Category: missions

Five words hung in our gathering place in Nicaragua as we worked with Amigos for Christ the week of Thanksgiving. Each word was designed to be the theme of a day. Throughout the week I realized the unifying power of doing things together.

The first word was ‘play,’ which is interesting since we don’t often associate ‘play’ with ‘kingdom’ activity. The focus was the importance of coming together as followers of Jesus to be a witness to the communities we would serve. The ‘play’ was actually a quite challenging task of climbing Cerro Negro, one of the many volcanoes in Nicaragua.

“We are all going to meet at the top of the volcano!” shouted John Bland, the founder of Amigos for Christ. “If you have to stop and rest, don’t worry… we have no time limit. Even if some of us need to be carried up the mountain, we’re all going to celebrate our accomplishment up there!” John pointed to the top of a solid black mountain. This was our day of play.

John started Amigos for Christ fifteen years ago as he and his family moved from Atlanta to Chinandega. He is a humble guy and a Christ-like leader. When he said we were going to meet at the top of a volcano, none of us argued. We assumed he knew what he was talking about, so we all started climbing… all one hundred twenty of us.

Our team of eighteen from Atlanta joined another seventy from various places in the States. Thirty Nicaraguans also joined the group, the strongest of which stayed at the rear to assist those who struggled on the climb. The temperature approached ninety degrees at the beginning, but thankfully dropped as afternoon clouds moved in. While the fastest made the climb in forty minutes, it took three and a half hours for John’s prediction to come true… one hundred twenty people cheered at the top of Cerro Negro.

We experienced what many of us already knew to be true: ‘play’ can produce ‘teamwork’ and ‘teamwork’ can build ‘family.’ We don’t know how Jesus and the apostles played. But we know they climbed some mountains together; we know they lived in community; and we know they understood unity.

Perhaps Jesus intends such experience for all His followers. Let’s not hesitate to play together in His Name. And let’s join His prayer for God’s children to be one.

“I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” John 17:20-21

Karlyn and I had a great week in Nicaragua. Thanks for your prayers! Our team of eighteen joined about fifty other Americans who came to work along side our Nicaraguan friends in a small village called La Chuscada.

John Bland founded Amigos For Christ after he visited Nicaragua in 1999 in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane. Soon after that trip, he and his family moved to the city of Chinandega and began serving communities in practical ways.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus sometimes asked people when they came to Him. If Jesus asked outlying villages of Nicaragua this question, the answer might be, “We need clean water to drink,” or “We would like our children to have the chance to get a good education.”

The goal of Amigos For Christ is ‘to make Christ more visible.’ La Chuscada received running water in their community last Thanksgiving, and this year we worked with the citizens of the village to build a school. What a sight it was to see two hundred people working together every day to dig foundations, pour concrete, and erect the framing of an eight-room school building!

Until now, school was held in the dirt under the trees. When it rained, plastic was draped above the desks. Two dedicated teachers did the best they could in difficult circumstances, but now they are so excited about the future.

Once again, I feel blessed to witness the Body of Christ loving the way God loves. Even as we do seemingly simple things, Jesus becomes more visible and God is honored.

“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

Our college daughter Karlyn and I are taking fourteen high school students to Nicaragua tomorrow so I won’t write next week. We will be working with an organization called Amigos For Christ to help bring water to a community. We would appreciate your prayers!

We know Jesus told His apostles to go into all the world to make disciples and to baptize and to teach the ways of Jesus. And while it is right to see the Great Commission as an important command, it is also possible to see it as an invitation.

“I am with you!” What beautiful words! Jesus wanted His love and His death and His resurrection to be known beyond Israel. He wanted those who had never even heard of God to know Him. He wanted the pagans, the savages, and the heathen to see His Father… one who loved the world so much that He sacrificed His only Son.

Every apostle except John is thought to have died a violent death in his effort to spread the Gospel; John was exiled on the Isle of Patmos. Would they say it was worth it? I think so… and each would say: “Jesus was true to His word… He was with me.”

He’s with us too!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Kinsey and Jordan are now in Ethiopia for Jordan’s final rotation of his fourth year of medical school. They spent February in Uganda serving with Restoration Gateway.

In 2007, Dr. Tim McCall and his wife Janice followed God’s call and left their medical practice in Waco, Texas to establish a mission in Uganda. On 500 acres on the southern bank of the Nile River, a clinic, a school, a church, and several structures that house over 100 orphans bless a section of the world that has been brutalized by war and disease. On the northern side of the Nile the notorious Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army have terrorized the nation. It is estimated that over the past two and a half decades 30,000-60,000 children have been kidnapped to fight as child soldiers in the LRA. Though many believe Kony is now in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the citizens of northern Uganda still live in fear.

There are 2.5 million orphans in Uganda. One in every five children between the ages of 6 and 12 have no parents. Kinsey and Jordan came to volunteer in the clinic, but soon Kinsey was given the responsibility of reading to children each day and Jordan was named soccer coach. Kinsey is pictured with a baby that had a difficult entry into the world. She and an African nurse had to work on the baby for over five minutes before he began breathing on his own.

On their last day, Dr. Tim asked that anyone who had been blessed by Uncle Jordan and Auntie Kinsey to gather around them in prayer.  Many children laid hands on them and prayed.

Meeting doctors, nurses, and educators from different parts of the world serving children and adults inspired Kinsey and Jordan greatly. The name of the school is Oaks of Righteousness (see Scripture below), as it is believed that God intends to transform the weak and poor into mighty men and women of faith. Kinsey told of the plan on the base of keeping only 10% of the produce from their gardens while giving away 90% to the surrounding communities. God’s Kingdom takes what the world says is ‘ruined’ and ‘impossible’ and establishes ‘hope’ and ‘life’ on the solid Rock of Jesus Christ.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” Isaiah 61:1-3

I rose early each morning in Ecuador and went to our hotel’s small dining room to read and wait for our team to gather for breakfast. John was usually close behind, but instead of reading, he made friends with the two men who prepared our meals. They invited the nine-year-old behind the closed doors of the kitchen to lend a hand. After tables were set and breakfast was prepared, these two friendly waiters sat down and played video games with the boy they called Juanito.

As a father and teacher I often wonder what impacts kids. How does God use life experiences to teach and mold his children? We’re never told any more about the little boy who gave up his lunch so Jesus could feed the five thousand, but I wonder if perhaps Andrew returned the boy’s basket with a word of encouragement. “Look what God did with your two loaves and five fish! If Jesus can do such a miracle with your lunch, just think what he can do with you!” (see John 6)

Each year Pastor Manuel performs a beautiful, simple gesture at the close of our visit. After the work is done he invites us to their family apartment that also serves as an after school ministry for children in the town of Cajabamba. We always form a circle and listen to Pastor Manuel thank us for coming to his country. With the help of a translator, he tells us that we are a part of his family and that we are always welcome in his home. He also asks that we pray for their work in the town and in the mountain villages that many will come to know Jesus and that all would prosper.

This year Pastor Manuel added another little part to his talk that brought tears to my eyes. He pulled John close to him and thanked him for returning to Ecuador. He told Juanito that he is special and that God has a plan for his life. Of course John beamed and as Pastor Manuel finished, a small man hugged a big boy.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea… See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.’” Matthew 18:1-6, 10