A friend of ours works with a christian non profit that focuses on providing clean water to impoverished communities. The following video was produced to challenge us all in how we spend our money and particularly how God feels about our abundance as North Americans. I like the way it contextualizes the issue of Christians and poverty. I think it tries to not make us feel guilty because of God's material blessings in our lives, but instead challenges us to how we could use our abundant resources to glorify God by serving the least in our world. Take a look at the following link www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V00260
Happy 11th Anniversary Dara...I love you!
Letters of the heart are often private, meant for an audience of one. Yet, tonight I want to give you the public adoration you deserve. Our wedding was public intended to seal a commitment in front of our closest friends and family. I want to reaffirm that same commitment to you tonight, hoping that this is only the beginning of our lives together. Earlier this year, we almost separated, me for heaven and you remaining on earth. We got a glimpse of what living apart would mean, and it almost broke our hearts. God has woven us together as one, three chords binding us with the love, hope, and strength of the beautiful spirit of Christ himself. This chord has been tested and has proven itself strong by the grace of our Lord.
You are my hero. I have watched you grow into a woman I can only hope my daughters will strive to become. Yesterday, Hannah said out of nowhere, “When I grow up I want to be just like my mommy and daddy.” It was a quote I will always treasure. Her aspiration is noble, because your humble endurance is a quality rare in this world today. You walk in complete authenticity even when it often causes insecurity. Like a woman going directly to the well to drink, you draw your strength directly from Jesus. You pray with the faith of a child, and as a result I have watched God respond to your requests. I can almost see His face smile each time you go before Him and cry out your heart. Your trust in Him only grows, and you allow Him to mold you into His image. Your heart for others continues to deepen as a result.
Yet, more than anything I am simply in love with you, Dara, the girl I met in college who boldly asked me out to our first lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Newport Beach. You walk with a style that others follow. Your quiet confidence puts us all at ease, and your beauty radiates from the inside out. You melt us all with your smile and the sincerity of your words. Everything you do is beautiful, and all who know you adore you.
Like a silly school boy, tonight I want to confess my love for you as we celebrate our anniversary apart. I want you to know how special I think you are and how I long to be with you for the rest of my life. I feel it stronger than I did eleven years ago, because then it was only a hope of the future, but today my love is based upon eleven years of heaven with you.
So for the next 50 years, I pray the following: I want to listen more than I talk (which seems to be much easier now without a voice). I want to hold your hand more. I want to look into your eyes more. I want to pray together more. I want to laugh more and cry more. I want to dream more and reflect more on the abundant lives God has given us. More than anything, I want to be the partner that God fashioned me to be. I want to encourage you to become the person God had in mind when He gave you to all of us. I want you to be full of joy because you profoundly experience God’s love for you, and I want to be the main instrument of that love.
Happy anniversary my love! I pray that your time in Guatemala is full of adventure and that you continue to experience the sweet taste of God’s love for you. You are not alone. I can’t wait to be with you soon, but please know that although we are apart we are closer than ever because we sit squarely in the will of our Lord as one. I love you.
Pete
Vanguard University responds to the poor in El Salvador
However, last week I witnessed the amazing opportunity that exists with short term teams. Like most, these students had to raise all of the funds to make the trip. But this year, they trusted God to not only provide for their travel expenses, but for enough money to construct a house in the community of San Jose El Naranjo. Their heart was to come alongside the work of the Jerusalem church and the ministry of ENLACE. They were willing servants who came to serve and to bring encouragement with their finances, energy, words, and attitudes.
The Jerusalem church is in its second year of building houses for some of the poorest in their communities. Last year there were 10 recipients, and the church is hoping to build at least 10 a year for years to come. Each house costs roughly $5K, inexpensive by our standards. Yet, you should have witnessed the joy of the woman, Sonia who received this house last week. Sonia is a single mother of three who struggles to make ends meet by selling tamales and washing clothes. The church and the community had selected her through a prayerful and stringent process. Sonia could not believe that God had provided this house to her, and she was astonished by the outpouring of love shown by the “North Americans.” Her perception of God and the church was forever changed by the building of this home.
Churches like Jerusalem are shining examples of the influence a church can have when it serves its neighbors sacrificially. We as North Americans have an unbelievable opportunity to come alongside such churches in our own country and around the world. God will provide resources for more than just our travel expenses. These students demonstrated that God wants to pour out His love in tangible ways through short term teams. The people of San Jose El Naranjo were incredibly encouraged by both the financial contribution Vanguard students made and by their open hearts to build relationships that will sustain the long term work in the community. I can’t wait for the next team….
You can view photos of the trip at the following link: Vanguard Mission Trip 2007
A friend recommended a great article on short term mission teams written in ChristianityToday by an African pastor. Read it below…
|Nairobi Chapel pastor on mission trips, and working well across cultures.
What happened to change Nairobi Chapel from a dwindling group of discouraged whites to a vibrant, international, church-planting fellowship?They began to pray that God would show them what to do, and they sought new leadership to help them reach the African students around them. That's how I got to come to the Chapel. I was finishing my studies at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology.
Any given Sunday maybe ten, sometimes only four people were there! They probably figured, "He can't do much damage."
read more . . .Posted on May 1, 2007
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Another one left for "los estados unidos" last month.....
“Oh yeah, Jorge, he left for the U.S. about a month ago. We heard he made it and has already found a job. He and his family just could not make it and he had the opportunity to leave….We don’t know how long he’ll be gone, but it is really hard on his wife and four little girls. It’s always hard when we loose someone good like him to the States….The whole community feels it, especially when it is getting harder and harder, almost impossible, to make it (economically) here in this country.”
..Words like a dagger in my heart. I have already been dealing with huge discouragement after the shooting incident, and to hear that Jorge left to the States was a reminder of the extreme challenge that El Salvador faces.
I had this conversation with a community leader on Saturday while visiting El Tinteral with a visiting mission team (El Tinteral a community that ENLACE has worked with since the earthquakes of 2001). In a small canton (village) called Cambio (change), ENLACE has supported the efforts of the local church to transform a disaster relief area on the side of a hill into a community with block homes, running water, electricity, and most importantly a solid church. It has been amazing to watch this group of people relentlessly serve each other to build the type of community which demonstrates Jesus’ active love. ENLACE has helped build 200 homes in the area, and during the construction a few of the community members learned the trade. After this project, a number of them, including Jorge (I’ve changed the name), continued working with us (through a local partnering non-profit group) to do construction in three other communities.
Jorge has a smile that radiates, and works harder than I’ve ever seen. The work of mixing cement, laying bricks, and bending metal with old tools is grinding, especially in the intense heat of the day. A normal schedule for a construction worker in El Salvador is 15 days on, 2 or 3 days off, and then 15 days back on. It isn’t uncommon for such a worker to only see his family a few times each month. Work comes in waves, so when projects are available guys like Jorge have to jump at the chance to make $7-$10 a day (a very good rate by local standards). Yet, even Jorge who had decent work found it almost impossible to continue to provide for his family.
I’ve been with his family a number of times, played with his girls. They are precious, reminding me so much of Hannah and Kaya. Their family tries to serve in the community, and Jorge has continued to work to provide. The decision to leave them behind has been agonizing for him. The journey to the States is no safe bet and carries a $6,000 price tag to pay off the coyote. Usually paid with a loan, if Jorge doesn’t make it, or gets deported, he will have to repay this amount for years to come. Also, from what I heard he passed through the Arizona desert to cross the border (through extreme temperatures), and then found his way to Los Angeles.
What continues to haunt me is the fact that I completely understand why Jorge left. It feels like in every community I visit the only examples of economic advancement come from people who have traveled to the U.S. for work. The local economy suffers to such a degree that it almost becomes the only logical choice should someone want to climb out of poverty. At this point, such a decision often seems more like one between life and death. I have heard statistics as high as 500 Salvadorans leaving per day to look for work in the States. Last year over $3 billion was sent back to Salvadorans from relatives working in the U.S. People are not leaving because they hear they can get a “free ride” in the States. Jorge left because he tried every other option he could before taking the biggest chance of his life. I’d like to say that if I were in his shoes I’d stay with my family, but I really think I’d probably do the same thing he did.
The topic of illegal immigration is a hot one, so hot that few politicians, leaders, and even pastors want to really discuss it. Yet, we are all forced to deal with it because it is a glaring reality. The age of globalization has arrived, and nations are more interconnected than ever before. I try to listen to both sides of the debate in the States and understand each argument, but I cringe when I hear people easily dismiss immigrants as parasites and cry out that they “should just go back home.” Yet, I also hate the dynamic created by illegal immigration here in El Salvador as so many great people like Jorge leave. I don’t pretend to have any answers to such a complex issue. I do know that as a few get wealthier in our new economy, millions are being left behind.
My question is to us Christians, specifically us in North America. What does God feel towards the immigrants coming from El Salvador? Notice, my question is not “What does God feel about immigration?” I think that God cares very little about issues abstracted from people. I want to know what He feels for Jorge. Is he mad at Jorge for leaving? Does he think of him as a “wetback” who needs to just go home? Will God stop communing with Jorge now that he wears the new scarlet letter that starts with an “I” for illegal? or… Does God love the living daylights out of Jorge? Does God understand the intense difficulty he is going through? What if Jorge prayed to God for protection as he crossed the U.S. border? Did God turn his ear and say “no” because he broke a law? How many of us have asked God to protect us on our vacation to the lake but have broken speed limits a thousand times along the way?
Here’s my point. Regardless of the politics surrounding immigration, we as Christians need to seek God’s heart for people above all else. If we really feel that God loves all people in their present condition, than we should be instruments of that same love. This does not mean that we should condone illegal immigration any more than we should condone illegal drug use, addiction to caffeine, cheating on taxes, gossip, or the use of pornography. Yet, as this issue of immigration continues to heat up, we as Christians are called to only one position, love. Remember, Jesus came to each of us when we were in the middle of our wretched state. We were not just “illegal,” but destined for hell when God knocked on our door. I hear young Christians often talk romantically about going out to reach the nations for Christ as missionaries. I applaud such enthusiasm. Yet, between12-20 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S. today, representing “the nations.” Imagine the opportunity that exists if North American Christians would love and serve this population? What if we washed their feet rather than just letting them cut our grass, harvest our food, build our homes, and clean our kitchens? The impact would be felt around the world.
Jorge is in Los Angeles right now. I guarantee you that he is scared. I guarantee you that he misses his beautiful little girls. I pray that Christ will visit him in the form of one of us and offer him the same gift we have been given, unconditional love. I pray that a Christian will soon knock on Jorge’s door….
the church is not God's plan B
This last week I had the privilege of attending ENLACE's staff training for three days. After the long road of recovering from the shooting, it was healing for me to hear again all that first drew me to work with the amazing team that makes up this ministry. In the trainings we studied various Biblical texts to seek God's heart for the body of Christ, "The Church." Text after text, both Old and New testament, clearly showed us that God has always desired for His people (first with Israel and then with the new testament church) to first love Him, but then to bless all people through actively demonstrating lives redeemed by God and communities living out authentic love for others.
This is not easily done in any context, but in El Salvador it is especially difficult as churches here have been marked by rivalry and division. Furthermore, the injustice in this country continues to tear at the fabric of families and communities. The average Salvadoran is required to expend so much energy to simply survive, that the thought of simply serving one's neighbor for nothing in return seems foolish. Even many of the evangelical churches here see service to their community as good, but not essential. Instead a priority is placed on preaching, church attendance, and numeric growth. Sadly, just like back home, the churches and pastors with the biggest attendance are looked to as leaders simply because of the apparent “success” of their ministries.
So here we at ENLACE work in four communities, serving 10 churches. Compared to similar ministries we are dinky. Yet, all I heard from Ron Bueno, our executive director, was that ENLACE is God’s work. When Ron says this it is not a cliché. I have seen our organization try to be one that simply seeks to hear God and then to respond to Him together. And what God continues to reveal to our team is that He wants nothing more than for His church to fall in love with Him so deeply that we all will love others in the manner that Jesus loves us. God continues to confirm that the reason we focus on the poorest in El Salvador is because they are very close to His heart. He continues to reaffirm that when a body of believers will trust Him together and will seek to transform their communities through love and service, He will be glorified.
As hard as this trial continues to be for me personally, I have to hold on to the hope that God is doing amazing things in His body. He loves us all so much that He will allow us to endure hardship to become the beautiful bride He created us to be. I really encourage you to check out a new series ENLACE has started on its blog explaining “Why the Church..” written by Ron Bueno our Executive Director. You can read them on the website www.enlaceonline.org.