Weekend Prayer Getaway

The weekend between Christmas and New Years passed with us having the opportunity to get away to the mountains east of the city.

It was a brief retreat away from the noise of the city, the hustle and bustle, and a chance to see trees, hear birds, and breath cool mountain air.  

We went with our friends and that gave us time to talk about ministry plans for 2009.

Most of all, it was a great place to have a morning quiet time before the rest of the house was up.

Quiet Time with God

I had my morning devotion on this open porch, spending time praying with God about plans for 2009 for our ministry.  

The clean mountain air reminded me of the Appalachian mountains, and the cool morning climate occasionally mentally transported me there.

We have some amazing opportunities in front of us that drive our prayer: invitations from different countries, ministry in Nicaragua, Panama, United States, and inquiries from Columbia, Guatemala, and Venezuela.  

As the Lord opens the doors, we believe He will provide.

We are praying about working with a church planter here in Panama to lauch a new church in 2009 in our walking area.  There are very few evangelical churches in the four neighboorhoods we walk in.  One neighborhood has zero churches.

Playing in the Mountains

Later that morning, we went to a local park with a mountain stream and spent time swimming and having a picnic.

 The coolness of the morning changed into a refreshingly warm day that allowed us to spend it frolicking in a mountain stream.   See our full album at Facebook.

Waterfalls, cool streams, all refreshing sounds before returning to the city.  A little recharged and ready for 2009.

Annual Report 2008

This year has been a success and has been challenging in many ways.

Because of the significant overlap with our work with Evangelismcoach.org, we are branding everything we do as Evangelism Coach International.

This allows Brenda’s work in evangelism training through crafts and Sunday School training to fall under the same branding: from Alaska to Chile.

Together, we did a total of 27 conference events in 3 different countries.

I released my first book for purchase on how to welcome church visitors, (see http://www.welcomechurchvisitors.com) and launched the www.EvangelismBookstore.com. 

I provided coaching for 3 individuals and two churches.

During the summer of 2007, our family was in the US for 6 weeks to raise funds, supporters, and attend the PRMI family camp.

Networking

Most of our time in Panama this year was focused on  networking and giving conferences as they come.  We encountered a huge setback last year when the ministry that invited us here closed down, leaving us to have to rebuild our own network. I’ve been seeking to connect with people who can open doors for us.

We have to adjust from our original plan and we’ve been discerning our next steps.

I continue to work on language acquisition.

Plans for 2009

Our target is to plan for 15 events in Panama, 12 events in the United States, and up to 3 events in other countries in Latin Americas.  We did 30 events last year, but the majority was in the US. 

We seek to grow more events here as our network grows.  We realize this plan may be very aggressive, but it is our dream to minister in this part of the world.

I will continue to pursue language acquisition and certification.

We plan on releasing at least three more e-books, and developing a CD/DVD distribution strategy to repurpose a lot of my teaching to generate revenue from online sales.

It is also our goal develop our support base to a sustainable level that supplements our speaking fees and online sales in the US.

Pioneering for PRMI

Part of my plan is to network for PRMI into Latin America on the back of the networking that we are doing on our own. PRMI material is part of my ethos and I would like to have PRMI teams join me.

Right now it’s a season of networking and introducing the ministry of PRMI through the connections that I build through evangelism training.

Continue to pray for the growth and impact of our work.  We are grateful to our supporters who pray for us and invest in our work.

Poverty in Panama and Calling the Church to Action

Panama is a country where, according to La Prensa (2 Nov 2008), almost 1,000,000 people live below the poverty line.  That’s approximately 33% of the nations population

About 385,000 of those do not have the earning power to even cover the basic human needs for food and shelter.  The reports point out that some earn less than $95 monthly, some under $64 a month.  8 out of 10 in the comarcas (where the tribes live) survive under $36.  Extreme poverty covers 80% of this regions population in 2007 (down from 89% in 2001).

According to the index of Global Competitiveness at the 2008 World Economic Forum, the education system in Panama is ranks 108 of 132 countries evaluated.  Sixth grade math scores were the worst in the Americas.

Implications

Poverty is not unique to Panama.  I’ve seen poverty in other central American countries. I’ve seen images in real life that have seared my soul with such pain that I can’t bear to see it again.  Images that have stayed with me and will not get buried in the recesses of memory.

So many problems come alongside poverty, as well as so many solutions. 

I’ve been reading Walking with the Poor, by Bryant L. Myers.  The book looks at principles and practices of transformational development.

The book explores poverty, causes of poverty, and calls the church to action in engaging broken systems that cause poverty.  He lays forth a strong case that poverty is a “deficit, entanglement, lack of access to social power, powerlessness, and the lack of freedom to grow” (Myers 81).

Poverty is a complicated issue that involves all areas of life — physical, personal, social, cultural, and spiritual.

I live and work in a country where poverty is more visible than the suburban America where I lived before.

The gospel is relevant to people such as these.  But what difference does evangelism make in their life?  Can it lift them out of their poverty?

This is the question that Myers seeks to get at in this book.

For example, he presents a simple chart about solutions to the cause of poverty (p.81).

View of Cause, Proposed response

Poor are sinners, Evangelism

Poor are sinned against, Social Action and justice

Poor lack knowledge, Education

Poor lack things, Relief / social welfare

Culture of the poor is flawed, Become like us / ours is better

Social system makes them poor, Change the system

Certainly poverty has many causes and many possible cures.  It is beyond the task of our family to challenge the system, but rather to focus on Evangelism and helping churches engage. 

Evangelism calls people to personal transformation — to step up into the purposes for which the individual has been created.

Evangelism calls people to societal transformation — to participate in the work of the Kingdom of God. 

The picture is not complete

Evangelism as traditionally practiced by many in Latin America (based on my observation on 10 countries) by itself is not a solution to poverty.  The focus is on salvation for a better life at in eternity.

Get saved and you’ll live forever.  Who wants that?  Everyone!  Life sucks for so many people in this region that a presentation of the sweet by and by is most appealing.

Yet what is missing is what I would call

1.  incorporation into a local church and

2.  obedient service to the world.

There is a vital component to helping people join a local community of faith.  The church can grow and become a vital part of the transforming the local community.  The church can nurture the faith of people and call more people to participate in the work of the God.

The second part  is obedient service to the world.  There is a calling to go back and seek to transform the world and culture, to be salt and light, to work for justice and fight for the oppressed.  The kingdom of God is not about you, but about advancing the reign of God into the world.

What’s your vision?

Organizations abound to serve the poor that do not have a kingdom vision.  Some want to extend their branding (think some Fortune 100 corporations).  Some want to give their profits away because they want to avoid paying taxes.  Some have altruistic motives to simply serve the poor, and based on their worldview, work at the appropriate solution.

Meyer’s book points that your worldview as to the cause of poverty will form your solution.  Mine clearly does.  The article in La Prensa cites that poverty is rooted in lack of education, and thus the solution is for the Government to improve the education system.

Ours

Part of our calling here in Latin America is to help the church get beyond the soul recruitment and to cast a vision that new believers and the church can engage the culture and transform it. 

I’m not talking about political control like the Religious Right’s strategy in the US. 

I’m talking about the church being involved in solutions for poverty, fighting for justice for the oppressed, and proclaiming the Good News.  The church can be the salt and light to to the world and needs to be.  By having a kingdom vision, the church can address the human needs.

The kingdom of God is such an awesome message that we give ourselves to it’s cause.  Think about how you can support us in our vision

Meditation on Romans 10

Romans 10:14-15b:

“How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?”

In this Romans passage, there are three groups of people: the unsaved, the senders and the goers.

Our family are the goers.  We know that we’ve been called to this part of the world.  It is our calling to work cross-culturally and help train Latin American churches in evangelism in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Our vision is clear

Our supporters, both our donors and our prayer warriors, are our senders.  You help us reach the churches and provide the training to reach the nations.  We are but one family.  We can’t reach the world.  However, with your support we can train up intelligent evangelists to reach the nations.

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Adapting to a New Land

Now that the Nashville trip is over, it’s time to start the process of immigration.

We continue to pray for the city and its people. As we settle down and set up our new rhythm of life, we have plenty of opportunity to pray.

Here are some examples:

1. Brenda and I have the time to sit in our apartment or go to the building rooftop where we can see the buildings and we spend time praying for the city.

While the Apostle Paul waited in Athens, he spent time playing tourist, getting to know the city and it’s rhythms.

Leaving our Nets

While in Nashville for an evangelism conference, I listened to a dramatic sermon about Andrew and Peter leaving their nets.

In the drama, Peter was ready to go “at once,” but Andrew was hesitant, trying to talk Peter out of it. As the drama continued, Peter turned reluctant to leave the nets.

What might have happened had they not left their nets that day?

What’s the worst that could happen?

The scene shifts to end of the John’s gospel, with Peter jumping out of the boat, racing to the shore after catching a large number of fish.

What foolishness to jump out of a boat and run to shore. . . . . . propelled by a deep love for the risen Jesus.

If they had not left their net, Peter would not have known this irresponsible reckless abandon of jumping out of a boat in a deep love for Jesus and appreciation for his offer of grace. He would never have known that restoration to ministry. He would not have known of Christ’s deep love for him.

That’s the worst that could happen — to miss out on stepping into God’s call for your life.

Our Family
Our family has made that step – to leave our nets behind because of our love and desire to serve Jesus.

Some may think this was foolishly irresponsible of us – to uproot our family, leave our jobs, sell our stuff and start over again.

Some may think that this was reckless stupidity – to cancel the predictable income from a stable job, give up our corporate insurance benefits and 401k matching funds, to leave the American education system. To sell our house, sell our cars, and leave our local church.

Some may think it was lacking judgment to start all over in a foreign country on the basis of a letter of invitation from a ministry to join their team in a non-paying position. No salary, and no money promised. No health benefits, and no 401k.

Perhaps this is what it seems.

Our choice of where we live will impact who our kids will marry, what friends will be in our life, and what support group we have in our life. How we generate money now will impact our ability to pay for college, give to the Kingdom, and provide an inheritance for the future.

Irresponsible. Reckless. Foolish. Stupid. Lacking in Judgment.

Adjectives used to describe both bad decisions, and the wondrous abandonment of someone in love.

When Peter jumped out of the boat, I can imagine the impulse propelled by seeing Him there after the resurrection – to see his friend again, a friend that he had grown to love and cherish.

We’ve been transformed by grace. My life is different because God revealed His grace to me in Jesus Christ. Our family is who they are because of the undeserved grace of Christ. Because of that grace, we have a profoundly deep relationship with God through Christ, a vibrant relationship with Him.

We are willing to jump out of the boat. Had I not left my nets several years ago to follow Christ, I would never have left these nets in America and stepped into a dream because of our love for Christ. I would have missed out on what God has designed us for and created us for.

What does the future hold? Of course, we don’t know. But we eagerly await what God will unfold for us.

A dream’s ooze.

A dream has formed deep in the heart of our family.

It’s a dream that begins to ooze out of our pores. No matter how hard we fight to keep the dream as the family secret, it just keeps slipping out. We want to keep it secret while we still evaluate the practicalness of achieving it.

What is our dream?
Let it ooze here: to relocate our family from the US to Panama. This is but one piece of a greater dream about why, but that part of the dream is for another day. Ex-pats relocate for any numerous reasons, and our greater dream propels us to make the move.

Yesterday, I was talking with a reporter, being interviewed about teaching kids to be bi-lingual in mono-lingual society. She asked “Are you thinking about moving there?” I said “yup, but don’t tell anyone.” She asked “you’re telling a reporter not to tell anyone?” See what I mean, it just oozes out.

It’s oozing out of us, slipping out in our conversations. So much that I missed a Sunday in church and our friends thought I was in Latin America.

When one finds a passion, a dream, a dream beyond borders and beyond limits, nothing short of achieving it will bring satisfaction deep in the heart. A dream brings clarity, focus, and sense of significance. A passionate life causes the dream to ooze out in conversation.

We’d rather fail than not try. To live our passion. We’ll live on the cutting edge, dancing on a razor blade between success and failure. To not even try will forever leave us wondering: “what if?”

Let me ask you: What is your dream that people hear oozing out of you?

Blessings