Perhaps, a little sacriligious

Victory in Spiritual Warfare

This story was sent to me via Face Book and I thought you will be encouraged by it. Hershey Free has made a grant through our Global Ministries Project Fund for some of the teacher training events that Rich describes further along in the story. This is an incredible story of Satan's attempts to destroy and God prevailing.

"20 years ago yesterday, the Berlin Wall came down! What an historical day that was…a day that almost no one predicted and yet it was an answer to many prayers. It was a day that changed our lives immensely, although we didn't know it would at the time. Now, the Lord has given Christians 20 years to freely proclaim the gospel in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Some countries have been hard to reach like Russia and Czech Republic but others like Albania, Romania and Ukraine have definitely been fields white unto harvest. Below is a link to a 10 minute video which tells just a bit of what the Lord was doing through our ministry in those days before the wall fell down. I encourage you to take the time to view it. Some of our staff who are speaking in the video knew only atheism 20 years ago and now they are leaders in our ministry in countries across Eastern Europe.

We feel like God continues to change history here in Ukraine. We experienced the Lord greatly at work just over a week ago in the western Ukraine city of L’viv where we held a 3 ½ day CrossRoads Teacher Training. It was an amazing week.

Day 1: 173 teachers showed up for the training. We had no idea how many would come, because we had to change cities just two weeks before the event and many of the teachers only heard about the training 1-2 days before it started.

Day 2: A sense of excitement was growing and the Lord was winning over the hearts of the teachers, as He always does.

Day 3: The practical lessons in 22 classrooms were alive with student involvement and the teachers returned rejoicing. They spent 40 minutes taking their turns sharing about their experiences.

BUT…the spiritual battle makes itself known at every conference in one form or another…
30 minutes before the JESUS film showing began (the afternoon of Day 3), a teacher in the hall received a phone call telling her that there was a major outbreak of Swine Flu in western Ukraine and all schools and universities were under immediate quarantine and all meetings forbidden.

Panic and chaos followed…
We went to the Lord in prayer…

The teachers asked me if we could end the conference that day. Since I knew we couldn't possibly do that, I told them that we had to continue and finish the next day. Amazingly, they stayed and were completely quiet and engrossed during the JESUS film showing.

We got permission to finish our training the next day.

Day 4: On Friday, the teachers showed up in spite of the flu scare! I was able to share the gospel and my personal testimony…it was completely silent while I spoke. Many indicated that the spiritual dynamic of our training was a significant part for them. We’ll see them again in a few weeks at the follow-up seminar on DEC. 12.

Please pray for spiritual fruit from among this group of hungry teachers!

Ukraine is under a 3 week quarantine (all schools and universities are closed and all large meetings discouraged) in response to the Swine Flu scare. Is it real??? Nobody really knows... As a result, KCA is closed, too. The school has organized some “off site” classess and the kids are still doing homework, so it's not a vacation.
We have rescheduled our Zhitomir training for December 1-4. Please pray that the quarantine would end by then and that our conference would proceed as planned.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership with us in Ukraine.

Rich and Barb Leary

Be Good News or Point to the Good News?

In the last week, I've become acquainted (in a small way) to something named Call2All. The name captures my imagination and stirs my heart. There seems to be two levels of meaning. [1] God's call to repentance and restoration in Jesus Christ is for all people - those from Palmyra, PA, those working in Washington, D.C. and rascals living in a network of caverns in Afghanistan and Pakistan. [2] The second level is an invitation to every Christ-follower to 'get in the game' of Kingdom expansion through generous living with our neighbor all the way to partnering in Kingdom partnerships around the world.

Call2All expressed the Christ-followers' mandate in this way: God is calling us to be Good News to the nations. I like that statement. It doesn't lock the church into simply spreading religious doctrine but moves us to live God's wisdom in every facet of our lives. There is a 'being' and 'doing' blend in that sentence. As my colleague, Dave Hyatt says, Christ-followers are to declare and demonstrate the Good News.

Here's my question; are we taking too much responsibility for the Good News (gospel) if we say we ARE the Good News? Jesus Christ is the Good News. He's the incarnated Son of God, the Logos (or chesed of Proverbs). Christ's substitutionary death and death-defying resurrection is the Good News. The fact that Christ's attributes and actions have a restorative effect on people (including a rascal like me) is incredibly Good News. But I'm not the Good News.

By God's grace, I am an example of the Good News. I have the honor of trying to describe the Good News to people in my neighborhood and in the nations. I can point people to the Good News. I live out the effects of the Good News. But can I really be the Good News?

What do you think?

Must I Be Dour to Pray Deeply For My World?

I'm nearly through Robert O. Bakke's book, The Power of Extraordinary Prayer, which recounts 1 & 2 Great Awakenings in the US and Europe. One thing I'm meditating on is the eschatological driver for deep prayer. J. Edwards was post-mil, praying for deepening godliness in society that would usher in the Kingdom of God and the New Jerusalem. Interesting historical note is that the 18th century was beginnings of much utopian social philosophies with their height in early 19th century. I find it amazing how theologies and philosophies often influence on another. Then there is pre-mil theology that started rising in late 19th century and hit its stride in early to mid 20 century. This view motivated evangelism, missions and godliness because Christ was to return at any moment to extract believers and begin judgment process. So, post-mil and pre-mil theologies drove people to prayer, evangelism and missions but with different emphases.

However, I'm looking at 1 Thess 1:10 which says Thess converts 'wait for Christ who saves us from coming wrath. I do not get the idea that the 'telos' motivated them as much as the experience of the HS working among them (1:5) convincing them that Jesus was superior to previously worshipped idols (1:9). Honestly, while I believe the scriptures teach about the end, I tend not to emphasize eschatology as a motivator for missions or conversion.

So I think the opportunity to know God and experience his glory presently (though limited and shielded) is the motivator for me.

The other thing that I'm pondering is if deep prayer must be accompanied by deep sadness, solemnity and outrage. Bakke bean his historical review by looking at John 11:33 where John records that Jesus was troubled in spirit around Lazarus' death wailing. BAkke quotes Os Guinness explanation that 'troubled in spirit' is akin to a stallion snorting before going into battle. The implication is that Christ was outraged at death and sadness as he turned Lazarus' death into life. I love that picture of a strong Jesus and a god-man fedup with Satan's wiles.

I started my weekend wondering before God what I should be outraged about in a godly way. But Christians tend to be viewed as dour, serious, critical and 'against everything'. Then I began wondering if I need to be outraged or can I simply steadily follow Christ in working against the efforts of Satan with joy.

THese are not final thoughts - just musing through my fingertips. Maybe I am outraged but I keep it bottled inside. Maybe I'm outraged at the wrong things. Maybe I'm not sure how to work out a godly rage for fear that it is simply rage. And just maybe, it is possible to be joy-filled and life-loving while working out a controlled burn of the garbage that Satan dumps on lives and communities.

Glimpses of India

India Unwrapped

Monday night, several of us went to a silk weaving workshop. The brocade (silk and gold-plated silver woven together) was gorgeous and expensive! The craftsmanship of many Indians in jewelry, silk tapestry and marble is top quality.

But step outside the shop …

Take the silk, pearl or marble wrapping off and Hindu society makes you ask some serious questions. Hinduism and Buddhism, which is a reformed Hinduism, are the worldviews that have given birth to many of the ideas behind early views supporting the environment and animal rights. Here are a couple questions to grapple with:
 Why is pollution so bad all over India?
 Why is there so much racism in India?
 What gives a Hindu hope for a better society?

The photos below are colorful and give the appearance of wonderful devotion but the reality of Hindu daily life is a vaporous hope.





However, God is doing a new thing in India. On Sunday I and another couple visited a young church in Hyderabad. One crippled woman told how she learned about Jesus Christ while in boarding school. In spite of her handicap, she praises God for forgiveness of her sins and purpose in this life and hope of eternal life because of Christ. She now delights to teach children in an outreach ministry. Her Hindu family enjoys the peace that she experiences.

Way More Than Reading and Writing

Today's focus was adult literacy but quickly learned that the program is about changing a society. Sure the participants learn to read and write but the content is lifestyle. Early on, the lesson is "Stop borrowing and start saving." (Maybe we could use this program in the US.) Participants are in the literacy class for 12 months. Almost everyone saves nearly the equivalent of $2 a month and combines the cash in a savings club that the learners form. Another lesson is on the benefits of small family.

We visited a group tonight (all women) and they beamed with confidence in their ability to read, count to make sure they received correct change at the shops and find the right bus to get where they wanted to go. One woman said that before she could read she was an invisible woman, meaning that because of fear and shyness, she hid in her house. Now she sells vegetables to help with family income and can help her children with school work. Literacy is truly liberating.

The Hindu-background woman are also discovering Jesus and his forgiveness of sin and power to transform. 12 of the 25 participants professed faith in Jesus Christ and have been baptized, which is a huge statement in Indian culture.





And just to prove that sacred cows do roam the city streets, here is picture of one I met :-)

55 Children, 100 SF and 4 Hours

Today's emphasis has been Children's Bible Clubs in India. After being treated to a national report that included dances and songs, our group traveled to visit clubs in session. Four of us went to one in a government housing area and were met by 55 energetic children in not much more than a 10' X 10' room. This crowd meets every day after school for about four houses. All the children are from Hindu homes but the parents are glad to have them participate. The activities include physical games, school work since these kids can't afford to go to school and Bible lessons.

There are five of these groups in the block so there are approx. 250 children in Jesus clubs. The pastor of the area church would like to have 10 clubs but there isn't the budget for it.

God has used these clubs all over India. Little kids' lives are changed and Dad and Mom notice and come to Christ. John DeVries, founder of Mission India, has talked about this approach being used in the US and there has been initial results in the Washington D.C. area. What if Hershey Free adopted such an approach...?

Enjoy the colorful pictures. Kids always look great in picts.