Day 2 – The Twelve Days of Christmas Giving

Each day from December 12-24 my family has chosen to make a donation to a different nonprofit.  Here is our choice for day 2!  Click the link at the bottom if you want to read the introduction and day 1

Day 2:  World Orphans

Day 2 features World Orphans – the non-profit that has been a part of my life since 2011.  World Orphans mission is simple, we exist to inspire and mobilize the church to care for children until they all have homes.  We do that through church partnerships and economic empowerment efforts focused on wholistic care and family preservation.  We partner U.S. Church with Churches in 10 other countries who then provide spiritual guidance, food, medical care, education and empowerment opportunities to the families of about 20 children per church.  My work is focused on economic empowerment and our savings group and micro loan program in Ethiopia have exceeded our expectations.  We are also making significant progress with savings groups and a women cooperative in Guatemala and in 2019 we kicked off our first cycle of training and loans in Haiti.  I could go on and on about World Orphans, but I won’t – although if you are interested I’d love to tell you more sometime.  Feel free to search the old posts on this blog to see many post about World Orphans over the years.  Our family has decided to direct our gift today towards helping the Kurdish people and refugees we are serving in Northern Iraq.

Want to learn more: www.worldorphans.org

Want to donate – click here

We would love to know if you are participating in this 12 days of Christmas giving project.  Please comment below and tell who you are donating to today and why?

Share this post – We’d love to see as many people as possible donate to World Orphans (or anyone else) today

Click here to read a full explanation and about Day 1

The Twelve Days of Christmas Giving

The Twelve Days of Christmas Giving!

Christmas is about giving not receiving.  That’s what we say, but in reality it isn’t what we practice. Oh for sure we may shower our family and those we love with extravagant gifts, gift cards or occasionally even regift that thing your aunt gave you last year but the scale of our generosity and gift giving pales in comparison to the scope of the gift given to us that we are celebrating. God gifted us with his only Son and that gift allows us to exchange death for life. Jesus went on to explain that the first commandment was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your strength and to love our neighbor as ourself.    Christian advocate and author John Perkins said it this way, “Living the gospel means desiring for your neighbor and your neighbor’s family that which you desire for yourself and your family.  This is an incredibly high standard and to be honest I think I rarely meet it and instead I seek ways to make sure that our family is safe, satisfied and comfortable at all times. 

This Christmas season amid all the lights, parties and gift giving I wanted to start a new tradition for our family.  In my family growing up my mother loved to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas by giving me and my sisters gifts for 12 days leading up to Christmas.  It was a way to extend the celebration and what kid doesn’t love opening a present every day for two weeks even if a pack of socks, underwear and tennis balls were sure to be part of the routine each year.  

I wanted to take the idea of the 12 days of Christmas but turn it in to an opportunity to give.  So we are creating our first annual 12 days of Christmas giving.  We met as a family and came up with a list of twelve organizations we wanted to support between now and Christmas day.   Working together with our children we decided how much we wanted to give each organization each day – it was so encouraging to see each of them use their own money to support the organizations that they chose. Working in a non-profit for the last several years I know how important end of year giving can be to organizations and while my family’s gift won’t make or break anyone I hope that our example will inspire others to do the same thing.  Each day I will be posting who we are donating to and explanation of what they do and why we want to be a part of what they are doing to make the world more like God intended it to be.   

We hope you will join us on this journey of generosity!  Share the post, Donate to the same organization or choose your own list of 12.  We are so thankful for all that God has provided for us and are truly thankful for the opportunity to put some of those resources back to work for his Kingdom.

Day 1:  Cross Community Church

It only makes sense to start with an extra gift to our local church.  We have been a part of CCC since the beginning and are very thankful for the ministry we are a part of.  We are growing and expanding and can’t wait to see what the future has in store for our church as we continue to add staff and members and move closer to finding a permanent location.  Even as we set up and break down our “church” each week the Gospel is being faithfully preached in word and deed.  In addition to funding its own operations CCC also is committed to outreach as they faithfully operate a food bank serving families at St. Helena Elementary School, have a partnership with Pastor Thony’s church in Port Au Prince, Haiti through World Orphans, and support local other parachurch ministries operating in Beaufort like Young Life, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Radiance Women’s Center.  Our family decided to direct our gift today towards CCC’s benevolence fund.

Want to learn more:  https://www.crosscommunity.org/mission-vision-values

Want to donate: https://cross.churchcenter.com/giving

We would love to know if you are participating in this 12 days of Christmas giving project.  Please comment below and tell who you are donating to today and why?

Please share this post – We’d love to see as many people as possible donate to CCC (or anyone else) today.

Snapshots of Success

 

Economic Empowerment in Ethiopia

Snapshots of Success

There are so many stories to share from our program in Ethiopia.  Here are a few brief snippets of our caregivers successes.

Initially reluctant to participate in the savings group or take a micro loan Dekelech is now using the profit from her vegetable sales to feed her family and allow her school age children to attend school. She is now able to spend more time with her children and was able to leave her demanding job as a day laborer in a flour plant. She now participates in two savings groups and is anxious to receive her 2nd loan so that she can negotiate a better price on the vegetables she buys to sell in the market.

Worknesh has taken two loans. As a result of the loans she has been able to move her family into a better house, is able to provide them with better clothes and to feed them a variety of foods. She is also a member of two savings groups and has been able to save almost $100 USD. This savings is important because the region she lives in has been greatly impacted by the political unrest that has gripped Ethiopia over the last year and this emergency fund has been a lifeline for members of her group.

Tigist used the loan to change her business from brewing a homemade alcohol to selling vegetables. She is using the profit from her business to replace items she lost in a house fire. She is also participating in two savings groups. She plans to buy new furniture like a bed and chair with the profits she generates from the 3rd loan and benefits greatly from the increased cash flow because she saves money several times a month paying in cash instead of buying items at a higher price on credit. She is very happy that her improved business has given her financial independence and has relieved the daily pressure of providing for her children

Debritu, a grandmother, has taken in her disabled grandchild and the trainings and loan have reenergized her life. She used her loan to develop a business selling vegetables and cooking oil. Taking in her grandchild and starting this business has given her a sense of purpose. She is excited to be able to work and provide for her family. She isn’t making as much profit as she could because she sells to some people on credit and they don’t repay her, but she isn’t deterred. “I may be old, I may have some medical problems, but now I will work until the day I die, she told us excitedly.

Alemitu is one of the most successful entrepreneurs we have worked with. She started a jewelry business and has now expanded to making bread as well. She sells her jewelry in bulk to shop owners and is training other women how to make the jewelry as well. She plans to use her 3rd loan to diversify her business again and make kolo, an Ethiopian snack. She has been able to save almost $400 USD since taking the 1st loan.

Alemzewd is an 18 year old child in the program. For 6 months she stopped taking her monthly distribution and instead she used those funds to pay tuition at a sewing school. She has been able to make an impressive variety of items and our local staff member provided her with her own sewing machine as a graduation present.  She has overcome so much and is poised to be self-sufficient now.

Zewdie is another caregiver who has been successful with her businesses. She went some selling charcoal to selling vegetables and spices and even water. She credits the training with improving her business plans and record keeping. She has saved over $350 USD and is looking forward to expanding the volume of her spices when she receives the next loan.

Shitaye has used her two loans to create a diverse business. She sells mobile phone cards and charcoal to generate a profit. With that profit she bought a refrigerator and sells cold milk and soda. Even though she spent almost $400 on the refrigerator she is not done expanding her business. She plans to use the next loan to buy a fryer and hire an employee to cook food with her next loan.

Our next round of loans goes out in May, I can’t wait to add to this list!!

Do you want to be part of this? Consider making a donation to help fund economic empowerment at World Orphans. $30 funds a new loan for a caregiver in Ethiopia. $460 will fund the entire 4 year cycle of loans for a caregiver. $1200 will fund new loans for all 40 women entering the program this year.

Click here to fund micro loans!

***Please scroll down to Select Economic Empowerment Campaign and type Ethiopia Economic Empowerment in Notes on next page****

Want to read the 1st post in this series – Economic Empowerment in Ethiopia?  Click here

Want to read the 2nd post in this series – Cycles of Hope?  Click here

Want to read a success story from last year?  Click here to read Zeritu’s Story

Want to read an overview of World Orphans Economic Empowerment program?  Click here.

 

Cycles of Hope

Cycles of Hope

What happens when a caregiver receives a loan?

This is a summary of what we’ve found. It creates a cycle of hope.

Before a caregiver receives a loan they join the local savings group and they receive financial education and business training. These two components are every bit as important as the loan. By joining the savings group a foundation of financial management is built and the women enters a community who can provide her with assistance as she builds her business and has partners to live life with. The education and training helps her to understand how to separate her business and family finances, it gives her practical knowledge like how to open a bank account, and how to measure business expenses and profits so that she can adjust her business as the market moves.

Once they receive the loan the influx of cash allows the caregiver to start or improve her business. It immediately results in improved profit margins because the caregiver is able to stop buying inventory on credit and thus no longer has to pay merchants any interest. It also allows her to negotiate a better price because she is buying a larger volume of product. In some cases the caregiver is able to diversify their business or to move into a more profitable product. Increased profits allow them to better withstand changing market conditions or emergencies because they aren’t depending on today’s profit for tommorrow’s meal.

An increased income impacts the women in a variety of ways. The extra income allows them to improve the quality, quantity and variety of food they serve their families. It can allow them to make improvements to their home or to move to a better home or a better business location. It can be used to pay for clothes and school fees. An increased income gives them the ability to save for the future in banks or by joining other savings groups. The ability to save allows them to deal with sickness and emergencies and it also allows them to plan and dream about the future.

Believing they have opportunity in front of them we see increased feelings of dignity, hope, confidence and self-determination. Because they are successfully managing their time and money they begin to believe that they can control what happens in their life instead of navigating from one crisis to the next. They have more confidence in themselves because they are successfully running their business and providing for themselves and their families instead of having to wait for someone else to help them. They begin to make plans for their families and what the next step in their business will be and what it will allow them to do.

In many cases these loans allow women to leave jobs as servants or day laborers. These jobs are physically demanding and require the women to spend many hours each day away from home. By running their own business they are able to be at home with their families more often and allows them to care for and involve their children in the business instead of leaving them to care for themselves. They are able to pass the knowledge they are gaining on to their children and are hopeful this will provide their children with a foundation to be successful on their own. The constant stress caused by extreme poverty is relieved and this often has a profound impact on the atmosphere of the home. Husband and wife relationships improve. Relationships with children improve. With the burden of worry lifted from them they are able to love each other and those around them better.

All of these things work together and when the caregiver is ready to receive the next loan she is healthier, happier, better trained and more confident. We can’t wait to see what our caregivers do as they receive that 2nd, 3rd and 4th phase loans!!!

Do you want to be part of this? Consider making a donation to help fund economic empowerment at World Orphans. $30 funds a new loan for a caregiver in Ethiopia. $460 will fund the entire 4 year cycle of loans for a caregiver. $1200 will fund new loans for all 40 women entering the program this year.

Click here to fund micro loans!

***Please scroll down to Select Economic Empowerment Campaign and type Ethiopia Economic Empowerment in Notes on next page****

Want to read the 1st post in this series – Economic Empowerment in Ethiopia?  Click here

Want to read a success story from last year?  Click here to read Zeritu’s Story

Want to read an overview of World Orphans Economic Empowerment program?  Click here.

 

 

Economic Empowerment in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is a city under constant construction. From my first trip in 2011 to my trip last month the city continues to expand and grow. A new rail system allows for mass transit within the city and stretches to the outlying areas. New luxury hotels and a new headquarters for the African Union dot the skyline. New roads are being built all over and the airport is being expanded and updated. It is filled with the signs of progress, but it also is stricken with poverty and abandoned children.  You can find a $40,000 a night hotel suite, but it is also home to thousands of people living on less than $2 a day.  It has one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, but as more and more people come to the city from the rural areas Urban poverty has been exacerbated and the city contains more people that the economy can support.

World Orphans has 9 church partners in Addis and the surrounding communities. These churches serve approximately 160 families through our home based care (HBC) program. The families are supported by the church receiving a monthly distribution of a staple foods, cooking oil, and hygiene products. This support enables mothers and grandmothers to keep their families together and makes it possible for them survive the bumps in the road society’s most vulnerable are constantly enduring.

All of the mother’s in our program are widows – either by death or abandonment they have been left to care for their children on their own. 75% of the women served were not members of the church when they entered the program.   Not all the families are Christians, some of them believe in nothing, others are Muslim.  Many of them were hopeless and alone- contemplating suicide or even attempting to take their own life sometimes precedes entering the program.  They have no one working for them and sometimes they even have people actively working against them.   Some of the stories just take your breath away. On my most recent trip I sat with a family going through an incredibly heartbreaking situation dealing with the death of a caregiver and an attempted land grab at the same time – it was all I could do to not break into tears as I looked into the faces of those children.   This all changes when they enter the HBC program and this article could easily be about the impact that simply being a part of the HBC program has on these women and their families.

How their lives are transformed by the care of the local church…
How the members of the church care for them and love them…
How the members of the groups care for one another in both the ups and downs of life…
How profoundly the tangible assistance provided to them monthly relieves the immense day to day burden of survival they carry…

But that is not what this story is about because of churches and staff in Ethiopia wasn’t satisfied with just helping them survive. They wanted more than that for these women and their children and an economic empowerment program was born in 2015. Each group received business and personal finance training and formed a savings group where they come together to encourage each other to save as much as they can for emergencies or for the long term needs of their families.  After the savings groups were formed micro loans began in 2016.

We’ve developed a 4 cycle micro loan program. The caregivers will receive approximately $30, $60, $125 and $250 loans.  They use to loan to start or improve a business they use to care for their families.   To be eligible for the next loan they must pay back the previous one completely. The goal is that at the end of this 4 year cycle the families will be self-sufficient and not need our assistance anymore. These small loans have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. As I type this we are approaching the end of our 2nd cycle of loans. 20 caregivers have now received two loans, 25 women have received one loan and in May we will make a 3rd set of loans – the first 20 caregivers will receive a 3rd loan, the next 25 will receive their 2nd loan and a new group of 40 women will receive their 1st loan. Several women have been so successful with the loans that they have already voluntarily given up their spot in the HBC program because they no longer need any assistance. Our repayment rates are unbelievable – about 97% of the loans have been repaid fully and the only defaults were due to an advance case of leprosy, death or leaving the program completely.

However, Economic Empowerment isn’t just about numbers and ledgers. It’s about people. It’s about relief. It’s about hope. It’s about opportunity. It’s about dignity. It’s about dreaming. I’m so thankful to have been able to sit with these women twice in the last year and hear their stories. When you look in the faces of these women you can see the harsh realities of life for the poorest of the poor in the developing world, but look closer and you can see joy and you see courage, resilience and determination. The world doesn’t care about these people, but someone does. These women are loved by their creator and his heart breaks over the way his creation has been twisted to create systems where people live in opulence and luxury while others struggle just to survive. We are trying to create new systems – systems where those who have more than enough share just a little to help those who don’t have enough. The dedicated members of our World Orphans Ethiopia staff, the church pastors and the home based care coordinators are training, equipping, and caring for these women and it’s working. They’ve created a community together and within this community these women are being empowered with very small micro loans and the results have been phenomenal. Over the next few weeks I’m going to share some of the individual stories of these women and their experiences with these loans. The results are simply amazing.

These women have turned small loans into life change. They’ve gained hope and confidence and changed the environment in their homes. They are leaving behind brutally demanding jobs as day laborers and striking out of their own. They are sending their kids to school, they are providing more nutritious food to eat, they are purchasing life saving medicines, they are overcoming disasters and surviving lost income due to political unrest. They are caring for each other and dreaming about the future. They are learning lessons from failures and capitalizing on their successes. We are just two cycles into the program and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the families.

Do you want to be part of this? Consider making a donation to help fund economic empowerment at World Orphans. $30 funds a new loan for a caregiver in Ethiopia. $460 will fund the entire 4 year cycle of loans for a caregiver. $1200 will fund new loans for all 40 women entering the program this year.

Click here to fund micro loans!

***Please scroll down to Select Economic Empowerment Campaign and type Ethiopia Economic Empowerment in Notes on next page****

Want to read a success story from last year?  Click here to read Zeritu’s Story

Want to read an overview of World Orphans Economic Empowerment program?  Click here.

Be a voice for the voiceless – Join World Orphans in the #VoicelessCampaign on Orphan Sunday

Isaiah 1:17

LEARN to do good.
SEEK justice.
HELP the oppressed.
       DEFEND the cause of the orphan.
     FIGHT for the rights of widows.

          Although I have attended church my whole life I never had a verse grab me and tangibly affect the way I lived my life until just a few years ago. I grew up memorizing verses, but that was an end unto itself – I memorized the verse to check a box, to win a prize, or to help give me the strength not to sin as it had been explained to me. (Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t cuss, don’t chew or chase women who do). I’d never had a verse that impacted my heart or my soul – a verse that grabbed me and directly impacted how I saw the world and my role in it. Over the past several years I have experienced a spiritual awakening, a realization that following Jesus should define everything I think and everything I do instead of just doing the good things I wanted to do and sprinkling a little Jesus over it. God orchestrated just the right series of events and people at just the right time to humble me and open my eyes. He changed the way I saw the world and that changed everything. When I encountered Isaiah 1:17 this time, it wasn’t simply a combination of words to memorize it was a call to a new way to live my life.

Over the past six years God has moved me to a place I never thought I would be in both literally and figuratively. He has taught me so much about myself and the world I live in. These lessons have been delivered in a variety of ways designed to methodically break me down in the process of shaping me into what he wants me to be. This chiseling has been painful and I have most certainly not understood or approved of the tools he used. I’ve seen the best of humanity and I’ve seen the results of the worst evil humanity can muster. I’ve seen friends and virtual strangers support me and my family in incredible ways and I’ve seen friends betray us or silently turn away at the time we needed their support most. I’ve seen churches come together to spread the love of Jesus in amazing ways and I’ve seen churches chose the bottom line over the right thing to do. But through it all he has made the truth of his word abundantly clear and so many of those scriptures I had listened to for years but never heard became alive in my heart and soul.

He has made it clear that the things I valued – hard work, loyalty, competence have limits and can fail you. They aren’t enough, but He is. I can plan and strategize and work to the best of my ability, but I am limited, He is not. Unfortunately for me, I’m a slow learner so he’s had to teach me some of these lessons over and over, but slowly by surely I think I’m getting it. It is a good thing, because in my work with World Orphans these are lessons that I need to understand. Working with some of the most vulnerable communities in the world our hard work and competence and strategy isn’t enough without God. When we are working to help families overcome disasters or generational poverty or the impact of institutional injustice we are limited in our reach, but God isn’t.

Every year many churches and organizations come together to draw attention to the plight of the orphan and to raise awareness about the efforts taking place to help care for orphaned and vulnerable children across the World. We would love to have you and your small group or you and your church join us.  You can’t do everything, but you can do something.  World Orphans has launched the #voicelesscampaign to culminate on Sunday, November 12. It’s an easy way to give a voice to the voiceless and advocate for the orphaned, the vulnerable, and the refugee.

Here’s how it works:

1) Buy this t-shirt between now and November 5, 2017. Profits will go directly to World Orphans ministries.

2) Forward this information to your friends and share it on social media, so your friends can get their t-shirts before November 5.

3) Join your friends and Voiceless Campaigners around the country on Orphan Sunday, November 12, by wearing your t-shirt.

4) Be a voice online! Share a picture on social media of you wearing this shirt.
Use hashtags: #voicelesscampaign #untiltheyallhavehomes

I look forward to seeing your smiling face online! Thank you for being a voice for the voiceless. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to the director of the Voiceless Campaign, Danielle Vuke, at danielle@worldorphans.org.

Until they all have homes,

Nate

 

#VoicelessCampaign
#Untiltheyallhavehomes

40 Days of Lent: Day 1- Ash Wednesday

40 days of Lent

Day 1:  Ash Wednesday

As I was reading about Ash Wednesday traditions the headline of one of the articles grabbed me –  Ash Wednesday is all about Death.  I clicked the headline and it is described the tradition of the imposition of ashes to remind us that from dust we were created and to dust we will return.  It went on to talk about facing our own mortality and the hope we have as Christians and how that allows us to face even death with a sense of hope.

But that’s not where my heart went.  I was led to think about the fact that spiritually I was already dead.  I was dead and separated from God by all of my sins… my impatience, my ambition, my greed, my selfishness, my lack of self-control, my denial of my issues.  For years, I stumbled through life refusing to acknowledge that I was dead.  I was not as bad as some, I worked hard, handled my business honorably- my sins were all on the respectable side.  I was chasing my dreams, providing for my family and I knew enough about Jesus to sprinkle him over the top of what I was doing… But I was still dead.

I’m not dead anymore – I’m alive through the grace and mercy of Jesus.  God arranged the people and circumstances necessary to break through my arrogance and pride and call me to fully follow him.  I finally obeyed and he made me alive.

So, that is where my heart is on this Ash Wednesday – I’m not contemplating the future death I will face, but I am joyously celebrating the fact that because of what happened on Good Friday and Easter Sunday I am no longer dead – I have been made alive with Christ.

Throughout Lent I will embrace to opportunity to reflect and repent, to fast from the things which steal my focus, to pray more intentionally, and to give and serve others, but I will not do these things to earn anything – I will do them in celebration of the work that has already been done and in response to the life I have already been given.

What are you thinking about as we enter this season?

I’d love to hear what you are going to do during Lent?

Ephesians 2: 1-8

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Our money where our mouth is

Blog

Whew, guys. The trial period last month was incredible. Your support was absolutely uplifting. For those of you who rolled the dice on me, thank you. Let me tell you something: I learned a thing or two. I was definitely able to iron out some wrinkles and be better prepared going forward. But for your patience, kind words and support, I’m so grateful!

This is the day that I’ve been so excited for. The day when we officially launch and I can talk to you about where 10% of all of our sales will be going for this first month. First two months, actually.

I’ll start by telling you this. When I first sat down with my friend, Nate, and his *incredible* wife and discussed this organization that he works for, I kind of walked away thinking,”I should just quit this business, leave the country, and do something…

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Why President Trump’s Assumption of Office if Pivotal for Jesus Followers…

If our hope lies in Jesus, we will never sell the birthright of the Kingdom of God, given to those of us who are born again, for a mess of political porridge.

unlikelyclay

President Trump was inaugurated last Friday; protests began shortly thereafter.  The next day was the Woman’s March on Washington.  A “Saturday Night Live” writer tweeted inappropriately about Barron Trump, the President’s son.  An argument broke out between the President’s staff and the media about the true size of the crowds at the President’s inauguration.  Facebook, Twitter, and other social media quickly filled with people taking sides.

I believe this is a pivotal moment for Jesus Followers in the United States.  Some Jesus Followers think it is important to support President Trump because they believe Jesus is moving back into the White House (important note:  Jesus can move anywhere he wants.  He doesn’t need an election to do His will).  Other Jesus followers feel the need to protest the new President’s past and his stated intentions.

I think the pivotal moment for Jesus Followers is here because we must give an…

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Generations, Nations & My Prayer for Cross Community Church

On Sunday I am so excited that my family and I will be a part of the first public worship service at Cross Community Church in Beaufort, South Carolina.  I love the heart of the people joining together to plant this new church.  We will be meeting at 10 am in the auditorium of Beaufort High School.

We have chosen Psalm 45:17 as our banner verse:

I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

How will we ever live up to this?  How will we play a role in making the name of Jesus remembered for generations?  How will we be a part of causing the nations to praise the name of Jesus now and in the future?

I think the answer is simple, but devastatingly hard.  It will require more than we want to give.  It will cause us to make sacrifices we don’t want to make.  It will require hard conversations.  It will require changed plans and changed perspectives.

ALL GENERATIONS.  NATIONS. FOREVER.

These are big words and require a bigger vision than we typically live our life with.  The world is so much bigger than we consider.  God’s plan is so much bigger than we can see and so much more intricate than we can understand.

So, what is this simple but hard answer?  I think it comes straight from Jesus mouth, but we don’t want to embrace it because of what it might cost us.  We are satisfied with the American version of Christianity where we embrace the values that allow us to build a successful, secure and comfortable life for ourselves and our families and then we sprinkle enough Jesus on our dreams to convince ourselves and others that our dreams are Jesus’s dreams, our ways are God’s ways, and out plans are His plans.

²⁵ And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.³² So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. ³⁴ He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.³⁵ And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Mark 10:25-37

The story of the Good Samaritan makes it clear what Jesus expects of us.  It isn’t our nationality or the trappings of religion that give us Life or that will make the name of Jesus be remembered.  It isn’t what we do on Sunday that will make the nations praise the name of Jesus.  Generations from now they won’t remember the songs we sing or the order of our service.

They will remember how we live on Monday through Saturday.

They will remember whether we walk by the beaten down and oppressed or if we stop.

They will remember whether we choose compassion or convenience.

They will remember if we can be interrupted or if the plan is more important than the person

They will remember whether we choose safety or vulnerability.

They will remember if we seek justice or comfort.

They will remember how we love those who look, think and believe differently.

They will remember whether we sacrifice what is ours for the sake of those who have nothing.

They will remember if we walk so that those in need can have a place to rest

They will remember if we sacrifice to help our neighbor or if we give only what we can afford

They will remember if we give mercy to the stranger or if our care and concern is reserved for those close to us.

They will remember if we speak for those who have no voice or if we reserve our influence for our concerns

They will remember if we love like Jesus or if we love only when it makes sense

John Perkins says “Living the Gospel means desiring for your neighbor and your neighbor’s family that which you desire for yourself and your family.”

 “ ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Philippians 2:3-8

My prayer is that the people of Cross Community Church will live out the Gospel every day- that our lives will not be a pursuit of comfort, safety and security, but that we will be marked by sacrifice, mercy and justice.  I pray that we will choose to empty ourselves, that we will choose to sacrifice the gifts God has given us to love, to we will choose to desire for our neighbors and their families what we desire for our own and that in doing so we will love God will all our heart, our soul, our strength and our minds.

If we do this, we will play a role in the generations that will remember and the nations that will praise the name of Jesus.