the drum|rob fairbanks

To Haiti and Back

Last week I had the distinct honor of visiting Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The later I have been to many times and love, the former…never.  The reason was to pay a visit to Julio and Suzette
Volcy.  They are church planters with Christian Associates.  His intention is to start a church in Petionville, a part of the massive city of Port au Prince. I believe the official numbers for residents of the city are around the 5 million mark.  Most say it is about the size of Chicago – an immense city (some estimate many more).

I know Haiti has gained a substantial amount of international attention since the earthquake in 2010.  It was a gigantic quake with literally scores of aftershocks.  The Haitian government estimate at least 316,000 died in the catastrophe.  The multiplied tragedy is that Haiti was the poorest country in the western hemisphere before the mindboggling natural disaster occurred.  The city is enormous  without a central sewage system.  The road system is quite undeveloped and transportation is arduous, and that is an understatement. If you think the roads are bad in your city, quit complaining. For many of the roads in the city you need to think of driving through a wheat field, only about 10x worse. I needed a kidney belt just to drive around. The picture to the left is the highway just before the Haitian / Dominican border. Also, the poverty is pervasive (I just read over 50% unemployment, some say it is up to 60%).

Into this context Julio and his wife Suzette (and 3 beautiful kids) are seeking to establish a church with a missional/incarnational approach.  The percentage of churched in the country is quite high (I heard up to 40%), but in many ways it is an institutional model tethered to traditional mindset. It appears that the church is mostly insular in its approach relegating Christianity to obeying rules (many which are church established) and going to worship services.

The work we (CA) are doing is based upon a premise that the church is for the world. Julio and his team get this.  They are involved in clean water projects, health care, education and discipleship of young men (Julio runs a Teen Challenge ministry mentoring up around 50 young men). What I discovered while there is Julio is an incredibly influential leader in his community.  It seems that he is looked up to by most folks and is poised to make a tremendous impact. I got the distinct impression while there that this group is not only planting a church, but preparing to re-Jesus the city, even the country with a fresh recasting of the Gospel…a whole Gospel.  They are not only planting a church, but praying and working to change their country. 

That is what I am in this for. The transformation of the nation with the transcendent hope of Jesus.  God’s plan?  I am persuaded that it is through establishing a different kind of church…Kingdom outposts doing the King’s work throughout the world.

I am grateful.

r

Galatians 6:9

posted by allie

Overwhelmed? Start with prayer.

By Holly

We have talked a lot about the importance of engaging our cities, neighborhoods and friends by living out the mission of the church in every day life. When God first opened my eyes to his Kingdom, and the immense amount of physical, relational and spiritual needs around me, I became overwhelmed. I am not one who likes to sit back and watch something happen; I want to make change and be a part of these amazing opportunities to love others well. For about two years now, I have struggled with the many passages in Scripture about meeting the needs of the poor and condemnation of the rich. I was constantly frustrated with myself as my wealth weighed heavily on my heart. I kept asking God, how do I live a life that is pleasing to you in my context of wealth, consumerism and materialism? Where do I start?

So, I started to pray. I would talk to God about my struggle to give in my context. I struggle with inequality and injustice. I began to pray for others, for Whitworth, for the city of Spokane. The prayer group I am a part of encouraged me to be honest with God and that when I completely surrender my life to Him, I will find freedom in my context. Through prayer and an honest community, I am beginning to let my  need to control everything go. I cannot control my context and I cannot change the world. God can and He is. As I continue to surrender myself every day to God, I begin to see the light and the hope that dwells within my friends, my church and in the city of Spokane. As I draw closer to God, he leads me to a life of sacrifice and service. You cannot do it on your own, so don’t even try. That kind of life only leads to frustration and heaviness. Pray this prayer daily into your life as you continue on this journey of mission.

“Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

Cut, Bled and Dry

By Kirsten

Nobody really understands the Holy Spirit. We read about the Spirit's role in scripture, we can recognize overtly supernatural interferences in people's lives, and we get an odd feeling every now and again, which we attribute to the Spirit working through us. One of the quotes that I have clung to in class is that "We are not in the world trying to prove Christianity is true, but we are trying to show the world what it would look like if it was true." What makes Christianity what it is? The Holy Spirit. How would people even know that Christianity was true? If they saw right through people to the Spirit that dwells within them.

The Holy Spirit has many names: Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9), Spirit of the Father (Matt. 10:20), The Spirit of Truth (John 14:17), The Spirit of the Lord (Acts 8:39). But, the Spirit is more than just some supernatural force that floats around inside of people; it works very tangibly in the person of Christ and in people all throughout the world. The point I am trying to make is that the Church has been in a state of disarray basically from its beginning. Even the churches that Paul started had a lot of problems. People try to force their ministries, and they die; they try to evangelize, and it gets awkward; they try to live holy and righteous lives, but they fail, etc. They do this all, oftentimes, without asking help from God Himself, the Spirit, the indwelling Helper. If we try to go at ministry alone, especially a radical new way of ministry, coupling the idea of sodalic and modalic ministry models in churches, we are going to need help. In fact, we are going to need such overwhelming power and strength that WHEN we fall, the Church will keep moving forward to the reconciliation at the end of all things.

This Church body thing that people are inevitably a part of as Christians, whether put together or broken,  is the art work of the Spirit of God. He is what empowers, heals, teaches, intercedes, fills, leads, and brings new life. If we try to do ministry without asking, we are going to bleed ourselves dry. We can only run so far without being filled again by the Spirit. If left to our own strength, our bodies would wear and die. But, with God living IN US, we can do ALL things. Ask for the Spirit, trust the Spirit, rely on and rest in the Spirit. Dwell with the King of Kings, and live again.

The Great Divide

By Laura

Race is not an issue that can be ignored, especially not by the Church- the people of God called to make disciples of every nation. In his article “The Color of Faith,” David Van Blema remarks on the gravity of the situation: “In an age of mixed-race malls, mixed-race pop-music charts and, yes, a mixed-race President, the church divide seems increasingly peculiar. It is troubling, even scandalous, that our most intimate public gatherings-and those most safely beyond the law's reach-remain color-coded,” (26). God sends the Church into the world to be His image-bearers, living out the unity, peace, and love that exemplifies life in Christ. In order for the church to begin living out its missional identity, it must realize the ways it has been affected by racial segregation and take a biblical approach to embracing reconciliation and oneness in the body of Christ. 

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus came proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is here. We are living in the tension between the redemptive act of Christ on the cross and the reconciliation of all things to God when Jesus comes again and the world is made new. As Christians, we are to live into the present truth of the Kingdom and join in the redemptive work of Christ here and now. In Revelations 7:9-10, we are given a picture of what the body of Christ will look like after the Second Coming when all is made right: “There...was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,” (NIV). 

This is the true picture of the Kingdom of God as it was meant to be- diverse, colorful, and unified. This is the beautiful future that God calls us to live into now. David Campbell, a professor at Notre Dame, advocates, “If tens of millions of Americans start sharing faith across racial boundaries, it could be one of the final steps transcending race as our great divider,” (Van Blema, 27). The Church has a great role to play.

Is the Church too strong?

By Jeff

I cannot help but wonder if our churches have become too muscular?  Have our churches become immobilized due to overwhelming attendance and the resulting church politics? Is it possible to grow die hard disciples out of a large church? Special Forces soldiers and Rangers are rarely stacked with muscle and yet they are the most effective soldiers in the field. Should we strive to build congregations so full of Christians that they are impressive on the exterior due to mass but rendered ineffective by the very same characteristic that we find impressive?

 

Special Forces soldiers and Rangers are not stacked with muscle for a reason. Too much muscle hinders agility and speed, thus making them a slower target. It seems that we as the Church have placed too much value on well attended services (just as athletes can become obsessed with numbers numerically representing their performance) that we have created congregations that cannot run the race of missions. Unfortunately, since the church has supported the numbers game, the congregants have followed suit. We now have vast amounts of congregants who have overloaded their lives with things that seem to be positive (like muscle) but leave them unable to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death unless they make some serious sacrifices before they begin their march through the Valley.  We as a church have packed on so much ‘muscle’ that we cannot quickly adapt to the changing currents in the ocean in which we swim.

 

We must become more like Special Forces soldiers or Rangers, we need to cut the excessive muscle and re-gain our agility to navigate through this rapidly changing world.

Wrestling with God

By Corey

As of late, my favorite story from Scripture is found in Genesis 32. Jacob is beginning to make his way back to Esau to ask for forgiveness. The story continues on when Jacob is left alone at night and “a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day” (Genesis 32:24 ESV). As morning arrives the man tells Jacob to stop wrestling but Jacob holds on and will not let go of the man. And as we know, Jacob is blessed, his name is changed to Israel and his life delivered.

            I love this passage because it demonstrates two aspects of faith. First, it shows that it is okay to wrestle with God. I think this is a crucial part of faith, which is often avoided as often as possible. However, I know from my own experience that I grow the most when I am struggling or confused with what God is doing in my life. I further see this in our class, Missional Church. Take for instance the four pastors that came in and talked with us. One of the things that I saw in common between the four was that they all got to where they are through trials and times of questioning. Colby had been stopped from going to China two times and the other three all had really discouraging experiences with the Church. Through these struggles, it became clear that each one was grateful for what they had gone through because it brought them closer to Jesus. 

            The second idea that is demonstrated in this passage is that in order to wrestle with certain ideas one needs to be determined to stay faithful and find the answer. For me, this idea resonates more firmly because anyone can struggle or doubt, but it takes faith and determination to work through that struggle. I am most amazed at how Jacob held onto the man fighting him and demand that he blessed. This is what I want to do; I want to hold on to God so that I can bless others through God’s blessing on me.

Enough Sitting Around, Do It

By Nathan

I have been listening my entire life. In classes, to other people, in Sunday school and church, I have always been a listener. I have received numerous blessings from this skill and have learned many things. Without listening I wouldn't be who I am today, but for really the first time in my life, I want to do more than listen.

 Listening to the speakers that have come into our class, all of them are making changes in their communities and slowly changing the way church has been practiced for decades, for the better. I see these people that are filled with the Holy Spirit both listening to the Lord and living out the way God intended us to. These pastors are living their faith and have shown the way of Jesus through their words AND their actions.

I have been thinking and praying about what God wants me to do vocationally with my life to honor him. One would think that I already have this planned out since I am going to college and getting my degree, and at one point I thought I knew what to do, but either I didn’t think I was listening to what God had in store for me to do or I wasn’t ready to do what he wanted me to do.

In class we got the opportunity to hear from Bryan Dormaier, a church planter in Portland. During the conversation we talked about the struggles of situations in which we communicate our faith and someone mentioned that they have grown the most in their faith through putting themselves in uncomfortable situations, such as talking with people that you might never talk with - something I would never do. That’s something I aim to change by LISTENING to God and ACTING on it.

Going out and into the tension

 

In youth ministry, there's no question of whether or not games, social gatherings, or even the occasional all-nighter should be included in the regular run of things. As an adult, you have to be crazy to help out at an all-nighter. Well, if you are not already, you'll become crazy, waking up on an odd-smelling pew in the back of the auditorium around 8am to kids running circles around you, still making use of the Mountain Dew high that peaked around 4 in the morning. That's my experience anyhow. I gave in to the pleading for an all-nighter, which kids might claim to be the true "life-changing" event of our time, because it's one of the events they have always done as a youth group. So who I am to stop it? I mean, I'm sure the parents just love the seemingly useless, zombie-fied status of their post-all-nighter children for the next 48 hours, right?

So it's a regular occurrence for students to ask me what the next fun event will be or to give me new ideas for one. In a sense, this is good because, of course, kids want to do fun things together and they are investing their thoughts and ideas in the youth group. But when does it become too much? At what point do we have to say, "Alright, hold up, what about us carrying out the calling of Christ outside these four walls? What about living a life of service and reaching out to the poor, the broken, or our next door neighbor?"

Recently, I heard a pastor say that a church's greatest mission should be to get people to move OUT, to live out the Gospel. He followed that by clarifying that this might mean saying no to the kind of programs that essentially keep people IN. So there's a tension in youth ministry, between the building of relationships through fun, highly-social events (which also can hopefully satisfy the cravings of the wild teenage spirit) and the pursuit of living a missional life outside of these events. Perhaps one of the greatest goals any youth ministry could have is to direct the wild teenage spirit to be poured out and into mission, thus relieving the tough balancing act of the time we spend inside of and then outside of our four walls.

Missional living --> as we are going make disciples

 By Brendan

The concept of missional living has been brought to the forefront of my mind as I have entered into this New Year. My paradigm of missions has been forced into a place of reflection and rediscovery. My own concept of missions seems to be evolving as God is faithfully opening my eyes to His very nature and character.

I have at one time or another thought of missions as supporting—whether financially, or through prayer—someone else. I have also at one point or another treated missions as something that one does through short-term trips (somewhere else) of relief or encouragement. And finally I have thought of missions as something that is lived out through love for those I am in community with, essentially attractional community—John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." But all of these conceptions of missions seem to fall short of the incarnation. Christ’s ultimate example.

The nature of God is characterized by His sending of His own son, Jesus. In doing so Jesus left the comforts of heaven and stepped down from his position of authority into our world and experienced all things as we do. Another aspect of the nature of God is apparent in Jesus’ life as He lived relationally. Jesus reached out to the “unlovable” those who were on the fringes of society, lepers, widows, prostitutes, “sinners”, the poor, and the unreligious. He set the ultimate example of love as he interacted with sinners, healed the sick, and called fisherman, and tax collectors to join Him on His mission.

Missional Living, as exemplified by Jesus seems to be the example of both go, and as you are going. What I mean by that is Jesus came to our world, and as he was going (living) He made disciples. So He was both sent and was obedient to live in a way that cultivated The Kingdom right where He was.

Jesus example has caused me to reflect on my understanding of missions and how it is practically acted out in my own life. Am I loving those who culturally are “unlovable”, those on the fringes of society, or those who I rub shoulders with daily? Am I following Christ example? Am I ultimately following Christ’s call for my life?