Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.  For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 58:1-11 (NIV)

We closed our book study of Red Letters last week with several in our book study group agreeing to fast on Fridays (from sunrise to sunset, or between breakfast and dinner as each of us sees fit).  I read Red Letters for the first time about 8 months ago.  I had already read Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis, Dangerous Surrender by Kay Warren, and a few other books that turned my heart toward scripture in a new effort to follow Christ’s instructions regarding “the least of these”.  I was feeling a need to do more to engage in the fight against extreme poverty and to seek the Lord’s specific plan for the action that I was to take.  I began fasting on Fridays.  I had fasted before, but I always came away from it feeling like I had made a sacrifice, but didn’t really feel I had grown as a result of it.  I didn’t even realize that my focus was on what fasting would produce in my own life instead of a focus on love and obedience to my Lord.

When I began fasting with a heart broken for the widow, the orphan, and those living in extreme poverty, and with a desire to know God’s heart in regard to them, everything changed.  Suddenly, my fast days were filled with promptings to think about how things changed when I was hungry.  I noticed that it was harder for me to be patient and loving toward my kids when I was hungry.  How does hunger effect the families that live with it every day?  It was also harder to have the energy to work.  Fridays are also our heavy cleaning and cooking day in preparation for our Saturday rest day.  How would it feel to be walking 3 miles for water on an empty stomach?  I began to think about how hunger even effected my early bonding with Feven and Nati.  How does hunger effect a mother and her newborn baby that her body can’t produce enough to satisfy?  How would it feel to be hungry and know that it was not a matter of choice, and that no food was close at hand to end the hunger?  These questions made me pray with a new emotion and fervency.  I felt drawn to God’s heart and my desire to in some small way alleviate some of the suffering that His heart must feel.  For the first time in my life the fast wasn’t about me at all, and for the first time I actually felt drawn in to Him on those days. 

I welcome you to join me in fasting on Fridays, and I look forward to hearing your stories of drawing closer to God.

First, before I start - this is not an appeal for giving to our carepoint.  I am completely comfortable that Ludlati is in God’s hands and that we have no need to badger anyone for support.  Having said that, I do think that we all need to seriously consider how important it is to give generously to support the poor.  Where?..  How?... I can’t tell you that. Seek God with that question, He won’t leave you without an answer if you desire to give deeply of what you have.  Why do I think it is so important to support those in need… to an extent that demonstrates real compassion? (Remember that definition again – the Greek root words mean “to suffer with”).  I’ll start with 48 reasons – 48 reasons among hundreds in God’s Word.  No need to look all these up, they are listed on this site under “About > Perspective” on the menu bar above, or at this link:  “About > Perspective”

Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 19:16-21; Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12: 28-34; Luke 10:25-28; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:13-14; James 2:8-9; Leviticus 25:35; Deuteronomy 15:7-8; Deuteronomy 15:10-12; Zechariah 7:8-10; Matthew 9:21; Luke3:10-11; James 2:14-19; 2 Corinthians 8:12-15; Exodus 22:21-23; Deuteronomy 10:18;  Deuteronomy 14:28-30; Job 24:1-4; Psalm 10:14; Psalm 68:5; Jeremiah 49:11; Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 1:23; Matthew 18:5; John 14:18; James 1:22-27; Exodus 23:10-12; Leviticus 19:9-10; Leviticus 23:21-23; Exodus 23:4-6; Deuteronomy 24:17-18; Deuteronomy 27:19; 1 Kings 3:10-12; 2 Samuel 12:1-5; Job 29:16; Job 31:17-23; Psalm 112:4-6; Psalm 140:11-13; Luke 18:7-8; James 2:1-7;
Isaiah 10:1-3; Amos 5:6-7; Ezekiel 16:49; Matthew 23:23-24; Matthew 25:34-26; Luke 16:19-26

When you read these, note how many say “you must support a Ludlati orphan”.  That’s right, precisely zero.  I make no pretense to tell you where or how God has told you to have compassion for those in severe need.  However, I will be bold in this assertion:  God HAS told you to have true compassion for those in need.  To love them as you love yourself.  To love them as if they are Jesus… because Jesus said that in some very real way they ARE Him.  To give until there is equality.  He’s told you to do that.  How do I know that?  He made those instructions universally to all of us in His Word. 

I just listed three things God told you to do.  He told me the same thing.  My grades: FAIL, FAIL, and FAIL.  Thank God for grace.  But I will tell you that I believe I may be getting close to a D-minus for effort.  And God has met my weak and feeble effort with a peace and joy, a security in my life and purpose that I have longed for all my life but always failed to find.  God’s goal is not judgment.  It is for us to share in His joy and His heart’s desire.  He loves us… just as much as he loves the poor.  By giving we connect with His heart, the poor see and feel His love through us, and He is pleased.

Something was always missing from my life.  Not that I didn’t have a good family, good education, even good Biblically-based instruction.  But I always knew something was missing, and I felt a compelling emptiness and lack of purpose that I did not know how to fill.

I knew enough about the Bible to know that my peace and joy are promised as gifts from God.  I knew that true purpose and meaning could only be found in serving God.  So I tried.  I truly expected that my faith would ultimately bring about the full promises of peace, joy, completeness in God.  But it never came… until the past year.

What changed?  I began living my life differently.  I started to realize how consistently God calls us to act as if we really love others like we love ourselves.  I began trying to do that out of obedience.  Read John 14 and 15.  Depending how you count, there are 4 to 8 times in just two chapters where Jesus stresses that we must follow his commandments.  But there are so many… which ones? How? Is it the Law again?  God is good, and He knows that we aren’t too bright (at least I’m not).  So He does not leave us in doubt.  After stressing over and over that we must follow His commandments, He gives us a direct answer to the questions He knew we’d have.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  - John 15:12

Sounds a lot like loving our neighbor as ourselves, like living a life that gives tirelessly of our time, our energy, our all – to serve those who are broken, needy, the outcasts of society.  Isn’t that what Jesus’ love looked like?

John 15:12 is preceded in verse 11 by: “These things I have spoken to you that that My joy may remain in you, that your joy may be full.”  It is so clear to me now.  I do have to rely on God and His grace to provide for me through faith.  But as we’re told in the book of James, faith without works is dead.  He provides what I was missing by grace – my works can never do that.  But my faith was dead, and began bearing fruit in my life only when I first followed His commands.

PS.  Did I say “read John 14 and 15”?  Please do.  Really, really good stuff in there.

…in many ways I hope the whole world never looks like this.  In other ways, my heart cries out for the whole world to look like this.  The post below is from Katie Davis’ blog.  If you don’t know Katie, you should read her story… amazing.  But something in me screams that it should not be amazing.  It should be common among those who truly follow Jesus.  Her blog is at:

http://amazima.org/blog.html

I don’t even know where to start to tell about all that God has been doing in our lives since I last wrote. I know that my words aren’t even close to adequate to describe His goodness and love.

So hug your children a little tighter and hold them a little longer. Say thank you to people more often and say thank you to God more often. Love your neighbor well today. We will be trying our best to do the same over on our side of the globe. 

First, a round of applause for Don and Barbra.  Sometimes I worry that I’ll be perceived as putting the most into KTM because I do so much of the writing.  But that’s just because I’m a loudmouth (at least when I write) and I like to do it.  Don and Barbra have made this happen – the website would not even exist without many late nights from Don, and that doesn’t even begin to address the Swaziland trip and everything else they do.  Thanks guys.

We’ve given answers on WHAT and WHERE in previous posts, although we will be continually expanding on those topics.  Also, if you’re new or if you still have questions on WHAT and WHERE, comment on this post or contact us.  Please… we want you to know what we’re all about and get to know you.  We can do both if you ask questions.

HOW?

We will support our Ludlati carepoint in several ways:

Monthly financial support – We are seeking commitments of $34 or more per month to provide food, school fees for education, and regular visits from a team of Swazis who teach about God and his love.

Personal relationships – We will build one-on-one relationships with our kids at Ludlati - many of whom have no one to go home to (and no home for that matter) – through regular correspondence.

Capital projects –  Delivery of meals, education, and training can be done without shelter and facilities… but not nearly as well as it can be done with them.  A complete development plan is being prepared for Ludlati, but we already know that a well, kitchen, and fence are the first priorities.  That will require $15,000 - $20,000, and we already have $10,000 pledged toward this effort.  Additional capital projects in future years will probably require another $20,000. No problem.  God is big enough.  He will do His part.  Which, in this case, is to multiply our loaves and fishes.  Remember the widow’s mite.  Her gift was the most significant to Jesus.  Our first priority is to gather monthly commitments.  However, if God puts it on your heart to do more, this is the next priority.  If you can’t make an ongoing commitment, this is another option – no amount is too small (I’m going to digress on this point at the end).

Travel – We will travel to Ludlati 2-3 times every year.  “We” does not mean Jim, Jen, Don, and/or Barbra.  It means anyone and everyone from our group who feels led to go.  If that’s you… now or any time in the future, contact us.  God will make the way.

Ok, but HOW will we do the HOW?

Our financial support will go through Children’s Hope Chest (CHC), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (tax term there, can’t help myself).  Delivery of food, discipleship, and coordination of travel will be a joint effort of CHC and Adventures in Missions (AIM), another nonprofit organization. Daily cooking and food distribution will be a volunteer effort of a handful of local Swazi women who are already giving of their own scarce resources to do what they can for these kids.  Combined, our monthly support, capital projects, travel, and the efforts of compassionate volunteers and CHC/AIM staff will turn an undeveloped piece of land into a source of life and hope for kids who currently have, at best, a tenuous grasp on both.

Details regarding the actual execution of donations to our carepoint are currently being arranged with CHC.  But we need to begin gathering our support now.  If you want to help in any of the ways listed above, comment on this post or contact us.  If not us, who? If not now, when? 

I promised to digress (of course you know by now that I’ll do that even without a promise to do so).  The widow’s mite.  Consider that for a moment.  Let me tell you a story.  A true story about a family that does not have much money.  A family with a lot of kids (I lost count a while ago).  When we invited our KTM group to participate in the cost of Don’s trip, they had nothing to give.  So these kids painted rocks, took them around their neighborhood, and sold them as paperweights.  They gave all of that money for Don’s trip.  Here’s the point: I don’t give a flying rip about the accounting measurement of what I have given compared to what they have given.  Their gift is immeasurably greater than mine.  From this day on, I will strive to live up to their example.  They gave all they had – their time, their effort, and when they generated money, they considered $0 of it to be theirs and gave it all.  I have given from my abundance, they gave their all.  Seems like Jesus had something to say about that widow’s mite.

Now here’s the really good part.  This is all joy.  None of this is a guilt trip, none of this is arm-twisting.  I spent 39 years searching, praying, fighting for the peace and joy that I knew should be part of my walk with God.  Never got it.  Maybe glimpses, but certainly not in full.  It was always there, but I was standing to the side while the river flowed by.  He will do His part.  He was always yearning to do His part for me.  All I had to do is step into the river to be washed over.  Stepping into the river is only accomplished by doing our part.  Not by standing outside His will and demanding that the river move to us.  Perhaps my experience cannot be generalized to all of us.  But read His Word critically, read the scriptures under “About” / “Perspectives” on the menu bar above.  Maybe I’m right… maybe.

Look, I’m not going to pretend to have it all together.  I don’t. That’s the beauty of this.  You don’t have to do anything great, just take one significant step into the river, the joy you receive will draw you in as deep as you are supposed to go.  He will do His part.  In this case, part of that is our joy and part is multplying our loaves and fishes.  If he is God, what is the difficulty?

Today I’m going to borrow from two forum posts by one of our members, Christine.  I think both are moving and relevant to the message we are trying to convey.  Before I dive into that, an update on our carepoint:  We have chosen a carepoint – Ludlati – which you can see starting at 4:10 through 8:50 in the “Part 1” video from Monday’s post.  Opportunities to connect with our community there – financially and personally will follow shortly.  More pictures and video from Ludlati will be posted by this weekend.

The first borrowed content is an excerpt from a devotional by Oswald Chambers (I especially like the last two sentences of the first paragraph – very Pascal-ish, so this will substitute for the weekly Pensee):

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.  James 4:8
 
It is essential to give people a chance of acting on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual, you cannot
act for him, it must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message ought always to lead a man to act. The paralysis of refusing
to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once he acts, he is never the same. It is the foolishness of it that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Immediately I precipitate myself over into an act, that second I live; all the rest is existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.

Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it… The feeblest saint who transacts business
with Jesus Christ is emancipated the second he acts; all the almighty power of God is on his behalf…

The second post I’m borrowing from describes a short-term mission trip:

My daughter and I traveled to the DR in the summer of 2008 with Windsor Road Christian Church and GO Ministries. Here is the letter we wrote upon our return. The trip didn’t turn out exactly as planned…

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. Psalm 119:71

For me, Psalm 119 polishes off this post perfectly.  What I take from this is that we spend too much time fighting, praying, and believing for our comfort, peace, prosperity…  All good things… all things that are ours through God’s promises… but just not where I see God telling us to focus in most of His Word.  Those things are His job.  The emphasis for us is on taking action.  Taking action in ways that are uncomfortable and that require sacrifice, discomfort, and risk.  Accepting that we have a cross to bear, that the world will hate us because it hated Him first.  And knowing that somehow, in His plan, we will grow and benefit from that.  Refusing affliction denies us the ability to learn from Him (I know you may not like that but don’t blame me – I didn’t say it – He did (see Psalm 119 above)).  I believe that there are incredible, wonderful promises of what we receive as God’s kids.  But we somtimes become so focused on “what’s in it for me” that we spend our time and effort pursuing benefits for us rather than DOING what we are told to do.

He’ll do His part.  I don’t have to (and I can’t) make him do His part, and that’s not my job anyway.  I just need to do my part (which means DO what His Word tells us to DO) and rest in the comfort that He is Omnipotent God of the Universe, and He loves me with a love that I cannot comprehend.  Maybe I’m nuts, but given those parameters, somehow I think He’ll uphold His end of the bargain.