Live Sent

The missional church is a church that understands the Great Commission is not just for those who are called to cross-cultural ministry in a foreign country- but that every single one of us is a part of the cause- that we have all been "sent".   As Kyle Pewitt likes to say, "the missional church is one that lives sent". 

I have seen this mindset acted out in some awesome ways lately in our church family:

• Like the seven people who came to Christ last weekend because friends brought them to worship. 

• Like the host of  volunteers who help each week at the ROC clinic to care for the working poor in our community.

• Like the forty plus Middle Schoolers who spent their spring break caring for our homebound members.

• Like the testimony I heard a few weeks ago in Celebrate Recovery from a woman in our church who came to Christ in prison and told the group that when she walked down the dark cold corridor of concrete and steel afterward she felt more free than at any time in her life.  God is now using her to help set others free.

• Like the many children and pre-school workers who have stepped forward over the past few weeks to volunteer to help us during a transition in our Sunday morming minsitry and in our upcoming VBS. 

• Or like the terrific way God is using our teenagers.  Here is an email I got from one of our church members who was an organizer of the annual Memorial Marathan and wanted me to know how great our teenagers were at the event:

Thank you sooo much for all of your help with getting the teens out to the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon!  I know our Council Road kids are amazing, but it was still so much fun to watch them do their thing! They lined up along Classen, built human pyramids, cheered, hi-fived, and encouraged THOUSANDS of marathon runners yesterday.  They danced, they sang, they hopped a lot!!  They shivered, they jumped in and helped with different tasks in our area, they were a huge blessing!  I watched runners pull out their earbuds so they could hear our kids.  I even saw runners pull out their phones to take pictures of our group WHILE they were running the marathon.  Those teens were a huge inspiration!  We could physically see runners get their second wind as they came past us.  And the kids did all of this for a solid 4 hours!  Our teens are awesome!!!

One thing they did in particular at the end - there was an older, out of shape woman who was running all alone.   Everyone else had already run past.  She was very tired, but she was pushing through the pain just the same.  A large group of our kids ran down the road and joined her.  A huge smile came over her face when she saw the teens running to her.  They ran with her and encouraged her all the way to the checkpoint.  I was so proud to say that those were our Council Road Kids!!

Our area was a huge success because of each and every one of those kids that got involved.

Opportunity in Haiti

Over the past few weeks I've had several people ask me about opportunities to help in Haiti.   There is actually a short window of opportunity for anyone who wants to make the trip this summer.  Here are the details:

WHERE? HAITI

WHAT? Thousands of Haitians are homeless and displaced due to the earthquake. Refugee camps, tent cities and newly created villages are growing along the Haitian border with Dominican Republic as people flee chaotic and violent Port-au-Prince. Student teams will be involved in community development including developing 'Kid Zones" to bring a sense of normalcy to the lives of Haitian children in refugee camps, orphanages, children's homes, schools, and villages. Flexibility is a must. Ministry may include recreation, sports, music, English and math tutoring, art therapy, manual labor, and more. These activities will pave the way for missionaries to work in these villages and schools in the future.

WHO? Christian students are needed to do the work.  College students and young adults are encouraged to apply. Participants must have completed their junior year in high school in order to serve. We prefer students to come with teams (large or small) with an adult leader.

WHEN? 2 week assignments -- Saturday to Saturday, beginning May 15, 2010  Teams of 25 (maximum) will be deployed each week (beginning May 15)

May 15 -- May 29
May 22 - Jun 5
May 29 - Jun 12
Jun 5 - Jun 19
Jun 12 - Jun 26
Jun 19 - Jul 3
Jun 26 - Jul 10
Jul 3 - Jul 17
Jul 17 -- Jul 31

HOW MUCH? $975 plus airfare (approx $400-700) and insurance ($28)
Field cost includes food, housing, local transportation and border crossing costs.

A $100 deposit per person is required in order to hold spaces.

Your spot is not confirmed without payment. Deposits are Non-Refundable and Non-Transferable. For May/June weeks the balance of $875 is due May 1st.  For project in July/August a partial payment of $475 is due May 1st and the remaining balance of $400 is due June 1st.  Any balance that is not paid by 15 days following the due date will be canceled and will forfeit your deposit. Travel from Santo Domingo to base camp provided and included in cost.

HOW MANY? Maximum of 25 students/adult leaders per week. A team from a college, church or BCM could be 5 students, or 12, or 15, or you could fill the entire 25.

HOW LONG? 2 week assignment. Saturday arrival, Saturday departure. (local travel challenges make it impossible to grant exceptions)

TRAVEL? Valid passport required. Must be valid for 6+ months beyond the date you return from Haiti For coordination of team arrivals and departures, all students and teams will use designated travel agent. Airfare (approx $400-$700) and insurance ($28) are not included in $975 cost.
Travel to daily ministry site in Haiti provided and included in cost. 

HOUSING? Students will be housed in a secure, fenced compound in the Dominican Republic on the border with Haiti. Girls will stay in the house (electricity, running water). Guys will be housed in large tents on the grounds surrounding the house.

FOOD? Three meals a day will be provided for all participants.

HEALTH? No inoculations are required for entry into DR or Haiti but CDC recommends several. See the CDC website for travel health and immunization information.

SCHEDULE? Arrive in Santo Domingo, DR on Saturday - travel 3-4 hours to compound on Haiti border

Sunday - orientation, training and preparation
Monday-Friday -- spend each day working in Haiti (teams of 8-10)
Return to DR each night for sharing, worship, prayer, study, preparation
Saturday - Sunday -- refresh, relax, restore, refuel, retool...
Monday - Friday -- spend each day working in Haiti (teams of 8-10)
Return to DR each night for sharing, worship, prayer, study, preparation
Saturday - travel back to Santo Domingo. Leave for home.

TO REGISTER AND FOR MORE INFO VISIT gohaiti.org or Call (888) 421-4408
Please note: Register early for a guaranteed spot!

Two Very Big Reasons Easter is Important

This coming Sunday is the one of the most siginicant days of the year for every Christian for a couple of really good reasons.

1.  The most obvious reason of course is that Easter Sunday is that day on the Christian calendar that we all celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.  The fact that billions of Christians around the world will be celebrating the occasion all at the same time I see as a powerful demonstration of the global dimensions of our faith.  Since the beginnings of the Christian church in the first century the resurrection event has been celebrated this time of year as the central most important fact of human history.  In fact in the early church tradition Easter Sunday was often the day that large numbers of converts were baptized and became a part of the church.

After the resurrection of Christ, the church began the tradition of meeting on the first day of the week instead of the seventh (sabbath) day as a way of celebrating His resurrection (Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:1-2)  So it is perhaps the most important date on the Christian calendar for all those reasons- because of the global nature of the celebration, the incredible history of Easter and because His death and resurrection are of ultimate importance to us.

2.  A second less obvious reason it is so important is that it is a great opportunity for witness.  People who don't otherwise have an interest in Christianity will have an interest this weekend just because of the holiday.   I hope you are inviting everyone you meet to come to church this Sunday.   One of the most natural and powerful ways for us to share our faith is to simply invite people to come to church.  To love people to Christ is to open up your life and welcome others into your community.  Most people come to Christ because they have been welcomed in by the infectious love of Christ experienced within biblical community.  As Charles Spurgeon once said "Most people come to Christ not because of a push, but because of a pull." 

A couple of weeks ago I read the incredible story of Mosab Hassan Yousef in the book "Son of Hamas".    Mosab is the son of the spiritual leader of the terrorist group Hamas in the West Bank of Israel in Palestine.  The story is how this radical Muslim converted to Christianity after meeting a group of Christians in Jerusalem.   This community of believers opened up the scriptures to him, befriended him and prayed for him, answered his questions and literally loved him to Christ over the course of several years. 

It was another reminder to me that the Christian church has always grown in this way.  People are not argued into Christianity.  They are not bullied into Christianity.  People are loved into Christianity by the incredible grace of God through His gospel.   It is life on life- one person sharing his or her life with another and bringing people to the best news they could ever hear- that the God of the universe has given His life as a ransom for sin.

The gospel spreads as we love people to Christ.  A great picture of  Christian witness is one blind beggar showing another blind beggar where to find the bread.

A fact that is especially true this weekend.