First world problems

There really isn't a "third world" today. The term comes from when people characterized the world as developed nations, nations behind the "Iron Curtain" and the undeveloped "third world." It's more like the "two-thirds" world. THAT world doesn't worry about Wii remotes; it worries about clean water, where their next meal will come from, and diseases. THAT world CAN CHANGE if we here have the will to make it happen. Already global severe poverty has been cut in half, and organizations like World Vision, Amazima, Compassion, and the like are working to give people in THAT WORLD a chance at a better life.

Bunny and I sponsor a child in Rwanda. Sean sponsors a little girl in Ethiopia. Several others at New Hope also do individually as well as classes also sponsoring children. We've sold bags made by women in Malawi to help families climb up out of poverty. We've purchased the Universal Nut Sheller to help raise production of peanuts - again so people can climb up. There are others we've done, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of what a small group of people in THIS WORLD can do.

What are YOU doing?

Friends, we may not be able to fix the world, but we can DO SOMETHING! - and we ought to. That "least of these" comment Jesus made? He meant it.

Who'll Be Jesus To Them?

Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 1:27 (HCSB)

I'm writing out of frustration today. Be forewarned.

Last week's bombshell from the NYC health department exposing the number of abortions is haunting me. I cannot get a grip on how almost half of the women in the Bronx decide that their baby is disposable. I just cannot. Then I read about the 44 million orphans worldwide, who have been allowed to be born but have no families and I begin to wonder if Christians actually READ their Bibles.

New Hope, in it's smallness, does care for orphans. We have several families that sponsor children through World Vision or Compassion International. We have a class that sponsors the work of Amazima Ministries in Uganda as well as individuals doing so. We raise thousands every year out of a congregation of people that don't have a lot of money to provide water, medicine, housing and schools for orphans. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, person for person, we do a lot for a church our size - for a church any size.

And yet, there's such an overwhelming need. The church in America needs to lead people to value life as sacred. It needs to help those mothers in NYC to see that the life they carry within them is a gift from God. Even if their circumstances are such that they cannot keep the baby, the church needs to move heaven and earth to help bring that which God created into this life and care for them. Too many churches are focused on the next 3D program or the next super colossal building for their youth when babies and children are dying each day. It's a sin. yes, I said that.

We have some people here dreaming of building an orphanage in Africa. And events along the way keep happening to direct our attention that way in prayer. You could call them coincidences, but it's funny how when you pray for God's direction out of hearts already trained by the Holy Spirit to love what God loves... how those coincidences keep occurring.

It is COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE in New Hope's strength, power or resources. No way.

And yet, nothing is impossible with God.

We may have to give up some things that we have now to do it. Could be we sell our buildings here and rent a school to meet in. Could be the pastor goes bivocational to help. Could be God finds a way to provide for it that none of us even have dreamed of. But friends, if we cannot love the orphan as God does, we are going to fall short of what He wants us to do and to be.

Will you pray with me about what God would have you do, have your church do about orphans?
Will you give part of what God has blessed you with to save their lives?
Would you join with those of us who dare to dream impossible dreams to see lives saved and transformed by the love of God?

"I Know What It's Like To Be Poor"

Katie and her kids

We were gathered around the table Wednesday night after our fellowship meal, preparing to pray for the needs of friends, family, and others. As we got started, in walked Evelyn Brown and Jimmie Hill, two of our "senior saints." Taking their places at the table, we continued request time. When I asked people to pray for our efforts during "Rice and Beans" week to focus on the poor, Miss Evelyn spoke up.

"I know what that feels like."

She then told us about her life as a child (she's 80+), and how what we ate this week was not all that unfamiliar to her then if you substituted potatoes for rice. As she looked back, she told us of those rare Fridays that her Mother would buy a small piece of pork (streak o lean - which said another way is stripes of fat) and cook the greens or beans with that, and then carefully cut it into small chunks to put on her children's plates. She spoke about a Christian neighbor of theirs who would share her meager food with the kids when their mom was working late. After she painted the picture for us, she finished with "I know what it's like to be poor."

I should mention to you that even though Evelyn has medical issues that prevent her from eating beans, she ate a rice dish every night for supper this week.

Out of all the people around the table that night, Evelyn had first hand knowledge of what we were trying to experience. We hoped to better understand what it meant to eat what the poor eat everyday.

Evelyn already knew.

And she did it again anyway.

Would you? If you had grown up with the crushing weight of poverty? Most people who break free swear they will never go back there again.

I think Evelyn heard her Savior's call to come and follow Him - and she did.

Awesome faith. What a great heart for God and for the poor. I LOVE NEW HOPE!

Tonight we'll meet and share our stories and give an offering that will go directly to care for orphans and those in critical need through Amazima Ministries

We're investing in God's work. Join us. Tonight at 7PM.

33 "Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. 34 It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

Luke 12:33-34 (MSG)

Will we eat?

I've never gone hungry.

Ever.

For my entire life I've been taken care of by parents or had the wherewithal to buy food for me and my family.

That's not to say there weren't times when I ate something other than what I wanted to. But I've never been hungry, or had to eat something I would rather not for more than a meal or two.

One of the things this week is causing me to come to grips with is the grinding nature of eating pretty much the same thing day, after day, after day.

We live in a place where we ask each other "what do you feel like eating?"

In lots of places, they ask "will we eat?"

day three of rice and beans week and already I'm amazed at the strength of the poor, who given so little, have so much to teach us

For He satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry He fills with good things.
Psalm 107:9

We'll Hold the Ropes - A Week eating rice and beans

"I will venture to go down, but remember that you — you who remain at home — must hold the ropes." -William Carey, father of modern missions

I can remember the first time I heard about what God was doing in Uganda through Katie Davis. Admiration and amazement came to me in equal amounts. How this young woman would see caring for orphaned children in Africa as better than life here in the USA and then how in the world was she able to do it?

Once I spent some time reading her blog and hearing her stories, it was obvious that God was using this woman to teach a lot of others about living for Him. Amazima Ministries is the organization that grew out of her desire to love and care for these children. One Sunday School class at New Hope, led by John and Amy Anderson, started supporting the work there and last year all of New Hope joined in a week long focus on it. Many of us decided to forgo our regular meals for 5 days in favor of eating rice and beans. For most of the world, that's their staple diet. The idea was to identify with them,and then take the money we would have spent on our normal food and eating out and give it to Amazima.

We're doing it again. Bunny and I ate rice for breakfast and lunch today and we'll eat rice and beans for supper tonight. Is it a HUGE sacrifice? No.

But is it one of those decisions you make that can cause you to focus on Jesus, His work, and the "least of these"? Yes, I believe it can.

What you can do. Pray for us. And if you are moved to support the work of Amazima, great.

Not many of us will ever be able to care for orphans in Africa in person.

But we can hope the ropes for those who are.

We're In the Paper

From It's Like Herding Cats - A pastor's life

Take a look. And don't forget to come to supper and the concert tomorrow beginning at 6:30PM

Three Days In...

"So is this week (eating rice and beans) doing what you thought it would do?" asked the reporter from the Daily News.

If by that you mean that every time I whine about eating rice and beans I remember those who didn't make a choice to eat them...

Then yes. This week is doing exactly what I hoped it would do.

I came upon this passage today -

23 Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him.24 But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature.25 No one needed to tell him what mankind is really like.
John 2:23-25 (NLT)

Fact is, we are so out of sync with what God values that it's very difficult to approach poverty with the heart of Jesus. We need to get slapped. We need to be shaken. We need to be made to awaken to the human cost of our indifference.

So if this week does that, I will end it thanking God and waiting for orders.

Lunch - Day 1 of Worth the Sacrifice

The bags of herb seasoned rice that our Child2Child girls put together to help us along is what I had for lunch today. Pretty darn good fare with a little pepper sauce.

Bunny added 3 cups of water and a little olive oil and with the whole bag of ingredients it cooked up perfect.

Buy a bag and try it out. Money goes to Amazima, you encourage the girls in mission action, and you stay on your rice and beans course (Worth the Sacrifice)

Hand, Meet Forehead

Was trying to explain to a friend why we at New Hope were doing the "Worth the Sacrifice" week (Jun 21-26) of eating as the orphans in Uganda do, and this post rolled into my Google Reader.

You should read the whole thing, but here's a sample.


Neue Ministry | Join the Conversation

“Would you rather your children have grown up in Uganda or in America?”

That was one of the questions David Kuo asked at our dinner with leadership development students while we were in Uganda. A man who is a Ugandan national, a father, a pastor, and leader answered without hesitation,

“Uganda.”

Some of us seemed a little shocked. America. It’s the land of opportunity. It’s safe. You can get medical attention. At least three meals a day.

“Exactly,” the man said. “You know where your next meal is coming from. You have jobs. Paychecks. In Uganda, you may not know where your next meal comes from. You have no money. You have nothing to depend upon but God. And i would rather have my children rely on God more than i would want them to be distracted by everything else.”

Amen. Our adults need to live that way too.

Worth the Sacrifice

When I became a pastor, I dreamed of serving a church that wanted to change the world.

I am.

New Hope has been challenged to swap our normal food for five days to experience in a small way what the orphans of Africa experience. The first week's presentation featured John Anderson's frank testimony of how God had changed his heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. Sunday's testimony was from Missy Hickman who described what God had done in the life of their family through their adopted son, Levi, who was born in Liberia.

This summer, New Hope is kicking the devil in the teeth.

*Child2Child - gathering funds for other children's needs around the world
*Community Garden - raising vegetables to help the poor
*Mission Trip to Kentucky - repairing homes and teaching children about Jesus
*Soles4Souls - our older girls (Niara) are asking the church to leave worship barefoot and give their shoes to the poor
*Worth the Sacrifice - eating as the orphans eat and giving the money we save to them

That takes care of June :)