This is Joel's Old Blog

leaving for asia in january

German Theologian, Hans Kung, said it best when he said,  “The People of God who pitch their tent without constantly looking out for new horizons, which do not continually strike camp, are being untrue to their calling… We must play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, live by improvisation and experiment."   

We are leaving again for Asia in January 06!  Have a 1 way ticket this time.   A team of  4 others will be joining us to further our goals in the region.  More later. 

ServLife dinner- Indianapolis

Had an enjoyable evening over the weekend of a ServLife dinner - told stories, showed short films, photography, good cuisine,  new friends, old friends. 

Naomi is free

Don't know much details but just got this email about Naomi who was kidnapped in Mexico. Email is from her cousin, Teresa...

"Dear Family and Friends,

God's Word accomplished what it was set forth to do. Every promise He gave  came to pass. We are overjoyed. We heard lastnight at about 10:30 that she  was on her way. She had been dropped off at a location and we had somone  pick her up. Needless to say, we were jumping and screaming as an "Ost family welcoming committee" - Naomi hugged each of her family members - it was almost surreal to have her here. I couldn't help but weep while giving  her a huge long hug - thanking Jesus for His goodness and trustworthiness. It was the fulfillment of the many many times the Lord would tell us He was at work, that she was fine and that she was coming back soon. He is SO
faithful.

A party later ensued as about 200 people were waiting inside the church (where we were located) by the time we were all hugging and celebrating up until 4 AM. A huge praise and worship celebration took place - we were all overjoyed, dancing, jumping and praising God ("When I think of His goodness
and what He's done for me, when I think of His goodness, and how He set me free, I will dance, dance...jump, jump"). What a beautiful sight to see Naomi tirelessly with reckless abandon worship God for her freedom. All of us praised exhuberantly so very aware that this was all God's doing. It was
quite a sight. She knew all along that the Lord was with her throughout.

She then shared her story: God kept her, filled her, strengthened her. They did not lay a finger on her. God was truly a shield of protection around her. It is amazing how very much the specific Words given for her from the Bible that so many believers were praying, were an exact reflection of what took place. We are so elated at the wonderful way in which the Lord was all she needed. "My life is in your hands, my heart is in your people." was the song that ran through her mind over and over and over.

We just heard right now that one sister who has a ministry in India which cares for 8,000 orphans - and all those children were praying for her. Time after time family members receive emails, calls and visits from others who have shared how they fasted and prayed, how the Lord spoke promises to them.
Truly, He heard our cry and rescued her.

We are delighted to have her back. Thank you for your continued prayers for the family and Mexico in the weeks to come as well.

Lord bless you abundantly. People are celebrating literally all over the world. JESUS IS GLORIFIED.
Teresa

Wondered what culture SHOCK is?

An anthropologist, Kalervo Oberg was the guy who coined the term "culture shock". We have all experienced it (in one way or another) Some perhaps just by travelling across one's city and being around a different socio-economic class of people. Others of us perhaps travelling across the nation,still others across the world.  Maybe for some even visiting one's in-laws or distant family members OR stepping inside a certain kind of church culture...Oberg list 6 aspects to define this reality

1.  Strain due to the effort required to make neccesary psychological adaptations

2. A sense of loss and feelings of deprivation in regard to friends, status, profession, and possessions

3. Being rejected by and/or rejecting members of the new culture

4. Confusion in role, role expectations, values, feelings, and self-identity

5. Surprise, anxiety, even disgust and indignation, after becoming aware of cultural differences

6. Feelings of impotence due to the inability to cope with the new environment

mission worker's daughter kidnapped in mexico

A friend in Seattle, Teresa, whom I travelled to Algeria with several years ago just sent me this email. Please pray for this family and her cousin -

"I do believe that prayer is effective: touching heaven - changing   earth. Please help our family pray for my cousin Naomi. She was   kidnapped tonight (Tue, September 13th) in Mexico City where she and   her family are missionaries. She individually, and they as a family,   lead very visible lives in various ways. The FBI is already involved   in attempting to locate her. The kidnappers have called various times   regarding the ransom which they want by Friday. Please pray for her safety, that she be found soon, and for peace to   surround her parents and sister and brother. My cousin sounded very 
much at peace, and I know how dearly he loves his sister - for sure,   God's grace is their portion.

Thank you so much for your prayers,
Teresa"

A model for short term volunteers making a long term impact

I meet many who give a few weeks and do short term volunteer mission work.  This year alone our small organization will help about 40 volunteer workers get overseas.  Craig Lewiston is a guy I have met in person while in Boston a few years back. He visited ServLife's work in northern Uganda among refugees from Sudan.  When he went to Africa he was doing a PhD with a joint program at Harvard and MIT, read about it here,  He still is a full time student.  It is quite interesting (although I must confess I probably only understanding 5% of what it actually is) 

"Auditory Perception and Cognition Group forms part of the Sensory Communication Group in MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics. We study many aspects of hearing, ranging from how the ear processes sound to how the brain interprets the signals it receives from the ear.  To set the scene, consider a situation in which you are holding a conversation in a bar. Music is playing in the background and several other conversations are taking place around you. What reaches your ears is a mix of all these different sources, combined with sound reflections from the walls, tables and floors. Somehow, from this confusing sound soup the auditory system is able to segregate the different sources and pick out the relevant information. How do we do it?  The way we solve the so-called “cocktail party problem” is still not fully understood, and there are currently no artificial systems that perform anywhere near as well as humans in segregating and identifying sound sources. Improving our understanding of how hearing works has several practical benefits. For example, if we understand how sounds are processed in the normal auditory system, we will be a in better position to design hearing aids and cochlear implants that improve the lives of those with hearing difficulties. Also, as sound perception and segregation is an important part of speech communication, automatic speech recognition systems should benefit greatly from improved “front ends” that process the incoming signals in a way to minimize interfering sounds. Solving the cocktail party problem for automatic systems could revolutionize the way we interact with computers, cars, and many other devices..."  Sounds pretty interesting, hegh?

Craig met Christopher Duke on his journey to Africa and did not merely pat himself on the back and felt good about himself from taking time out of his busy life and PhD studies to "help" the people of Sudan.  Craig wanted community globally.  They kept in touch and now Christopher is enrolled at Kampala International University because of Craig.  Now Christopher is getting a college education as a Sudan refugee. Craig sponsors him for about $1,600 per year. Now he will be more likely to get a job and be a productive member of his community and be able to give back to the long term need to develop war torn Sudan.    If everyone who went on a short term volunteer mission opportunity could make this kind of long term commitment, we could end poverty and offer hope to millions.

2 friends

i wish to tell you about 2 friends of mine and give attention to their lives and request you pray for them.

SKY DIMOND

Sky Dimond, a Greek orthodox follower of Jesus, is a good friend for several years who lives in Seattle, WA.  He recently was told he has thyroid cancer.  Sky and I have traveled together to several regions of the world. He produced a ServLife video a few years back and also designed the cover of my book.. He has been a loyal and generous friend.   Look at his media business  here, Untamed.   If you have multi media, music, web needs. He is your man.   He is a very gifted artist and musician who has done work for Microsoft, Pottery Barn, Birkenstock, & Boeing.  Please pray for him, his wife Annie, and their daughter Ave.

Sky writes, "3 weeks ago my wife and I promised each other that if this tumor was benign, we'd have champagne. And we also vowed that if this tumor was malignant, we'd celebrate with champagne.  Coming out of the appointment with my Endocrinologist, we made our way to Cafe Septiem, a lovely Cafe where we had our wedding rehearsal dinner almost 8 years ago. We stared into each others eyes, prayed in gratitude and love, then toasted the Giver and Source of our lives. And then we toasted the love that is so clearly between us. I will not forget the look in my wife's eyes.  And then walking out of the Cafe, I received an email that said, essentially, your business is over.   80% of my business income comes from a partnership with 1 specific client. This client sent me two emails today... the first said we're sorry you have cancer, and really hope you recover. The second said... we are going to replace you with another firm.  There are also in our lives other wounds and struggles that I could disclose (but won't), in some ways comparable to the gravity of losing my business, and working through health issues. But I do not want to revel in the specifics of the gore, so to speak. The general outline is sufficient.  And sufficient for what?  First, the fact that all of this is happening at once does seem - shall we say - a tad theatrical... I mean, somebody's GOT to want to buy the movie rights:

- We face an enormously complex financial situation over the next two months, complex and serious enough to be its own major life crisis...
- Several of our closest and dearest friends are moving away
- Today I've just (essentially) lost my business...
- I have cancer.

Deep breath: I am not exposing our deepest wounds in order to direct sympathy our way, or in order to verbally beat my breast in despair... I am simply cataloging what appears to be, on the surface at least, a list of enormously difficult circumstances in one family's life.

And I am making this list entirely and all in the profound hope that we will be able to go back and read these entries and as a family be able to say... Thank God for it all... thank God that He led us through this... this was truly one of the best things to ever happen to us because of how it matured and completed us.

There is a saying that goes something like if you have no trials in your life, then God has abandoned you. I can assure you that I do not feel abandoned. And I am not saying that as a joke.

And I DO have some sense of scale and proportion. I mean, I've been in orphanages and leper hospitals in India, refugee camps in Uganda, tin shacks outside of Guatemala, I've spoken to prostitutes in Thailand and homeless street kids in Kathmandu... I've seen and spoken with people who gone through more suffering with FAR fewer resources than I have, and so many of them have come through it with the most extraordinary faith intact and shining.

And while tonight I am at a deep loss as to what tomorrow will look like for our family, with my eyes forced shut and transcribed within the limits of 5 physical senses caught in linear time... I am not entirely at a loss as to what this journey may produce; if I (and we!) can journey through with even the smallest measures of faith. and hope. and above all, love:

PETE LARSON

    Peter Larson from Denver, CO is with a team from Pathways Church is with the ServLife Children's home in Kathmandu for a few weeks.  Please pray for him and keep updated on his blog  - here

Elise to the ER and images of Katrina

Friday night I took Elise to the ER as she was unable to drink anything/vomiting and intense pain in her stomach.  She passed out on our bathroom floor.  We were up all night and rushed to the big hospital in downtown Indy.  We waited 3 hours before a doctor saw her. As we were in the waiting room in the early morning, a TV blasts images of Katrina victims in New Orleans and in Houston. Honestly, I have not been able to follow the tragedy as a new born prevents you from getting to the TV and being on line. We sat in the waiting room as others were waiting for emergency   care and seeing the Katrina victims sitting helpless and without aid.  Aid is coming and will come in HUGE quantities there but what saddness in my heart as I saw the images on TV.  I cannot understand the federal gov't's delay in sending help.  If we can get troops to Iraq, why can't we get troops to New Orleans?  Of course, it is very complex and a square mile radius the size of New Orleans and mostly the entire city under water.     Indeed, i pray it is an opportunity for us in the body of Christ to look beyond our own needs.  I reflected on our time in southern Asia right after the Tsunami and the kinds of environments and facilities were created for Tsunami victims to live in and aid that was delayed in getting to them.  I wondered how it would compare to Katrina survivors.  We were back at our home about 9 am, after being in the ER all through the night. I held Daya walking around the ER, seeing men with blood wounds from being stabbed, a lady screaming about to give birth, a young teen with a broken shoulder all getting care. Yes, we had to wait. But we got care.   I reflected on the millions in the world who NEVER get care b/c there is simply no medical facilities or doctors.   I think of the millions in our country who do not get the care they should, as we live in the richest nation on earth.   Lord have mercy...