A reflection from Henri Nouwen… good for the church and for organizations like Healing Waters.
"A Ministry of Healing and Reconciliation"
How does the Church witness to Christ in the world?
First and foremost by giving visibility to Jesus' love for the poor and the weak.
In a world so hungry for healing, forgiveness, reconciliation, and most of all unconditional love, the Church must alleviate that hunger through its ministry.
Wherever we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely, listen to those who are rejected, and bring unity and peace to those who are divided, we proclaim the living Christ, whether we speak about him or not.
I think this is a representation of what the church's role is, and what we are all called to do as Christians. Just my two cents.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
In Christ alone, my hope is found. . .
A few years ago Eric Moe was leading contemporary worship at Wellshire, as well as leading the youth praise band that lead worship with the youth group every Sunday night. He started rotating "In Christ Alone" through the song list. I loved this song as we sang it each week. Then this Sunday, the handbell choir at Wellshire played an amazing arrangement of the hymn "In Christ Alone." The music was glorious, and it got me thinking about the lyrics too.
I did some research, thinking that this was an old hymn set to a more modern score. As it turns out it was written in 2002 by a guy named Stuart Townend: "Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" (2002, cowritten with Keith Getty[1]), "
A common and sometimes accurate criticism of contemporary worship songs is that they are very repetitive and not very profound. That is true many times, but not in this case. These guys really knocked it out of the park with this song, rivaling any old hymn in depth of message.
The lyrics for this hymn are below and below that is a video of the Newsboys version of the song. I encourage you to read through the lyrics as a prayer of hope and thanksgiving. Stop and pause as you read, really reflect on them. Then if you want, listen to the song and continue to meditate on the lyrics. This is some powerful stuff!
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
I did some research, thinking that this was an old hymn set to a more modern score. As it turns out it was written in 2002 by a guy named Stuart Townend: "Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" (2002, cowritten with Keith Getty[1]), "
A common and sometimes accurate criticism of contemporary worship songs is that they are very repetitive and not very profound. That is true many times, but not in this case. These guys really knocked it out of the park with this song, rivaling any old hymn in depth of message.
The lyrics for this hymn are below and below that is a video of the Newsboys version of the song. I encourage you to read through the lyrics as a prayer of hope and thanksgiving. Stop and pause as you read, really reflect on them. Then if you want, listen to the song and continue to meditate on the lyrics. This is some powerful stuff!
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
Thursday, November 12, 2009
My Birthday Wish. . . Access to safe drinking water for 10 more people!
The last time you had a glass of water, where did you get that water from? Did you get it from the faucet in your home? Did you have a glass of water at a restaurant?When you drank that water, did you stop and ask yourself if it was safe to drink? Did you think about whether or not that water was going to make you sick?
Most of us don’t ask those questions; in fact those questions do not even cross our minds. We have the privilege of living in a country that distributes safe drinking water through our taps 99% of the time. We don’t have to wonder if the water is going to make us or our families sick; we don’t even think about it.
In much of the world, that is not the case. Over one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and billions more have “access” to buy safe drinking water at the store, but they don’t have the resources to pay for it. It is hard to buy bottled water when you live on less than $2 a day. As a result, they drink dirty contaminated water. And they give that same contaminated water to their children, not because they want to, but because they have no other options. And they live most of their lives in a constant state of sickness.
One organization working to change that is Healing Waters International. Their mission is to empower local ministry partners to bring physical, social and spiritual transformation to poor communities by providing sustainable, safe water solutions. Their vision is to see safe water provided in the name of Jesus in every poor community of the world. And the way they pursue that mission and vision is unique and exciting. I really believe in this organization. (Conflict of interest disclosure statement, I work for them too!)
So my birthday is on Sunday. The Big 3-2 !!!! I have enough "stuff" so I would rather support this cause for my birthday. Every $50 donated to Healing Waters provides another person access to safe drinking water FOR LIFE! I hope to provide 10 more people access to safe water for my birthday, so I am trying to raise $500. Every little bit helps, so please donate! (The link to donate is below)
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/213213
I believe that access to safe drinking water should be a basic human right for every person on this planet. Healing Waters is working towards that while also empowering local partners to bring physical, social and spiritual transformation to their communities. And their model incorporates long-term sustainability, so their projects continue to keep on distributing safe water, years after they are installed. It doesn't get much better than that!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Back from Guatemala, Snow Boots and Flip-Flops and other contrasts
I arrived safely back from Guatemala on Thursday night. It was great to be back with Jessica, Lil' A-P and Sol. We are mid-way through Week 34 of the pregnancy and cannot wait to meet our little girl.
Today I took a "travel comp" day to get caught up on things around the house and run some errands that I had neglected during my trip to Guatemala. I raked the leaves in the yard, cleaned the house, did some small home improvement projects and got caught up on work at Wellshire Presbyterian Church where I am the Youth Director.
The temperature today in Denver was in the high 70s. Just last week I was shoveling 20 inches of snow off my driveway and sidewalk. I love living here in Denver, a city of contrasts. We have almost two feet of snow one week and I am tromping around in my Sorel snow boots and the next week we have temperatures in the high 70s and I can walk around in my flip-flops. A few winters ago, I even went skiing on a Saturday and golfing on a Sunday.
These contrasts in temperature and weather are not so common in Guatemala. The weather tends to be pretty even keel there. However Guatemala is a land of contrasts, just not contrasts of temperature.
The contrast in Guatemala is the incredible wealth and the oppressive poverty. Last time I was in Guatemala I was visiting a coffee plantation. I saw workers in the field that were making an average of $300 per month, just a little more than minimum wage in Guatemala. While I was talking with one of the plantation workers a loud noise caught our attention. It was the owner of the coffee plantation, arriving to work in his own private helicopter.
The wealth in Latin America is impressive, even by our own standards here in the United States. One of the richest men in the whole world, Carlos Slim, is a Mexican. The upper classes in Latin America live well. Which is why it contrasts so much with the impoverished masses, the folks we have the privilege of working with in Healing Waters International.
I never cease to be amazed by the spirit of the people we work with. Despite extreme poverty contrasted with such wealth, the people we work with have profound faith and an incredibly positive outlook.
The class system in Latin America is not as rigid as the caste system of India, but the chance of moving from the lower classes to the upper classes is pretty slim. Despite this, and despite having this class contrast front and center every day with helicopters landing in coffee fields and Land Rovers and Mercedes driving by urban slums, the people we work with find joy in their lives, their families and their faith.
Today I took a "travel comp" day to get caught up on things around the house and run some errands that I had neglected during my trip to Guatemala. I raked the leaves in the yard, cleaned the house, did some small home improvement projects and got caught up on work at Wellshire Presbyterian Church where I am the Youth Director.
The temperature today in Denver was in the high 70s. Just last week I was shoveling 20 inches of snow off my driveway and sidewalk. I love living here in Denver, a city of contrasts. We have almost two feet of snow one week and I am tromping around in my Sorel snow boots and the next week we have temperatures in the high 70s and I can walk around in my flip-flops. A few winters ago, I even went skiing on a Saturday and golfing on a Sunday.
These contrasts in temperature and weather are not so common in Guatemala. The weather tends to be pretty even keel there. However Guatemala is a land of contrasts, just not contrasts of temperature.
The contrast in Guatemala is the incredible wealth and the oppressive poverty. Last time I was in Guatemala I was visiting a coffee plantation. I saw workers in the field that were making an average of $300 per month, just a little more than minimum wage in Guatemala. While I was talking with one of the plantation workers a loud noise caught our attention. It was the owner of the coffee plantation, arriving to work in his own private helicopter.
The wealth in Latin America is impressive, even by our own standards here in the United States. One of the richest men in the whole world, Carlos Slim, is a Mexican. The upper classes in Latin America live well. Which is why it contrasts so much with the impoverished masses, the folks we have the privilege of working with in Healing Waters International.
I never cease to be amazed by the spirit of the people we work with. Despite extreme poverty contrasted with such wealth, the people we work with have profound faith and an incredibly positive outlook.
The class system in Latin America is not as rigid as the caste system of India, but the chance of moving from the lower classes to the upper classes is pretty slim. Despite this, and despite having this class contrast front and center every day with helicopters landing in coffee fields and Land Rovers and Mercedes driving by urban slums, the people we work with find joy in their lives, their families and their faith.
That is one of the things that drew me to Latin America originally and keeps me coming back. That spirit, the sense of faith and community, and the general sense of joy.
So as I settle back into my life here in Denver, trying to decide whether to wear my flip flops or my snow boots, that contrast will make me grateful for my time in Latin America and the people I am privileged to work with there.
So as I settle back into my life here in Denver, trying to decide whether to wear my flip flops or my snow boots, that contrast will make me grateful for my time in Latin America and the people I am privileged to work with there.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Corriendo por todos lados en Guatemala! (Running all over the place in Guatemala!)
The past few days in Guatemala have been incredible! Whenever I am working in the field, I try to make the most of my time which usually means working 12-15 hour days. Fortunately most of my trips to the field are two weeks or less, so I am able to keep up a schedule like that. Being in the field always recharges my batteries and gives me a chance to see the work we are doing in Healing Waters International up close and personal. It is incredibly energizing and so the long days don’t tire me out.
Monday was a great day. After meeting with the staff in the morning, I jumped into a meeting with my two employees responsible for prospecting new partners and communities for water systems as well as managing the relationships with the partners after the water systems have been installed. We spent three hours talking about the process of finding and qualifying new partners and communities for systems. It was a great dialogue and I really enjoyed hearing their perspective and spending the time with them.
After a quick lunch of delicious tacos at a taco stand, we headed back to the office and met with a representative from Willow Creek and Red del Camino. We spent about an hour in the office talking with them and then left to visit our newest water system.
On the trip there, we stopped at a gas station for a few things and I got out of the car and left the keys in the car. Well, as it turns out the alarm system in our cars here in Guatemala automatically lock the doors about a minute after you leave the cars. So the gringo made a rookie mistake and got the keys locked in the car (although I can’t say I “locked the keys in the car” because it was the car that locked itself automatically.)
This provided some amusement for everyone and also provided us a little more time to chat with the great folks from Willow Creek and Red del Camino. We sat at some tables and chairs in the gas station while we waited for the other set of keys to be delivered from the office.
After that we visited the newest system in Comalapa. The system is really an impressive one and the folks from Willow Creek and Red del Camino had lots of great questions.
Finally we drove back from the system to Antigua for the night. The system is about an hour from Antigua on a very windy road, and it was raining pretty hard. So it was one of those “white knuckle” drives and all of these news articles kept flashing through my head about missionary team members and NGO employees who died in fiery crashes on twisty mountain roads in Latin American countries. Fortunately none of that came true, and my year of experience driving in Ecuador along with all of the driving I have done in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and here paid off. I got us all safely back to Antigua!
Tuesday I spent the day meeting one-on-one with my staff members. The meetings were very productive and I was able to get a real sense of the day to day operations here in Guatemala. We have been without a National Director here for almost six months and I have been filling in for that time. Unfortunately some things are hard to do as the acting National Director from my desk in Denver, so these trips to the field are extremely helpful for a variety of reasons. I was here for a week last July-August as well. I wish I could spend more time in the field and with my great team here.
We drove into Guatemala City for lunch and had Ceviche which is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It is also a little bit of a risk to eat ceviche in a city that is not right on the coast, but so far I seem to be doing fine!
Last night I had the opportunity to spend some time with a missionary family down here. Jackie and Levi run the Sharing His Plan ministry here in Guatemala. They have been living here for four years and have quite a ministry going. They had helped us advertise our National Director position through a Intermission listserv that Jackie moderates and through that process I had come to know them digitally and was blessed to finally meet them in person. They have three beautiful, spirited and well-behaved kids who I got to eat dinner with.
After dinner with them, I headed to the airport in Guatemala City to pick up Jake, the Director of Field Operations for Healing Waters. He and I are going to spend Wednesday working with the staff on strategic planning, our 2010 plan and budget and a few other things.
So far the trip has been nothing but blessed. Thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers. This is my last full day here and I head back to Denver tomorrow (Thursday.) This is the shortest trip I have taken to the field, but with Jessica being 33 weeks pregnant, I am grateful for that. I would love to spend more time here with my staff and at our water projects, but I am also anxious to get home to be with my beautiful wife.
Thanks for reading and LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!
Monday was a great day. After meeting with the staff in the morning, I jumped into a meeting with my two employees responsible for prospecting new partners and communities for water systems as well as managing the relationships with the partners after the water systems have been installed. We spent three hours talking about the process of finding and qualifying new partners and communities for systems. It was a great dialogue and I really enjoyed hearing their perspective and spending the time with them.
After a quick lunch of delicious tacos at a taco stand, we headed back to the office and met with a representative from Willow Creek and Red del Camino. We spent about an hour in the office talking with them and then left to visit our newest water system.
On the trip there, we stopped at a gas station for a few things and I got out of the car and left the keys in the car. Well, as it turns out the alarm system in our cars here in Guatemala automatically lock the doors about a minute after you leave the cars. So the gringo made a rookie mistake and got the keys locked in the car (although I can’t say I “locked the keys in the car” because it was the car that locked itself automatically.)
This provided some amusement for everyone and also provided us a little more time to chat with the great folks from Willow Creek and Red del Camino. We sat at some tables and chairs in the gas station while we waited for the other set of keys to be delivered from the office.
After that we visited the newest system in Comalapa. The system is really an impressive one and the folks from Willow Creek and Red del Camino had lots of great questions.
Finally we drove back from the system to Antigua for the night. The system is about an hour from Antigua on a very windy road, and it was raining pretty hard. So it was one of those “white knuckle” drives and all of these news articles kept flashing through my head about missionary team members and NGO employees who died in fiery crashes on twisty mountain roads in Latin American countries. Fortunately none of that came true, and my year of experience driving in Ecuador along with all of the driving I have done in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and here paid off. I got us all safely back to Antigua!
Tuesday I spent the day meeting one-on-one with my staff members. The meetings were very productive and I was able to get a real sense of the day to day operations here in Guatemala. We have been without a National Director here for almost six months and I have been filling in for that time. Unfortunately some things are hard to do as the acting National Director from my desk in Denver, so these trips to the field are extremely helpful for a variety of reasons. I was here for a week last July-August as well. I wish I could spend more time in the field and with my great team here.
We drove into Guatemala City for lunch and had Ceviche which is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It is also a little bit of a risk to eat ceviche in a city that is not right on the coast, but so far I seem to be doing fine!
Last night I had the opportunity to spend some time with a missionary family down here. Jackie and Levi run the Sharing His Plan ministry here in Guatemala. They have been living here for four years and have quite a ministry going. They had helped us advertise our National Director position through a Intermission listserv that Jackie moderates and through that process I had come to know them digitally and was blessed to finally meet them in person. They have three beautiful, spirited and well-behaved kids who I got to eat dinner with.
After dinner with them, I headed to the airport in Guatemala City to pick up Jake, the Director of Field Operations for Healing Waters. He and I are going to spend Wednesday working with the staff on strategic planning, our 2010 plan and budget and a few other things.
So far the trip has been nothing but blessed. Thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers. This is my last full day here and I head back to Denver tomorrow (Thursday.) This is the shortest trip I have taken to the field, but with Jessica being 33 weeks pregnant, I am grateful for that. I would love to spend more time here with my staff and at our water projects, but I am also anxious to get home to be with my beautiful wife.
Thanks for reading and LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Back in Guatemala, the kindness of strangers and a soggy suitcase. . .
I am back in Guatemala again. This is my fourth visit this year! (and my last with Lil A-P coming in December.)
I am constantly amazed and blessed by the kindness of strangers. On my flight yesterday from Denver to Dallas I started talking with the guy across the aisle from me, his name is Eric. I told him about the work of Healing Waters and why I was headed to Guatemala. He was on his way home from a business trip and a trip to visit his family in Colorado.
He gave me a code to use the wireless on the flight for free. So I was sitting on an airplane, 35,000 feet above the ground, and was able to chat with Jessica, do e-mail, and watch the Broncos game from the comfort of my exit row seat. Pretty cool stuff!
But it gets better. Once the flight landed in Dallas and we were walking off the plane, Eric says, “Can I get you into the American Airlines Admiral’s Club for your layover?” That is the private first-class lounge in the airport. Eric explained to me that his job didn’t always generate a lot of good karma, but he thinks that my job does, so he wanted to help me out and “pay it forward.”
So we went into the Admiral’s Club and watched some football. We talked a bit more and discovered we are both Labrador aficionados, he has a yellow lab and we have our black lab. He also has a 19 month old daughter, is first child, and Jessica and I are expecting our first child in December. Eric is an incredibly nice guy. He had a rather short connection so he left after about 30 minutes but I had a 3 hour layover, so I was able to sit in the lounge, catch up on e-mail with free wireless, have a few free glasses of iced tea and some snacks, and escape the fray of the airport.
It was like I got a little mini-vacation in the DFW airport before heading to Guatemala for work! I am constantly amazed and blessed by the kindness of strangers.
My flight arrived in Guatemala City at about 8:15 last night to pouring down rain. When my bag came out on the carousel it was kind of soggy. The drive from Guatemala City to Antigua was uneventful, although I was fortunate to have a driver and not be driving myself in the pouring down rain along the windy road to Antigua.
I got to the hotel Hostal las Marias (my home away from home here in Guatemala, I have stayed here almost a month over the past year if you add up all my trips) at about 9:45pm, touched base with my wife and my staff down here and went to bed.
Today is an exciting day. I have a staff meeting in the morning with all of the Guatemala Aguas de Unidad staff. Following that I am working with two of our team members down here on the process of finding new communities and new partners for water systems. We call this our “Pipeline Process.”
In the afternoon we have a meeting with a representative from Willow Creek church. This is a big church out in Chicago that focused on water issues for their global missions conference this year and raised funds to sponsor 5 Healing Waters systems in the Dominican Republic and 3 Healing Waters systems in Guatemala.
We are going to meet with one of the Global Missions guys from Willow Creek and the National Director for Red del Camino Guatemala. Red del Camino is an organization that networks churches with a shared vision for serving their communities. We are hoping that Red del Camino can find some good church partners for us to partner with for new water systems in 2010.
We are also going to visit our newest water system in Guatemala, one that was sponsored by Willow Creek. The system is in Comalapa. You can see some photos of the community by clicking here. It is a charming town of 15,000 that is about an hour outside of Guatemala City.
I am really excited for these meetings with the Willow Creek people and the Red del Camino people. I cannot wait to see what might come of the synergy between all of our organizations!
Thanks for reading the blog. LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!
I am constantly amazed and blessed by the kindness of strangers. On my flight yesterday from Denver to Dallas I started talking with the guy across the aisle from me, his name is Eric. I told him about the work of Healing Waters and why I was headed to Guatemala. He was on his way home from a business trip and a trip to visit his family in Colorado.
He gave me a code to use the wireless on the flight for free. So I was sitting on an airplane, 35,000 feet above the ground, and was able to chat with Jessica, do e-mail, and watch the Broncos game from the comfort of my exit row seat. Pretty cool stuff!
But it gets better. Once the flight landed in Dallas and we were walking off the plane, Eric says, “Can I get you into the American Airlines Admiral’s Club for your layover?” That is the private first-class lounge in the airport. Eric explained to me that his job didn’t always generate a lot of good karma, but he thinks that my job does, so he wanted to help me out and “pay it forward.”
So we went into the Admiral’s Club and watched some football. We talked a bit more and discovered we are both Labrador aficionados, he has a yellow lab and we have our black lab. He also has a 19 month old daughter, is first child, and Jessica and I are expecting our first child in December. Eric is an incredibly nice guy. He had a rather short connection so he left after about 30 minutes but I had a 3 hour layover, so I was able to sit in the lounge, catch up on e-mail with free wireless, have a few free glasses of iced tea and some snacks, and escape the fray of the airport.
It was like I got a little mini-vacation in the DFW airport before heading to Guatemala for work! I am constantly amazed and blessed by the kindness of strangers.
My flight arrived in Guatemala City at about 8:15 last night to pouring down rain. When my bag came out on the carousel it was kind of soggy. The drive from Guatemala City to Antigua was uneventful, although I was fortunate to have a driver and not be driving myself in the pouring down rain along the windy road to Antigua.
I got to the hotel Hostal las Marias (my home away from home here in Guatemala, I have stayed here almost a month over the past year if you add up all my trips) at about 9:45pm, touched base with my wife and my staff down here and went to bed.
Today is an exciting day. I have a staff meeting in the morning with all of the Guatemala Aguas de Unidad staff. Following that I am working with two of our team members down here on the process of finding new communities and new partners for water systems. We call this our “Pipeline Process.”
In the afternoon we have a meeting with a representative from Willow Creek church. This is a big church out in Chicago that focused on water issues for their global missions conference this year and raised funds to sponsor 5 Healing Waters systems in the Dominican Republic and 3 Healing Waters systems in Guatemala.
We are going to meet with one of the Global Missions guys from Willow Creek and the National Director for Red del Camino Guatemala. Red del Camino is an organization that networks churches with a shared vision for serving their communities. We are hoping that Red del Camino can find some good church partners for us to partner with for new water systems in 2010.
We are also going to visit our newest water system in Guatemala, one that was sponsored by Willow Creek. The system is in Comalapa. You can see some photos of the community by clicking here. It is a charming town of 15,000 that is about an hour outside of Guatemala City.
I am really excited for these meetings with the Willow Creek people and the Red del Camino people. I cannot wait to see what might come of the synergy between all of our organizations!
Thanks for reading the blog. LET THE CLEAN WATERS FLOW!
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