Yesterday we took our student ministry to Rescue Atlanta which is a church in downtown Atlanta the meets the needs of the poor and the desperate and the homeless in a way that most churches would never. You see it is easy for our churches to go to the inner city and feed the homeless, it is a little harder to actually set up lunches and make hot meals and serve the homeless, but it is very radical to invite the homeless into our Sunday Mornings and our church service and invest in their lives on a permanent basis. Well, Rescue Atlanta Does this. Check out their website: Rescue Atlanta.
On Saturday we got to see the city of Atlanta from the perspective of how a homeless person views it. We ministered to over 150 kids from the projects across the street with a Kid's Jam and rode on buses to pick them up and take them home. My heart broke as we rode with them on the bus and realized that they all were getting ready to be kicked out of their homes so that they could build homes that were for higher income levels. After we were on the bus for a while some of my students called to me and told me that there was a boy who missed his stop. I went to him and asked him to come up front with me so I could tell Pastor Mel where he lived. He came up front and I asked his name and he told me. I could tell he was young and seemed a little scared. I told him that I was glad he didn't get off the bus yet so we could hang out for a few more minutes together. I looked at him and asked him how old he was. He held up his hand with just 2 fingers and said he was 2 years old. He told me he would be 3 in Nov. This 2 year old boy had no one that was watching him, no older brother or sister or friend that was with him and didn't even know if there was someone at his house. My heart broke as I realized that there was a 2 year old boy out there that had to grow up faster than he ever wanted.
My perspective changed as it always does when you take time to see life from people who are desperate and hurting. How often are we so afraid to do ministry in a way that invites the hurting and the desperate? How often are we afraid to do more than just go serve a hot meal at a homeless shelter? Are we willing to actually live in such a way that our lives invest in those who are hurting? I pray that our churches will move from feeding people and helping the hurting at the back door and start investing in them and moving them into the front of our churches. Let our people see that there is so much more to our lives than feeling comfortable. It is about doing the ministry of Christ for the Glory of God. Are we willing to get dirty and touch the untouchable?
This reminds me of the parable where there was a man with Leprosy that stood outside the gates and was calling out for Jesus. Someone with Leprosy couldn't be touched and had to yell out all day to people and let them know that they had leprosy so that people would stay away from them. Someone with Leprosy usually didn't have anyone every touch them and I would say one of the hardest parts about being a leper was there was no human touch. Well, on this day, he heard that Jesus was near and so he was calling out for Him. Jesus came to him and he asked Jesus if he would make him clean. Jesus did the unthinkable, he reached down and he touched him. He told him that he would be made clean and the man was healed. You see Jesus did the unthinkable, the radical! He touched the unclean. Are our ministries filled with students who are good kids? Are our students filled with students who are the popular and the accepted or are we teaching and equipping our students to get into their schools and get a little dirty? Are we teaching them to seek out the desperate and the hurting? Are we teaching our students to love the unloved? I would say if we did we would see our churches full of the desperate who have found hope. I challenge each one of us to take time to invest in the unloved and let's do the ministry of Christ.
Showing posts with label Missions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Missions. Show all posts
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Why did Jesus Have to Die? Russia part 2
I want to tell you a story from our trip to Russia. It was Wed. night one of our last days at the Church which we were working with. We had a huge Youth Banquet planned and we invited the youth from the church where we had it (First Baptist of Bryansk) and also the Church plant that we were working with. We also invited students from the Deaf School and from the orphanages that we worked with. We had around 150 youth there and it was very exciting. We had a service upstairs where we had students share their testimonies, sing songs, and I got to share out of John 14-16 Jesus' Last words to His Disciples before he was to be arrested (which I focused on Jesus giving us the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth.)
We went downstairs after the service and had it decorated for all the youth and we put all the youth around the tables. Our group made American Pizza for them and we all sat down to eat. We had the places set up where we would have 2 American's and 1 Interpreter sitting together so we could talk to the youth. I went down and sat at a table where no one was yet and prayed that God would bring the people he wanted me to talk with to come and sit with me. A group of students filled in the chairs and they sat down next to me and around me. One of the youth from my group sat with me and we had an interpreter with us. I think the first words out of the interpreter’s mouth to me were, "Ok, now you share Jesus with these boys." So I did.
It was very difficult trying to get the conversation going because you always have to use the interpreter and then they would talk to each other and it was hard to stay in the conversation. But we talked for a few minutes about the Bible and if they had been to church. These boys were from the shelter and the church we were working with did go and work with them some already. They seemed interested in the conversation so I said this, "There is a question that many American Students cannot answer and I would like to ask you. Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive our sins?"
The boys answered with some responses but seemed unsure. So I asked them if I could share with them the answer. They said, "Da" which means Yes in Russian.
So, the door flew open and I was able to share very clearly the gospel. I walked through how God is our Creator and because of that he is owner and He makes the rules. He is perfect and Holy and He must separate Himself from imperfect people. A perfect God cannot live with Imperfect people. God must punish sin and the punishment is death (Rom. 6:23). We are not perfect (James 2:10, Romans 3:23) and therefore we deserve Death and separation from God as the payment for our sin. Hebrews 9 talks about the need for sacrifice and the shedding of blood to pay for sin. Hebrews 9:22, says "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
I told them of the sacrifices of the Old Testament and how they were just temporary coverings for sin. In order to have complete forgiveness there would have to be a perfect person willing to take our place and die in our place. I shared how Jesus was this person, God's Son. He was able to take our place because he was perfect (1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus was the Lamb that was perfect that died in our place.
When we looked at this I expressed that Jesus had to die because God, being a Just God, must punish sin - there is no way around it. If we try to pay the price of sin by being good it isn't enough we are already guilty of breaking the whole law - even with one sin. If we want any chance to be with God we must have a perfect sacrifice and substitution for our sin. Jesus is that answer. By Jesus, dying on the cross he was able to stand in our place, take our punishment and for those who believe he would take all our sin on Himself. Wow!! Isn't that awesome!
I asked the boys if they wanted to keep trying to pay for their sin on their own and try to get to heaven their way or they wanted Jesus to take their place. The 3 boys all said they wanted Jesus. We went in another room and talked more in depth with them and all 3 boys placed their faith in Jesus being the only way to get to heaven (John 14:6) and how through his ressurection we can have the Holy Spirit living in us and guiding us in all truth (John 16:13).
We gave them Bibles, encouraged them to read it together, pray together and we introduced them to the Pastor of the church we were working with and with some of the students that go to that church. I could see it in their eyes that they really got it! It was exciting to see that asking a question like, "Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive our sins?" was the open door to share the truth about Jesus.
We went downstairs after the service and had it decorated for all the youth and we put all the youth around the tables. Our group made American Pizza for them and we all sat down to eat. We had the places set up where we would have 2 American's and 1 Interpreter sitting together so we could talk to the youth. I went down and sat at a table where no one was yet and prayed that God would bring the people he wanted me to talk with to come and sit with me. A group of students filled in the chairs and they sat down next to me and around me. One of the youth from my group sat with me and we had an interpreter with us. I think the first words out of the interpreter’s mouth to me were, "Ok, now you share Jesus with these boys." So I did.
It was very difficult trying to get the conversation going because you always have to use the interpreter and then they would talk to each other and it was hard to stay in the conversation. But we talked for a few minutes about the Bible and if they had been to church. These boys were from the shelter and the church we were working with did go and work with them some already. They seemed interested in the conversation so I said this, "There is a question that many American Students cannot answer and I would like to ask you. Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive our sins?"
The boys answered with some responses but seemed unsure. So I asked them if I could share with them the answer. They said, "Da" which means Yes in Russian.
So, the door flew open and I was able to share very clearly the gospel. I walked through how God is our Creator and because of that he is owner and He makes the rules. He is perfect and Holy and He must separate Himself from imperfect people. A perfect God cannot live with Imperfect people. God must punish sin and the punishment is death (Rom. 6:23). We are not perfect (James 2:10, Romans 3:23) and therefore we deserve Death and separation from God as the payment for our sin. Hebrews 9 talks about the need for sacrifice and the shedding of blood to pay for sin. Hebrews 9:22, says "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
I told them of the sacrifices of the Old Testament and how they were just temporary coverings for sin. In order to have complete forgiveness there would have to be a perfect person willing to take our place and die in our place. I shared how Jesus was this person, God's Son. He was able to take our place because he was perfect (1 Peter 1:18-19). Jesus was the Lamb that was perfect that died in our place.
When we looked at this I expressed that Jesus had to die because God, being a Just God, must punish sin - there is no way around it. If we try to pay the price of sin by being good it isn't enough we are already guilty of breaking the whole law - even with one sin. If we want any chance to be with God we must have a perfect sacrifice and substitution for our sin. Jesus is that answer. By Jesus, dying on the cross he was able to stand in our place, take our punishment and for those who believe he would take all our sin on Himself. Wow!! Isn't that awesome!
I asked the boys if they wanted to keep trying to pay for their sin on their own and try to get to heaven their way or they wanted Jesus to take their place. The 3 boys all said they wanted Jesus. We went in another room and talked more in depth with them and all 3 boys placed their faith in Jesus being the only way to get to heaven (John 14:6) and how through his ressurection we can have the Holy Spirit living in us and guiding us in all truth (John 16:13).
We gave them Bibles, encouraged them to read it together, pray together and we introduced them to the Pastor of the church we were working with and with some of the students that go to that church. I could see it in their eyes that they really got it! It was exciting to see that asking a question like, "Why did Jesus have to die in order to forgive our sins?" was the open door to share the truth about Jesus.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The Russia Experience
Ok, I will have to do several blogs in order to begin to tell you how incredible my experience was on our mission trip to Russia. First, I am so thankful for God and How Mightily He shows Himself in my life and in the lives of the people he changes. Also, I want to thank the interpreters who were on our mission trip. There is no way that we could have accomplished all we did without our interpreters. They were such servants in communicating our hearts to the Russian people we were ministering too. But the coolest thing was it was their heart as well.
I will say if you have never taken a group on an international trip - make the effort to do it. There is something about going to a different culture where you don't speak their language and only through interpreters can you truly communicate with them. I also want to encourage you to do whatever it takes to have enough interpreters for your group and get ones who have a heart for the people you are ministering too.
Alrighty...
Russia, where do I begin. It was nothing like I thought and everything like I thought at the same time. On the other side of the world from where I sit today there are people who have the same dreams, emotions, struggles and pain as we do. These struggles may come out a little different than ours but they are the same. People need God, people want to be accepted, people long to understand their life and only through Christ can they find true peace and love.
To get a picture of what it looked like I encourage you to download Google Earth and type in Bryansk, Russia and then click on the pictures it has there as well. I can't describe what it looked like as much as pictures so take time to visit websites with pictures.
We went to 3 orphanages, a deaf school, 2 retirement homes, 2 Public schools (to which we were the first Americans to go to those schools), held a youth banquet for 150+ youth, and did a VBS at a church plant. And the great thing about this was we got to share the gospel at every place. Who could of thought that we would have been able to go into a public school and share the Love of Jesus with students. It was awesome.
I will share more later!
I will say if you have never taken a group on an international trip - make the effort to do it. There is something about going to a different culture where you don't speak their language and only through interpreters can you truly communicate with them. I also want to encourage you to do whatever it takes to have enough interpreters for your group and get ones who have a heart for the people you are ministering too.
Alrighty...
Russia, where do I begin. It was nothing like I thought and everything like I thought at the same time. On the other side of the world from where I sit today there are people who have the same dreams, emotions, struggles and pain as we do. These struggles may come out a little different than ours but they are the same. People need God, people want to be accepted, people long to understand their life and only through Christ can they find true peace and love.
To get a picture of what it looked like I encourage you to download Google Earth and type in Bryansk, Russia and then click on the pictures it has there as well. I can't describe what it looked like as much as pictures so take time to visit websites with pictures.
We went to 3 orphanages, a deaf school, 2 retirement homes, 2 Public schools (to which we were the first Americans to go to those schools), held a youth banquet for 150+ youth, and did a VBS at a church plant. And the great thing about this was we got to share the gospel at every place. Who could of thought that we would have been able to go into a public school and share the Love of Jesus with students. It was awesome.
I will share more later!
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