Hello all!
I wanted to write you and share about my time in Nicaragua, and also
what the Lord has called me to. First, as some of you know I was in
Nicaragua for the summer of 2010, and during my time there the Lord
stretched me, grew me, and revealed passions for the lost and poverty
stricken. I want to introduce a couple of them to you.
Annette
is a child that has gone through so much in such a short lifetime. She
lives in the slums of Jinotepe with her mother, and two younger
siblings. She is eight years old and has a smile so bright that you
can't help but smile back. Her father left when she was a baby to join a
gang, and they haven't seen him ever again. She was forced to leave
school to take care of her younger siblings while her mother works in
the fields for the equivalent of $5 per day, which is enough to purchase
rice for one meal a day for the family. During my time there we taught
the mother skills, like how to make bracelets, and how to prepare bread
so she could sell them in the market. But more than trade skills she
learned about Christ and Annette learned about her heavenly father that
would never abandon her. The family is doing great, Annette is back in
school, and they are all very close to their new church family in
Nicaragua. And Annette's smile has never been bigger!
Marlone
is twelve years old and has four younger siblings. Marlone is one of
the best big brothers I have ever seen. He teaches his younger brother
to play soccer every chance he gets, and plays hide and seek with his
sisters while his mother prepares dinner. Sounds like a happy family
right? Marlone and his family lived in a one room hut with sticks
holding up the roof, and the walls are trash bags. Marlone and his
father work in the coffee fields from dawn until the heat is too much to
handle for the young boy. Marlone's family also takes care of his
grandmother that is seventy six years old, and has not been able to walk
in three years. Marlone,s younger sister is going deaf in both ears and
they couldn't afford the surgery to help her. When I first talked with
Marlone's father I asked him about God, and did he believe in him? He
replied "yes I know He is there, but he hates me, so I hate Him"
(translated of course). During my time I continued to go back every
other day to see my new family and talk with the father and mother about
Christ. The kids always beat me in soccer too... But I could tell more
and more that the father was different. One day he asked me to pray with
him. We helped Marlone's family build solid walls, a solid roof, and an
oven that we built from bricks. But more than that the father accepted
Christ, and praised Him for all that had happened. Marlone now works for
their church taking water to the elderly, and the father is now reading
the Bible to his family every day. Through our fundraising efforts we
were able to get Maleah (deaf sister) her surgery, and she can now hear
95% out of one ear and 90% out of the other!
I was able to make this journey through an organization called Adventures in Missions. AIM
is a mission's organization that sends out thousands of missionaries
nationally and internationally every year. In fact, since its birth in
1989, AIM has sent over 85,000 missionaries to the field. Many remain in
missions or ministry, many come back and start their own ministries and
organizations, and some join staff. Orphans are fed and introduced to
families, widows are cared for, sick are embraced, homes are built,
churches are planted, young people are saved from human trafficking and
the world is literally changed.
I plan to serve again with AIM for eleven months in eleven countries
spanning three continents to speak to the lost, feed the hungry, and
show God's love to those who have never known it before. But to do these
things and much more I need your help. The trip will cost $15,500 for
food, board and travel expenses. You can also support me monthly with $5
to $50 to however much you feel led. I will be on the field for 11
months, so that would be a huge blessing to partner with you monthly.
Hello!. I want to share with you what's been going on in my life lately. As
you know, I was in Nicaragua for two months discipling new believers into a
deeper understanding of our lord. I want to thank you for all of your support!
During my time in Nicaragua, the Lord called me into spending more time with
His people who are hopeless, and lacking the knowledge of their Father. Throughout
my endeavors, He revealed to me that His plan for my life is different than my
own. I have been called to continue serving God's people through Adventures In
Missions.
AIM is a mission's organization
that sends out thousands of missionaries nationally and internationally every
year. In fact, since its birth in 1989, AIM has sent over 85,000
missionaries to the field. Many remain in missions or ministry, many come
back and start up their own ministries and organizations, and several join
staff. Orphansarefedand introduced to families,widowsarecared for, lepersare embraced,homesarebuilt,churchesareplanted,prostitutesare freed fromsexual bondage, and theworldis literallychanged.
I am currently working in a job that
I enjoy and am planning to resume a course of study, but at my hearts core is
the calling to foreign missions. Through the direction of AIM I will find
guidance toward serving in different countries and their efforts to end human
trafficking. I will be in countries where it is illegal to wear a cross, or
even carry a bible.
I plan to serve for eleven months to
eleven countries spanning three continents to speak to the lost, feed the
hungry, and show God's love to those who have never felt it before. But to do
these things and much more I need your help. The trip will cost $15,500 for
food, boarding, and travel expenses. I will be living off $5 per day for food,
and board, so no donation is too small. You can also support me monthly with $5
to $50 to however much you feel led. I will be on the field for 11 months, so
that would be a huge blessing to partner with you monthly.
If you would like to partner
financially, and read more about my journey you can visit my blog at bretthand.theworldrace.org, and
follow the prompts from the "support me" link. Or I included a support card
that you can mail with your support.
This is a blog I wrote in Nicaragua. Brings tears to my eyes every-time I think about it
6/16/2010
We had an awesome opportunity to go to a nursing home and get to know some of the Nicaraguans that are up in age. We got there and sat down and did the normal nursing home visits, ask about there story´s ask if they have kids, etc... But I noticed that one of the residents was choosing to stay in her room and watch from the comfort of her own chair.
We continued talking and had a chance to pray with the residents individually and afterwards the skeptical lady came out of her room. She was very hunched over to the point she is staring at the ground, and I go over to help her to the circle we have formed with the residents. I notice that she is clinging on to two articles of paper in separate plastic bags. And when I get close to her she starts speaking VERY fast Spanish that I couldn't remotely interpret, and I noticed that she was holding 1: An old gospel track, that looks ancient. and 2: an article of paper that on it is inscribed a verse in Spanish. She is speaking like I said very fast, but also very quick and short breathed, so I could tell that she was nervous to speak with me...One of my awesome teammates named Paige see´s my issue of language barrier and comes over to translate for me, and upon her arrival she couldn't make it out either. So I get the translator named Santiago to come over to help us. He translates her saying "I am a believer like you" and I replied "Amen" She asked if I had any scriptures in Spanish, or a Bible? We did not bring any to the home with us so I replied "no" and the look on her face was that of a child that dropped an ice cream cone. It was so saddening.
But then I remembered that Lindsay had brought a Spanish Bible to study on the bus ride over. So I went and got it from her, and gave it to the Elderly lady, and such joy came to her! I could see in her face and in her spirit that she was just so excited. Santiago translated her pure joyful words saying "I love you I love you! Today you have given me a Bible! Today I will remember that I finally have a Bible for the FIRST TIME" and we rejoiced with her and she allowed me to pray with her also, and she said on the way back to her room "This day of June 15th I will remember" "This day I finally have a Bible"
Do we really hold the Bible to the stature that it deserves? I know that I don't.. I have numerous copies of translations. But this lady, this dear old women, had clung to those few parchments of scripture and treasured them, and clung to them so tightly for so long. Lord I pray for desperation like her, I pray for a passion that I can do nothing but Cling to your word.
It's 2010. What would happen
if you donated $20.10 a month for one year?
What
would happen?
I'm in
the process of raising support for next year for the World Race, and also come
on staff with AIM until I launch in July 2011. In case you don't know
anything about either of those, AIM is a missions organization (of which the
World Race is a part) that sends out thousands of missionaries nationally and
internationally every year. In fact, since it's birth in 1989, AIM has
sent over 85,000 missionaries to the field. Many remains in missions or ministry,
many come back and start up their own ministries and organizations, and several
join staff (like me). Basically, orphans are fedand introduced to families, widows are cared for, lepers are held,homes are built,churches are planted,prostitutes are freedfrom sexual bondage, and
the world is literally changed.
And I
will be a part of that. You will a part of changing the World.
So I was thinking, What if 100 people
pledged $20.10 a month for a year? or $10 a month?That would have an impact! That would have a direct
impact on orphans being fed and introduced to families, Widows cared for, Sex slaves set free from bondage! The list goes on.
My
question is: will you pledge $20.10 a month for a year?
Seasons: A dictionary definition of season is "asuitable,proper,fitting,orrighttime"
As Christians we go through a lot of seasons of growth, of healing, of mourning, etc. The Lord is taking me through a season of preparation.
As you know I was planning on going in the January 2011 World Race, But the Lord is taking me through a different path than January. After much prayer and a lot of time in the presence of the Lord, I am moving my Race to July. I felt the Lord leading me into a deeper amount of time for preparation in school, in ministry, and more time with my family. I am still raising my support now and hope to be fully funded by May 2011 ($14,300)
Needs:
1) Your prayers! more specifically how does He want me to raise this money? How can I prepare best for the Race?
2) I need to start purchasing my gear. I'll be living out of my pack and a tent for a year. I need to purchase a substantial "3 season tent" with a "footprint" and has to be under 5 pounds. If you are interested in donating or loaning, or purchase a tent for me that would be a HUGE blessing. The average cost of one that I need is around $200
3) Luckily I have a backpack, and a sleeping bag :)
4) Financial support. I have deadlines that I have to meet periodically so that AIM can start purchasing my plane tickets etc.
Don't have a lot of money? Consider supporting monthly through this journey with a 20-50 dollar donation. Pick one day a month and eat in (to save $20 on the meal you would buy) and use the money you would have spent to support me.
Give however you like, but please consider this. Your gifts I assure you will go to the advancement of the Gospel to the nations. Maybe you can't go and do what I am doing, but you can give and pray. I can't do this without your financial and Prayer gifts.
I pray that you consider partnering with me in this journey! Blessings to you and your families!
Duty is good, but delight is better. Picture me bringing a dozen roses home to my wife on our wedding anniversary. I hold them out to her at the door; she smiles and says, "Oh Johnny, they're beautiful, why did you?" Suppose I lift my hand in a self-effacing gesture and say, "It's my duty."
So what's wrong? Is duty a bad thing? No, it's not a bad thing. But it can only take you so far. If you want romance, duty won't reach. The right answer to my wife's question goes like this: "I couldn't help myself. My happiness just got out of hand. In fact, to make my day, I'd really enjoy taking you out tonight."
The amazing thing about this answer is that it does two things that many people think won't fit together. It expresses my happiness and makes her feel honored. A lot of people think that if I do something because it makes me happy, it can't honor another person. But it can! Why? Because delighting in someone is a very high compliment. If you enjoy someone, two amazing things happen: You get the joy; they get the glory. Pleasure is the measure of your treasure.
This is a revolutionary insight in relation to God. Here's what it means: God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him. This is a radically life-changing discovery. It means that the pursuit of God's glory and the pursuit of your joy are not at odds. They are, in fact, one.
The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying him forever. Not by enjoying money and comfort and prestige and power and achievement, but by enjoying HIM, God! And every other good thing for God's sake. As Saint Augustine prayed, "He loves you too little who loves anything together with you, which he loves not for your sake." The biblical command, "Delight yourself in the Lord," (Psalm 37:4) is another way of saying, "Do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him.
And the greatest passion of God's heart is to be glorified. He created us for his glory (Isaiah 43:7); he called Israel to be his people for his glory (Isaiah 49:3); Jesus lived (John 17:4) and died (John 12:27-28; Romans 3:25-26) and rose (Romans 6:4) and reigns (Philippians 2:11) for the glory of God; he chose us before the foundation of the world for his glory (Ephesians 1:4-6); he forgives us for his glory (Psalm 25:11; Isaiah 43:25); he works through us for his glory (1 Peter 4:11); he calls us to do all things for his glory (1 Corinthians 10:31); and his aim is that the earth will be covered with the knowledge of his glory the way the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14), and in the age to come that the glory of the Lord alone will be the awesome light of the endless days (Revelation 21:23).
If the glory of God is the highest passion of his own heart, then it should be the highest passion of ours. And if God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, then we should spare nothing to maximize our joy in him. But where is this maximum joy to be found? Well, we have already said it: in God! Yes, but here we can make a very subtle and devastating mistake. Be careful.
There is something about the nature of true joy that is restless. It is expansive by nature. It wants out. Imagine me at my son's soccer championship and someone saying to me, "You are permitted to have all the pleasure you want in your son's performance, but you may not express any of it verbally or physically." Would my joy be full? No. There is something about joy that comes to consummation when it gets out. Joy gets bigger by expanding. Joy increases by extending itself to others. My gladness gets bigger when it becomes your gladness.
This means that the human quest for joy leads straight to the missionary heart of God. You can see it already. But let me put it together: God is the fountain of joy because he is blindingly glorious, and infinitely worthy, and breathtakingly beautiful, and awesome in power, and inscrutable in wisdom, and limitless in knowledge, and tender in mercy, and terrible in wrath, and the source and foundation of all truth and goodness and beauty. When we see him for what he really is, and turn from all the broken cisterns of the world that cannot satisfy (Jeremiah 2:13), we find "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8).
But this joy, like all joy, wants out. It wants to expand. If it doesn't extend itself and overflow, it begins to stagnate. There is something about God that cannot be hoarded. And to hoard joy in God is to lose joy in God. But to lose joy in God is to dishonor God-just like my wife would be dishonored if I said, "It's my duty," instead of, "It's my delight." God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
Therefore, our joy must get out-for God's sake and for our sake. God wills for his glory to be reflected in the joy of redeemed people from every tribe and tongue and nation (Revelation 7:9). He wills worldwide praise. Therefore, world evangelism is the pathway to maximum joy and maximum worship.
Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. The glory of God is the ultimate goal of the church-because it's the ultimate goal of God. The final goal of all things is that God might be worshiped with white-hot affection by a redeemed company of countless persons from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Revelation 5:9; 7:9).
Missions exists because worship doesn't. When the kingdom finally comes in glory, missions will cease. Missions is penultimate; worship is ultimate. If we forget this and reverse their roles, the passion and the power for both diminish.
J. Campbell White, the secretary of the Laymen's Missionary movement wrote in 1909,
Most men are not satisfied with the permanent output of their lives. Nothing can wholly satisfy the life of Christ within his followers except the adoption of Christ's purpose toward the world he came to redeem. Fame, pleasure and riches are but husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with God for the fulfillment of his eternal plans. The men who are putting everything into Christ's undertaking are getting out of life its sweetest and most priceless rewards.
This is the testimony of virtually all the great missionaries in the history of the church. Pouring out their lives brought their lives back to them. They proved again and again the words of the Lord, "He who loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it" (Mark 8:38). In other words, joy in God grows by expanding toward others. Jesus said to Peter, "There is no one who has left house or brother or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundred-fold now in this time-houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions-and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:28-30). You can't out-give God.
On December 4, 1857, David Livingstone, the great pioneer missionary to Africa, made a stirring appeal to the students of Cambridge University, showing what he had learned about these words of Jesus through the years:
For my part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa....Is that a sacrifice which brings its own best reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? It is, emphatically, no sacrifice. Say rather, it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.
And in saying that, Livingstone paid his God the highest tribute possible. It was not mere duty. It was a profound delight-beyond what anything in this world can give. God was glorified in him because he was satisfied in God. And his satisfaction came to consummation not with the comforts of a cozy life in England, but with the expansive vision of giving his life and his joy away on the frontiers.
That's it. That's the most profound, God-centered motivation. It makes my heart beat faster even as I think about it again. O, may God give us eyes to see where true satisfaction can be found-to the glory of God!
