Followup - October 21. In reference to the below, the very person George and I met with has some practical suggestions for getting involved with the Pro-Life movemement, such as "joining a pro-life group, supporting a local crisis pregnancy centre or encouraging your church to start one. Or, how about getting your church to hold a "Pro-life Sunday" and invite a Christian Pro-life speaker? Also good [for Britons] to mention the BVA (British Victims of Abortion) Helpline for post-abortion counselling and crisis pregnancy advice."
----------------
Yesterday George and I met with a Pro-life advocate here in Britain. It made me realize how little I had cared about this issue. I repent, and hope this apathy will change permanently.
The number of babies being killed is horrendous. Over 6 million (the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust) in Britain alone since abortion was legalized here in 1967. One in three women has had an abortion (not confirmed). This is just Britain. And Christians don't talk about it here.
In Eastern Europe some women have had abortions more than five times. In some places there are far more abortions than births, and in many places abortion is legal *right up until birth* if there is anything "wrong" with the baby. In many Western nations, 80% of pre-born babies known to have Downs syndrome are being aborted. This is like the Holocaust, where everyone deemed less-than-perfect was done away with. We're just doing it earlier.
Another interesting fact: apparently when a mother can see a picture of her unborn child, she is is *far* more likely to keep it.
When a baby is aborted, a human life ends. Every time a mother decides not to abort a baby, she brings a whole new life--for childhood, marriage, family, worshipping and serving God--into the world.
I know this is a sensitive subject, but I just needed to confess my apathy for it, because what is happening is abhorrent. What are the eternal implications??
What can we do? We can do something, and we can start by caring.
Italy: 600 times more full-time Occult workers than Pastors
Spiritually speaking, Europe has become a dark, dark place. Take Italy. I found these statistics staggering.
98% of Italians claim Roman Catholicism as their faith/religion (though far fewer attend mass), but perhaps the true religion of Italy is the Occult.
Italy is steeped in the Occult and Satanism. There are over 100,000 full-time consulting magicians (Occult) in Italy. That is three times the number of Catholic priests and 600 times the number of trained pastors in this nation.
Evangelicals make up less than 1% of the population; there is only one trained pastor for every 350,000 people. The Italian church is weak and divided.
Pray with me: Lord, we cry out for Italy. Send out labourers into this dark nation. Strengthen those who belong to you there; may they be shining lights for you. Father, wake us up to the realities of the lost around the world--including Europe--and get us moving, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
If the Gospel is true and Jesus is alive, then the Church is [blank], and missions is [blank]
Can you help me finish this? I'm really interested in your thoughts.
For example: "God's top priority and the biggest movement on earth ... a way for you and me to get involved in this movement on a global scale."
Followup to your comments (below). Sep 26, 2006. Thanks for all of your input: Dave for reminding us that the Church and missions are as connected to Christ as our bodies our connected to us, and that it is all about Him; Laurel for reminding us that missions is not just something far away, but an effort we are all part of (or not part of) no matter where we are; Tomo (age 10?) for drawing the connection between the Church and Heaven (those who love Jesus will be there!); Carn for pointing out that the Church is needed (and you know what, Carn? Missions is critically needed as well, because "how can they [people who don't know Jesus in other countries] hear without someone preaching to them?"); and, finally, Ted for, in your own wry way, challenging us to not slip into the deadly mindset of viewing Church (and the Church) as another slice in the pie of a comfortable life, and missions as an opportunity to have others pay for a purpose-driven holiday to the Caribbean. ;) Indeed, if Jesus is alive--and He is--then we need *every moment* of our short lives to count for Him. The best way to do that is to pray and obey.
Pictures of the New Recruits De Bron Conference -- Holland, Aug 28 - Sep 8, 2006
The problem with pictures is that you generally only take them during special occasions - like birthdays and holidays. So sometimes photo albums make our lives look like one big party. Anyway, despite all the fun things here, you'll just have to trust me that most of my time in Holland was spent in meetings and seminars. Wait a second... why am I apologizing? Isn't the title of that Tony Campolog book, "the Kingdom of God is a Party"? :)
The conference center - De Bron, Holland.
New OM recruits from all over the world - about to go back into the world. The fulfillment of the prayer for God to send labourers into the harvest fields (Matt 9:35-38).
Ruben, David, and myself.
Part of prayer night.
Going on a bike trip with friends. The seats were not kind to our derrieres. (Inside joke: where's the girl with the yellow jacket?)
One of my goals during the bike trip was to touch a cow. I did not achieve this goal, but I did experientially find out that the barbed wire fence was electric.
Being a muppet on the bike trip while having a break at a Dutch cafe.
David and his new best friend - a Shetland pony.
The Canadian new recruits. "Everyone pretend to be happy!" ... My favourite line when taking pictures.
The Canadians behind a tree.
My Swedish friends. I love Swedes.
Timo!
Liza and Caleb. "Pretend your dating." That always works when you need a picture of two people who happen to be a girl and guy who don't really know each other.
My new booktable friend Ray.
VIDEO (now with sound). On the "fun night" we had at the conference, we Canadians decided to give the audience a "break." It started out with me sitting cross-legged on the stage, with quiet, relaxing music playing, and a slideshow of Canadian wilderness scenes showing on the big screen. The quiet music then turned into techno music, the whole mood changed - and everyone jumped to begin dancing (a much-needed *real* break in the middle of a long program). I then hosted a dance competition and forced some of the leaders on stage. Everyone had fun. Here is a short video of the guy who won: David (also featured in some of the pictures above). That's me in the red hat. Click here to see the low-bandwith, no-sound version of this video; or here to see the high-bandwidth (13MB) sound version. Enjoy!
David and Ruben say goodbye the morning I left. They don't seem too happy. Either that or they weren't ready for the picture.
Additional photos: -My team playing a water-bucket-over-the-head game on a games afternoon. -George makes me have an "exercise regime." One way I excercised in Holland was by swimming in the river. I later found out that it usually makes people sick to swim in it. (Amazingly, though, I haven't gotten sick yet.) -Don't remember this picture being taken...
There you have it, folks: I am caught up on my picture uploading.
Pictures from the International Forum Conference in Germany -- August 19-24
I'm on a role uploading pictures (but am still behind), so here are some more...
Every three years, OM leaders and long-termers come together from around the world. This conference--the International Forum 2006--took place again this past August (19-24), and I was lucky enough to participate as a volunteer.
The beautiful German landscape.
George speaking. He looks a bit like Gollum in this picture.
The book table. I will eat, sleep and breath book tables this year.
My friend Michael Kaspar on his laptop.
George and others praying.
Two OMers: one from Pakistan, another from Nepal - both serving in their own countries.
In the Dining Room - taken by a friend unbeknownst to me.
Pictures of OMers - mostly from the past. Whoever knows the most people wins a free book.
On Thursday evening I met Ted at Heathrow airport and then headed with him, by bus, to Oxford. Ted will be studying Theology there this year.
This is the street just outside Ted's residence, North Oxford Overseas Centre.
This is Ted's building.
As George W. Bush likes to say, "Access is power."
The lounge.
Ted's room - room "U". Here he is pretending to study. Ted later discovered that there is a sink in the room - behind what looks like a closet door.
Ted and I jumped on a tour bus. Check out our very-cool headphones. I can't quite figure out Ted's expression ... On the tour, it was amazing to hear about this ancient town - its 800 year-old buildings, vast underground library, city-wide Oxford campus, and the many world-changers who have studied at Oxford university.
Finally, watch this video of Ted - a bona fide Oxford scholar.
A Follow-up Report from Ted -- written Sep 3, 2006
You may recall Ted's asking for prayer through this blog for a large youth event to be held in Mansa, Zambia in late August.
On September 3, Ted emailed me a report of this time. For some reason I never got the email--until now--so I apologize for the delay. Here is the report.
Youth Update. September 3.
Thank you to all of you who prayed for the youth promotion event at the provincial conference last week. The conference had a reported attendance of 14,000, which is probably an exaggeration, but it was still huge. People sleep in grass shelters, and they just love the ministry and the social aspect. And the youth event itself included maybe a thousand youth. In one of the six discussion groups, they wrote down the names of all the churches represented in the group where they now wanted to start a youth group--30 churches in that group alone! I hope to write letters to those churches to follow up on that.
A couple of days after the conference, we had a three-day youth seminar here in Mansa, with several churches represented. The numbers kept growing, and on the last day the church building was packed. No games, just Bible studies and preaching for hours on end, and they loved it! The elders who preached often address us youth during their sermons as "you little children." Well you know, I'm 28 years old now, and others there were just as old. And a couple of times the elders said, "Now a lot of you aren't saved yet. Put up your hand all of you who aren't saved yet." And a lot of the kids would duly put up their hand. So you can get away with a lot more out here. Actually, the youth are very fond of these two elders who are especially committed to youth work. They both spoke in the morning, and I was the speaker in the afternoon. (I'm going to miss preaching or even speaking in Bemba for the next few years.) I also said a fond farewell to everyone at the end, as I plan to leave Zambia next week. Thank you again for your interest.
I just found out about a sizeable gift given by an anonymous donor on July 13, 2006. If you're out there and you read this, thank you. God's provision for me for this year has been overwhelming and humbling.
I just read this in a prayer letter: "The Muslim month of Ramadan begins September 24th and goes till October 22nd. This is very often the time when the Lord answers our prayers and the heart cry of many Muslims by revealing Himself to them in dreams and visions. Please pray daily that as Muslims encounter Jesus that they will ask him to be their Saviour and Lord."
In direct connection with this, check out 30DaysFire.net. It is a day-by-day guide on how to pray for the Muslims during Ramadan. Have also posted this link to the right. One of the highest-quality Christian sites I have seen.
There are one billion Muslims. Jesus loves every one of them, so may my heart and prayer for these people increase.
Father, as Ramadan approaches, prepare hearts. People will be crying out to Allah. Respond to their cries as the one true God. Continue your harvest by bringing more and more Muslims to yourself. Restore Abraham's broken family. Amen.
George Verwer's "book of the decade" is True Grit: Women Taking on the World, for Christ's Sake.
This book is excellent. It is comprised of easy-to-read stories and "vital statistics" files. It tells of the atrocities that women and girls endure around the world: trafficking, prostitution, poverty, inequality; and things I hesitate to mention here.
I confess that I need to wake up on many of these issues. I am not even close to grasping these realities, let alone acting on what I know.
So often in the world, employers look out for their own best interests--rather than those of their employees--and try to get away with as much as they can (ie, with pay, etc). At the same time--and partly as a result--employees also fight for more; and, sadly, sometimes they have to in order to be compensated fairly. (Hence unions, etc.) The result is that it becomes a fighting match where both sides aim to give up and give out as little as possible. But that isn't biblical. The biblical thing is for employers to look out for their employees, and for employees to look out for their employers (Ephesians 6). To serve - considering others, even in the workplace, better than ourselves. The total opposite. Which is so often how the Kingdom of Heaven is.
I just read the following in the prayer letter of a missionary from/to India whom I recently met. I thought I would post it here as something of a follow-up to my earlier "160 Million Untouchables" post - and to help connect us with one more tragedy that is on God's heart.
"For many years we have been praying for a Dalit community called Musahar (Mush = Rat, Ahar = food). They look after the grain fields of high caste [people], kill the rats to protect the crops, and [then] eat those rats. Interestingly when they dig the rat holes to find rats, they can take the rats, but cannot take the grain (some rats collect almost a kilo or two in their holes). They are one of the lowest of the low in the oppressed society, extremely poor, and suffering. 1.3 million of them live in Bihar and and one million in Eastern UP. We have a very few Christians from this group and no pastors."
There is a world of pain and suffering out there. I confess that I haven't even begun to understand the reality of this. One thing I do know, though, is that labourers (Luke 10) like you and me are needed.
Read more about the Musahar rat-eater Dalits at the BBC website: here or type "Musahar" into Google or Google images.
Yesterday we had a prayer day here at the conference. It was much-needed for me, as I had been neglecting prayer I needed in my life--both dedicated prayer and breath prayer.
Prayer is like the fuel that powers a plane's engines. When we stop praying, there is nothing to propel us. The subtlety of prayerlessness is that we often don't notice because, like a plane, we still coast. But the descent, slow though it may be, begins the moment we abandon prayer. Eventually, when our communion with the Lord is cut off long enough, we crash. It takes a lot to crash--we often get our act together enough, soon enough, to avoid it--but why are we so easily satisfied with coasting near the ground when we could be soaring through the clouds?
Spending some time in prayer yesterday served to reconnect and refill me. How quickly I forget the necessity of communion with God.
At one point in the day, I wrote down some lessons - many of them lessons I need to keep re-learning. These lessons are me-specific, but I share them with you in the event that you can benefit from them as well.
HUMILITY - be a friendly nobody. Learn from leaders and non-leaders who are humble.
PRAYER - have dedicated prayer every day, and live prayer. Don't make prayer some thing; see it as relationship with the Lord. Make dedicated prayer creative.
DISCIPLINE - always do what is best. Don't waste time and don't stay up too late. Get up early.
LOVE & BIG-HEARTEDNESS - pray for the world. Invest in caring and seeing and experiencing global needs and tragedies.
EXERCISE - do it daily. Plan. Jog, power-walk; do sit-ups and push-ups.
THINKING TIME - take time to sit down and process things with a paper and pen.
WISDOM - don't be foolish. Instead, seek wisdom for the sake of yourself and those who are affected by your decisions and life.
SENSITIVITY - don't say stupid things. Avoid nationality-based comments.
RESTRAINT - when in doubt, don't. Don't say it. Don't show off.
FOCUS - Pray for re-focus. Lead conversations in eternal directions, or at least make sure that God is part of it. Have every conversation be something God can use.
This is one of my high school classmates. (Click for full size.) The caption for this photo at military.com reads, "U S Marine Corps 2nd Lt Ryan Entwistle, assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, digs a skirmish hole to sleep in."
Lord, connect us with the far-away. Take us out of our comfort zones so that we can know your heart and feel what you feel. Make us people of action, give us a cause to live for, and may that cause bring you glory. Amen.
You know what is humbling? Not the person who feels he needs to teach humility to the not-so-humble person by putting that person in his place, but the somebody who comes across as a friendly nobody and treat nobodies like somebodies. I have encountered this kind of humility in several people in the last few days, and it is challenging. Your thoughts?
2009
Schedule/itinerary archive. Past activity in gray.
SEPTEMBER 3 Thu (1) 1pm mtg - Yonge/Bloor (Faith Connections) 4 Fri 12noon mtg - Finch stn (TW) 5 Sat 10am - Rainforest cafe (W/SR) 6 Tentative: Sun evening (SV+) 9 Wed 12:30pm mtg (MH) 11 Fri (1) 10am-4pm mtg (Hoffman+), (2) 7pm dinner w W-Bynoe fam 12 Sat b'fast (Hoffman) 13 Sun (1) b'day party 4pm Georgetown, (2) baptism, 6:30pm Toronto (Eg & Bayview) 14 Mon C Town visit 16 Wed (1) inner-city pr mtg, (2) mtg (DO), (3) pr mtg in D'wood Park 17 Thu (1) P@W b'fast,(2) lunch (Weeks+) at Madison, (3) 2pm C. Bear concert, (4) possible: Lausanne event (Knox; Sep 17, 7:30-8:45), (5) mtg (RS) 18-19 Fri (1) mtg (JB), (2) G'ma bday in Pickering, (3) pr mtg 20-21 Hamilton (DW,P,GR,WH,JN/H,M/KB,M) 22 Tue mtg (AB) 23 Wed 12:30pm lunch (MF) 24 Thu (1) lunch 1pm Ajax GO (JT), (2) evening NTs pickup 25 Fri mtg (MG) 25 Fri (1) LBC 10:30-1pm 26 Sat 11am funeral (PW) 27 Sun Hamilton 4pm mtg (K/AD,DW+) 29 Tue 12:30pm "warehouse" mtg (R.Farr) - Johnny G's, Parliament, just N of Carleton 30 (1) Wed 2:30pm mtg (Rick T.), (2) 5:30pm phone appt (MA)
OCTOBER 1 Thu Nathan D coming for wknd 2 Dinner (N/J w JS/ND) 3 (1) Sat Wedding reception (MB/DM) - 11am-4pm, LBC, (2) RS possibly coming 4 Sun Tentative: K church launch, 4pm; Nathan D leaves 5 B. Baehr coming 6 Tue lunch (SW,BB) 12:30pm Yonge/Shepphard 7 Wed (1) lunch (W/HS,JS,BB) 11:30am Fairview Mall 8 Thu mtg - Montreal (drive there/back same day) 9 Fri - Housewarming for neighbours 11 Sun - late evening: Tksgiving w family 13 Tue - 8:30 b'fast (M/RG), (2) lunch (VV) 14 Wed (1) ph appt (MA) 5:30pm, (3) ph appt 7:30-8:30pm 15 Thu (1) P@W, (2) Lunch (RH) 16 Fri lunch 1pm (DS,NL) 17 Sat possible mtg (NL) 18 Sun Speaking at Wellspring Church w MG 19 Mon (1) 3:30pm mtg (Gregg B), (2) 6pm move (JW) 20 Tue (1) 9:00am mtg (Geo. B), (2) 1pm lunch (Paul O.) 21 Wed (1) pr mtg (DO), (2) 2:00pm mtg (JC) - Tim's in Mississauga 22 Thu (1) 8:30 b'fast (TW), (2) 12:12 mtg 10-2 26 Mon M.B. K arrives: 9:18 27 Tue am - BOCE mtg 28 Wed (1) M.B. K departs: 11:03am, (2) 12noon lunch (CP) Yonge/Shepphard, (3) sharing briefly at the Point at Peoples Church 29 Thu (1) 12noon mtg (ZF), (2) 5:30 ph appt (MA)
NOVEMBER 31 Sat 2pm lunch (NL) 1 Sun 2pm+ pr mtg (TCP w AS/EK) 3 Tue Hamilton b'fast mtg (w/ CP), (2) 2:30 mtg (SC/TW/GM) 5 Thu noon lunch (SC) 9 Mon ~4:30pm book pickup (E.Poon) 12 Thu mtg (TW,EU) 14-17 Sat evening to Mon morning: Edmonton 14 Sat (1) speaking at MAP lunch, (2) Leaving for Edmonton w/ MG: Air Canada, 6pm flight (arrive 8:05pm), Term 1 16 Mon evening - sharing w/ Wycliffe staff - Calgary 17-20 Renov8 conference (specific: Wed evening: MB dinner) - Calgary 17 Tue (during conf): 5pm VMC dinner 17 Wed (during conf): MB dinner 19 Thu (during conf): ON MB dinner 20 (1) Flight: Air Canada, Calgary to TO, 11:15am flight (arrive 4:55pm), (2) 247 event - Toronto (DB coming) 21 247 event 22 Sun evening mtg (w CP) 28 Possible: VMC conf at Forestbrook
DECEMBER 1 Tue 11am (VG) ~19-26 Indonesia (sisters off Dec 18-Jan 10) 27-31 Urbana! missions conference - www.urbana09.org - St. Louis, Missouri (consider going!)
2010
Jan 19-20 (Tue am & pm; Wed am) 3 seminars - Peoples Church conference
Possible: February: South Asia (India+)
Tentative: April 16-18: Missionsfest Toronto
Possible: Jan 24-25 mobilization conference
Possible: Mar 5-6 Winnipeg conf
Followup - October 21. In reference to the below, the very person George and I met with has some practical suggestions for getting involved with the Pro-Life movemement, such as "joining a pro-life group, supporting a local crisis pregnancy centre or encouraging your church to start one. Or, how about getting your church to hold a "Pro-life Sunday" and invite a Christian Pro-life speaker? Also good [for Britons] to mention the BVA (British Victims of Abortion) Helpline for post-abortion counselling and crisis pregnancy advice."
Spiritually speaking, Europe has become a dark, dark place. Take Italy. I found these statistics staggering.
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I just read this in a prayer letter: "The Muslim month of Ramadan begins September 24th and goes till October 22nd. This is very often the time when the Lord answers our prayers and the heart cry of many Muslims by revealing Himself to them in dreams and visions. Please pray daily that as Muslims encounter Jesus that they will ask him to be their Saviour and Lord."
George Verwer's "book of the decade" is True Grit: Women Taking on the World, for Christ's Sake.
I just read the following in the prayer letter of a missionary from/to India whom I recently met. I thought I would post it here as something of a follow-up to my earlier "160 Million Untouchables" post - and to help connect us with one more tragedy that is on God's heart.
You know what is humbling? Not the person who feels he needs to teach humility to the not-so-humble person by putting that person in his place, but the somebody who comes across as a friendly nobody and treat nobodies like somebodies. I have encountered this kind of humility in several people in the last few days, and it is challenging. Your thoughts?
Music playlist (play now: bottom of this blog)
