Bwana asifiwe!

Bwana asifiwe!

Praise the Lord!  It has been another day of God on the move and rocking us with His plans!

We began back at Suye EAG church with a Medical Clinic.  While our medical team went to work seeing nearly 100 patients those of us less blessed with healing gifts entertained the neighborhood kids.  We taught a version of baseball/stickball with a couple of found sticks and a whiffle ball.  When we return I need to inform the Braves that I’ve located a few solid prospects.

By the end of the day our medical team was exhausted physically and emotionally.  Especially hard and touching were a blind 18-month old and a 12-year old boy with CP abandoned by his parents and cared for by his single grandmother.

During the day Wayne and I had a chance to visit the church of Pastor Simon Adams at Majengo (Kanisa La Majengo).  I love his vision Tunakoelekea (where we go from here).    Pastor Adams has a vision for being a missional (and I know that is a way overused word) church.  Kanisa La Majengo began in 1997 and has since planted 2 “daughter” churches. 

Our visit was to evaluate the possibility of a water-well at Mejengo.  Water in the area is unreliable, at best, and a well at the church is an opportunity to provide living water as they bring Living Water.  This is especially needed in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood.  The church is surrounded on every side by mosques and there is even a mujahideen training camp across the street!  We received geological reports tonight and will evaluating a possible well when we return to Mountaintop.

This evening began the 3-day seminar at the Bishop’s church Sayuni (Zion) EAG.  It was another powerful time of exuberant worship and I love how enthusiastically the congregation responds to teaching.  I am really having a blast.  For those who’ve asked about AG – it’s Assemblies of God – here EAG, Evangelistic Assemblies of God.  Some of my closest friends come from Assemblies of God churches.  I imagine they enjoy the fact that on Sunday I (with 20+ years of Presbyterian heritage as my background) preached on the Holy Spirit in an Assemblies of God church in Arusha, Tanzania.  Both Sunday morning and tonight the Holy Spirit was moving powerfully and all we had to do was stay out of the way.

Tomorrow the clinic continues at Suye, a few of us will be attending the funeral for Ezekiel in Kisgono and the seminar will continue at Sayuni.  Tonight I challenged everyone to invite an unbelieving friend to join us tomorrow evening so please join us in praying for those invitations.

Whatever happens tomorrow I am confident that throughout it all God will continue to rock us.

To His glory!

A great Tuesday in Tanzania!

Our team set up at Medical Clinic at the church of Pastor Vomo (and his wife Mama Naomi).  On our first day we saw 30 kids and 48 adults.  The diseases treated included:  STDs, high blood pressure, pneumonia, conjunctivitis, typhoid, parasites, malaria, STDs and lots of respiratory illness.  Jason, Sylvia, Jameson, Natalie, Sherri, Cathy and Sue along with our Tanzanian doctors were amazing to see in action (and Cathy was working wounded after a little accident she and I had when I tossed her the soccer ball this morning - I really thought she was looking and her nose looks much better this evening)!

My most vivid image was a group of woman carrying their paralyzed friend to the clinic.  Though the doctors were unable to find a diagnosis (and Jesus wasn’t around to tell her to “pick up her mat and walk”) the picture of friends bringing a friend to God’s house for healing was powerful.  And thankfully they didn’t have to dig a hole in the roof!

The highlight of the day was praying with a young woman Aziza.  Recently divorced by her Muslim husband she told us that she “knew God but didn’t know Jesus.”  Thanks to Gwen she now does and I had the privilege to lead her in a prayer of giving her life to Him.  If nothing else happens this week (and so much already has) the week was worth it all to bring Aziza into the Kingdom!

Leaving Islam and becoming a Christian is a dangerous step so please keep Aziza in your prayers.

As always we had a great time playing with the neighborhood kids.  Lee Ann, Clayton and Lynn are truly rock stars when it comes to interacting with kids.  And Wayne showed some impressive moves on the jump rope!

As he’s been all week James is a rock holding the team together and tonight he added to our blessing by introducing us to Tanzanian burgers.  I think Masai Guys could give 5 Guys a run for it!

Yesterday we trusted in God’s plans and that He would rock! Today He moved in amazing ways and we are all heading to bed for a lala salama (good night’s sleep) resting in His plans!

PS : Lee Ann brought Auburn shirts and taught the kids to say “War Eagle” so Kelli Ferguson should be happy!  And please keep me in your prayers - tomorrow afternoon I begin a 3-day teaching seminar at the Bishop's church on sharing Jesus with our neighbors.

Tanzania Monday Night

Today was a constant reminder of Proverbs 19: 21:

We humans keep brainstorming options and plans,

but God's purpose prevails.

Since yesterday God has been rearranging our carefully laid plans and redirecting them for His purposes.

This morning we traveled to Kisongo to pay our condolences to Ezekiel’s widow and 7 children (if you missed the earlier posting, Ezekiel was killed Sunday afternoon when a wall at the Kisongo church collapsed during a storm).  It was a difficult visit.  The deep grief of Ezekiel’s family (he left behind 7 children) and neighbors in the village was palatable.  The sounds and images of our time there will remain with me – praying with the family, women singing “Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus” in Kiswahili, and the site of the collapsed church (which we visited later in the morning).  It’s not enough to say that it was a heavy morning.

We offered what support we could to the family – helping to cover the cost of the burial and to provide food for the immediate future.  And we offered encouragement to the Kisongo pastor, Pastor Rogers, who lost a church member and the church building in the storm.  His burden is heavy and he will remain in our prayers.

Sunday morning in an amazing worship service we lived out part of Romans 12: 15 "rejoicing (enthusiastically rejoicing) with those who rejoice."  Today we experienced the remainder of the verse as we "mourned with those who mourn."  

Our plan had been to provide a health clinic, children’s programs and a revival for Kisongo this week but out of respect for the loss that has occurred and to respect a time of mourning, our plans are changing (at times it seems by the minute).

It’s hard to let go of our plans but we are confident that God’s purposes will prevail – both for Kisongo and for us.

Our new plan is to provide a medical clinic at the church of Pastor Vomo – who has been my translator this week and quickly becoming a dear brother.  He typically takes on the assignment of troubled churches and my hope is that a clinic at his church, Suyethe AG Church, will provide both physical and spiritual healing.

We visited the church this afternoon to layout the clinic and began to introduce ourselves to kids in the neighborhood.  It’s going to be a great Tuesday and as one of our team members said this evening its time to Let God Rock!

I am convinced that is exactly what is going to happen tomorrow!

I will let you know with tomorrow’s posting!

Along our travels today we also managed to get the bus stuck in mud – twice.  The first time we were able to push and pull it out – the second required a tow truck.  I was riding in the Bishop’s car (a more luxurious ride) but I did get out to help push!

Tanzania 1

I am going to "try" to update this blog while in Tanzania - key word try - here's what happened yesterday and maybe tonight I will update with today!

Greetings from Arusha!

 The team from Mountaintop is well.  We arrived late on Friday night and spent a portion of Saturday at the Orphanage in Kibowa.  The kids greeted us with singing and we were grateful to see how healthy they all appeared.  At Kibowa we held an eye and health clinic for the kids.  How exciting to share the joy as glasses were received that brought the blessing of improved sight.  We led the kids in a craft and the story of the shepherd with one lost sheep – ask us later about the ad hoc acting.  We also presented the children with gifts of Mountaintop T-shirts, new shoes, backpacks with composition books, pencils, colored pencils, erasers, pencil sharpeners, toothpaste and a toothbrush, and the prayer books with prayers from our Prayer Team.  We were also able to provide food for the orphanage.  God is definitely on the move at Kibowa.

Sunday morning was a powerful day at the Zion Evangelical Assembly of God church in Arusha.  The 3 hour and 15 minute worship was a little short by Tanzanian standards but Pastor Doug only preached for 45 minutes so we finished early!  During the service we presented the Bishop with a laptop for the church and 20 pastors with bicycle to use for their ministry.  The choirs, the dancing and the movement of God’s Holy Spirit were all powerful.  Before the service we led Sunday for all ages of children and teens – 3 years to 20.  The shepherd and sheep were back as were Jonah and the Whale!  After the service we enjoyed lunch with the Bishop and his wife.

This evening we received sad news.  During the afternoon a storm in Kisongo knocked down one wall of the church there.  Fortunately church was over but one man, Ezekiel, was inside and was killed by the falling wall.  Please pray for Ezekiel’s wife and 7 children.  This tragic death will change the course of our week.  To show respect for their loss we will no longer be holding a revival in Kisongo.  We will visit the village in the morning to assess how we can best be used to support the church and their Pastor.  Our hope is that we might still provide a medical clinic for the village but we expect to shift our other programs.  We have all been reminded that we are empty vessels and we trust that God still has a plan for this week and that His plan will prevail.  We are practicing the truths of Plan Z here in Tanzania!

Again, we are all safe but ask that you pray for the church in Kisongo.  Pray for protection and provision and that God might have a way to use us to help bring hope in the midst of this loss.

It was good to TRY to connect during the worship services at Mountaintop and we are praying for each of you.  Please continue to pray for our team and our ministry partners here.  We remain confident that God has greater things in store for us this week and can’t wait to discover how He is planning on using us.

To His glory!

Tanzania Team 2012

Value Brevity

If I am to speak for ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour two days; if an hour, I am ready now

Woodrow Wilson

One of the comments I will occasionally receive is that I should preach longer sermons – I know that’s hard for some people to believe but it’s true.  There used to be a saying around churches that “sermonettes make Christianettes.”  The implication was the longer and meatier the message the better and more effective it will be.

I am convinced that more message fail because of too much information, not too little.  Last summer I attended the church of one of my favorite authors; I was looking forward to hearing him speak in person.  I had been warned that he delivers lengthy messages and was somewhat prepared for what became a 45-minute sermon.  What I wasn’t prepared for was the response of the congregation.  Even as I took detailed notes (he’s a brilliant theologian) I watched as couples around me (especially those that seemed to be there as visitors at the invitations of friends) squirmed in their seats and as one worshiper even fell sound asleep).  I left even more convinced of the  value of brevity.

The value of brevity is not necessarily a modern phenomena driven by our increasingly shrinking attention spans.  A short list of effective message throughout history would have to include Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  Just 278 words delivered in just over two minutes, it has become known as one of the greatest and most memorable messages of all time.

Lincoln was not the keynote speaker that day in Gettysburg.  That honor was given to Edward Everett who spoke first and gave a eulogy that lasted two hours.  I can’t think of a single word I’ve ever been asked to memorize from Everett’s message – though for generations we’ve learned to recite “Four score and seven years ago…”

Everett later wrote to Lincoln:  "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."

It is quite possible to give a lousy two-minute speech.  Brevity does not insure effectiveness and as Woodrow Wilson suggests requires even greater preparation.  But if we want our listeners to remember what we are saying we have to value brevity.

10 Keys to an Exceptional Children’s Ministry

Today and tomorrow the Elementary and Preschool are devoting ourselves to taking our ministries to Mountaintop kids and families to a next level.  This morning we reviewed 10 Keys to an Exceptional Children’s Ministry.

Love Jesus.   This is non-negotiable whether you are a volunteer or on staff, upfront or working behind the scenes.  Team members without a passionate love for Christ will dilute your ministry.

Love Kids.  Liking kids isn’t enough.  Loving “the idea of kids” isn’t enough.  Your team has to be sold out in love with kids.  Loving kids means you are there for the kids and not to meet a need in yourself.

Recognize that there is a direct correlation between Children and Family Ministries.  You can’t minister to kids if you aren’t resourcing and equipping the parents.  Resources (time, energy, programming) should be spilt equally between ministering to the kids and the family.  Think ORANGE!

Know the “center of your target.”  Once you know the target, become an “expert” in the life and culture of your target.  What are they watching on tv, where do they shop, what’s important to them?  What are your “targets” developmental stages and how are the changes?

Pass the Baton Without Dropping.  Take a “long-view” in planning the “scope and sequence” of the development of a “disciple.”  Pay attention to the handoff between ministries.  Set the goal for what the “final product” is supposed to look like.

Spend Money Intentionally.  Everything we do conveys both explicit messages and implicit messages.  Environment is important and first impressions can only be made once.  Remember the medium is the message and people are paying attention.

Sprinkle Pixie Dust Whenever You Can.  Regularly and unapologetically spread a little “magic.”  The gospel message deserves our very best.  Engage the childlike sense of wonder and awe. (Glitter helps)

Customize Everything You Do.  Just because it works at Northpoint or Willow Creek doesn’t mean it works for you.  Make it your own.  Ask the “Cinderella Question:” Does the shoe really fit?  Relentlessly pursue finding the “shoe that fits.”

Clear Expectations, Accountability, Teamwork. Communication are Non-Negotiable.  One of my most defining leadership moments came when two trusted team members shared with me that they felt as if they were failing to meet the expectations I was poorly communicating!  Ouch!  Teamwork means investing in each other’s lives.  Expectations, Teamwork and Accountabilty can’t happen without open, honest and consistent communication.

a.     Make no assumptions

b.     Par is not your friend – the gospel business deserves better

c.      Look for opportunities to coach toward expectations

Bump the Lamp.  Make an internal decision that you won’t settle for “good enough” but will always do one extra step, even if it takes more time and energy and even if no one ever notices.  ( if you don’t know the phrase “Bump the Lamp: its a Disney creation – look it up – you will be glad you did)