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December 07, 2007

Your God is Coming!

Dear Friends,
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Last night Ache, a person we are working with, called me and told me his roomate, who had been in the US for a while, left without notice and took all of Ache's belongings as well. He had nothing even to protect himself from this cold weather. Last night I made sure he had a place to stay with some of the other families. Then this early this morning I brought him some furniture and clothing.

This experience made me think about the Scripture I read this Mornning from Isiah 40 "Your God is Coming." What an awesome God who comes to those who are at the bottom, and those who are the forgotten ones. There were many times my God has come to me through people who are willing to be used by him. There is a lot of betrayal, injustice, and pain in this world. I am learnning that to make a differeence we all need to pray that God will bring leaders who are willing to be forrunners rather than runner-ups. This is especially true for the diverse communities God is forming in churches these days. We need to pray for people who are willing to learn and decidedly, have a policy to be gracious to his or her fellow man, or as one author put it, people who are willling to practice 'Gracism."

I see in many parts of the world, people who believe they are doing cross cultural ministry, however they are not yet willing to truely cross over the the cultures they are trying to reach. Sometimes, as one author puts it, many people who are trying to do cross cultural ministry, while staying at their comfort zone, are "people who are trying to push the bus while they are still in it." If you need to push this bus of cross cultural ministry there is a big need of to get off the bus and pushing it together. "" Superiority cloaked in the desire to serve is still superiority." God is asking each one of us to give the best of what we have to the worst and the most undeserved. When you come down to it, that is what grace is all about. God came to us, we who are enemies and sinners.

As I tried to mention to some of you before, there is a lot of amazing knowledge in America, I am trained by Americans who loved me and who were willing to come to where I am. Whatever my teachers taught me, there is one thing that remaines in me, most of the world comes here with a broken heart and and an empty hand. Big knowledge can never heal a broken heart or an empty hand. It is time to get off the bus and be a healing and a blessing.

My prayer to many of God's people is that they will be a people whose are willing to have a paradigm shift in order to give grace to the worst and most undeserved. Your God is Coming! "God, make us people who are used by you so that your coming will be realized!"
When I see what is going on the the 103 families we are working right now (after Christmas that number will grow), we need to pray for harvesters not only seasonal visitors, but people who are willing to stay with the most undeserved ones. Please pray for us. I think with every thing Going on, God is doing a new movement. As most of you hopefully agree with Mcmanus, the Church is a movement not an institution. With this movement and coming of God we need to move with God. As Mcmanus, Says,
It appears that if we are unwilling to move with the wind of God, we will be moved by the whirlwind of God. One type of
movement is a journey into God's future; another uproots us from all the securities we refuse to relenquish.
I really think God is raising up leaders, slowly but surely, who are eqquiped with giving grace and willing to make real sacrifices so that they can love others as themselves. Some of the leaders God is calling are tired of playing a catch up game because they want to be forrunners like the New Testament leaders. When people, in any church, are willing to cross and see the God size movement they are willing to stay on the altar as living sacrifices. Yes, it may look and feel good to get off the altar. But if we are the tools God uses to show to the opressed that " their God is coming" then we will stay on the altar and move with the wind of God.

God is not calling people who are "benevolent opressors," or people with good intentions that are only willing to serve with in their own frame of reference. Ache, and others who are experencing opression and injustice, as if they had not already suffered enough oppresion in their own country, will be blessed when they see people who stoop down in order to lift them up. A people who are giving up on keeping up but a people who are willing to be far ahead in order to impact others and bring real change. This change is not only in the church but to the whole world. This change requires a cross cultural humility, which means literally leaving a comforts zone eventhough it is difficult, in order to trust people who are not so good in our eyes and standards! God help us to move with your wind! God Make us forerunners.!

Posted by kishawork2 at 10:10 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack