A Tale of Three Churches

This past Sunday was "move in day" at New Life Church in Renton . New Life has become our home church since we moved back from South Africa to Renton WA last November. New Life is a church of a couple thousand people and is alive and growing. Although it had a large facility to meet in with an attached building for it's Christian school, New Life had made a decision a couple years ago to build a new sanctuary and turn the current sanctuary and lobby into "Kids Town" as well as a gym for the school. Sunday was the first services held in the new building. The new auditorium has a feel much like the old building but is larger and will seat 1600 people. There is also a new 400 seat chapel. You can even take a tour of the new facility on the "New Building" section of the website. Although we are newcomers to New Life, we could sense that Sunday was a very special day in the life of this church. It is obvious that this is a blessed church.

Sitting in the new church building on Sunday I was reminded of a chapter in the book "The Hole In Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision. I read this book during our recent trip to South Africa. One advantage of spending about 50 hours in airplanes is that it gives you a lot of time to catch up on your reading. The book is excellent and challenging for Christians and American churches. John Ortberg says about the book "It is a prophetic and hope-filled word for our day. If enough people read it and do it, the world will change." That is exactly what the gospel of Jesus, the whole gospel, the one without the hole in it is about - changing the world by changing the lives of people. Stearns says the whole gospel "encompasses tangible compassion for the sick and the poor, as well as biblical justice ... the spiritual, physical and social dimensions of our being."

On the flight back to the USA last week I read the chapter entitled "A Tale of Two Churches". In it Stearns tells a parable of two churches. One, The Church of God's Blessings could well be New Life Church or any number of churches in America. It could also very well be Norwegian Settler's Church in South Africa, our other home church where we worshiped the last four years. Another church with a building program that you can watch from the web cam on the church website.

The other church Stearns describes, The Church of the Suffering Servant could well be Pastor Amos' church in South Africa we had visited the previous Sunday (see my March 26 post South Africa Trip Highlights). As I wrote in my last post, Pastor Amos is one of the key partners Two Tunics is working with in South Africa. He has a powerful ministry in communities where AIDS and poverty are having a devastating impact on people's lives. Communities where spiritual warfare with the powers of darkness is an everyday reality. Through Amos' Jesus Voice Kingdom Ministries people are receiving the whole gospel. People are experiencing real deliverance from oppression. People are responding to the gospel and his church is growing. Growing beyond the walls of the 3 sided tin shed the church meets in and around.
Robin and I with our friend Athena in the church in Mkholombe

One of the pastors speaking to the Mkholombe Church

People attending the church crowd around the shed in the hot sun

These last 2 weeks I have attended 3 churches. All of them have new building programs. Two belong to "The Church of God's Blessings". One belongs to "The Church of the Suffering Servant". I thank God that I have the privilege of attending all of them. I can't wait until my next visit to the Mkholombe church. The Churches of God's Blessings that I attend are doing good things. They are having an effective ministry. They are making at least some attempts to be about the whole gospel. As Stearns says:

The American church in my little parable was not a "bad" church; it was just oblivious to the suffering of the little church in Africa. It wasn't that they wouldn't help the African congregation; they were just so preoccupied with their own programs and people that they failed to see the bigger picture: the reality of the church across the world.

Thank you Lord for letting me see the bigger picture with the small African church in it. Thank you Lord that your gospel doesn't have a hole in it. Thank you Lord that we have the opportunity to partner with Pastor Amos in bringing the whole gospel to people who desperately need its hope. Pastor Amos in front of the new building for the Mkholombe church which needs a roof

Shopping Spree

This past week Robin and I spent some time in St Louis. This was at the invitation and as guests of Grace Church, a vibrant, growing, multiracial church with an attendance of 4-5000 each weekend. They have connected with the work we are doing as Two Tunics in South Africa through two short term mission teams last year. We were blown away by their hospitality during our visit (as well as that of Doug and Suzy Hufton who opened their home to us).

One amazing gift to us during our visit was a free shopping spree in their well stocked church bookstore. "When we have missionaries visit we like to send them away with some good reading material" we were told. I thought we would pick up 3 or 4 books when Debbie (Pastor Ron Tucker's wife) came in with a empty printer paper box and said "you have to fill this up and we can ship it to you at library rates". Suddenly I was like a kid in a candy store. Do you know how much I love books? We had just arrived a couples hours earlier and God was knocking my socks off already.

As I browsed around the bookstore I seemed to keep coming across books authored by people I had heard speak at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. The last 4 years in South Africa we had been fortunate to attend the video-cast Global Leadership Summit held in Durban each October. Willow Creek presents the Summit live in Chicago in August (simulcast throughout many sites in North America) and then presents video-cast Summits throughout the world over the next several months. Robin and I have been blessed to attend the Durban conference with our "home church" in South Africa, Norwegian Settler's Church and its Genesis outreach ministry staff. Each year it has been amazing and yet the following year is even better yet. If you have not attended the Leadership Summit, or watched the DVD made of it each year I would definitely recommend getting to see or at least hear the 2010 Summit. Click on the image below to get more information about the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit. (Even if you are only responsible for leadership of your own life you qualify.)


As I browsed the Grace Church bookstore I picked up "Prodigal God" by Timothy Keller. Read this book and better yet also watch the video of his talk of the same title at the 2009 Leadership Summit. If you think you know this parable, think again. I found out I didn't know what "prodigal" means (and it's not "wayward" or "lost" although you will see that there is more than one lost son in the parable).

Then I picked up " Too Small to Ignore" by Wess Stafford, the President of Compassion International. He gave the most personal and tearful as well as a very powerful talk at the 2009 Summit. His passion comes out just as strongly in the book and it is all about the priority of children, not just according to Wess but according to Jesus.

I also collected a couple books by John Ortberg. He gave an excellent message on "A Leader's Greatest Fear" to the Leadership Summit a couple years ago, Summit 2007 I believe. Funny enough I didn't pick up anything written by Bill Hybels, the Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Church and the leadership "guru" behind the success of the Leadership Summit. I do have a couple of his titles on my bookshelf at home (here or in South Africa - I'm not sure which).

Well I can't tell you all the books I was blessed with at Grace Church and anyway Robin and Debbie filled a good portion of the box with children's books and videos (go Veggietales!) for Mikah our grandson. Thanks again to Grace Church and to Willow Creek Leadership Summit for providing such great material to keep challenging me and growing me.

Can't Say No To God

As I mentioned in my last post, there have been big changes at Genesis and with my role there. Just to remind you Genesis is an NGO started by the Norwegian Settler's Church as an HIV/AIDS and community outreach ministry of the church. The flagship ministry of Genesis is the 40 bed inpatient HIV/AIDS palliative care center (Genesis Care Centre or GCC). One of my roles here has been as the Medical Director of the GCC for the last 2.5 years and I feel blessed to be part of the ministry that happens there. Genesis is a big operation now with about 70 employees and many volunteers in several ministries in addition to the GCC.

Some of the patients and staff at the Genesis Care Centre

In late February the Genesis General Mangager submitted his resignation effective the end of March. Genesis asked me to step into the position but there were many issues to work through -I don't have a work permit here, Iam registered as a doctor here only as a volunteer, a major funder PEPFAR had some concerns with the decision as I had been contracted under their grant to provide certain services etc. And most of all I'm a doctor, not a business manager (even a non-profit business).

There are so many issues and challanges with taking on this position that normally I would have quickly said "no thanks, I'm happy doing the ministry we have here as Two Tunics". But then there is the God part of the decision. You see God had been preparing Robin and I for the possibility of my stepping into leadership of Genesis. Several months before there was any hint of change in leadership at Genesis God spoke in a fairly specific way to Robin (she seems to be better at hearing His voice and God often uses her to speak to me). When God tells you He is going to do something and then He does it, is it ok to say "no thank you" and walk away because its going to be messy and its going to be hard and I'm happy serving Him as I am now?

Well obviously I didn't think so. It was something I couldn't walk away from but maybe out of lack of faith what we eventually agreed to was that I would be the Interim Acting General manager for the next 4+ months as a volunteer. PEPFAR is requiring Genesis to have an open competitive hiring process for a permanent GM so I could only be named "Interim" anyway at this time.

The last few weeks have already been hectic as I have been plunged with both feet into the many issues that urgently needed to be dealt with for Genesis to move forward and fulfill its vision to be an effective ministry to the AIDS and poverty affected communities in the area. Already I have found myself asking "why do I want these headaches" and "is this really what I'm supposed to be doing". Then I remember the answer. I am saying "yes" to God. I wouldn't want to give Him any other answer.

The Church on the Hill

Today Robin and I had the pleasure and privilege to worship at Norwegian Settler's Church. This is our regular place of worship here in South Africa and our second home church (along with Northview Bible Church in Spokane). When we came to live and serve here in the Port Shepstone area we came on our own on behalf of our small organization Two Tunics. We were not coming to join a team already on the ground and did not have a larger mission organization ready to support, guide and encourage us. We realized one of the first priorities for us needed to be to find a church and a small group for Christian fellowship. God provided for us the Norwegian Church and then a home cell group with in that church. Both have been a blessing to us.

Robin and I with some of the members of our home cell group







The Norwegian Settler's Church is just that, a church started by Norwegian settlers a little over 125 years ago. Today it is a thriving, predominately white interdenominational church. It sits on a hill with a view that in a sense captures life on the South Coast (as this part of KwaZulu-Natal is known). Toward the sea (lets call it east) the church overlooks the beach communities with their hotels, restaurants and shops that are a holiday destination for people from throughout South Africa as well as Europe and further abroad. It is in this community that Robin and I live.

Margate beach on Christmas day

Toward the south the church overlooks rolling hills of sugar cane fields where predominantly white and Indian farmers grow the historical number one cash crop for this area. Toward the north the church overlooks the industrial outskirts of Port Shepstone know as Marburg. Here textile factories, the Coke bottling plant and other light industries offers jobs at salaries that barely cover transport and food costs. This is also a residential area for many "coloreds", an official designation for a mixed race group distinct from blacks. This area is known for its violence, alcohol and drug abuse.

Toward the west the church overlooks an area known as Mkholombe, a shanty town that merges into a slowly expanding government housing area. No one knows how many people live in the sprawling shanty town but is definitely in the many thousands. In this community are the effects of extreme poverty, hunger, AIDS, drug abuse and despair. 40% of pregnant mothers in this community are HIV positive. Young children, many of them orphans roam the dirt paths between tin and mud shacks. Many sick with AIDS lie alone on dirt floors, abandoned by their families because of the stigma associated with AIDS.

Norwegian Settlers' Church sits on a hill overlooking these four communities, realities that together make up a microcosm of this South Coast region of South Africa. Most of the church's members come from the coastal and farm communities. They live, work and relax in a world of one or two of these realities. The other two are often unrealities to them as they have little or no contact with them. A few years ago Pastor Trevor Downham challenged the church regarding whether anyone would notice if the church disappeared. That challenge resulted in the formation of Genesis which today continues to provide care, support and hope to those in communities around the church affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty.

Genesis is fulfilling the desire of the church to be relevant to all of the communities surrounding it. Genesis is one of the key partners of Two Tunics and I am currently acting as the Medical Director of the Genesis Care Centre, a 40 bed HIV palliative care centre run by Genesis as a ministry of the church. Sometimes we think as we walk into our churches on Sunday morning "this is church". But I prefer to think "this is church" as I walk onto the Genesis wards this week helping to care for sick, dying and despairing people who would be without hope were it not for this church choosing to be the church to the pleasure and glory of Jesus Christ.

Vision Sunday, Part 2

In the previous post I shared some about Vision Sunday at Norwegian Settler's Church (NSC) this past Sunday. Living in Africa and working in the area with the highest prevalence of HIV in the world makes one really understands the importance of visionary leadership. One sees every day the truth of Proverbs 29:18 that "where there is no vision people perish" (KJV). Much of the struggles in Africa can be attributed to a crisis of leadership; leadership without vision.

Thankfully our church here in Africa (NSC) does have visionary leadership. On Sunday Pastor Trevor Downham shared his and the other church leadership's take on the vision of NSC. As described in the last post this vision for the church is based on a vision of God that results in a recognition of God's holiness (purity with a purpose). God is pure, we are not and God purposes to do something about it. Trevor described it as God having a burden. Specifically he described the burden of God as - "the lost". (Christian jargon for unclean people in an unclean world who have yet to receive a vision of a holy God.) I might just say God has a burden for dying people. (Understanding death to be a consequence of sin, and life being spiritual and eternal as well as physical and temporal.)

All this has been leading up to sharing with you the Vision of Norwegian Settler's Church:

Our Core Value: People

Our Priorities: (which translate into programs)

• Discipleship (learning to follow Christ)
• Teaching (learning to apply scripture)
• Children (when most people come to know Christ)
• Youth (our future church)
• Community (meaning outreach rather than a huddle)

Our Mission: Love God & Serve People

I like it. I want to be a part of it. Lord, help me live it.

Vision Sunday

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday in the US. But it was Vision Sunday at Norwegian Settler's Church (NSC), our home church here in South Africa. Trevor Downham, the senior pastor truly is a visionary leader. He is in large part the reason that the Genesis ministry and the Genesis Care Centre exist. Proverbs 29:18 says "where there is no vision, the people perish"(KJV). Because there is a man of vision in this place, people are living who would otherwise have died.

Yesterday Pastor Trevor presented NSC with his, and the other church leadership's vision for the church. One of the statements he made was that "you can only have a vision for God if you have a vision of God". He went on to look at what happens when someone receives a fresh vision of God.

There are many examples in the Bible of people getting a new or special vision of God. One of the best examples is Isaiah 6. Dr Del Tackett in Focus on the Family's The Truth Project describes 3 things that happen when Isaiah or anyone else has a clear vision of God. 1) They have a fresh understanding of who God is. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 2) They have a fresh understanding of who they are. "Woe is me! I cried. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips". And 3) They have a fresh understanding of their circumstances. "I live among a people of unclean lips".

In his message on Sunday Trevor emphasized a key attribute of God that is always prominent when one has a vision of God. This attribute is clearly preeminent in each of the three understandings that Dr. Tackett pointed out from Isaiah's vision. It is God's holiness. "Holy, holy holy". "Woe is me". "I live among a people of unclean lips". God is holy. I am not. There is a problem in the world.

There are 2 aspects of holiness that are demonstrated in Isaiah 6. One of them, purity is commonly thought of with holiness. God is pure. I am not. I live among people who are unclean(impure). But another aspect less often associated with holiness is evident as well and that is purpose. God in His holiness says "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" God in His holiness has a purpose and a plan. Things are not to stay as they are. Isaiah was made clean and I can be as well- "your guilt has been taken away and your sins atoned for" (Isaiah 6:7). God in His holiness sends one who can be about transformation in the world. He sent One. His holy purpose is being accomplished. He is still sending.

Here I am, send me.

(Check back in a day or two for part 2 - the NSC vision.)