There is nothing quite like walking in a city where you feel it is His purpose to start a church.  To begin the process of finding that specific location (although it may change) to start the church is challenging. To be refused entry to a place, to be laughed at or not be listened to is part of the package.  It has happened to me here in the few days we are investing in this process.  I will be coming back again in August to do the same.  Discovery and Design  is a combination of prayer, writing, journaling, fasting, looking, common sense, consensus, getting counsel, question and answer dialog, patience etc.

There is a merging of information that includes asking what kind of church this will be, who will we strategize to reach, what is our philosophy of ministry, what is God saying etc.  Habakkuk 2:1 says it should be written out.

However significant it is to process this, and we are step by step,  I know that at the end of the day, we will catch fish.    What I am supposed to say to someone that comes out of a barrel some place, “Excuse me, I was not fishing for you!”   I don’t think so.

Thanks for praying as we go through a process of what this will look like ever mindful of what God is saying and what He wants.  We are so grateful for prayer like never before.  

I am going  prayer walking and to a 5 pm prayer meeting in Santiago, Dominican Republic where I will introduce myself as Pastor without a building or a congregation, (except in my heart!)

While in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (DR), several months before the Foursquare Convention in Anaheim, CA,   we freely shared  with Foursquare missionaries Charlie and Darla Finocchiaro about what we sensed God was saying. To plant a church in Santiago.  They are incredible people that listened to our hearts.  

Finally, we traveled to Santiago and also shared with Paul and Eileen Allyn, veteran missionaries whom we highly respect.  They are looked to often for counsel and have the respect of missionaries and pastors throughout the DR.  They have given their lives to Bible School education.  They are in agreement as well as to do what we were thinking and planning for.

Totally  independent of our conversation, and after we had left the DR, Charlie and Darla’s youth pastor and his wife had shared their desire to start a church in Santiago.  John and his wife Diana are credentialed Foursquare  ministers from the country of Colombia.   Could it be that God was setting something up?

I went to the convention quite open to whatever God  was saying to us.  How would it all work?  I was asking for another confirmation.  We were not going to jump into something quickly.  With His timing,  God spoke to us in a way that it could not be mistaken.  There were  no words spoken during specific conversations that would have manipulated another. He has given a mandate that has the sensitive affirmation of Pastor Bill Campbell, Life Bridge Church, Fort Wayne, IN,  Life Bridge Missions Council where I am the Missions Pastor and the Barnabas Task Board.  

• While in Anaheim, a Chinese lady spoke to me while standing in line at the Starbucks of the Anaheim Hilton.  We had just talked for about 15 minutes when she turned and asked if she could share a word with me.  ”Focus.  Develop a model.  Build leadership.”
• The very next day, a pastor came up to my while having coffee.  I had never seen him before in my life.  I was minding my own business.  He said, “I see the Fatherheart of God in you….signs and wonders following you and angels protecting you…focus.”  I was shocked, amazed and delighted.
• On Facebook, a friend from the past who I stay in touch with, but not often, simply wrote:  “For the man who sees his future through the eyes of God, there is one road…your focus is clear and your purpose is defined…….”

These  words were spoken to me within 48 hours of each other.  They are the culmination of intense prayer and reflection, waiting.  During this time I was studying the Song of Solomon and was amazed at what I was learning.  I found the Lord to be quite attractive.  I longed for Him.   The Holy Spirit was speaking about some different things.   But who wants to settle for that?  When God speaks, directs, re-directs, it is time to listen and obey.  It is the better way.

These kinds of things do not happen every day.  We were not looking for some sign to come out of the woodwork and say “Do this.” God has given Nancy and I a clear mandate to start a church in Santiago, Dominican Republic (DR).  We are stepping into it, absolutely humbled by His grace and calling.  This second largest  city of  of the Dominican Republic is home to about one million people.  The DR  is about 18,700 square miles,  has 31 provinces and is about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.  I have planted three churches, all different.  I would say though that I am at the beginning again.  God help us.  Past is prologue.

The goal is to initiate and start a church that will eventually  become self-supporting, self-propagating and self-governing, creating a model and develop leadership.  We do not know everything.  We are broken, humble and we are learners.  We will tenderly discover this with others.  In time, we will turn the church over to a pastor for full leadership and direction.  Our motive is not long term, rather long enough to establish and train someone to take our place and work ourselves out of a job. God knows the timing and our pure desire.

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.)

Modern day slavery effects every nation. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates nearly eighteen thousand people are trafficked into the United States every year. They are forced into the sex trade, used for slave labor or confined as domestic workers.”

Eighty per cent (80%) of slaves around the world are women and girls, while 50% are children. This is due in part to the high demand for young female sex workers.

You can Abolish The Silence.

    * Stay informed about human trafficking

    * Report suspicions of human trafficking

    * Adopt a project.  Make a Difference.

Below are photo progess updates from the orphanage being built in Thailand. We are almost ready to lay block.  Also these are some of the kids that will understand Just Relationships because someone cared enough to make a difference.  Thanks for doing all you can to help Neill and Diana Gilbert build this orphanage.

www.pdrhealth.com

www.mayoclinic.com

www.medlineplus.gov

www.webmd.com

www.medem.com

www.healthfinder.gov

www.cdc.gov

www.kidshealth.org

www.nccam.nih.gov/health

www.cancer.gov

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

Jon and Heidi Heisterkamp  (left) arrived home in Fort Wayne, IN after being over-night delayed because of rain in Cleveland. (Incredible son-law and daughter)   We welcome them home!    They have just completed 2 1/2 years of successful missionary ministry in Panama.  Jon was the business manager for the Lutheran church, traveling to various countries assisting missionaries.  Heidi taught at an International School.  They are here for a few days and then move on to St. Louis for debriefing as missionaries with the Lutheran Church.  After a few days there they will drive on to Des Moines, Iowa where they will begin life again in the states.  Jon has taken a management position with Wells Fargo.

The Touch of Barnabas Task from tom hinton on Vimeo.

Jason Ruggles and I worked on this for the Life Bridge Missions Convention. (lifebridge.cc)  I was in a meeting with new people from  our church  attempting to identify in a few short words what Missions was.  Ever been there?  What is Missions in a few short words?  As I wrote it first and then voiced it, I was cognizant that something special was taking place.

            NEIGHBOR   CITY   COUNTRY   WORLD

I have a passion for the lost that is not fully developed yet.  However, I do know and recognize that  Missions  is more than a far away country.  Missions can be meeting a need for a neighbor, serving in some area of a city  where I live, an honorable attempt to do something in my own country and finally and no less important  an endeavor in that far away country.  I want to help people understand.   Looking at it this way helps me define Missions in a simple way so that the listener can “get it,” without me having to define “it” a second time.  What about you? I would love your input on what Missions means to you!  And I would love your thoughts on this awesome media tool we used to define Missions.

Special Note:  Jason and April Ruggles left for Thailand today.  They are Foursquare missionaries going because God said “go.”  When Nancy and I prayed with them and said goodbye there were tears of joy.  As part of Barnabas Task, we took them in for five months.  They became part of our family in every way.  It is Jason who who edited the above video.  He is good.  He will do stuff like this in Thailand and Southeast Asia.  April will teach English as a Second Language (ESL) at the World Base Center there that is about three blocks from the largest university in the world.  (more than 500,000 students)  Follow Jason and April at jasonruggles.com