Helping Those in Need

I saw something that made me very happy written in Christianity Today. In the wake of the triple disaster in 2011 Japanese Christians are slowly but surely re-thinking and re-tooling disaster relief. International aid has become a matter of getting as much to as many as quickly and cheaply as possible. Of course there is still compassion involved as volunteers flood these stricken areas and give what help they can but somewhere in the last decade we have forgotten that a spiritual perspective can help increase victim's recovery. So what is the local churches' place in this process? Some of what Christianity Today calls "counterexamples" come from trained volunteers who develop new programs like massaging the hands and feet of the elderly evacuees, mobile coffeehouses, safe spaces for counseling, even restoring flood-damaged photo albums. CT is coining the phrase "Disaster Relief 3.0" saying, "In Disaster Relief 1.0, relief slowly was secularized and taken over by professional and bureaucratic leadership. In Disaster Relief 2.0, market-driven strategies and metrics further sidelined volunteer acts of charity, mercy, and justice. In Disaster Relief 3.0, the local church - not just relief experts - moves to restore itself as God's chosen instrument for the health and charity of a community, especially before, during, and after disaster. This idea is much more intensive than church-based community outreach."

This blew me away. It is at the heart of returning to a biblical rendering of the church. I wonder what we view as a crises in the U.S.? How have the churches in areas hit by tornadoes and wildfires this year been ministering to the survivors of tragedy? I wish I could know if they are learning, like Japan - that the church is instrumental to the long-term healing of the affected areas? I wonder if - like Grace Garden Chapel in Koriyama who helped a limited number of families while maintaining personal relationships by basically restoring those chosen families who were committed to remaining in the area to complete viability - we are willing to make a long-term sacrifice. This was a costly choice financially for the church body but they were committed to making sure adequate personal and emotional care was provided for the foreseeable future. They truly loved their neighbors. I would love to hear from churches adopting these versions of relief whether in the US or on foreign ground and I am excited to see and hear more about CT's Disaster Relief 3.0.

Introducing. . .

The Duryees! I am happy to announce that the girlfriend I made at the coffee shop has become the first missionary Jeremy and I personally support! We have struck up not just a friendship but a partnership in ministry! Please check out their story and know that I am just so excited about what God is doing with this couple and their future ministry in Spain.

seasoned with salt is her blog at theduryees.com
this is a repost of her year's happenings. She is funny, honest, loving and has great taste (i know this from her pins on pinterest. hahahahah. check them out and her super adorbs baby susannah that is isaac's age. =)

Milestones in Spain

Posted on December 6, 2011

Our coworkers in Spain have many opportunities on the horizon to share Christ’s love with their friends and neighbors.
In children’s ministry, they are pleased to report that Friday Bible Clubs have an increase in attendance and that some of the new students are from English camp. We are praising God for this because He is affirming the hard work done for English camp by our team.
A three-day Family Life Conference resulted in two confessions of faith and one of those is interested in Baptism. Our teammates diligently follow up with people with whom they share the Gospel and they are bearing fruit!
Hosting friends for a showing of the movie Amazing Grace during Movie Night produced great discussion and conversation.
Finally, this month our coworkers will be hosting several of their friends in their home for coffee and cookies and a video series showing Spanish Christians sharing their testimonies. After the video, a local believer will also share how Christ transformed his or her life. Pray for this Evangelistic Campaign. Perhaps God will draw new believers to Himself just before Christmas.
The work is by no means complete. When I read of all the ways our teammates are sharing Christ, I am excited and thankful. But I notice something significant missing: youth. It’s not that our coworkers have neglected the youth. Not at all. The movie Amazing Grace is about a young person who follows God and changes the world. But these are the opportunities God has directed for our teammates, and they are being obedient to His direction.
We (Chris and I and our teammates in Spain) believe God is directing us to Spain to fill the spot for youth and college outreach. While we are raising support to get to Spain, we are also engaged in youth ministry in the states. God is teaching us how to do what He wants us to do in Spain. But we aren’t the only ones doing it here. We’re part of a team at our church that does youth ministry – not to mention the local community full of youth ministry resources.
We desire to meet the need in Alcalá. We envision growing a thriving youth ministry there that will in turn enable Spanish Christians to reach youth all over the country, without missionary help. Will you consider impacting young people in Spain for Christ by joining our monthly support team?

Coffee with God

This Monday I headed out to one of my favorite local coffee shops with a slightly heavy heart. I had done some last minute checking around for a friend to meet me but no luck so blake and I appeared to be on our own. I had already tickled my mother/sister's ears over the phone that morning and they would be otherwise occupied for the remainder of it so not even my backup chatters were available. My nuclear family had come to the for sure decision that we needed to find a new church body and I had been ruminating on how long that might take us and how my already small circle of friends would become even smaller before broadening out again. I mean when you have lived somewhere for almost 5 years and you can only think of about three people you want to call when you go out that is not a lot of friends. Oh there are many lovely women who I would have enjoyed spending the time with and I could have tracked down their number from the church bulletin (and I know you ladies would have come =) but a truly bosom buddy of similar age, parenting timeline (how old their kids are), and interests is hard to find when you are a stay at home mom. Part of me wonders if I should have been more proactive about making friends since I had the baby this summer and moved to a new area but I have had to take it a day at a time so far and I think that will continue until my lovely little one is sleeping better. All of this to say, I guess I was lonely. I am usually cheerful and my days are often full of errands/gymnastics/bible study/library storytime so activities are not the problem. It's those quiet moments in between the activities when the lack of many meaningful friendships makes itself known. I'm not writing this to be a pity party, though I know many stay at home mothers probably feel the same and can sympathize but I am writing this to tell my little example of God's encouraging love in my life. Let me tell you about it. I sat down with my coffee on the other end of a couch set-up where two ladies were visiting. About five minutes later another woman came with her baby and sat down between me and them. I was trying to decide if she was with them but she didn't immediately acknowledge them and her baby looked about Isaac's age so I told her I adored the child's' hand-knit cap and how cute her little girl was. She thanked me and we struck up a conversation about our children (this was her first). She then asked me if I used Pinterest as somehow we got onto preschool activities. I said "Yes!" and we discussed boards, etc. I also mentioned that I was looking for a bible study to provide Blake with a pre-school type environment to prepare him for kindergarten. She then suggested a church I might try and revealed that she and her husband were currently seeking funds to become full time church planting missionaries to Spain through a Baptist missionary org. Blake quickly got bored of listening to us visit so I said I would love to follow her blog, pins, etc. and took down her information. Yesterday I looked it up and she seems quite the kindred spirit to my tastes/passions. I took a moment sitting in the van after my coffee to thank the Lord for reminding me that I am never alone. He reached out to me in sending someone to share those few quiet moments with me in motherly/sister in Christ camaraderie. No hurt is too small for His attention and it is exactly that that encourages me to "count it all joy". Lonesomeness makes fellowship (even spontaneous, howdy-do nice to meet you) that much sweeter and I am learning to cast these cares upon Him and wait for His timing for new friends. Also, it is growing me in coming first to Christ. If you want to check out my new friend Rosalie's blog it is theduryees.com I wish them well in their ongoing labor for Christ and blessings as they reach out in ministry!