The image was disturbing. A decapitated Christ – repaired, but broken nonetheless. Who could have done such a thing?
But even more disturbing were the security fences around the church…obviously vandals needed to be deterred, but the spiked fences, electrified wires, and thorny shrubbery were there to keep out the very ones who desperately needed the one Who came to give His life for the world. The Lamb of God Who died as a propitiation for our sins. Heartbreaking.
Everyone in the Durban area lives behind high walls and have all manners of security features from electric wires, to rolls of barbed wire, to cameras…and they live in fear. A friend I met for the first time in 45 years told us horror stories of car highjackings – she herself was highjacked once – break-ins, murders, thefts, and other lawless deeds that were everyday occurrences. She was obviously nervous and did not wish to stand on the pavement to say goodbye for too long…
I have brooded over these images for days now. Were these images somehow images of our lives as believers? After all, we are the Temple of the living God and if our defences are so high – for whatever reason – that no one can get close enough to catch a glimpse of the crucified yet risen Saviour we represent, what purpose do we serve in the Kingdom? What are we hiding behind?
To be sure, vandals break hearts as well as statues, and we do need to protect our church buildings as much as we need to protect our bodies…but was His body not broken to bring the world in?
We’d like you to get to know Messy Church – Bolivian Style.
La Trinidad goes to our neighborhood park and shares the Gospel with families one Sunday afternoon a month. The idea is to get the whole family engaged, get our hands dirty, and be the church. We call it Iglesia Abierta – Open Church.
A few weeks ago the lesson was on how to tend to the family – using the idea of how we care for plants. Each family planted a seed, then at the next table they were given a plant and two pieces of paper for listing the names of or drawing each person of the family on the plant. They got to keep the plant.
And we got to keep their names with the promise that we would be praying for them each week at La Trinidad. It was a fantastic afternoon, and we were able to pray with each of the families there in the park.
The best part was last Sunday at La Trinidad.We handed out the names and prayed for each person in small groups.Then those names were posted on a prayer tree.The whole congregation was involved! Our prayer is that these families will come to know the Lord and grow with us at La Trinidad.
Iglesia Abierta was started, adapted, and is run by lay leaders in the congregations, down to the lessons and activities themselves.This is how God is moving at La Trinidad!
We ask you to pray for the Iglesia Abierta ministry at La Trinidad and for our next activity on June 3.Please pray with us that families will be transformed by the Gospel. As of yet, no family has visited us on a Sunday morning, but they are starting to look for us in the park on Sunday afternoons!Please pray that we would know how God is leading us to also be transformed to better minister to our neighborhood.
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, some of our UCU students participated in the StartHub Africa program for the last semester. The culmination of the program was the final pitch event in Kampala at International University of East Africa.
Our day began at 6 am when we left UCU campus in a 14 person van (a taxi) to get to Kampala by 7:30. Our early departure time was to avoid the “jam” (or traffic) that is a fact of life here on the main roads. Dressed for success with their prototypes in hand, our students were excited for the final day to have arrived, each hopeful that they would be winners of some prize money to further their businesses.
We were the first university to arrive, allowing each of our 5 groups to have prime locations for their “booths” for the fair. Location, location, location! The agenda for the day is shown here… although we operated on African time so it was not exactly as planned!
After the judges had visited each of the approximately 35 groups during the fair, the judges announced the 11 finalists, 2 groups from each of 5 industries and 1 voter selected finalist. UCU brought 5 groups, and 3 of our 5 were finalists and were able to make their 5-minute pitch on stage to the judges and all in attendance and answer 3 minutes of questions afterwards. We were so proud of each of our students who put their all into their businesses and also of the groups who presented very well.
When final results were in, one of our groups won! The business is a mobile app called “MyCents” which is intended to keep track of simple bookkeeping targeted at mini-business owners up to small business owners. The interface is user friendly for non-financial managers or owners and then has graphical depictions of sales, expenses, etc. There are many mini-businesses in Uganda, people selling chapati (similar to a pancake) on the side of the road, small retail storefronts selling food or bags, and others. Often people go out of business due to poor cash flow management. This group’s solution to that problem was to provide a way to easily monitor the progress of the business in order to make better strategic decisions. In an environment where personal computers may not be accessible to everyone but mobile phones are very common, this mobile app could have a great opportunity to make an impact. It will be exciting to see how far they can take their business!
“I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?” These words of Nehemiah, addressed to those who were opposing the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, have encouraged us more than once in our Kingdom work.
The enemy is so determined to defeat the work of God’s people that he will use any tactic possible. He will use people, often even God’s own people, to discourage us. He will use situations and stories to incite fear to make us reluctant to go somewhere or to speak to someone or to do something risky and yet important. This should not surprise as, as the enemy used the very same tactics with our Lord Jesus. We are also warned in the Scriptures that we are at war, not with people, but with powers and principalities of darkness in the heavenly places. Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking those whom he may devour. So, we are not ignorant of his efforts.
We find our courage and determination to press on by focussing on Jesus who who was made a little lower than the angels, who took on the form of a slave and came in the likeness of humanity, who was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin, who endured shame, humiliation, betrayal, desertion, and crucifixion…all for the joy that was set before Him…the joy of knowing that His labour was not in vain. That through His sacrificial suffering and death, many would be reconciled to God the Father through faith in Him.
This past week, Louise and I trained a number of potential disciple makers in the Diocese of Natal. The first two days was focussed on the first of the four modules in the LEAD Program training, Strategy. The attendees were mostly clergy and lay leaders. We were so encouraged to hear this group say that, while they have heard about discipleship for years and have even attended various courses on the subject, this was the first time they felt we had given them the tool they needed to do the work!
They were so excited about the material that they decided they want to translate it into their own language, Zulu, so that they can teach many more people how to make disciples! We will be sending them the Xhosa and English versions this week so that they can strike while the iron is still hot!
The second group was mostly made up of lay leaders. For this training we teamed up with Trevor and Estelle, our team members from Growing the Church, as it was the first time we would be teaching this material. We had heard quite a bit about Rooted in Jesus and it is used in many African countries, but we have never been trained to teach it. Estelle worked out a three day program and gave us a few sections to teach and to lead. The training is divided up into teaching sessions, workshops, and practical sessions and everyone participates. It was a lot of fun and the group really enjoyed it. At the end, each participant had an opportunity to say how the course had touched them personally and what they were going to do about it! Watch out Natal!
Once again we were reminded that we are engaged in a great work…that in spite of the many distractions, disappointments, and discouragements that the enemy hurls at us ever so often, we must be determined to press on…because we really do live for Christ and for Christ alone. Jesus faced what He faced because of the joy that was set before Him…the joy of knowing that many would come to the Father because of His labour. By His grace and His aid, we can do the same.
We are engaged in a a great work…we cannot come down.
I just returned from Aguascalientes, Mexico where I teamed up once again with Peter Sholl of MOCLAM (Moore College Latin America) to teach an intensive course on the Pentateuch (pictured). The class was well attended with 7 students. I was expecting leaders from 2 of the area churches but was pleasantly surprised to have 5 leaders representing all 3 of the churches in the area.
The best thing to happen was when I was teaching on the 10 commandments. When we got to commandment number 4 – remember the Sabbath – I asked the leaders about their Sabbath, if and how they took time for rest and refreshment. The discussion went on for 10 to 15 minutes. At lunch I asked if they ever took time to get together for fellowship, sharing and to pray for each other. No, they said, this was the first time they had ever taken time to talk and share with each other. Then I made a suggestion, “while we’re all here together, why don’t we take some time to pray for each other?” Also, “Can I encourage you guys to do this on a regular basis? It is so important.” Immediately they began making plans as to how and when they could get together next.
It was a totally unexpected opportunity to speak into the lives of these hard-working ministers. I love it when God surprises me like this and orchestrates one of His divine appointments.
Enjoy the brief video of our worship time as Pastor Miguel Merino leads us – Praise and Prayer
The image was disturbing. A decapitated Christ – repaired, but broken nonetheless. Who could have done such a thing?
