with them.  They've been providing funding for buildings etc. for the last few years.

The children at school

That church answered God's call to take care of the fatherless, and late last year opened its doors to 42 orphan children.  They built a Christian school for them and for the local children to attend.

A school, a church, an orphanage and a drought.  What does that add up to?  Well in the words of their evangelist, Nathan Oloumu...

"The great challenge that we face here as a community is the lack of water. There are no wells in several villages. People will walk for over 7 Kilometers to get to the nearest water source. As for the orphanage will need help to get a well and also get tanks to harvest the rain water." (Read his full statement here)

A well is expensive business.  The one Mr. Oloumu is working on to provide care for these children and his village will cost 18,000 dollars (see detailed invoice here). It is not meant to only alleviate the current drought but provide a convenient and safe source of water for years to come.

Which brings us full circle back to grand visions and "missional" life.  

I have never been a grand vision girl.  I've never started a charity that served millions.  But I have asked friends for a 100 dollars so I could buy Bibles to give away so my students could read God's word for the very first time.  I have never been able to see that all the orphans in Africa had what they needed; my part in God's great mission is a small one. But I'd like to ask you, to be a small part of that mission today.  Not to help not every fatherless child in Africa, but 42 thirsty orphans in Kenya.  

My local congregation is partnering with Mr. Oloumu and the Commerce church in Texas to raise money towards that 18,000.  Our local church is small and not wealthy, but we raised more than a 10th of the price in a single Sunday of giving.  And with an active GoFundMe we are hoping to give others an opportunity to participate.  

How could you help?  

You can give a little money.  There is no overhead here, no sense of paying for administrators or offices.  You are buying water for orphan children.  And not bottled water that will run out next week but the supply of water they will need to grow up strong and healthy.  Find our GoFundMe here.

You can also get the word out.  I know that social media will not change the world.  But we aren't raising awareness here, we are trying to find enough Christians to solve a real problem. I have reached out on all my outlets (including this one now!) to the Christians I know.  Can you do the same?  

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Teach Me Your Statutes

This New Year I have dusted off my audio Bible.  Specifically I committed to spending my first 25 minutes of listening for the day to listening to my Bible.  I am on track with all the folks who are reading and HOURS behind on my usual podcasts.  I am absorbed by the Torah.

6 weeks of devotionals from Daniel

6 weeks of devotionals to share with your
kids about the book of Daniel.

I hope that you have enjoyed the devotionals but even more I hope you have had the opportunity to share them with your kids. You could share them all in one week, one per night at bedtime or once a week for the next 6 weeks.  The important thing is that you help your kids stay in the word of God.

Below you'll find a list not only of all the stories but also of each character trait that is emphasized. Don't forget to check back next week for a review of a great book to help you and your children understand Daniel 7-12.

If you have a favorite devotional book, or series online (or if you wrote one!) we'd love to hear about it and feature it on our Facebook page.

Happy and Holy Parenting!

Helene



Introduction to the Daniel Devotionals

Daniel and his friends refuse the King's food: Fairness

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream: Wisdom

The Fiery Furnace: Defiance

Nebuchadnezzar's fall: Humility

The Writing on the Wall: Blasphemy

Daniel and the Lion's Den: Spiritual Discipline

But That's Not FAIR!

My daughter had to write an essay about injustice last school year.  She is a third culture kid, a child who has spent so much time outside of her "home" culture that she no longer truly belongs to either her home or adopted culture. Writing that essay was hard for her.  Abandoned babies, starving children, bribery and persecution aren't abstract concepts but the stories of people she knows. More than most 15 year olds, she understands how useless complaining about life's injustices is. 

She has that in common with Daniel.  

God of Love, God of Wrath

The other day, I was watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  I know, I know, that isn't our usual blog fare, but a conversation that took place in this particular episode really got me to thinking.  In the show, a girl named Hannah has had some unpleasant supernatural things happen to her. (This is a sci-fi show, after all).  She believes that God is punishing her for a mistake she made at work that cost people their lives, and that she deserves the punishment.  This is what one of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents says to her: 

No, no you don't. No one does. I had a few nuns around me growing up, and they would talk like that, scaring kids with stories of God's wrath. It made not want to believe.  The only words that stuck with me were something Sister McKenna said from the Bible, I think. She said, "God is love."  It's simple, and it's a little sappy, but that's the version I like. God is love; the thing that holds us together. And if that's true, I don't think He would punish you for making a mistake.  I think He'd forgive a mistake.

As I listened, I realized that this was a perfect example of how the world views God.  He is either a "loving God" who would never punish anyone, and certainly never "send anyone to hell," or He's an angry, vengeful God who sent his chosen people into other nations to destroy innocent people for no reason.  God is loving or God is angry.  Never both.

Thanksgiving Reimagined

Take a moment and imagine what your Thanksgiving table might look like, if you took Jesus's words literally.  

I'm serious.

Picture your table groaning with food, the cute placemats that your kids make and the china you pull out once a year.  Now replace one familiar chair with a wheelchair.  Imagine a person with serious disability sitting there between Aunt Donna and Cousin Mark; one of them will need to help him throughout the meal.  Finally there is your husband, leading in from the living room a lady, bent and blind.  That is the Thanksgiving Jesus had in mind.

Hunger

I am listening to a convicting audio book, More or Less by Jeff Shinabarger. In the chapter on food he describes one January in detail.  Shocked by the ugly wake-up call of the post-Christmas credit card bill, he and his wife decided that they were going to have to cut corners.  They trimmed the budget, and half joking Jeff suggested that they just not buy any groceries for the month.  So they didn't. 

What followed was 9 weeks of rice, box brownies, pancake suppers, and glimpses of the bottom of the freezer and the back of the pantry.  He writes that they gained both a renewed perspective and 7 pounds apiece from their unhealthy diet.  They learned just exactly how far from hunger they were.   

Beggars, Sheep and Goats

Have you ever had a beggar follow you till you finally reached your hand into your pocket and parted with your change?  This is a situation that Helene and I face  nearly every time we walk outside.  Even though you might not experience the phenomenon on a daily basis like we do, all of us as Christians must decide our personal response to the poor.  Ever since moving abroad, I have struggled with how God would have me deal with this situation.  My recent reading of Proverbs made me readdress this subject in my heart and in my wallet. 

Social Justice

I have recently encountered a perfect storm.  Not super storm Sandy.  Just one of those moments when everywhere I turn people are all talking, writing, commenting on the same topic, forcing me to stop and reconsider it.  

A Graduate Course In Justice 2

Months ago, I was visited by a dear sister (read the whole story here). Sad and sick and shuddering with betrayal, she told me a story.  She had been outdone by a coworker for a coveted promotion and by the dirtiest of dirty tricks.  She held within her hand proof of her rival's dishonesty but God's word stands true: "a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just" (Exodus 23:8). We read a Psalm, we prayed, we cried and she continued to work everyday with people she knew to have betrayed her trust and their own honor.

Jesus' Wish List

I hate buying presents.  I am terrible at it.  I draw a huge blank.  Even for my children, I really have to rack my brain to think of what to buy.   As if that weren't bad enough, most of my gifts have to be transported internationally; they can't be too heavy, too bulky or likely to end up in pieces after being tossed off the back of a 747!  Finding the right thing is a real challenge.  

 

A Graduate Course in Justice

This year the daily Bible that I'm using is organized so that the reader enjoys a daily dose of wisdom literature. When I was at Harding University, one of my professors said something to the effect of, "The Psalms show all the ways that a person of faith could be reacting and relating to God."  The scope of the Psalms is astonishing-stretching from lament to praise, from complaint to mnemonics, from wisdom to hymns primarily in honor of the King.  As a college-aged student I found them from my Sunday School worldview unseemly.  It's a good thing I had not yet understood the Song of Solomon or I might have passed out.  So I am day by day reading a Psalm or proverb and getting a graduate course in suffering and justice.