Jim Westerfield (right) taught businessmen in Cien Fuegos.

Hope you are doing well?   Traveling to the DR for a year,  every month,  (praying, connecting and plowing) has been quite a journey.  As I reflected on this past year I recently looked north toward a mountain range that separates us from Puerto Plata.  It was pouring rain but I could see the silhouette of the mountain range.  In that moment, I sensed what seemed to be an affirmation of the Lord; “Good job.”  About fifteen seconds passed and I then heard, “Keep plowing.  Walk humbly.”

I have been living in Santiago, Dominican Republic for a month now.  A lot has happened in a month.  Some really cool stuff.  But can I take a moment and share with you what I have been reading and thinking about?

Karl Rove, in his book entitled, “Courage and Consequence,” wrote something that jumped out at me.  He wrote about campaigns.  “Everything in the campaign had to be measured against goals…if you did not measure an activity it tended to remain undone.  We set goals for everything, then set things right where we were falling short.”  (Page 35)

I have asked different people what they would do if they were I.  Where would they start?  How?  When?  One answer has “stuck” with me.  Jim Tolle, pastor of a large southern California church said,  “Everything needs a reason and therefore a follow through for that reason.”  He was talking process.

Peter Greer and Phil Smith, in their book, “The Poor will be Glad,” have written many excellent things in their book.  They have helped me believe in what we are doing.  (Micro-Finance, Clean Water, Health Education)  In their book they too have challenged all of us with measurement.  Peter Drucker said,  “You get what you measure.”

I am on a mission  to establish some kind of measuring stick so that spiritual and social development progress can be looked at through indicators that force me to say, “Good job.  When?  Need to improve.  Why?  Missed the mark.  How?  Increase/Decrease allocation.“  We could make a longer list.  Wise stewardship with adequate standards and goals is an accountability needed.  I might add that it is difficult to quantify in another culture.  However, if what “they” are doing or what “I” am doing has no effect,  how will we know to change without some sort of guide?

In the Health Education world, a term is used frequently.  It is a measuring stick for the medical profession.  It is called “evidence based practice.”  I like it.  Makes sense.  Why follow myth or history past.  Let’s use concrete evidence.

We must walk with wisdom.  We must be risk takers but constantly discern the road ahead.  Besides help from God that I don’t discount at all, there is a real need for constant evaluation.

What about you?  What do you think?  Has what I have written helped  you in what you are doing?  Have you taken the time to evaluate your job, your church, your business, and your person?  How do you measure up?  Have you established any measuring stick?  Is what you are doing “evidence based?”

Write me.  I want to hear your ideas and thoughts.

Coming soon: Updates on the  Dominican and Haiti church

Support Tom and Nancy.

As Missions Pastor at Life Bridge Church in Fort Wayne, IN, we have walked with integrity, not asking people for pledges or cash offerings.   We are so grateful for the monthly support from Life Bridge. However, we need help from others as I write this post. We need a miracle.  In preparation for what lies ahead I have resigned as  Missions Pastor, a non-paid position.   We served with honor for three years.  Our sails are set.

Recently, someone suggested that church leaders were tired of missionaries calling them, asking for financial help.  It is a catch-22 isn’t it?  On one hand, we walked in obedience and have stretched ourselves  to respond to Haiti’s needs.  At the same time we have traveled to the Dominican Republic for one year now, laying the foundation.  Many doors have opened.

We have done this by faith, at great personal sacrifice.  Without investment there, we would not be able to give a clarion call to what our need is. Here’s the deal: This is not a job to us.  It is a calling that is beyond us. We are without doubt called to do what we are doing.

Although we have complete, written blessing from Foursquare Missions International as a denomination, we do not have one dime promised to us from them. Let me be clear.  I speak  without any rancor or disrespect.   Just the facts.  We understood that going into this.  Could it be that we are pioneering a new way for Foursquare and others?  I have been stripped of any dependence on anyone.

It is Him and Him alone. This is where we have come to.  For us to do what God has called us to, there needed to be an absolute dependence on Him.  What we see is the price that must be paid if we are to accomplish God’s purposes.  It is not a lesson to be learned once;  rather a lifestyle that must be lived.

The foundation has been layed in Santiago to initially plant two churches: one, a Haitian church and two, a church in the middle/upper class area of Santiago.  We are also developing  strong relationships with our friends in Cien Fuegos, a population of about 300,000 people, to develop Clean Water, Micro-Finance and Health Education.   With God’s help, we will start a Monday through Friday 6 am to 7 am radio program some time in July on a secular radio station.

Humbly, we ask you to consider giving to a calling that is making impact.  There are three ways you can partner with us.

1.  Barnabas Task: 10917 Summer Chase Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46818

2.  FMI: PO Box 26776, Los Angeles, CA.  90026

ATTN: Tom Hinton/Santiago church plant.

3.  Pay Pal:  using the link that is on this page.



You will receive a tax-deductible receipt after receiving your contribution

She brought help for her mom

Four of the Purdue students are sick as well.

A young girl walked to the clinic where we were in Gressier.  She was so cute.  Her route was  straight down  a 60 per cent

Jason Kindler on a remote mountain top

decline from  a mountaintop,  to a well-worn winding dirt road traveled by all that live in the area.  After being treated she told the plight of her mother who had lost her husband and father in the January earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people.   The little girl was a messenger.

Jason Kindler asked if he and several could walk to where this mother was.   Of course I said yes and beckoned one of our drivers to take them there.  (not knowing of the steep hill)

To encounter the mother and  meet her need is real the story of going across the road, going the extra mile;  the story of the Good Samaritan.  Mercy re-wrote the life of this mother.  And the little girl who came to the clinic by herself is my hero.

The mountaintop was like going almost straight up.

This morning we  traveled across Port Au Prince to a Nazarene Church compound that was at one time filled with tents, housing desperate Haitians upended from the earthquake..  On the way there, we drove through the hardest hit area of the earthquake and the center-city main street that was  filmed and

Purdue students dug a water diversion ditch

subsequently broadcast around the world after the earthquake.  You recognize it even today.  The tangled mass of wire and large cement blocks flattened one upon another still exist.  The road is cleared, piles of rubbish and cement block bulldozed to the side of the road.  Haiti’s desperateness existed before the earthquake.  Again, it is a complex situation without easy answers.

At the Nazarene Church compound we connected with people who obviously did not have the same needs as others.     Our  team was honorable and did what they do best, loving on people and caring for them.

We connected with Guy Thomas the Foursquare leader of Haiti.  We supported the clinic that he is developing by supplying him with 10 suitcases of MEDS and supplies that doctors there will surely benefit from.  The other suitcases we have will be given to the Church of God of Prophecy in Port Au Prince.  Both churches are part of MISSEH, the large 3000 church 14-network organization that Fort Wayne Associated Churches has connected to.

Purdue students joined us! They were an awesome team.

We have seen more than  750 people while here in Haiti.  Our team has performed extremely well under adverse heat conditions.  During the day it has been 96 degrees with a humidity to match.  Even at nighttime, with sporadic electricity that keep fans going, the tempature in our rooms is about 82 degrees.

We are concluding this first trip for Associated Churches.  Father Dan Layden has done a great job leading the team.  He is a priest at St. Albans Episcopalian Church.  Barnabas Task served Associated Churches as the point man here in Haiti, setting up the logistics, contacts and bridging the relationships.  For this trip, not only did mercy re-write the lives of many people, but also relational equity was established between MISSEH and Fort Wayne Associated Churches.  Both organizations have shared mutual letters of of embrace and relationship that  enhance future projects and shared concerns.

Haiti has not sidetracked our mission for Santiago, Dominican Republic.  We were blind-sided by the earthquake.  Who wasn’t?  We do feel we followed in obedience to do what God wanted.  He has been faithful to keep blessing and help us in Santiago.

We ask that you prayerfully give to Barnabas Task.  Our needs are greater than ever.

The foundation has been layed in Santiago to plant two churches: one a Haitian church and two a church in the middle/upper class area of Santiago.  We are also developing Clean Water, Micro-Finance and Health Education in area called Cien Fuegos.  Hopefully, we will start a daily radio program some time in July on secular radio station. Thank You.

Children are left without care

I originally intended to crop this photo on the left but felt what I was trying to say is better said by the photo itself. There is a very real sense of hopelessness for the kids in Haiti, and for that matter children in urban areas throughout the world.

Let me explain what I believe has been one of my lifetime messages. I don’t write or speak because I need to.  I do it because I think I have something to say.  What I am going to share is a primary reason I do what I do.

• Generally speaking, many children are born into a world of hope and promise.
• Generally speaking there are many children that are born into a world of rejection and anger because their mothers (or
  

  Many kids are born into poverty, disaster or war

  fathers) never wanted them in the first place.

• Generally speaking, many children are born in geographic areas where disaster, war and poverty are as normal as a rainy day in Seattle.

Kids accept reality as is

All three scenarios seem different don’t they?  Hope and promise, rejection and anger, war and poverty. At a very young age children do not know the difference.  They accept reality, as it is, not knowing how or why to compare.

At some point in their young lives children “get it.”  Whether it is at age seven or fifteen, many children began to realize that life is a hole they want out of.  They have repeatedly walked into the same pit day after day, doing the same things and one day a light goes on and they say “Wait a minute,” even at age seven or younger.

“My daddy molested me.  My daddy is an alcoholic. My mama is a prostitute.  There is another world besides this one.

A little girl's dream can be shattered

Other moms and dads are different.  I am missing a mom, a dad, and a family.  I have no one.  Perhaps there is another world.”

This moment of clarification and reality check is happening throughout the world, every day.  This arrival point is a strategic, cutting edge shift in a persons’ paradigm.  What happens next is a painful reminder of why we do what we do.

Here’s the deal:  at this crucial point in a child’s life they say, “whatever will be will be.”  “Que sera, sera.”  Their mental, spiritual, emotional and psychological growth is truncated.  For many, life stops.  They give up.  There is no hope.  There is a no salvation.  There is no way out of the hole.  The growth timeline becomes a flat line.  Many kids think this way and parents do too.

Many kids have nothing, not even a crayon

This is Haiti today as you read. I observed kids on the street that have nothing.   No one looking after them.  Their lives have been shattered and broken not only by the earthquake but also by rejection, poverty and previous disaster.  Think about it.  They are in a dark hole without sight and nowhere to go.  They give up.  They finally just sit down and say,” This is life.”  They accept it.  They can’t color their own world.

The answer for them is prostitution, drugs, human trafficking.  Some choose to sell themselves (not forced) because it is money to feed their own kids.  What an open market for the wrong people to “lend a hand” with false, wicked motives.

However, this is where you and I can make a huge difference.  Precisely at the place where “kids” around the

We can make a difference

world have come to this juncture in their life, you and I can be difference makers.

I preach Christ because He makes a difference. He changes people, inside out. You and I do what we do because we know that besides medical care, hope is given.  My prayer has always been, “Lord do a work that is so profound that  this little girl/boy will be able to see outside the hole.” And when that happens, they know who lives and they can face tomorrow.  The flat line of growth stops and life begins.

Anybody want to start an orphanage with me?

When people ask me what I do, the simplicity of it all surprises even me.  I connect people to people and resource and along the way I make friends and together the Kingdom is advanced.  Your faithful giving  to Barnabas Task is making a difference.

Haiti is off the front page.  It is a natural thing.  Other news will take its’ place and life goes on.  The Disaster Relief First Responder stage is over.   The Olympics are here.

Haiti will now move into the new territory of starting over again.  I talked with officials from Japan while in Haiti.  They were at the border of Jimani, Dominican Republic and Haiti.  What they told me made sense.  Very matter of factly they are pulling out their medical “first responder” teams and replacing them with engineers who will help rebuild the devastated port of Port Au Prince.

There is still a need for the medical personnel.  However they will deal with infections and post-operation issues and the depth of concerns that come with trauma and physical issues.

The shift though is in process. Relief workers I have talked with are wrestling with “how to do this when this has really been done before.”  Millions of dollars have been invested in Haiti by governments and organizations throughout the world.  There is little to show for this.

Can I ask a question?  What about including the church at large to help set priorities and goals for Haiti’s future? What about being able to tap the money that has been promised by so many and allow the church at large to have a prophetic voice in the re-construction of Haiti?  I am not talking about a “back seat” “glad you are here guys.”  I am talking about a “front seat” question like, “You guys have years of experience as missionaries, have developed infrastructure, have a handle on culture and the priority of sustainability.  What could we do different?  Where is the starting point in all this?”

I know it may seem a far-fetched idea.  I am sure they would cooperate with you.  They don’t want the glory for all that happens. But I do feel missionary sending agencies could give you a perspective and voice that must be heard. I guess if we look at the response and long-term efforts after Katrina, the 2005 tsunami in Southeast Asia and other major disasters worldwide there is a strong history of what “the church” can do.

One other thing, Mr. Clinton, there is a spiritual dynamic in Haiti that needs to be addressed.  What about including this dynamic as part of the overall plan to rebuild Haiti.  Believe with me  for Haiti’s spiritual deliverance.

It is a new day for Haiti.  What an opportunity to see what God and His people can do.  I include you in that statement by the way.

I write with conviction and deep concern that this is Haiti’s greatest opportunity ever in its’ history. Perhaps there needs to be church led protocol collaborating with others, playing a significant role in decisions that effect destiny.  Is there really anything to lose?

The task is daunting. With hope, I reach my hand to you along with many others and make this one request.   Let a prophetic voice be heard for Haiti’s new day.

Bill Clinton is the UN Ambassador to Haiti.

I wondered why some corn fields were growing better than others.  I asked some farmers.

• Different type of corn
• Fertilizer
• Rain in one place does not necessarily mean rain in another
• Some farmers plant later (earlier) than others
• Better soil
• Patience

After being educated and I am sure there is more to this, I thought more about harvest and harvest workers.

• A good harvest is hard work.  It is thought through and planned.
• A good harvest demands more hard work.
• The X factor in harvest demands patience and understanding
• When harvest comes, there is an urgency.  I remember talking to grape farmers in Chile that articulated the urgency of reaping ripe harvest.  Grapes must be harvested when ready, cleaned, taken to market etc.
• I am grateful for those that prepare for harvest, think harvest, plan for harvest and reap the harvest.
• Howbeit we have an X factor in our harvest terminology (the Holy Spirit), and I want  to totally depend on this, I think we all need to spend more time talking strategically about harvest.  We live for this.

Think about it.  If you were a farmer, would you keep planting, doing the same thing every year, if there was no result.  Maybe we should change how we do things.

I wept today.

I have been visiting my Mom and Dad. Dad will move into an Alzheimer’s/Memory Care unit. I struggle with this. My Mom’s reality of always being with him is a paradigm that is being changed as I write. Siblings and friends express concern, give counsel, provide prayer from a distance. This is not about me. My sisters and brother have been heroic in attempting to discern what is best. I write though. I blog.

Mom cannot care for Dad, medically, physically, and emotionally. She has courageously given of herself. They both have done so well. “A time has come for a change Dad, I am sorry but we must do something different. I have tried but I can’t go on any further.”

I wept today.

I was eating lunch with mom and noticed four ladies sitting together. Their husbands have passed away. All the residents sit at tables of four. They were like four sisters chatting, telling stories, and laughing. I went to them after lunch and thanked them for their example of courage. I thanked them for the joy it brought me to watch them and listen to them. I was so happy for them; they had each other between the visits of loved ones that would visit.

I wept today.

In the course of four days, I visited five Nursing Homes with mom, my brother, sister and friend of my sister. We walked around, asked questions and had consultations. As we passed through the Alzheimer Unit or Memory Care areas, I held back tears. Then I wept. Is this it? Is this what happens when Dad moves into a place like this?

I wept today.

She waved at me from a distance. I waved back. She waved again. I waved back. Then I realized this elderly lady was waving at someone else, behind me. By this time, I was waving at five or six people. It was silent, no talking. Just waving. I guess I was not ready when the lady that started it all came up to me, pushed on a wheel chair by a caregiver. “Thank you,” she said. Such simplicity.

I have made friends with some of the residents. They stop by to say hi or goodbye.

I wept today.

I did little errands for mom. She was so grateful. I listened. We talked. We had our little daily routine. We processed a theme that kept coming to my mind: “I want the best for Mom with excellent care for Dad.” My siblings do too. Grateful I am to them. Dad wanted to watch the Seattle Mariners. He slept most of the time. We always talked about a desire to go to the College World Series together. He can’t remember. We never did. He coached me in Little League, taught me how to be a catcher. He had played semi-pro baseball. He knew the sport. He can’t recall.

I wept today.

As we sat with the Community Relations Director for the Memory Care Center at Emeritus Oaks I heard her say, “We will join your Dad’s journey, where ever he is.” I liked it. “If he is missing the smell of an apple pie, we will join him and bake a pie.” I heard a little Starbucks philosophy, that teaches baristas to say “yes,” if at all possible.

I was so encouraged. I loved the thought of “joining the journey.” Shouldn’t we be doing that with each other anyway, like now?

It is time to leave Poulsbo, WA, a beautiful Scandinavian town on Liberty Bay. Due diligence has been accomplished. Some huge decisions have been made and will place in motion other decisions. It is 4:30 am. I need to catch the shuttle that will take me to the airport, an hour and half drive as the sun comes over the Narrows Bridge connecting Kitsap Peninsula and Tacoma.

I say goodbye to Dad in the dark. He is snoring. I kiss his forehead. I touch his feet.

“I will join you in your journey Dad.”

Grateful I am!

I wept today.

Here’s the proverb:

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”

We are learners, you and I. We have different styles of learning. It is neither necessarily linear nor predictable. I hunger to learn more, even as to how others learn. Will you tell me a story of how you learn?

Pragmatically, I submit that we study and read much but my observation is that we probably are not engaged enough with the rank and file of those whom we lead. “Doing” would do us some “soul” good, make lasting impact and connect us to so much understanding.

How do you learn? Are you learning? Does learning bridge new relationships because you have asked questions humbly? Do you listen?

For me, if I do something with someone, I “learn” him or her. If I am “doing” something in ministry with someone, I am learning “how.” I was thrown into Disaster Relief Work, for example. I was asked to give administrative oversight to seven refugee camps in Albania during the Kosovo war. What I “knew” was nothing compared to what I needed to know and learn. I asked and I listened. I did. I understood. My hands were dirty from the trenches.

This is my encouragement today for you. There is a whole lot to learn out there. Don’t live in a box. Get out of your routine. Do something and understand. I am so excited for you.

(Editor’s Note: I intentionally made myself available to be a substitute teacher this past year, as time permitted. I did something different. I wanted to learn (and relearn) youth culture. Instead of just read the latest, I had lunch with students and bantered with them in the hallways. I understand more now. By the way, I love the youth student culture, believe in this generation and am so impressed.)

I read Groeschel’s comments and thought to myself, “it is finally taking  place.” Dependence on hip is scary.  Anyway, I thought Groeschel wrote it well.  My prayer is that this is the begnning of a swing back to simple church and the basics.

May 13th, 2009

by Craig Groeschel

We lost everything we had entered, a major blow to what we are trying to communicate. It was painful beyond words to see an empty website. However, God’s wisdom and grace prevailed.  It will take some time but we will be back in no time.  Thanks for your patience.  

Nancy and I feel more than ever that God has orchestrated a plan for our lives.  We declare  that plan and do so not only with fear and trembling;  but with a Holy Spirit directed boldness.