Why Samaritan's Purse?

• I previously had excellent experiences working with them in Darfur and Ethiopia.
• Some organizations take the attitude, "Send us the money. We'll do the job." But Samaritan's Purse is open to partnering with other groups to address all needs in a particular area.
• In many places, they already have people on the ground and contacts with national churches.
• Their administrative fees are very low--only 6% for fundraising and 4% for general administration.
• Samaritan's Purse has a good reputation, partly due to the connection with Billy Graham's family (the president and CEO is Billy's son, Franklin).

In early June, after spending some time with our brethren in Canada, I swung down for a visit with our churches in New York City. Then, on Wednesday, June 11, Pam and I arrived in Jamaica Plain, a suburb of Boston, to visit Rubenia Bomatay and her Hispanic congregation. I wrote about that visit earlier, but I'd like to say more about this isolated church.

Pastor Bomatay formerly served with our Honduras Conference. She came to the States about 13 years ago, but still has a house in Honduras. It is used to teach women the craft of sewing, so they can earn money to provide for their families. A pastor oversees that work and does spiritual development with the ladies.

The congregation in Boston is called Iglesia Reformada Emanuel. It consists mostly of Hondurans, but includes Hispanics from several other countries, too. They meet in a store-front. It is fixed up well, a warm place, They have a worship area, and some storage space.

While Rubenia is the senior pastor, her husband Gerardo and son Moses preach occasionally, and a daughter helps lead worship. It's very much a family thing.

When Pam and I walked into the building, worship music was playing, and there was Rubenia on her knees, praying. That sight deeply moved me and taught me a lot about her.

Many of us have attended conferences at Willow Creek and have been greatly influenced by the ministry of Bill Hybels. Willow recently released the results of the Reveal survey, as they call it, which took a sobering look at the level of life transformation actually occurring at Willow and other churches across the country. As a result of that study, they are making some major changes. 

Unfortunately, too much of the information about the reported changes has not been accurate. Bill Hybels finally felt compelled to address the misinformation. He did that through this video, which explains what Willow is actually doing--a mere "strategic adjustment," he calls it. The video not only clears up the confusion, but gives some good insights into reaching the current generation and the way "seekers" have changed over the years. Willow staff Nancy Beach elaborates in another YouTube video.

The issue is control. Churches too often have people who want to control what happens, because they think they know better. They want to decide which table goes first at the potluck. That is carnality. 

I had a whole bunch of people at Mainstreet who didn't agree with me, but we got along and were excited because we baptized another 12 people on Sunday. Give up trying to control what happens in your church, and focus on fulfilling the Great Commission. It's not about who goes first at potlucks. It's about lost souls.

Fort Wayne, like so many American cities, has some crossroads qualities. We've got the largest population of Burmese outside of Myanmar, plus a lot of immigrants from Bosnia and Darfur. And yet, they remain somewhat invisible to me. I don't know where to find them.

Last Saturday, I attended the dedication of a Habitat for Humanity home that my church, Anchor, along with three local Presbyterian churches, funded and built. The keys were handed over to a Muslim family (seven kids!) from Somalia. That's them in the photo, along with some other folks from Somalia. This family spent 13 years in refugee camps before making it to the States four years ago. The husband and wife, and I assume the kids as well, now speak English very well. 

During the ceremony, two young men, immigrants from Ethiopia, expressed their appreciation to us for helping their "brothers and sisters" from Africa. Very cool.

So we got a touch of the crossroads thing. In building this home, they saw the best of Christianity, and maybe some seeds were planted. 

It would be great if you wrote a few paragraphs about a resource you've found helpful.

Have you seen the new Global Ministries video on the Philippines? Jeff Bleijerveld, the director, put this together using footage from his May trip to the Philippines. It's quite good, and suitable for viewing as part of a church service or Sunday school class. You can download a 22MB version.

UB pews are loaded with talented people. Know someone in your church who might be interested in designing a logo? Make sure he/she hear about it. The deadline is July 31. And the winner gets a whopping $100. (Several possible designs have come in already.)

Paul explains, "Willow Creek developed the Good Sense materials because they found that people would not give the time required for the demanding Crown Ministry. It is practical, designed to be done in one day, with six one-hour sessons. However, people are expected to do some pre-session work in preparation for the training.

On the high-speed ferry from Hong Kong, I met a Canadian coming to Macau on a six-month contract to work with Cirque du Soleil. You find Filipinos and East Indians everywhere, many coming on short-term contracts or seeking service-industry jobs. Unfortunately, Macau's growth and international attraction is built on misfortune--gambling.

We have a missionary team in this crossroads city. What do we do about that? What might God be intending? Can we reach people who then go back to their homelands and have an impact beyond Macau? 

Living Stone UB church in Macau has already begun embracing this opportunity. Three Filipinos currently attend the church, and they are increasingly open to saying, "We're going to reach internationals."