John Piper had these videos on his blog yesterday, and I just needed to share them with you. As you know, I went to India last year, and currently work with a leadership team at our church considering how to continue to bring the kingdom of God there, and we sponsor an Indian child through Compassion . . . .OK  – you get the drift. . . India is very important to my family.

THIS IS HAPPENING. . . . Yes, it is very disturbing. . . . but, the real point is – what will you do to change the life you live today after watching it.

Persecution in India: Unedited Footage from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

Now listen to Chan’s response:

Persecution in India: Francis’ Response from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

LIVE BETTER BECAUSE OF THIS TODAY

One of the things that has always struck me as I have come back from international mission experiences (Mexico twice, Jamaica, and Nigeria) is a deep sense of guilt in the wastefulness of the American culture, and even in my own life. This is natural considering the fact that usually in these places we were working with people who had little to no food, little clothing, little education, little resources and opportunities at all. Now, in the past this has driven me to become more frugal because I had a brokenness/an ache for these individuals and their physical needs. It has made me sad – even angry at U.S. culture which encourages us all to just need more stuff – bigger stuff, newer stuff, the best stuff. . . . . . . but this time was different. . . .

did we see people in India with little to no resources? . . . yes, absolutely! . . . .

But my ache is different this time. . .

This time it springs from the ease at which they form relationships and the difficulty with which we TRY and form relationships in our culture. . . . . . Don’t get me wrong. . . I still yearn for God’s provision in Indian lives, but my deep sadness is rooted in what WE are missing – let me try and explain:

In all cultures, there are certain assumptions we make relationally when meeting new people. . . . and here lies fundamental differences between U.S. culture and much of the world.

In Indian culture that we encountered, the relational foundation is built on honesty, truth, openness, and trust. . . they actually assume that when you are talking – you are telling the truth, that you are being honest, and that you are trustworthy with their thoughts and feelings. . . astounding isn’t it! . . . . . Mutual vulnerability and respect. . . so simple. . . so effective. . . so refreshing.

In American culture, our default relational foundation is built on skepticism. . . when we meet someone, we question everything that is said – so if it is a compliment, our assumptions are things like: “they are just saying that to be nice, they don’t really mean it”, “what do they want from me?”, ” they’re just trying to get on my good side”, etc… In our culture, we feel like this is the only way that we can be protected from the backstabbing and betrayal that is so frequent here. We put so much effort into deciphering whether or not we can trust ANYTHING that someone else says, and to be honest. . . . many times we just decide that it is not worth the effort, and the relationship just plateaus on a facade of interest and care – when really not much of those are ever given or received. . . . .

So, do you realize how both refreshing and devastating it is to form a relationship in India in the matter of hours that is at a level that I have not achieved with some relationships over the course of years!!!. . . . . 

Different foundations. . . . drastically different results. . . . the first risks your heart, but the second risks never knowing true intimacy. . . . . which will we choose to risk?

I was very blessed to be able to spend a lot of time together with two other gentlemen on this trip to India – each on their first international mission experience. Let me tell you a little bit more about them . . . .

This first guy is very gifted and humble . . . in fact, many of you have seen him perform on stage at GCC, but that is not what I am talking about when I say that he is gifted. No, what I am talking about is his heart – that may sound like a cliche, but let me explain. . . . He consistantly, recklessly puts his heart out for Christ, reaching into the depths of suffering and compassion for those that are broken. Depths in which most of us never have the courage or ability to dive to, but it is here that I believe he experiences Christ in a way that I never will – it is so wonderful and refreshing to see. . . . I sure am glad we are on the same team, in relationship as brothers in Christ, on mission, seeking to know more about Christ and ourselves each and every day.

His gifting is not my gifting – the key (his skills, talent, ability, personality, etc…) to the door that opens him up to his purpose in Christ – is not my key. . .

As we chatted on this trip, he helped me come to an understanding that it is freeing to know that all our keys are of equal value. . . no matter what the world tells us – this is truth, and that truth will help set us all free from the comparative bondage that becomes a stifling obsession for many of us. So, I want to say thank you to Don Reynolds - for letting me be a part of your amazing and inspiring journey -

 The second guy is a father to three grown women, and a grandfather to 5 grandchildren, and is in a freefall down the age scale. On this trip, I saw him become a child again in many ways. . . wonderful ways. You know when Jesus talks about having faith like a child. . . well, several times I saw him out of the corner of my eye giggling with the little Indian children. . . . them coming up and sitting on his lap. . . . lightening flashes of excitment in his eyes. . . joy and contentment just being a part of this team that is making a difference. His heart was broken for the broken around him, his eyes knew the flow of compassion, and his mind was renewed in a focus of God’s perspective.

His life has been quite the adventure, but through chatting with him throughout this trip I have learned that it is so important to see others as God sees them. . . untarnished, beautiful, with great potential. . . regardless of what their past has been like. As a Christ follower, I am called to Love others first – with a lens that does not look behind the present. . . to focus more of my energy on how we can work together and the potential of “we” – shining the light of God’s love. His name is Ron Twedt – he’s my Father-in-law, and I couldn’t be prouder of him!!

Yesterday morning a group of tremendous friends of mine got together at 7:30 in the morning to pray for several aspects of our trip. . . . seriously, I cannot thank them enough!!!!

I want to invite you to be a part of our team as well. . . . God has already provided for my finances, but pray support is always needed – AND I actually believe that Pray IS EFFECTIVE, . . . .so here is a list of 9 things that we prayed about yesterday morning, and that I would love you to pray for as well . . .

9. Our families that we are leaving behind (including spouses and children). . . . you know, my wife is amazing!! She is almost 7 months pregnant, and has a 5, 3, and 1.5 year old running around the house. . . . . you talk about commitment and sacrifice, . . . she is bearing the burden of this trip WITHOUT GETTING ANY CREDIT (which is not unusual for mother’s these days). . . . . all for God’s glory – -Trust me. . .  her offering in all of this is tremendous, and I am grateful for her sacrifice. . . . . . . . she is not alone, each of the team members have people that are sacrficing so we can go – I pray that God blesses them during the 11 days.

8. For the Leaders – both on our team, as well as over in India. . . . that their discernment and communication is clear, and that their preparation is sufficient.

7. For our safe Travel (O’hare to Newark – 3hours; Newark to New Amsterdam -10 hours; New Amsterdam to New Delhi – 12.5 hours; New Delhi to Chennai – 3 hours; then on a train for 6-8 hours, then on a car/bus for another 2) . . . . one way

6. For our attitudes – both individually, and as a team – that humility, flexibility, servanthood, enjoyment, unity, patience, and being positive will be pervasive.

5. For our spiritual development, openness, and protection (here at home as well)

4. For our accurate analysis of the worldview that we are up against, and eyes to see any opportunities presently and/or in the future that God may have for us reaching those that are in bonded slave labor and prostitution.

3. Our health and strength (for our families as well)

2. That God will already be preparing the hearts of those that we will encounter so that His love and truth may be received in full

1. That all that happens in our homes and in India will be according to God’s perfect plan and purpose

Do you want to know what my biggest fear is in going to India . . . . ?

I would say that overall, . . . I am not afraid much at all about this trip. . . . anxious to get there. . . . excited about the possibilities. . . . . OF COURSE!!. . . . . but not a lot of fear. . . . EXCEPT -

You see, I have been on many trips, even mission trips, both domestic and internationally, . . . I have traveled all through Europe, been to Africa twice, Jamaica, Mexico and Canada several times, Japan. . . . . . . I have a lot of experience with other cultures. . . . . . now we are getting close to my fear. . . . can you guess it ???

My greatest fear is that I will not humble myself enough, acknowledge my ignorance/biases/naivete/short-sightedness/pride – you know. . .  think that this is in some way old-hat. . . right. . . that I am so experienced. . . . . .because for some reason I have to make others think that I “have it all together” . . .  blah, blah . . . . . . . that I will miss it. . . that I will miss even a minute of what God is trying to show me, how he is wanting to use me. 

You see if I don’t humble myself completely. . . . . . submit myself COMPLETELY. . . then I am just taking up space in my heart and mind that could be filled with GOD – if I would just get out of the way. . . . . . . it reminds me of the fact that I am just supposed to be a clay pot. . . and the minute that I start thinking “I got this down” or “I know what to expect” etc… is the minute that I put a lid on my pot. . . and a lid on how much God can use me. . . . . . I miss out on all of the “living water” that God wants to fill me with. . . .to carry to those who are hurting, broken, and hopeless. . . . what. . . a tragedy, . . . . .and here’s the kicker of my fear. . .I know that I’m pretty full of myself sometimes. . . .

Please help me Father – I submit to you now all that I think I “know” about this trip. . . . may I experience and learn fully from you. . . without the hinderance AT ALL of my own prideful heart and mind. . . . . . I want to boast of NOTHING besides you. . . . . use me, . . please . . . . . despite of me.

So, with 12 days to go before India. . . I thought it was appropriate to give you my top 12 reasons for being excited about going to India:

12. I have studied the Indian Bonded Labour System Act, 1976 in detail, and the International Justice Mission review of the lavour laws of India. . .  I feel like I am ready on the legal side

11. I have studied Hinduism and the possible communicative avenues with Christianity

10. There are 27 million slaves in the world today. . . 20 million in India!

9. I do not deserve what I have . . . nor did I have any choice in being born where I was born to the parents that I was born too. . . . . . . . . . . . . neither did these Indians. . .

8. The Church has done a decent job with feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and healing the sick (though we are still behind quite a bit with the AIDS epidemic), but has done virtually nothing. . . . with Justice. . . . it’s time to start!

7. These people do not deserve to be beaten and/or raped every day . . . just so they can keep there jobs, and feed their children

6. God commands that we “do justice” (Micah 6:8)

5. I want to help the church discover what type of worldview we are up against. . . . and what is the door to get through those particular barriers. . . .hey, . . . I can’t help that I’m a social scientist!

4. I have 3 children (4th coming in March, whose middle name will be Justice/Justus) . . . I want them to know that their Daddy loves people enough and hates injustice enough to be a pioneer half-way around the world

3. Because when people say that they do not want to hear. . . or see. . .  about the atrocities of this world. . . . that they can’t do anything about it anyway. . . . . . well, . . . . . I just flat out disagree. . . . what else is the point of “being a light” unless we are trying to discover a path in the darkness for the weak and wounded to follow, to bring hope to the hopeless, and to show love to those who have never known or felt what it means . . . . to come home. . . . to be accepted. . . to be free. . . .and to be loved.   

2. Jesus in essence became a bond-servant. . . enslaved to the limitations of humanity,  our sin, and even death. . . . . he actually CHOSE that everyday. . . why? . . . so that we (all humankind) don’t have to.

1. I am just trying to love like He loved. . . I just can’t get enough of Jesus. . . the more I get to know Him. . . . the more I understand really how beautifully/powerfully different He was/is. . . . and the more I want to be like Him. . .. . pray for us all please, AND our families that we are leaving behind. . . thank you

First of all, thanks for caring . . . and I always welcome your prayers for me, my wife and kids, and all the other individuals going on this trip (and their families that are left behind).

I just wanted to ease some of the concerns that some of you might have (i.e., Mom). . . so here are some highlights that our fearless leader . . . Jack Magruder. . . . has given us (feel free to view the whole message. . . at our Team Blog).  

1. By now you have probably heard of all the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India – if not you can get the full story here:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,458270,00.html

a bit of a snapshot can be viewed in this video:

2. From Jack’s update – First of all, please let me state plainly and simply that we will never willingly drop a team of GCC members into a situation that is known to be overtly dangerous or hostile. While there is always a certain amount of risk associated with international travel of any kind, of course, we will monitor the situation in India closely for resolution, and will be paying attention to the US State Department for analysis about the relative safety of contiuing to travel to/from or operation within the country.

3. Where we will be going is actually very far away from the terrorist attacks ~~ the distance resembles the distance between New York City and South Bend (roughly 700 miles)

4. Our airline tickets DO NOT have us routing through Mumbai

5. That being said – please continue to pray fro India and our pioneering Justice team . . . . read these last few words from Jack. . . In the last 10 years, it has attempted to bring itself out of the Stone Ages and into the light as a global super-power (economically, militarily, socially and governmentally), and the tension that occurs with that kind of seismic upheaval is always difficult, and sometimes (as in this case), violent and tragic. As you pray, please ask God that this horrific evil will result in a greater openness for those of us who are attempting to bring the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior into such Darkness, and that his Light and Love will triumph over the spirit of oppression and violence that is pervading India now.

Much more on India coming the next few days!!

This song has really gotten to me recently. . .and a friend of mine Don Reynolds recently did a much better post than this one on this song (which he will be singing at Church soon) – you should check it out.

I think this song has had such an impact on me because I have always thought that I was so good at keeping my eyes open to what God has around me. . . . instead, my pride has blinded me to a whole different level of compassion that I was not aware of. . . . a new vision of pain and suffering around me. . . I earnestly seek to be aware of this. . . to be able to genuinely enter into their pain with hope – 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering (Hebrews 13:3) . . .though I know this will cost more of my heart. . .

Hebrews 13:11 says
11The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.

So, right now. . . I am wanting to go “outside the city gates” – and so I am going to India in 37 days – where in one city yesterday 60,000 Christians were forced out of their homes to refugee camps, with many dying. . . being burned alive, buried alive, shot, hung, beheaded. . . horrible persecution. . . . . . . . . . pray for them please. . . . . . . . . . .

but what is often more difficult for me . . . is going down my street . . . to those that I risk losing face to . . . where I really risk “bearing disgrace” . . . I pray that God will give me the eyes to see it . . . and the heart to care enough . . . . . . that I ACTUALLY do something about it. . . . . please Father. . .

Brandon Heath – Give Me Your Eyes from Brandon Heath on Vimeo.

Saturday was a pretty full day of team building for the India trip. . . but it all started Friday night with the beginning of our sleep simulation.  Since we will be sleeping on concrete floors (with grass mats) while we are over there, our leaders wanted us to experience this a little bit this weekend. . . . to the wood floor I went on Friday night . . . . good times, and woke up with a little tenderness on my hips and sides.

We then met at GCC to serve at Second Saturday together. . . here are a few pictures from Feed the Children, packing personal care items into boxes. This was the line that some of us were on:

Then to Barnaby’s for some pizza. . . which was later referred to as a “brick in your stomach” compared to the fresh food in India. . . . oh, and there was some time to pummel Jack with some questions!

Off to Potato Creek State Park for our hour long hike with our gear (backpacks that we will be taking to India). . . . .what a beautiful day. . . WOW! it was gorgeous, especially with some of the trees starting to turn. . . . This is how we were greeted:

and here is a picture of us at the end

-Then is was back to the floor Saturday night:) . . . . . . . I feel blessed to be a part of this team. . . and doing these things together is so critical to forming some relationships before leaving. . . so, if anyone from the team is reading this. . . it is and will be an honor to serve by your side!

It is always interesting to see where God is stretching me. . . there are so many areas that I need to mature in, . . . .  and so, it’s fun to see which one God chooses at different times in my life

I had the opportunity to speak at the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) group at Penn High School this morning. . . . it was actually very funny to see young people actually moving and talking, and generally . . . . . just alive, at 7:30 this morning, b/c . . . . usually in my first class . . . . . . . . I sometimes see my college students in a lucid form of sleep as the make their way to their seats. . . . , and that is at 9:00!

What an honor it is to be able to influence the young minds of this generation. . . . . . . and I think today. . . I finally learned (emphasis on “finally”). . . about being content with step #2. . . . .

So. . . what is step #2. . . . well, it started with a nudge of the spirit back in June. . . . . Hey, I want you to be one of the first from this area to go to India (this December) on the Justice Team. . . . . ok! sounds great!! . . . . . .  . . . . . .then I started to realize that this trip was going to be unlike the countless trips I have been on before to places all over the world. . . . . . . this time. . . . there may not be tangible successes. . . . . . completed “projects”. . . . very little evidence of doing “anything” – no houses built, no wells dug, no food distributed, no conversions, no drastic life changes, etc…. – but, in a 15 step process of someone coming to know the freedom of knowing Christ. . . . this may be step #2. . . . . . . . and we all KNOW, logically, that #2 is just as important as #15, but . . . . . my stubborn heart is finally starting to get it. . . . let’s look back at God’s hand -

1. Nudge for mission trip to India on Justice team

2. Learning that our mission may be one that “JUST” involves initial relationship building (just time being around natives), and learning about the horrible situations in more detail 

3. An overt reminder from my friend and justice teammate Don Reynolds - that being an obedient pioneer into a new adventure is a worthy call – regardless if the ONLY thing that we do is make mistakes (that future teams can learn from) and try and love people while we’re there.

4. I hear this message about being a domino in the line of someone coming to know the love of Christ (see post on 9/11)

5. My wife sends this video to me – see it in my 9/24 post

6. I get surprised to hear God telling me to not prepare much for my FCA gig this morning

7. I understand that it was not preparation that God was against, instead he was preventing me from trying to be step 14 or 15 when I was supposed to be #2. . . .

8. I I ate breakfast with some of them, I told the group a great personal story to connect with, I made the students laugh, I ended the story with the point that God loves them and that He has your back, and I encouraged them to have a great day – and come back next time. . . . .

9. I walked to my car content. . . . content to have just been one small, somewhat forgotten, step in a student’s long journey. . . . content to have been obedient to #2. . . . . .

You see, I always want to be 14 or 15. . . . . . . because those are the glory spots. . . . those are the spots that you can hang your hat on and feel good about yourself because there is “proof” that you made an impact. . . . . . . . . . the problem is . . . . . . there are lots of people out there that need a 1-13, . . . . and I want to be able to be ready for wherever God puts me. . . . . . . So, thanks father for being patient with me in the past about not wanting to be a step 2 guy, you know I will probably need reminders every now and then, but thank you for nurturing me, for stretching me to be an even greater force for your kingdom. . . amen

Amazing! So, myself and about 8 others headed off to Little India, Chicago on Saturday morning – it was pretty much an all day trip. We arrived at a place called the friendship house:

Friendship center

Here, we were welcomed with a hot cup of Chai tea, which I am picking up that in India, they have this about every 1.5 hours. . . . random knowledge moment. . . here it goes – in order for India to all be on the same time zone (which is something the government wanted) they actually are 10.5 hours ahead of us!

Ok – back to the good stuff. . . we met with Mark for about an hour, where he shared some of the work that the Friendship center does there amidst the Hindu and Muslim culture (i.e., ESL, tutoring, host cricket TV times, bookstore, etc…) – fascinating stuff!

Then we met Suunita (sp?). . . . . . . . . wow!. . . . tough to describe this litte power-packed-5′1″ – 60 year old. . . . . except for – she spoke with a true sense of humility, gratitude, wisdom, and authority. . . one of those people I could have listened to for hours!! (Reminded me a lot of my Grandmother – Ferne Baldwin). She spoke of some of her past in India, with an emphasis on helping understand more of Hindu culture and the religion itself – very helpful. I really felt the presence of the holy spirit with her. . . .seriously. . . she was amazing – constantly addressing differences between us, and simultaneously passionately expressing our underlying similarities as human beings!. . .  Here she is (I squatted down a bit   ).

Suunita (sp?)

After both presentations, we went out onto Devon (sp?) street, and ate lunch at the Indian Garden . . . . The best way I can describe the cuisine is. . . . there was a lot going on in my mouth! – spicy – but not in a really “hot” way, just. . . . well. . . there was a lot going on inside of my mouth   and it was good!

my plate

 

and remember – no using utensils , and no using your left hand!! I feel like I can now rival my 18 month old on eating with my hands!

 

As we walked around during the rest of the afternoon – we really got a beginner’s sense of what Indian culture will be like, it was a great way to bond with each other and become prepared for what is to come. . . . . . . . . God is awesome!

 

 

All of the individuals who will be going to India this Decemeber met last night with Raj. Now, I mentioned a little bit about Raj in my last post, but overall, this meeting was for him to lay out some more details about what each of the teams (tech, water, construction, justice) will be doing and where they will be located. I can’t bring you the whole meeting, so I thought I would give you the top ten highlights for me last night:

10. Sitting next to my Father-in-law, Ron Twedt, realizing that we are going to be doing this together!

9. Getting excited about going to Little India on Saturday to dive in the culture.

8. So excited to get more details on the two villages that we will be ministering too, Karai (10,000 people with the closest well 1.5 miles away – we will be ministering to some of the prostitutes here) and Vellavedu (here are the brick kilns where the bonded slaves are starting at ~3 years old, around 5,000 kilns each with 50-100 people in them).

7. There are 28 states in India (compared to our 50), Tamil Nadu is one of those states, and has 30 districts. . . . last year in just 1 of those districts there were 1,000 baby girls killed right after birth. . . infantcide. . . . you do the math

6.  There are around 4,600 levels in there cast system. . . . that is, . . . the level of worth of someone, Raj told a story of when his shadow crossed over someone of high cast, . . . . . he was severely beaten that day. . .

5.  The fact that we as white people. . . . . are actually above the cast system – somewhere between human and divinity. . . . . nothing like the humility of undeserved deity status.

4. So what do you do in your country to reach the lost?  Well, I said, here at GCC we use culturally relevant media to connect with those outside the church, and we have small groups, and lots of service opportunities. . . what about you? Well, we raise the dead, heal the sick, and cast out the demons. . . . . Yeah, I guess that will work too!

3. The opportunity I may have to eat BBQ rat! — because their field rats are the size of our cats!@!! and they eat them!

2. They will not risk their life by becoming a Christian because of what you teach them, but because of how you treat.

1. Hearing Raj pray in Tamil, and feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit. . . . . I am completely confident that God is going to show up through these teams in a HUGE way!!!!

So, yesterday was a day of 2 picnics. . . the first being of Elliana’s Montessori class at Bendix Woods County Park (over by New Carlisle). She started Countryside Montessori in August and ABSOLUTELY loves it!!! As you can see from the pictures – we had a hay ride (where she got to play in the straw with one of her friends – Jo jo), a cook-out and play time at one of the playgrounds – good times:

The second picnic was to celebrate Raj , who is GCC’s guru pastor in India – overseeing all of GCC’s mission work in India. You see. . . . I am going to India on a short term mission trip this Christmas with the “Justice Team” ~~ parner with International Justice Mission in their fight against bonded slave labor and forced prostitution ~~. There are several other teams going from GCC including Media, Water, Construction, and Vehicle Maintenance teams. So, we all got together to celebrate what has been done over in India already and what wonderful things are to come. . . . . India is dealing with some genocide issues right now, so keep them in your prayers. . .

Finally. . . . . I love meeting the friends of my kids – - they spend all of this time with other kids at Church and school, and then we finally get to meet them every now and then. This in one such case. . . . . . Elliana is friends with Belle Wegner – Rob and Michelle’s youngest. . . because they play all the time at church together, but we have never gone over to their place, and they have never come over to ours – but here are the two cuties having a deep discussion about something. . . .they were holding hands earlier, but I didn’t have my camera ready!!!

Yesterday morning John started off with the statement “live for the cause – don’t make your job your end goal”  - I have long been a proponent of looking through our jobs into the higher cause of bringing God’s kingdom to Earth. Sometimes this is hard though, as routine sets in, or one of our friends or colleagues just seems to be better/happier/more satisfied/more influential/more talented/more liked/more respected then we are. . . it makes us feel less than, doesn’t it. . . even when it comes to sharing our faith. . .

Something to remember:

John 6:44 – For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up.

In some ways then. . . the pressure is off – you don’t have to be super “soul-winner” guy (you know, the guy who can go up to anyone anywhere and convert them to Christ). . . no. . . . you just need to be who you are – God, not you, is the one who is drawing them in – - – - now this is not an excuse to slack off, . . . no. . . we just need to be who we are. You may feel like you are unqualified. . . well, . . . here are the qualifications Acts 4:13 – you need to have been with Jesus. . . that’s it. . . that’s it. . . no seminary. . . no bible or ministry major. . . – have you been with Jesus?. . . . then go and be a witness -

Like dominos leading up to someone coming to know Christ – we do not know which domino we are – there may be hundreds of dominos before someone realizes the love of Jesus.  We may be number 112 -, sure, super-sould-winner guy is the last domino, but who should get the credit. . . . super soul-winner guy - NO – only God, He is the only one that has been drawing them near Jesus for who knows how long. So, be who you were created to be, and don’t be ashamed of that role.

I am going to Tamil Nadu, India in late December early January

- you will hear a lot more about this, but one thing that related to John’s message is this. . . . . . our “justice” team is the first of its kind – we are going over to partner with International Justice Mission – help free children in bonded slavery (brick Kilns) and forced prostitution. Here’s the deal – - we are pioneers. . . . . and because of that. . . we may be the 2nd domino of 2000 dominos leading to Christ – we may not see massive conversions or anything like that. . . . . in fact, we may be going simply to come back and tell the next group – “hey, don’t do this, this, this, and this” – we don’t know. . . . . . . . . . . . . . that’s ok. . . . . . if the 2nd domino wasn’t there – the chain to Christ would be broken. . . . . . . we are going to be servants of the Living God, to be used as He sees fit – what an honor it is to be a domino for the cause.