one simple idea

The best ideas are the simplest, it seems to me. Most of the things we enjoy in life are the result of someone taking complex ideas and narrowing them down to the simplest solution. They are the result of people asking questions like "I wonder if we could bring light into this room at night without having to light a fire?" or "Wouldn't it be great if we could find a way to communicate to others and actually hear their voice?" Even our modern inventions are simple ideas that are worked through a matrix of complex solutions. "How could we make a device that is a phone, a computer, a camera and connects to the internet?" is an example.

The simple ideas with profoundly accessible solutions are the most brilliant.

This is why I love the work of Global Action in India. The ideas they employ that drive the organization are very simple. The idea is to connect the resources of believers around the world who God has blessed with Christian ministry taking place in the most desperate parts of the earth. The idea is to connect believers that have the ability to give but don't know where, to the beleivers in third world countries who know how to do the work but don't know where to find the resources.

This is how the Motipur Hope Center was started. Lars Dunberg, the founder of Global Action, met Daniel Suban, the Indian pastor who had a dream of taking care of orphaned children from the streets of India in the rural setting of Motipur, far from the horriblly populated slums that exist in every major city here. Dunberg liked the idea, and he could see that Daniel was a good leader and had the passion necessary for the job. So Daniel provided the ability and the passion, and Lars and Global Action provided the resources and organization.

The result just three years later is a church, a soon to be clinic, a school and a Chidren's Home for about 50 beautiful children who have been pulled off the streets of Lucknow, Kalkota and Delhi. The children here are taken care of by house parents who love them with the love of Christ and teach them to read and write and to learn English. The future plan is to teach them a vocational skill and to train them to excell to the degree of one day furthering their education. The newly constructed church is the only Christian comminty for many hundreds of miles among a huge poplutation of Muslims and Hindu.

When Michael Butler and I traveled here two years ago, we both felt that there was a great purpose for us seeing this Hope Center. We knew that God wanted us to spread the message and to encourage our church and other churches to join in with Global Action to accomplish the task. The school was up and running, but to finish the job Western Christians needed to help shoulder the load. Since that time our church and other churches in our area and Christian businessmen and women from Oklahoma City have contributed around $50,000 toward this work. With that investment Global Action has been able to construct 6 homes for the children.

This week new land was purchased to begin construction for a clinic that will provide medical care for hundreds of thousands of people in the region who currently have no access to a hospital or doctor.

One of the most remarkable things our team has witnessed here happened on the second afternoon we were in Motipur. Women from the Muslim village near by came to the Hope Center to express their gratitude to this Christian ministry for building the clinic. They came bearing gifts of flower necklaces. They sat in front of us for several minutes and sang song after song of joy and appreciation. Lars addressed them and told them that we are building this clinic because we love them and Jesus loves them.

The fame of the name of Christ is beginning to penetrate the spiritual bondage of this dark land.

One can see the effectiveness of a simple idea in a single blanket. A couple of years ago, Sheba Suban, the daughter of Pastor Daniel, was in a village near Motipur talking to the children. One of the little girls, who had no clothes to wear other than rags her family had wrapped around her body told Sheba that when she came back she would like her to bring a "suiter".

Sheba wondered what she might have meant by a "suiter", when it occurred to her that she was using the English word "sweater". When the profound meaning of that question dawned on her, it broke her heart. The winters in this part of India, at the base of the Himalaya mountains gets very cold. Over 10,000 people last year in this area alone died of exposure. The girl was asking for something to keep her warm.

To Global Action the solution to this was very simple. Tell Western Chrisitans that for only five bucks, the price of a venti Latte from Starbucks, they could buy a blanket and save a life.

This year Global Action has raised close to 50,000 dollars to send 10,000 blankets to India. Our group was the first group to begin the distribution.

I have had many great experiences here in India. But what I experienced at that distribution stands out as one of the most touching. Our group was welcomed as honored guests to the village. The elder spoke a few words and then Pastor Daniel proclaimed the message of Christ. Our team of Americans sat one side of the circle, and the villagers on the other side. Christians on one side and Muslims on the other. Americans on one side, Indians sitting on the opposite. Two groups from opposite ends of the earth, separated for most of our lives by a seeming insurmountable ethnic, religious, socio-economic and cultural gap. In between were laid the blankets, bought by American Christians for the sake of distributing them out of Christ's love. As Pastor Daniel spoke, the people nodded in approval and appreciation for the expressions of love and the proclamation of the gospel. And then the two groups were brought together as the gifts of the blankets were exchanged. One by one our group came forward and met villagers in the middle and wrapped the blankets around their shoulders and told them that Jesus loved them. They did not hear or comprehend our words but the felt our touch and the warmth of the blanket. They looked in our eyes and expressed their appreciation and joy. In that moment the incredible gulf that had separated us was bridged. We were brought together by a simple 5 dollar blanket. But much more profoundly we were brought together by the love of Christ.

Such a simple idea. A 5 dollar blanket. Five dollars that most of us would spend in a day and not give a second thought to it. A simple blanket much like the stacks of blankets most of us have in our closets at home. But to the people living here that blanket represents survival in the winter.

Such a simple idea. But the simplest ideas are often the ones that change the world.

light in the darkness

"I've been here four times now" my new friend from Cuba tells me as we are walking away from the Delhi slum, dodging piles of cow refuse, trash and potholes in the dirt alleyways. We have just left one of 8 ministry centers for children that is situated right smack dab in the middle of a glorified garbage dump that is home to hundreds of thousands of India's poorest families in what is referred to as the Delhi slum. If you have seen the movie, you would recognize this as a place of ministry for the "slumdogs". Each day hundreds of children are cared for, prayed over, fed and taught how to read write and speak English- a language that may help them to find a job some day. They are taught these things as they learn the scriptures and as they experience the abundant and joyous love of Christ.

My Cuban friend tells me that everytime she comes to this place she feels the sting. The sting of pain that comes to a mother's heart as she holds little babies who are hungry and have nothing to eat. "I have five children" she says to me with her eyes tearing up, "I breast fed all of them and always fed them many times a day before they even had a chance to cry".

She goes on to explain why it is such an important journey for her.

"I come back here because I believe this is a part of the abundant life too- to come to places like this and to see the poverty and reach out and touch it and to let it sting. I never want to forget that their are little babies in places like this that are hungry and looking for their mommies and they are nowhere to be found."

"I never want for it to not sting- because that would mean my heart has grown cold."

I know what she means. The sting of pain that is felt when one first experiences the overwhelming poverty of this slum is one that I believe comes from the heart of Christ. This certainly is a place that Christ had in mind when he said "if you have not done it to the least of my children you have not done it unto me..."

For any person who would ever doubt the love of Christ and the impact of His work, this place is a shining example of how light penetrates darkness. There is no darkness as dark as this darkness. And there is no love that shines brighter than in this place. It shines brightly in the hearts of the two Indian believers who are leading the ministry. Allen and Vaneta have lived here with their young family for the past 12 years for the sole purpose of taking care of the children of the slum and to reflect the love of Christ.

And they are doing this by literally living in the garbage dump with their small children, raising them alongside the untouchables in a place that most of us would not want to bring our children for more than a few hours at a time for fear of what they might be exposed to.

Their family sleeps and eats in the rooms attached to the ministry center. Their children sleep on cots on the floor without running water or any of the conveniences that most middle class children in India enjoy. Though they are both well educated and speak very good English and could find quality jobs almost anywhere else in the world, they choose to live in the Delhi slum for the sake of the gospel.

Sheeba Subhan, our friend from Global Action tells us that several months ago she told Vaneta that she should move away and drive in every day to take care of the children. "You don't have to live here." She told her. Vaneta said without hesitating, "We want to live here. We would never live anywhere else, this is where our heart is. We want to live among the children."

For most of us this kind of choice seems somewhat counter-intuitive. It makes no sense.

But somehow when you are here and experience all the bright smiles against the sadness and all the suffering alongside the joy and when you feel the sting and sense the boundless love of Christ that comes from a ministry like this, it all makes sense. Somehow you understand. they are doing what comes naturally when one is totally immersed in the gospel.

Our time at the ministry ended with a story from a 17 year old girl who has just started working on the staff. Punim first came to the slum ministry as a little girl living on the street at 5 years old. A few years ago she embraced the gospel and became a Christian. She asked for prayers as she continues to reach out to her Hindu family- many of whom are not pleased that she has left their traditional religion and converted to Christianity. She told us of how important the ministry has become to her and how it is like family. She has decided to devote her life to caring for the children of the slum. What makes Pumim's story so remarkable is that she is presently the youngest student of the Glomas training- a kind of seminary equivelent for Indian students who are interested in fulltime ministry.

As I watch this beautiful young girl, face glowing with the joy of the Lord explain how Christ has changed her life in one of the most desperate places on the planet, it occurs to me that truly the gospel is reaching into every dark corner. The sting of pain and misery and hunger is still here.

But there is a light shining in the darkness.

global action

Two weeks ago I went on the Board of Trustees for "Global Action". This is an international missions organization our church is associated with that specializes in partnering with Great Commission Christians to accomplish Kingdom purposes among some of the most marginalized and desperate people groups on the planet. Their objective is not just to help meet physical and economic needs, but also to strengthen the local church in those targeted areas for the proclamation of the gospel. I am a big believer in Global Action because of the their excellent training and sending module and their ability to get resources where they are needed quickly with very little red tape and administrative cost.

Last week some of our Global Action friends were in town to update us on our work in Motipur where we have a home for homeless children called "The Hope Center" and where we are preparing to distribute thousands of blankets before winter sets in. This is a part of the world where people regularly die of exposure and a simple blanket costing only about 5 bucks can literally save a life. As Lars Duberg likes to say, "For the price of a Starbucks coffee you can save a life!"

In two weeks Kyle Pewitt and I will travel to India to tour some of the ministries Global Action has in the cities of Dehli, Lucknow and Calcutta in additoin to our Hope Center in Motipur. We will visit churches and ministries where national believers are giving their lives to help people who literally have nothing to give in return. In addition, we will connect with some of our IMB friends along the way.

Why do we have a minstries in these places? After all, we have lostness and economic and social needs here at home in the states. The simple answer is that these are the places where the worlds lostness is most severe. Christ has called us to proclaim the gospel in every dark corner of the earth. These regions are some of the most unreached areas on the planet. Additionally, these are the places where the poverty and social needs are most desperate and overwhelming. We may not be able to change the whole world, but we can change the world for a few. This is what God calls us to do as long as we have breath and as long as there is at least one person on earth who has not heard the gospel.

For more information on Global Action, click here.