The UmBlog

A true story confirmed by someone I know who was on this mission trip. “For instance, a couple of my friends and I were visiting with a Hindu priest’s wife. She was a widow and the pastor in that town frequently visited her and read her the Bible. The woman was so glad to see us, and very kind and intelligent and knew a lot about Scripture. We shared the gospel with her, and asked her questions about Hinduism. In the end, she didn’t accept Christ, and when asked why, she explained according to her faith in Hinduism. I beamed in pride for her, because somehow I knew that she would come to Christ. I felt it, and I still can’t explain it. I knew she would accept God soon, and I understood that it wasn’t going to be now. Then, out of nowhere, my team leader said [to the pastors with us], “Tell her that her husband is in hell.” The pastors looked at him in shock. Had I just heard that? “We can’t say that,” they said, and even though it was the truth, such a saying would hurt more th...

I've been greatly encouraged by this complementary Kindle review copy from Booksneeze of Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims are Falling in Love with Jesus by Jerry Trousdale. It was even more profound for me as I read it over this past Easter weekend. This book is a report on the success of a church planting movement (CPM) among African Muslims as simply strategized by Cityteam , originally an outreach to the down and out in San Jose, California. Their methods are simple , and familiar to anyone, like myself who has studied the simple/house/organic church movement. Here's the process. Love your neighbors. Find the "son of peace," (Luke 10:6) by depending desperately on prayer. Read the Bible together with those who are interested and let the Bible change them. As they read it, ask them what they learn about God, about humanity and what God wants them to do with what they've read. Next time you get together, ask how it went. Read some m...

As a life long resident of Connecticut, but also a life long born again Christian, I have no idea what it's like to not live in a mission field . Connecticut, all of New England in fact, has some of the lowest concentrations of evangelical Christians in the nation. This means most (~95%) of my fellow flinty New Englanders do not share my belief in the Bible as the Word of God, in Jesus as the only savior of our souls, in salvation by grace, in a lifestyle of worship characterized by ethics defined biblically, etc . But it wasn't always so in the history of my neck of the woods. I was encouraged to read the similarity of the culture in New England 400 years ago before Jonathan Edwards witnessed a revival, America's First Great Awakening which broke out in his neighborhood of Northhampton, Mass. Then his grandson, Timothy Dwight witnessed a revival at Yale, in New Haven, Conn. a hundred years later. Dwight's observations show me that no matter who the anti-Christian p...

Compressed earth blocks diminish deforestation and energy intensive housing material (kiln fired bricks and cement). They are not a new concept but a group called Faith Tech Connect have come up with a machine that can crank out these bricks real quick. An important difference between these houses and the concrete block houses that fell down in Haiti is the addition of chicken wire on the inside and outside that provides tension to prevent shearing and a base for the stucco. Also the block in Haiti can break in your hand. It is very cheap. HT: Green Building Elements

There are many ideas on how to provide shelter in Haiti. This group, Shelter2Home wants to provide temporary shelters that can be incorporated into permanent structures. I'm sure that means the upfront costs are higher. Here is their 8 minute presentation. The permanent solution is being done in partnership with REACH at a Catholic orphanage in Haiti called Pwoje Espwa , whose blog I've been following before the earthquake, because they built an earthbag house , which survived the quake. The technology REACH is using comes from Virginia based Stucc on Steel . It's a revival of stucco but on metal lathes. Because they use galvanized steel, they bury their walls into the ground and foundation to provide earthquake and hurricane strength.

The day of my 40th birthday this weekend, I got a ticket and a spot on a relief team to Haiti with Mission E4 . They have a few locations away from Port-au-Prince closer to the epicenter of the earthquake. They have an orphanage in Leogane, and the building is not safe. They were there when the earthquake struck. Leogane is 80-90% destroyed. They started treating injured people. They have a small clinic on the orphanage property. It became an ER. I'll be helping prepare the property to be used as a refugee camp. The team I'm part of consists of doctors, surgical techs, EMTs, and pastors. I am representing my church, Calvary Chapel of Southeastern Ct. , as a missions pastor. As my day job is a biologist, I will probably be slinging cinder blocks. Afterward, my job will be to help organize subsequent trips. As Mission E4's website shows, right now they need medical supplies. Here is their list . They need cash. We need prayer. Haiti needs prayer. I'll be leaving on Februa...

I found out about Florest a from the occasional e-mail I get from To the Source . Here is a highlight from the article . Floresta has a blog, Plant with a Purpose . Working together we have accomplished small but remarkable things, but they represent the accomplishments of the poor themselves. More than 420,000 trees have been planted by farmers who are practicing a whole new type of agriculture, suited for steep hillsides and far more productive. Because it makes sense for them economically, these farmers will go on planting trees long after we are gone. Thousands of small business loans have been made. Fruit production has been improved. Hundreds of miles of soil erosion control measures – often living barriers of trees - have been installed and hundreds of rainwater harvesting systems have been built. Dozens of Bible studies have been held.  But Plant With Purpose, and our Haitian staff have merely been a catalyst for their success. The loans we have made (with a repayment rate of 9...

Calvary Chapel of Old Bridge, NJ sent a team in overland from the Dominican Republic last week. They are in the southwestern coastal town of Jacmel . But their docs need lots of equipment . Please pray. They hooked up with an American missionary in Jacmel . They are feeding people and hoping for more tents to hand out. Back in Port-au-Prince, the Livesay family's rented house held up in the earthquake and has become a field hospital, where people are saved and lost. They tell of an amazing story that made me cry of walking by faith and God providing. They were able to get some people on the US hospital ship even before the medics got set up, even before anyone knew where they would set up. but they are realizing that big NGO 's take care of each other and are not sharing with the little NGO's like them. The politics are discouraging. Please pray for them and for the Lord to provide for them. Like many, they are getting supplies from the Dominican Republic. Pray. Pray. P...

I don't know. He hasn't told me. When he walked among us, he was the embodiment of universal health care. Crowds came to him sick and corwds went away from him healed. He hates sin and its effects on us, including illness and death. He also is concerned with soul care. He heals broken souls as well as broken bodies. He's even more concerned with souls because they are forever, but our bodies are limited. He says, Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell . Matthew 10:28. The church has always been concerned for the sick and dying. Many American hospitals were started by religious conviction, and some are still supported denominationally. Healthcare is given away around the world by the church as well as in the U.S. For every WorldVision , there are a hundred tiny, single-location, church-sponsored outfits. I think, he does support universal health care, but not the way our co...

I had never heard of the Acts 17 apologetics ministry to Muslims . They seem to have good ideas. They have a good heart. They have a blog where they like to show videos of their formal debates with Muslims as well as man-on-the-street interviews. I would think, if their agenda is to win people to Christ, then they would accommodate others as much as possible. In this post , they share a video of their attendance and subsequent altercation with security at an Islamic festival in Dearborn, Michigan. I think they let their second citizenship interfere with their primary citizenship. Indeed, their right to free speech was infringed on. But why fight the battle of their second citizenship, U.S., to lose the war for their first citizenship, heaven? Sadly, it took a Muslim commenter to point out their neglect of common decency and neighborliness. Not a good job my eager brethren. Not good.

Pastor Lance at Blaque Tulip offers on the ground assessment of the negative effects of prosperity theology in Kenya. The Fat Cyclist tells a good bike crash story as a Mormon missionary in Finland, which reminded me of the good day when I saw that special bus in Turku which belonged to John's Turistfart . The Homesteading Neophyte is thinking of building a strawbale home on their farmstead. Cool. Newspaper Rock celebrates Brown University's de-recognition of Columbus Day. They are calling it "Fall Weekend." How about Carib Nations Day? I thanked Koinonia blog for setting me straight on the Good Thursday theory. Joe jots down Satan's party invitation after the crucifixion. I have affection for tiny houses. Mine is 1000 s.f. I also like DIY houses and low cost houses. I really like the free plans and concepts at Earthbag House Plans. This latest one impressed me. ******************************** I also received comments this week. anonymous tells some of he...

K. P. Yohannan from Gospel for Asia has some suggestions.

Beware, this is a long story. But it also has many pictures from my trip to Haiti. Some of our stories are too painful to reveal plainly to new friends. Some of our stories have fractured our identities so much that it's almost necessary to fabricate one that will enable us to function in our community. The identity She shared with us yesterday in Her town of Fonds-Verrettes had collided with truth today as we passed back through Her town. She wasn't a widow. In fact, Her husband met our truck coming back down from Oriani in the mountains and rode with us back into town. Everything spilled out before us and the townsfolk at the open air market in front of the chain across the road, intended to slow traffic, especially the large Tap-taps . It seemed like the merchants were ready for entertainment by domestic dispute as they hoped these trucks of white visitors would stop and make purchases or hand out dollars. It was also getting dark. We hadn't purchased anything from ...

It was a long ride home, but I have 300 pictures and dozens of stories. I hope to start posting them this weekend. For a couple pictures, make sure you visit the Port-au-Prince Calvary Chapel blog . I'm the guy with a big sunhat, a beard, and a white t-shirt receiving instruction on how to whitewash a cement wall. I'm not very smart about such things. But now I'm an expert.

No video this time, but a quote from British columnist and atheist , Matthew Parris of the Times (UK) who writes from his experience of growing up in Malawi and recently revisiting. He's convinced that Christian missionaries are needed in Africa for the well being of Africans. Is he racist? Or is he observing the difference between a theology of pantheism and monotheism? But he isn't calling for Muslim expansion in Africa. So it's not just monotheism that changes the world. Perhaps its the Holy Spirit, something Parris has no language for since he denies a God, moreso a God in three persons, a Triune God, who sends his Spirit to abide with his people. Anxiety - fear of evil spirits, of ancestors, of nature and the wild, of a tribal hierarchy, of quite everyday things - strikes deep into the whole structure of rural African thought. Every man has his place and, call it fear or respect, a great weight grinds down the individual spirit, stunting curiosity. People won't tak...

A friend who blogs at Member Care muses on organizational health and lists these 10 qualities of an ideal organization . 1. Mutual respect among staff Is this enforceable? It sure would be nice to be respected by everyone at my job but I'm also guilty of not respecting everyone, especially of those who, I perceive, are cheating the system. 2. Fair pay/compensation My department frequently complains about promotions they don't agree with. 3. Opportunities to make contributions I think I have that 4. Opportunities for advancement and personal growth I think I have that, but it really depends on your supervisor 5. Sense of purpose and meaning This must be hard in retail 6. Management with competence and integrity Dilbert would not be so popular if this were common 7. Safeguards to protect individuals (staff and customers) from injustice Catbert 8. Responsibility for actions: owning mistakes, not blaming others or covering up Now this is where I only see Christians doing this and n...

I finished the biography of Samson Occum by Love yesterday and will have a bunch of quotes over the next few days. I was looking for the location of the first Brothertown in New York state and came across a great site of someone else's research into Brothertown from the final home of the Brothertown Indians in Wisconsin. His summary of their history is helpful. He writes , Brothertown was officially founded on November 7, 1785. “We now proceeded to from into a Body Politick-We named our town by the name of Brotherton, in Indian—Eeyamquittoowauconnuck” (Occom 1785). Unfortunately, the Brothertown Indians did not escape some the land issues that they had moved west to avoid. Euroamerican land speculators and settlers placed constant pressure on them to sell or lease their new lands (Love 1899). In an effort to protect the Brothertown Indians from losing their lands, the New York state government appointed commissioners to advise the tribe and passed laws that forbade the sale/lease...

My friend, Keith, helps refugees resettle in the Providence area. Part of that effort involves learning job skills. He and my friend Geoff have hit on the idea of selling granola made by these folks. You can order the granola by mail, and even subscribe for a monthly delivery. Please consider making a good ethical Christmas purchase and visit the Providence Granola Project .

This is a great anecdote about contrasting missionary approaches in Kim MacQuarrie's book, The Last Days of the Incas . …when Friar Garcia learned that the emporer had more than one wife, “the servant of God castigated him [Titu Cusi] with apostolic zeal.” Apparently, the zeal of the apostles not only went unappreciated by the emperor, but greatly annoyed him as well. Friar Diego Ortiz, by contrast, was much more relaxed in his missionary style and, as a consequence, Titu Cusi is said to have taken an immediate liking to him. Unlike his compatriot, Ortiz was affable and flexible and generally more congenial. Within a short while, two tiny Christian churches began to operate in the Incas’ hidden kingdom… (360) Later on the two priests set ablaze an Inca shrine, which got the zealous friar kicked out of the Inca capitol, but the more congenial, Ortiz, was allowed to stay. However, Ortiz died a martyr’s death shortly thereafter in retribution for the offense. There must be a lesson in...

See follow-up post to this one. one report The first shooting occurred in Arvada, a suburb of Denver, in the early hours of Sunday when a young gunman opened fire at a Christian missionary center. Two staff members in their mid-20s were killed and two others wounded. [ follow up post and links on victims and shooter - jpu] The gunman fled the shooting in Arvada before authorities reached the scene. About 12 hours later five people were killed -- including the suspected attacker -- in a shooting near a church in Colorado Springs. El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa told AFP there was "one gunman down" and "four deceased, possibly one wounded" in the incident but said the toll was "preliminary." It remained unclear if the shootings were related but police in Arvada said they were working with their counterparts in Colorado Springs to determine if there was a link between the two assaults, said Arvada's police chief, Don Wick. more news here YWAM's ...