The Road We Travel

What if I were to tell you that in India there are over 400 million who have not even heard the gospel? What if I were to tell you that in the Middle East, there are over 175 million unreached unengaged people? Do those numbers surprise you?

They do me.

When one considers that there are more lost people in these parts of the earth than there are actual people in the United States it puts the world's darkness in perspective. This is why I believe it is absolutely essential for a church like ours that is serious about embracing the Great Commission cause to put energy and resources where they are most effective. One part of the answer is to support the missions efforts of the IMB- the largest missions sending organization in the world. The mission of the IMB is to plant churches around the world but especially in the places where the gospel has not yet reached. Another part of the solution is to support other para-church organizations that God is raising up to fill in the gaps that are not a part of the IMB strategy. Global Action, as an example, does not have the same priority of planting churches, but has developed a simple philosophy of connecting resources to national leaders who have ministry ideas but who don't have the means to accomplish them.

It is those kinds of missions objectives that Kyle and I were able to see up close and personal on our trip to India.

Like the ministry in Calcutta that cares for children in the slum near the convent founded by Mother Teresa. This ministry of Global Action not only cares for the physical need of the poorest of the poor in the slum, but they also give these children an education and teach them of the love of Christ. This is a ministry that is truly having an impact on the physical and spiritual needs in this dark and desperate place. You get the sense as you are observing this ministry that these are the places to which Jesus would be drawn.

Or like the evangelical church in which I was privileged to preach that is positioned right smack dab in the middle of the Calcutta slum surrounded by hordes of beggars, trash dumps, card board houses on sidewalks, and scattered Hindu temples and shrines. I was surprised when over 200 people filled the church, enthusiastically worshiped for over 2 hours, shared testimonies and sang with great joy and gave praise to God.

Or like the conference Kyle and I attended for young pastors in Ranji who are proclaiming the gospel in a part of India that has very little Christian presence. We sat with them all day in a small hotel in this city of about 500,000 as they listened intently, took notes and enthusiastically shared what Christ is doing in their churches. One gets the sense that even in the places around the world where there are very few Christians, God is at work. The Spirit is moving. And in those places where He is at work, we want to join with Him.

All of us have a mission. All of us who call upon the name of Christ are missionaries in our mission field. We are all given the responsibility of loving all people to Christ and helping them on their journey with God and others. But in addition to the mission field that we all live and work in every day, we also have an even greater responsibility to take the gospel where it has not yet been proclaimed. To take His commission seriously is to ask ourselves "where has this gospel not yet been proclaimed?" and "Who will proclaim it if we do not take the responsibility?" If we are to "make disciples of all the nations" we must take a decidedly proactive approach. There is no greater joy or greater objective that any of us could commit.

We are to have a local impact AND a global impact. That is the purpose we are all given and it is a purpose worth giving our lives to accomplish. This is just one of the lessons God has taught me in my trips to India and the Middle East.

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The best ideas are the simplest, it seems to me. Most of the things we enjoy in life are the result of someone taking complex ideas and narrowing them down to the simplest solution. They are the result of people asking questions like "I wonder if we could bring light into this room at night without having to light a fire?" or "Wouldn't it be great if we could find a way to communicate to others and actually hear their voice?" Even our modern inventions are simple ideas that are worked through a matrix of complex solutions. "How could we make a device that is a phone, a computer, a camera and connects to the internet?" is an example.

The simple ideas with profoundly accessible solutions are the most brilliant.

This is why I love the work of Global Action in India. The ideas they employ that drive the organization are very simple. The idea is to connect the resources of believers around the world who God has blessed with Christian ministry taking place in the most desperate parts of the earth. The idea is to connect believers that have the ability to give but don't know where, to the beleivers in third world countries who know how to do the work but don't know where to find the resources.

This is how the Motipur Hope Center was started. Lars Dunberg, the founder of Global Action, met Daniel Suban, the Indian pastor who had a dream of taking care of orphaned children from the streets of India in the rural setting of Motipur, far from the horriblly populated slums that exist in every major city here. Dunberg liked the idea, and he could see that Daniel was a good leader and had the passion necessary for the job. So Daniel provided the ability and the passion, and Lars and Global Action provided the resources and organization.

The result just three years later is a church, a soon to be clinic, a school and a Chidren's Home for about 50 beautiful children who have been pulled off the streets of Lucknow, Kalkota and Delhi. The children here are taken care of by house parents who love them with the love of Christ and teach them to read and write and to learn English. The future plan is to teach them a vocational skill and to train them to excell to the degree of one day furthering their education. The newly constructed church is the only Christian comminty for many hundreds of miles among a huge poplutation of Muslims and Hindu.

When Michael Butler and I traveled here two years ago, we both felt that there was a great purpose for us seeing this Hope Center. We knew that God wanted us to spread the message and to encourage our church and other churches to join in with Global Action to accomplish the task. The school was up and running, but to finish the job Western Christians needed to help shoulder the load. Since that time our church and other churches in our area and Christian businessmen and women from Oklahoma City have contributed around $50,000 toward this work. With that investment Global Action has been able to construct 6 homes for the children.

This week new land was purchased to begin construction for a clinic that will provide medical care for hundreds of thousands of people in the region who currently have no access to a hospital or doctor.

One of the most remarkable things our team has witnessed here happened on the second afternoon we were in Motipur. Women from the Muslim village near by came to the Hope Center to express their gratitude to this Christian ministry for building the clinic. They came bearing gifts of flower necklaces. They sat in front of us for several minutes and sang song after song of joy and appreciation. Lars addressed them and told them that we are building this clinic because we love them and Jesus loves them.

The fame of the name of Christ is beginning to penetrate the spiritual bondage of this dark land.

One can see the effectiveness of a simple idea in a single blanket. A couple of years ago, Sheba Suban, the daughter of Pastor Daniel, was in a village near Motipur talking to the children. One of the little girls, who had no clothes to wear other than rags her family had wrapped around her body told Sheba that when she came back she would like her to bring a "suiter".

Sheba wondered what she might have meant by a "suiter", when it occurred to her that she was using the English word "sweater". When the profound meaning of that question dawned on her, it broke her heart. The winters in this part of India, at the base of the Himalaya mountains gets very cold. Over 10,000 people last year in this area alone died of exposure. The girl was asking for something to keep her warm.

To Global Action the solution to this was very simple. Tell Western Chrisitans that for only five bucks, the price of a venti Latte from Starbucks, they could buy a blanket and save a life.

This year Global Action has raised close to 50,000 dollars to send 10,000 blankets to India. Our group was the first group to begin the distribution.

I have had many great experiences here in India. But what I experienced at that distribution stands out as one of the most touching. Our group was welcomed as honored guests to the village. The elder spoke a few words and then Pastor Daniel proclaimed the message of Christ. Our team of Americans sat one side of the circle, and the villagers on the other side. Christians on one side and Muslims on the other. Americans on one side, Indians sitting on the opposite. Two groups from opposite ends of the earth, separated for most of our lives by a seeming insurmountable ethnic, religious, socio-economic and cultural gap. In between were laid the blankets, bought by American Christians for the sake of distributing them out of Christ's love. As Pastor Daniel spoke, the people nodded in approval and appreciation for the expressions of love and the proclamation of the gospel. And then the two groups were brought together as the gifts of the blankets were exchanged. One by one our group came forward and met villagers in the middle and wrapped the blankets around their shoulders and told them that Jesus loved them. They did not hear or comprehend our words but the felt our touch and the warmth of the blanket. They looked in our eyes and expressed their appreciation and joy. In that moment the incredible gulf that had separated us was bridged. We were brought together by a simple 5 dollar blanket. But much more profoundly we were brought together by the love of Christ.

Such a simple idea. A 5 dollar blanket. Five dollars that most of us would spend in a day and not give a second thought to it. A simple blanket much like the stacks of blankets most of us have in our closets at home. But to the people living here that blanket represents survival in the winter.

Such a simple idea. But the simplest ideas are often the ones that change the world.

"I've been here four times now" my new friend from Cuba tells me as we are walking away from the Delhi slum, dodging piles of cow refuse, trash and potholes in the dirt alleyways. We have just left one of 8 ministry centers for children that is situated right smack dab in the middle of a glorified garbage dump that is home to hundreds of thousands of India's poorest families in what is referred to as the Delhi slum. If you have seen the movie, you would recognize this as a place of ministry for the "slumdogs". Each day hundreds of children are cared for, prayed over, fed and taught how to read write and speak English- a language that may help them to find a job some day. They are taught these things as they learn the scriptures and as they experience the abundant and joyous love of Christ.

My Cuban friend tells me that everytime she comes to this place she feels the sting. The sting of pain that comes to a mother's heart as she holds little babies who are hungry and have nothing to eat. "I have five children" she says to me with her eyes tearing up, "I breast fed all of them and always fed them many times a day before they even had a chance to cry".

She goes on to explain why it is such an important journey for her.

"I come back here because I believe this is a part of the abundant life too- to come to places like this and to see the poverty and reach out and touch it and to let it sting. I never want to forget that their are little babies in places like this that are hungry and looking for their mommies and they are nowhere to be found."

"I never want for it to not sting- because that would mean my heart has grown cold."

I know what she means. The sting of pain that is felt when one first experiences the overwhelming poverty of this slum is one that I believe comes from the heart of Christ. This certainly is a place that Christ had in mind when he said "if you have not done it to the least of my children you have not done it unto me..."

For any person who would ever doubt the love of Christ and the impact of His work, this place is a shining example of how light penetrates darkness. There is no darkness as dark as this darkness. And there is no love that shines brighter than in this place. It shines brightly in the hearts of the two Indian believers who are leading the ministry. Allen and Vaneta have lived here with their young family for the past 12 years for the sole purpose of taking care of the children of the slum and to reflect the love of Christ.

And they are doing this by literally living in the garbage dump with their small children, raising them alongside the untouchables in a place that most of us would not want to bring our children for more than a few hours at a time for fear of what they might be exposed to.

Their family sleeps and eats in the rooms attached to the ministry center. Their children sleep on cots on the floor without running water or any of the conveniences that most middle class children in India enjoy. Though they are both well educated and speak very good English and could find quality jobs almost anywhere else in the world, they choose to live in the Delhi slum for the sake of the gospel.

Sheeba Subhan, our friend from Global Action tells us that several months ago she told Vaneta that she should move away and drive in every day to take care of the children. "You don't have to live here." She told her. Vaneta said without hesitating, "We want to live here. We would never live anywhere else, this is where our heart is. We want to live among the children."

For most of us this kind of choice seems somewhat counter-intuitive. It makes no sense.

But somehow when you are here and experience all the bright smiles against the sadness and all the suffering alongside the joy and when you feel the sting and sense the boundless love of Christ that comes from a ministry like this, it all makes sense. Somehow you understand. they are doing what comes naturally when one is totally immersed in the gospel.

Our time at the ministry ended with a story from a 17 year old girl who has just started working on the staff. Punim first came to the slum ministry as a little girl living on the street at 5 years old. A few years ago she embraced the gospel and became a Christian. She asked for prayers as she continues to reach out to her Hindu family- many of whom are not pleased that she has left their traditional religion and converted to Christianity. She told us of how important the ministry has become to her and how it is like family. She has decided to devote her life to caring for the children of the slum. What makes Pumim's story so remarkable is that she is presently the youngest student of the Glomas training- a kind of seminary equivelent for Indian students who are interested in fulltime ministry.

As I watch this beautiful young girl, face glowing with the joy of the Lord explain how Christ has changed her life in one of the most desperate places on the planet, it occurs to me that truly the gospel is reaching into every dark corner. The sting of pain and misery and hunger is still here.

But there is a light shining in the darkness.

Two weeks ago I went on the Board of Trustees for "Global Action". This is an international missions organization our church is associated with that specializes in partnering with Great Commission Christians to accomplish Kingdom purposes among some of the most marginalized and desperate people groups on the planet. Their objective is not just to help meet physical and economic needs, but also to strengthen the local church in those targeted areas for the proclamation of the gospel. I am a big believer in Global Action because of the their excellent training and sending module and their ability to get resources where they are needed quickly with very little red tape and administrative cost.

Last week some of our Global Action friends were in town to update us on our work in Motipur where we have a home for homeless children called "The Hope Center" and where we are preparing to distribute thousands of blankets before winter sets in. This is a part of the world where people regularly die of exposure and a simple blanket costing only about 5 bucks can literally save a life. As Lars Duberg likes to say, "For the price of a Starbucks coffee you can save a life!"

In two weeks Kyle Pewitt and I will travel to India to tour some of the ministries Global Action has in the cities of Dehli, Lucknow and Calcutta in additoin to our Hope Center in Motipur. We will visit churches and ministries where national believers are giving their lives to help people who literally have nothing to give in return. In addition, we will connect with some of our IMB friends along the way.

Why do we have a minstries in these places? After all, we have lostness and economic and social needs here at home in the states. The simple answer is that these are the places where the worlds lostness is most severe. Christ has called us to proclaim the gospel in every dark corner of the earth. These regions are some of the most unreached areas on the planet. Additionally, these are the places where the poverty and social needs are most desperate and overwhelming. We may not be able to change the whole world, but we can change the world for a few. This is what God calls us to do as long as we have breath and as long as there is at least one person on earth who has not heard the gospel.

For more information on Global Action, click here.

This morning I spent a good half hour trying to rescue a hummingbird out of my garage. The crazy bird was literally beating it's head against the wall trying to find an escape. It had mistaken the circle of light reflecting on to the ceiling cast by the garage door light for the dawning sunlight outside. I know it sounds crazy to higher life forms like us- but the creature was so fascinated by the substitute light reflecting on the garage wall that it could not see that a few feet away was true sunlight and freedom!

Crazy, crazy stuff. How I pity these lower life forms.

I mean, seriously... if only this bird could think like humans- then he could clearly see that if you only follow those things that substitute for the true light, you will continually flap your wings and bang your head over and over again against the wall- it will get you nowhere in life. You will be trapped by your meaningless pursuits.

There is no freedom in that. There is only one true light.

What to do?

I considered my options. A net? No good- the tiny bird could easily be permanently injured by the net and thus the rescue itself could do more harm than good. A towel to throw over it? We used to catch bats this way when we lived in Texas. But again- not the way to catch a hummingbird.

I could just leave the creature to it's own demise. After all, the poor foolish bird had chosen it's course. But somehow the more I got involved with the tiny creature's plight, the more I felt the need to show grace- to help it to find it's way. Perhaps because I am constantly aware of how I have been shown grace.

Of course by now you can see that I was identifying with the hummingbird- having been there myself many times. I recognized that crazy struggle it was in- those wings were flapping hard against the wall. The little guy was wearing itself out. Boy do I know what it's like to beat your head against the wall and to work feverishly to no end!

Finally, an idea- turn off all the lights in the garage, open one door and wait for the bird to see that there is only one true light.

Sure enough- this was how the little bird was liberated.

It finally saw the light when it realized that all the other lights had gone out.

It wasn't until all the other lights in the room that had captured it's attention and had caused its many meaningless and fruitless attempts to find freedom had gone away, that the bird was able to focus it's attention on the one true light.

In a flash, the bird was out the door and disappeared into the morning sky.

Such simple creatures, those hummingbirds.

It takes one to know one I guess.

I stood there for a few seconds watching the bird fly away thanking God for this mornings lesson.

This coming Sunday I will be teaching on Matthew 5:27-29- the passage of scripture in which Jesus teaches about the folly of an adulterous life. I want all of our parents to be fairly warned- because of the subject matter, I don't feel it will be appropriate for children 5th grade and under to be in the room for this teaching. This is a Sunday you will want to put your children in our excellent Children's Worship program on the third floor.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Galatians 5:16)

This year God has been teaching me about my over-desires.

The word translated "lust" or "sinful nature" in Galatians 5:16 is the word "sarx" in the Greek which has a meaning that is not easily translated into the English language. When we think of "lust" in our language, we think of "sinful desire for evil things", when in fact the word means "over-desire for good things".

So when I walk by the Spirit and not by my "sinful nature" I am living in a way that does not give in to my idolatrous nature. The doctrine of sin teaches us that our problem is that we make idols of good things. As John Piper has said, "All human relational problems—from marriage and family to friendship to neighbors to classmates to colleagues—all of them are rooted in various forms of idolatry, that is, wanting things other than God in wrong ways."

So when I think of "lust of the flesh" I should not just think of sexual sin- I should think of the sin of over-desiring the good things in life.

For example:

A Christian businessman can make his job his idol and over-desire the good things his career can bring. Therefore when things go wrong at work he is condemned by the god he has created.

A parent can have an over-desire for her kids well-being. Not that wanting the best for our kids is a bad thing, but when we make it the meaning and purpose of our lives, putting it in the place of God, then it becomes an idol to us. So if things don't turn out just right- the god of "wanting what's best for my kids" will continually strike us down and condemn us.

A pastor can over-desire good things for his church.

A student can over-desire good grades and success at school.

A husband can over-desire a dream marriage.

A retiree can over-desire good things for his retirement.

Anything that we seek to enjoy in the wrong way can become an idol to us and anything we put in the place of God will end up condemning us. Our problem is not that we have sinful desires for evil things but that we have over-desires for good things.

God is teaching me that this is one of the most important teachings of scripture- it is in fact the core issue of our lives. Our problem is that we are terribly idolatrous and that we desperately need to pull our hearts away from our idols and toward the one thing that will not distort them meaning of our lives.

At last summer's Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary made a motion that the convention respond to a growing sense of purpose and direction that had grown out of a sermon preached by Dr. Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Seminary in their chapel service entitled "Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence". The axioms proposed in that sermon would later become the principles in a more refined document that was embraced by the new president of the convention, Dr. Johnny Hunt and several other leaders of the convention including Thom Rainer, James Merritt, Mark Devers Ed Stetzer, and others.

The motion by Dr. Mohler to form a GCR committee to study structural changes to be made in response was overwhelmingly approved by the convention.

I have just recently studied this document and thought through the ramifications of it both as a local pastor and as a trustee for the International Mission Board. I believe the document is more than mere bureaucratic blather- I believe it is an honest attempt to make necessary changes to set the convention on the right course. The timing is right for change. Many would say it is past time for change. I talk to young pastors on a regular basis who are less than enthusiastic by what they have seen in the convention in recent years.

For this reason I have decided to sign the document and pray for the committee as they prepare to bring a report to next years convention. You can do the same here.

You can read the full document here.