Whew!!
We're back from our second afternoon at Matthew 28. I'm not going to
write much about today's experiences until tomorrow. Having spent several hours at Matthew 28 over
two successive days, we have experienced and learned a few things that are not
particularly flattering. What I write
tomorrow may be difficult to read, but it is our feeling that these things need
to expressed. Just so we're all clear, Matthew
28 is not affiliated with The 410 Bridge and is not under the leadership of the
Bohoc Leadership Council. All of that said, I would like to give out props to everyone on the team as they all so graciously gave
of themselves today. BTW...the balloons
and the bubbles were huge hits (not unexpectedly, of course).
Quote (Drake-ism) of
the Day
I can't imagine how
much bad I'm going to have to do to make up for coming along on this mission
trip.
-- Drake Triplett (Age 17), Senior Slump Extraordinaire
Note: The above was spoken at lunch, today, in
answer to a question Drake asked of himself: How is this trip affecting the moral compass
in your life, Drake? Ummm...about all I (Dave and, most likely, everyone else) have to say about all of this is this: "Beware Iowa."
The International Mission
Trip: Is it an Effort to Help, an Effort to Serve, orBoth?
My answer (as always) is...it depends. While I do think that "help" is
needed at times of crisis and emergency, I am much more interested in the
long-term development of people in finding greater and greater healing and reconciliation
in life. As such, I want to live a missional
life of selfless service. My prayer is that God will continue to forge such things in and through me.
Regarding trips, the most common question I get upon
returning home from a trip to the developing/re-building world is this: "So
what did you do while you were there?" Despite what you might think, answering such
a question can be a little difficult. Mostly,
I answer with something akin to the following: "We just spent time with our new Haitian
friends…praying and worshiping with them, listening to them, playing with them,
and working alongside them."
"How many wells did you dig?" Ummm....none.
"How
many latrines did you construct?" Zero.
"How
many people did you see come to faith in Jesus?" I haven't the foggiest notion.
Sometimes, after I provide such
answers, I get a variety of reactions from blank stares, to “That’s nice,” to
“Well...did you have a good time?”
I understand a little of the
frustrations of those asking me about such a trip. I really do. We in the U.S. tend to value time, efficiency,
and the bottom line over just about anything else. This can be seen in our Monday morning
quarterbacking and in our emphasis on P and L statements, church attendance
counts, website stats, and the number of "widgets" produced last
month in factory x. Not that such things
aren’t valuable, because they certainly can be, it’s just that many cultures
outside of the U.S. tend to place a much higher priority on things that are not
necessarily reflected in the efficiency measures we value so highly here in the
states. For instance (and this is not
intended to be a slam on the U.S. [for I am in love with the U.S.!]; rather it is an
attempt, simply, to illuminate a difference between the U.S. and some of the cultures I've visited),
the Haitians and the Kenyans, two people groups that I have grown to love
dearly, place a much higher priority on togetherness, community, and the
building of lasting friendships than most of us do here in the west. For those of us experiencing such things for
the first or second time, the "shock" of such exposure can be
difficult—especially, upon returning home after such a trip. Re-assimilating back into the culture of
central North Carolina after hanging out in Bohoc, Haiti, for a week or two can
be very challenging. Just ask anyone
who’s ever come back from such a trip.
:o)
A couple of years ago, Benji Kelly, the
Senior Pastor of newhope church, asked me to write a "two-year game
plan" for international missions at newhope. In that document, I wrote what I believed to
be "our" missional philosophy. Provided below is an excerpt from what I
wrote. The same can be found on the newhope curch website at the following link: http://www.newhopenc.org/Serve/HOPEmissions/International-Missions.aspx.
While there are many ways to engage in
mission, it is our intention at newhope church to pursue international
missions activity by partnering with very discrete and specific communities as
they seek to follow Christ and to do for themselves that which they feel must
be done to create flourishing communities devoted to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ.
The provision of disaster recovery (the
rehabilitation that occurs after "the bleeding has stopped") or
development resources that are not community based (basically, initiated,
driven, AND managed by the community) will fail—PERIOD. History teaches that this is the case. Once "the bleeding has stopped," the
community directly affected must be intimately involved in and with their own
rehabilitation and development. As
servants of the King, we must do all that is in our power to come alongside
those who are hurting and who are trying to recover and develop themselves; but
just as a physical therapist cannot make someone do his or her shoulder
exercises, we cannot (nor should we EVER) do for others what they can (and
must) do for themselves. To try to do
otherwise is completely disrespectful, creates dependency, leads to 'unhealthy
giving,' and, quite literally, hurts everyone involved.
To be good stewards of that which God
has given us—time, talents, gifts, financial resources, etc.—it appears to me to
be the most God-honoring when what we have to give is given in the context of a
committed relationship, where we come alongside our brothers and our sisters in
a specific place as they work together, under community leadership, to follow
Christ and to develop communally from within.
Currently, we at newhope are partnering internationally
with the following two communities throughThe 410 Bridge:
Bohoc,Haiti (where we are right now in this VERY moment), and Kiria, Kenya. To date, we have visited Kiria twice (July
2010 and 2011) and Bohoc twice (April 2011 and, of course, right now). And it is our intention to visit both communities at least twice a year for the foreseeable future.
The plan for the 2012 year (following this trip) is as
follows:
Bohoc, Haiti (April 2012)
Kiria, Kenya (June 2012)
Kiria, Kenya (September 2012)
If you are interested in going on a
missions trip in 2012, please contact me at thatdaverbling@yahoo.com. Please note that we still have space on the
April 2012 trip to Haiti.
If you would like to pray for teams
or be a part of sending them, please e-mail me as well. AND...if you will be so kind as to do this,
please go to the Prayer Requests blogpost last week and consider praying for the team that's right now serving our Master and His people here in Haiti.
More later...(including some
pictures!)...
Jezu l'aime ou,
Dave (On Behalf of Team Haiti 2012
and HM/I [newhope church])
PS...It looks like tomorrow we will
be working with our Haitian friends at the Bohoc community garden. Keep all of us--especially our Haitian
friends in your prayers. If you'd like a
guide for praying for our Haitian friends, consider using Psalm 91 and turning
it into a prayer. Mesi!!
PPS...Okay...something really funny just
happened. A rooster showed up, walked
into the guesthouse, and Allison just chased it in to the kitchen. Perhaps I'll be able to eat dinner after all. :o) Peace-out, y'all!!
For
I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm
you. Plans to give you a future and a
hope."
-- Jeremiah 29:11
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