Our Church on Mission
Showing posts with label Global Mission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Global Mission. Show all posts
Where old servants go...
His name is Carlos. I met him in a small town in the Dominican Republic, alongside the border with Haiti.
I was there participating in food distribution to families in need. I found out that in that part of the world a small sack of rice and a container of cooking oil goes a long way. We came to a small wooden house where in the back, in the dark, under a mosquito net, laid an old man. He had been sick for a while. He was half naked and very thin, almost fading away.
I reached under the net to hold his hand. He sandwiched my hand among his. As we began to talk I found out that he had worked for a long time serving the Lord. Years ago he had helped build churches. He taught Sunday school. He was a deacon and a preacher. He shared the story of having a machine that made blocks, cement blocks, and how this equipment almost killed him one early morning when he was making blocks to build a church.
Now in the twilight of his life, he was laying in bed, physically ailing and lonely for company. As he spoke, in my mind I saw the faces of people whom I have known to be servants in years past. They had names such as George, Dois, Jack, Hop, Helen, Dick, Tom, Ruth and Ben. These were the names of men and women who were now in, or close to, the twilight of their lives, and I wondered where they were.
These were men and women who built churches, directed their construction, fret about the roofing and tiles and the chairs and the carpets. These were people who fought to get the right permits for the construction and agonized about getting the right workers and the right equipment to do the job. At the height of their influence and capacity, members of churches trusted them to make the right decisions.
When they spoke, people listened, and ground was broken, money was spent, and workers were hired. They supervised the constructions while also teaching Sunday school and leading in mission and evangelistic endeavors. They were giants. Now some were sidelined by age, infirmities or by the misunderstandings of new generations that looked at them with misgivings, without recognizing or valuing their contribution in the past.
Their fate somewhat reminiscent of the apostle Paul during the last few days of his life here on earth: in a dungeon, cold, sick and longing for company. As I was leaving, I asked Carlos if he could tell me something he learned, that could help me in my journey. He paused for a few seconds and the said: "...God is good.. all the time..."
How do we honor such men and women? How do we honor their contribution? I am not completely sure. One thing I'm doing, however, is to contact those who came to my mind when I was visiting Carlos. I am letting them know that I am grateful for their contribution and their example to me and the privilege it has been for me to work alongside them.
I want to do that before they all fade away.
Haiti Relief
Point Harbor Community Church has established a link with leaders of the evangelical churches in the city of San Juan, in the western part of the Dominican Republic. They tell us that after the first 72 hours, the most urgent need will be medical supplies. The Dominican army is straining to contain a deluge of refugees. They are only allowing into the country those crossing the border from Haiti needing medical attention. Our current plans are to meet the brothers from San Juan in Santo Domingo. We will acquire there all kinds of medical supplies, load them into a truck, and drive them 150 miles southwest, to the city of Jimani. Once there we will determine how to distribute them. Option one will be to drive the supplies across the border. If this is not possible then we will distribute supplies in the border cities of Jimani and Elias Pinas.
Colombia 2009
In Armenia, Colombia. Met with Iglesia Alianza Cristiana y Misionera de Colombia, (Christian Missionary Alliance of Colombia), or CMAC. We met with 12 pastors/leaders, including the President, Dr. Humberto Guzmán, and the Vice President and the Directors of their 5 main regions. We heard about CMAC and their work in Colombia and shared about ICM. CMAC has been in Colombia for 85 years. They have about 30,000 members, distributed in over 300 churches, and a weekly attendance of about 40,000 and have 700 pastors. They have a plan called Vision 11/100 thru which they are working toward the evangelization of 60,000 by the year 2011.
We heard stories of the impact of the church in that war-torn area: churches where guerillas, para-military and government soldiers all would come to worship together under one roof.
We also heard about large numbers of believers meeting in small groups in their churches. We shared about the Mini Bible College as an ideal tool for the nurturing of believers.
Brazil 2009
This church was built with the assistance of International Cooperating Ministries, or ICM. ICM has over 3,000 churches built or under construction in more than 40 countries around the world.
Amazone
There are 185 million people in
Amazon Basin
The
River Communities ----
Given that the nature of the environment in northern
Ecuador 2008
With Diego Trujillo, the leader of E-3 of Ecuador, a national component of the larger worldwide E-3 that focuses on 
Equipping the Church, Evangelizing and Establishing the Kingdom. We traveled to an area outside Guayaquil called “Los Angeles”, where a Baptist medical mission carries out its work. Many houses are here, albeit small by our standards, and growth seems to have momentum, evidenced by the many constructions and workers. A congregation here owns land on which they would like to build. They are holding services now each Sunday in a home where attendance is limited.
A pastor's grief
h's construction.
A Church in Colombia
A beautiful church in Colombia. The current attendance is 250 and has grown over 100 since the church was finished in late October. It was dedicated on December 30. This is a beautiful church with lovely woodwork throughout the windows and doors. The floor is cement but they plan to put tiles. The design is conducive to airflow. The construction supervisor became a Christian and a member during the construction. The 4 month of construction helped them grow in their faith. They organized among themselves in groups to work day and night, each with specific responsibilities to secure labor, food, etc and to complete their tasks. Everyone, from 12 years and up, was involved in one of the groups. The whole community got involved also. They would do it again if they had to. This is narco-traficant territory and the region of “black eagle” one of the most feared paramilitary chief.
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