A Sadistic Plague in Africa

DATELINE: UGANDA – CENTRAL AFRICA:  A school dropout described as a "gentle boy" by classmates, has become one of the most sadistic and murderous leaders in Africa.  His name is Joseph Kony.  He is 50 years of age.  He is a living plague on the innocent peoples of Uganda and neighboring countries.

Joseph Kony born 1961, is the head of the Lord's Resistance Army, often referred to as the LRA, a guerrilla group that is engaged in a violent campaign to establish a theocratic government in Uganda, which Kony claims is a mission of purification based on the Ten Commandments.

His early childhood and teen years reveal much about the man and his violent temperament. Kony was born in Odek, a village east of Gulu in northern Uganda. He was the son of farmers. He was friendly to his siblings, but he was known for being harsh and aggressive with anyone who crossed him, particularly with his siblings.  

During his teenage years, Joseph Kony apprenticed as the village “witch doctor” under the tutelage of his older brother, and when his older brother died, he took over full responsibility for continuing in his brothers role as the village witch doctor.

When confronted, he often resorted to fists and violence rather than communication. He was teased in school about his size and the teachers gave him a hard time because he didn't seem too bright. His father was a lay apostle of the Catholic Church and his mother was an Anglican.  Kony served as an altar boy for several years. He stopped attending church at about the age of 15 and shortly after dropped out of high-school.

Kony first came to prominence in January 1986, in his mid 20s. His group was one of many premillennialist groups that sprang up in Acholiland in the wake of the wildly popular Holy Spirit Movement introduced to the peoples of central Africa by Alice Auma (aka Lakwena). 

Originally, Kony's group was first known as the United Holy Salvation Army (UHSA) and was not considered to be a threat to civil order. By 1988, amid internal tribal tensions and various factions clashing with the government of Uganda, Kony’s group began to supplement its remnant troops through forced recruitment of children as young as 12 and 13 years old and the United Holy Salvation Army became a formidable resistance army, in opposition to the government of Uganda. 

In time, the bulk of his foot soldiers were children. He is estimated to have taken 104,000 or more boys and girls since the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) started fighting in 1986.  Kony often kills entire families and neighbors when abducting the children forcibly recruited to fight for him. 

Many international efforts at peace and an end to the abduction of children by Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army have been attempted between 1996 and 2001. All of them failed to end the abductions, rapes, child soldiers, and civilian casualties including attacks on refugee camps.   After the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Kony’s Lord's Resistance Army was declared a terrorist group and Joseph Kony a terrorist.

The Lord's Resistance Army is one of the larger terrorist organizations in the world and operates without fear of outside interference. It has killed more people than many other violent groups, yet few Westerners have ever heard of it, since nearly all its violence is perpetrated in the border region between Uganda and Sudan in East Africa.

Joseph Kony considers himself to be quite a good Christian, and he wants Uganda to be a Christian nation.  His primary strategy to bring this about, is the Lord's Resistance Army, and the LRA has been at civil war against the Ugandan government for the past 24 years. If the LRA wins its struggle against the Ugandan government forces, Kony has promised that Uganda will become a “theocracy” with laws based on the Biblical Ten Commandments.

Kony's LRA has kidnapped more than 100,000 children over the years for use as fighters and sex slaves. As part of their initiation, these children are often required to kill their own parents. One of heinous and horrific methods of executing the mothers is to blind fold their sons, forcing them to insert the barrel of an AK-47 into the vagina of their mother and pull the trigger.  The boys do not know what they are doing until the blind folds are removed and they see with their young eyes the horrifying carnage done to their mother.  Children are commanded to kill in order to stay alive. (It's not clear which of the Ten Commandments this aspect of Kony's strategy is based on.) 

Children are used as pack mules, carrying LRA supplies until they are too weak to walk, at which time they're killed or simply left to die in the bush and hot sun. Kidnapped boys also serve as targets and decoys, sent to the front lines... unarmed... whenever the Ugandan Army engages the LRA. Kidnapped girls that Kony or his senior commanders find attractive become their "wives" (Kony is reputed to have more than 60). If children do escape, they are never the same again.  Troublesome captives have their noses, lips, and/or ears cut off, and are then made to eat their own flesh.   

Kony has some strange ideas about religion and God.  He uses passages from the Pentateuch to justify mutilation and murder. He promotes a demonic spirituality crafted from an eclectic mix of Christianity, Islam, and African witchcraft.  He says he gets strategic advice from a multinational host of spirits, including a Chinese phantom. He says there are eight angels who regularly speak to him... three American, two Sudanese, two Chinese, and one Congolese.  He sees himself as self-styled messiah and prophet.

Today, no one thinks Kony and his movement represents a loving God and the ideals and principles of Christianity.  Isn’t it clear?  Kony is a sadistic killer.  Everything he has done is about demonic control of children, boys and girls, young men and women, doing the bidding of a deranged and evil man.  Many of the leaders in his army were abducted 10 or 12 years ago, and have known nothing but death, savagery and destruction. 

The world does nothing to stop this man’s carnage.  Kony’s LRA has created another holocaust—one so horrifying that U.N. officials call it... "one of the worst human rights crises of the past century."

The perpetrators commit atrocities with such malevolence that even the most irreligious people familiar with the LRA's acts describe them as "unrestrained evil." The targets of the butchery are innocent children.  They rape, mutilate, and kill them with a rapaciousness that staggers the imagination. Worse, as noted in this report, they compel children to kill one another and their own families, fighting as "soldiers" in an armed force deliberately composed of children.

Perhaps the greatest atrocity is teaching these children that they spread this carnage by the power of the Holy Spirit to purify the "unrepentant," twisting Christianity into a religion of sadism and horror to their victims. It is spiritual warfare at its very worst, and it could not be more satanic.

NO POLITICAL SOLUTION IN SIGHT

Does no one care about what's happening in Uganda?  Consider the FACTS and you decide.

FACT:  The LRA rebellion has become a political quagmire. Although the LRA claims to be fighting for Ugandan transformation to a theocratic government, the LRA has no political platform or clear objectives upon which to base negotiations for a peaceful settlement to the horror. Nevertheless, the Ugandan government and concerned intermediaries continue to attempt negotiations.

FACT:  Even while LRA terrorism directed against children has intensified, the U.S. government has not made the conflict a high priority. Many believe that without U.S. involvement, the abductions, killing, and maiming will continue.

FACT:  In August 2004, the U.S. government enacted the Northern Uganda Crisis Response Act, which essentially calls LRA terrorism a great tragedy, offers limited support for a negotiated solution, and warns Sudan not to support the LRA.

FACT:  The previous Bush administration placed the LRA on tier-two of its Terrorist Exclusion List, which means the LRA is judged not to be a threat to U.S. interests.

FACT:  Several congressmen have visited northern Uganda to witness the devastation firsthand, while sympathetic, they see no end in sight. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, from Wisconsin said... "I will remain committed to stopping the horror that has stolen the innocence of so many Ugandan children."

FACT:  The Obama Administration has done nothing.  There is no significant leadership to move the issue to the point where congressional hearings can be held to review the severity of the issues.   Hearings is the first step in focusing the U.S. government on bringing about a strategy and solution.

WILL KONY AND THE LRA BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE?

FACT:  In an effort to save children by ending the conflict in any way possible, the Ugandan government passed an Amnesty Act in 1999, which shields from prosecution any LRA fighter who surrenders to the government. The act also offers surrendered fighters $150 in "starting over" money. Terms of the act extend to Kony and his top commanders.

FACT:  The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Kony and his top four commanders on October 13, 2005 but all attempts to serve the warrants as a means to mediate the conflict have repeatedly broken down.  In reality, there is irrefutable evidence that the fighting has become more savage and sadistic in the past 5 years.

FACT:  Western and European governments, the World Court, the United Nations, and most all governmental agencies have either given only lip-service to the carnage or chosen to ignore the problems of the LRA entirely.

FACT:  Kids in Uganda—kids just like yours—are taken every night and enslaved, raped, mutilated, murdered. You can make a difference. Talk to your government. Help bring an end to Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Liberation Army.  

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The people most familiar with LRA terrorism agree that the best hope for ending the carnage is putting it on the radar screen of the Western world.

Ordinary Christians can help stop LRA terrorism. Presenting the issue to churches, continuing in intercessory prayer over the conflict, donating to Christian agencies that work with Ugandan children, and pressing U.S. government officials for action all work to save LRA victims.

Here are key Christian and charitable organizations that work with the victims of the LRA conflict in northern Uganda.

Far Reaching Ministries

www.farreachingministries.org

951-677-4474

World Vision

www.worldvision.org

www.seekjustice.org

888-511-6548

Save the Children

www.savethechildren.org

800-SAVETHECHILDREN

Oxfam

www.oxfam.org.uk

www.oxfamamerica.orgp

800-77-OXFAM

Jesuit Refugee Service

www.jesref.org   

202-462-0400

Write your local congressman: www.house.gov/writerep

Continuing Unrest in Myanmar

The current environment for people trying to live their lives in the totalitarian state of Myanmar continues to be very dangerous 

Here’s a summary of the what’s going on day-to-day...

Approximately 8 months after the so-called “free” elections held  November 7, 2010, the first since 1990, the country continues to sink further into civil strife.  The elections served as a calalyst for the current fear, unrest and upsurge in conflict.

Refugees are fleeing Burma in the thousands, streaming across the border into Thailand.  All this in the wake of Burma’s first elections in two decades. Armed and hostile conflict continues between government troops and ethnic Karen tribesmen in Karen state.

The ruling military junta in Burma (officially known since the early-60s as Myanmar) allowed the first election since 1990 under extreme pressures from civil unrest. Election results were as expected... the current ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party the foundational parties of the dictaorship, won all offices by a landslide, capturing the vast majority of the seats in a newly created parliament. 

Every election observer and international government, including the Unites States have condemned the election as totally fraudulent.  

U.S. president Barack Obama called the elections “anything but free and fair...”  “For too long the people of Burma have been denied the right to determine their own destiny,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said the “flawed elections ... once again expose the abuses of the military junta and it’s heartbreaking because the people of Burma deserve so much better...”

Somsri Han-Anuntasuk, director of the Asian Network for Free Elections Foundation, was equally critical. “This election is a joke...” he told “There are many layers of cheating and irregularity...”

In some 3,400 villages across Myanmar, comprising about five percent of the eligible electorate, voting was disallowed, according to ALTSEAN, a human rights and democracy group. The group accuses regime officials of harassing, intimidating and coercing non-junta candidates and their supporters, and also of engaging in “vote buying schemes.”

Election monitors who operated secretly inside the country said that many Burmese were given ballots “pre-marked” with votes for the junta’s party, according to reporting global news agencies.

WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE?

Civil unrest.  Myanmar is a ticking time-bomb.  The only remaining question... when will it blow up into full scale civil war.  Members of Burma’s oppressed ethnic groups have attacked government troops and commandeered government buildings in southern Burma. The rebels seem to be a splinter group of the usually pro-junta Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.

The army that seized control of Burma in 1962,  has amassed a record of human rights abuses, aimed at Burma’s ethnic minorities, which make up 40 percent of the population.  

Minority ethnic groups feared the election would be nothing more than a tool of the entrenched regime to legitimize the military-backed government, further threatening their existance.  Genocide is not new to Myanmar’s regime.  They have in the past pursued genocidal extermination of Burma’s ethic peoples.

The ruling parties controlled by the dictators of Mynamar do not desire change, care nothing for their citizens or the deplorable conditions people are forced to live under.  They care only for power and control.

Burma’s last elections, held in 1990, gave an overwhelming victory to pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. The military immediately annulled the elections and imprisoned Suu Kyi in her home, where she has spent a cumulative 16 out of the last 21 years.

Even imprisoned as she is... Suu Kyi continues to be a beacon of hope for Burma’s oppressed peoples and a voice for reform, democracy and opening the country to the outside world.

Many reports, unverified but non-the-less reliable, are regularly received from native Burmerse who are trying to tell the true story of what is going inside Myanmar.  Many are native Burmese misisonaries, undercover journalists in the country on tourist visas, and others are reporting the extreme unrest in the country.  

Here are just a few brief excerpts from dispatches received...

“There are battles in Kachin State and in Shan State in Myanmar, rebels fighting the government soldiers....”  

“Thousands of civilians are fleeing to the nearest shelters.  Many of them are without food and medicine.  Some are trapped, on the China border, with no where to run....”

There are frequent reports of terrorist like attacks and bombs exploding in heavily populated shopping areas of Yangon ( Rangoon).

In the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis and the horrific loss of life  the government did little to nothing for the devasted area or the survivors without shelter, food or fresh water.  If not for the efforts of foreign supported native missionaries and foreign mission organizations, many survivors would have perished in the hot humid climate of the delta region.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF MYANMAR?

Pray for the daily needs of the innocent people to be met.  Remember God lets good things fall on believer and unbelievers alike.  The majority population of Burma is Buddhist, and they are often the target of government opression.  They also respond positively to hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Through the many trials and hardhsips... God’s Word is being faithfully preached by a dedicated group of Christian evangelists, supported by Western missions and individual Christians.

Don’t give up on our brothers and sisters in Myanmar!  CONTIUNE to SUPPORT them in every way you can.  PRAY... the God’s will be done in Myanmar and that His Name be preached and glorified through the faithfulness of a few loyal servants of the Most High God! 

The Birth of South Sudan

On July 9th, 2011 South Sudan becomes the world’s newest nation. Despite a battered and bloody past, with little infrastructure, the soon-to-be nation has a major strength -- an active church.

On February 15, 2011, the territory which will soon become the world’s newest state was christened the Republic of South Sudan. The secession from greater Sudan is planned to happen on 9 July 2011.

This change is preceded by nearly four decades of internal strife and bloody civil war. Part religious conflict and part scramble to control rich natural resources. The clash started even before Sudan emerged from colonial rule in 1956 and pitted the richer and more powerful north against the tribal and poorly developed south. The north identifies as Arab and Muslim and the south identifies as Black, African and Christian or animist.

Internal battles within the south’s own tribal and cultural differences added to the people’s suffering. Between 1983 and 2005 about two million southern Sudanese perished, and another four million fled their homes to escape the violence and bloodshed.

Few experts in nation building are convinced that South Sudan will emerge in independence as a viable estate. Few predict it will prove able to exorcise the tripartite demons of war, corruption, and debilitating poverty that have haunted greater Sudan since its inception more than 50 years ago.

But then, no one predicted the nation would emerge, surprisingly peaceful from the nearly unanimous vote for session in January 2011. Journalists and the nation building experts had predicted reprisals from the north resulting in mass genocide. Even the U.S, government dubbed the region a “ticking time bomb.” Nothing like that has happened.

While Africa’s newest state will undoubtedly face daunting challenges in the months and years ahead, the Southern Sudanese people do enjoy at least one advantage over other “failed” or “failing” states. The advantage is an “active and vibrant church.”

Christian Missionaries didn’t penetrate southern Sudan until the mid-19th century. The southern Sudanese church remained small until the early 1960s when the northern government, suspicious of missionary motives, kicked them out of the country. Into their shoes stepped a dedicated and devout cadre of native Sudanese evangelists and a slow but steady trickle of believers joined their Sunday morning worship services.

What the southern Sudanese people discovered was the love of God. Jesus was a stark contrast to the religious traditions they had practiced for centuries. They no longer had to slaughter a valuable animal, a cow, a goat, to appease their many gods. They discovered Jesus didn’t need anything from them... expect their loyalty, love, faith and obedience. Jesus Christ became what they had longed for but could never find in their animistic religions... He was the God of Love... who loved them!

This trickle of believers turned into a flood of new converts to Christianity when Sudan’s president Omar Al-Bashir imposed “Sharia” (Islamic) law across the whole of Sudan in 1989.

Though the statistics are at best sketchy... experts estimate that the percentage of professing Christians in Southern Sudan rose from 10 and 20 percent of the population in the late 1980s... to a whopping 70 to 80 percent by the year 2000. The church eleven years later, continues to grow in numbers.

Albeit, many practice a syncretistic blend of Christianity and traditional African religions. At the same time, a growing core have become disenchanted with the “old gods” who, during the war, proved either unable or unwilling to protect families, cattle, and villages from destruction. In other words... the “gods of animism” failed because the people began to realize such gods of wood and stone are not real, nor living, and can not help the people.

Persecution has also had a heavy impact on the church’s theology: as churches have grown, they have both maintained denominational divisions and overcome them.

All named Christian denominations are working in southern Sudan... from Catholic to Pentecostal. As these believers in Jesus Christ “mature in their faith experience” more and more are turning to a Biblical truth based evangelical expression of faith.

Hardships, challenges and the God of Love have brought people together seeking the true purpose and meaning to life. As they grow in their faith... growing in knowledge and understanding... they become seekers of God’s truth.

Please pray for the people of the new Republic of South Sudan. Pray that Christ will continue to be uppermost in their vision of religion and that the people’s faith will grow and mature... centered in Biblical TRUTH.

Prayers for Children at Risk

June 4-5 is the World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk.

There are children at risk everywhere in the world, even in affluent neighborhoods and cities.  No country is immune to this global problem. For a child to be at risk means they are in a state or condition marked by a high level of risk or susceptibility to harm, even death.

There are many factors that cause children to be at risk and fail to thrive. Some of the most common factors are: parents with alcoholism or drug abuse, poverty, physical or mental disabilities, extreme neglect emotionally and/or physically, sexual or physical abuse, violence in the community or school, war and conflict, and homelessness.

On Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5, Viva Network encourages Christians around the world to pray for children at risk. This is the fourteenth year for this emphasis.

This global initiative brings together more than 2 million people across 89 countries. Whether you attend a nationwide event scheduled for your area, plan something with your church, go to a prayer breakfast, or simply spend a quiet 5 minutes praying in your own home, make time to pray during this World Weekend of Prayer for Children at Risk.

This time of prayer is a call to Christians everywhere to pray for the 1.2 billion vulnerable children of the world and those who minister to them through churches and missions. The plight of children and the deplorable conditions they must endure will surely touch your hearts.  Here are some facts about children around the world:


1. Every day, 30,000 children under age 5 will die of preventable diseases such as diarrhea, measles and malnutrition.

2. AIDS has orphaned 15 million children; by 2015 there will be 40 million (UNICEF). Without parents to care for and protect them, they are at increased risk for neglect, abuse and malnutrition.

3. Every year, 1 million children are forced into the commercial sex trade to join the 10 million children already trapped in it.

4. There are 246 million children engaged in exploitative child labor (International Labor Organization).

5. Around the world, there are 150 million street children (UNICEF).

6. Alcoholism and divorce are on the increase in many world areas; children are the most vulnerable and hurt by fractured families.

7. Worldwide there are approximately 46 million abortions each year (Center for Bioethical Reform).

8. More than 674 million children live in absolute poverty (lacking resources to meet basic human needs). In sub-Saharan Africa, 65 percent of children live in absolute poverty (UN Child Poverty Report, 2003).

9. Ninety percent of casualties in armed conflict around the world are civilians, and half of these are children (UNICEF).

Christians assemble every Sunday to worship and to celebrate God's blessings... let's pray for the most vulnerable among mankind... our children.

To learn more about this special weekend, go to the Viva Network website, www.viva.org

Prayer resources are available from the Viva Network.  Christians around the world are working with children to improve their lives and opportunities.  There is much to celebrate, but there is also much work to be done.  The number of children at risk continues to escalate because of current world affairs. 

Viva Network has been leading this special weekend of prayer for 14 years.  But Christians and congregations can organize events and activities all year long that focus on the needs of children at risk.  TEACH your own children to reach out in love to all children less fortunate.

Here’s a list of activities that could be organized  by any church.  They are simple things, easy to  organize and implement

• Host a praise and prayer party that encourages children and youth to participate.
• Focus a church service on praying for children at risk.
• Set up a prayer room for people to come freely at their convenience to pray.
• Use the prayer booklet as part of a small group meeting.
• Use the PowerPoint presentation or show the “You Tube” clip from the website.
• Work with a mission or prayer group to help you organize some of these events.
• Hold a prayer breakfast quarterly to highlight projects and local focus.

Many children throughout the world do not know Jesus.  Pray that the children at risk wherever they are will accept Jesus as their Savior.

Daniel's Gloves (author unknown)

I sat, with two friends, in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food and the company were both especially good that day. 

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank. 

I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness and disbelief. 

We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car.

Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the square.' 

Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps of the store front church, going through his sack. 

I stopped and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the town's newest visitor. 

'Looking for the pastor?' I asked. 

'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.' 

'Have you eaten today?' 'Oh, I ate something early this morning.' 

'Would you like to have lunch with me?' 

'Do you have some work I could do for you?' 

'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.'  'Sure,' he replied with a smile. 

As he began to gather his things, I asked some surface questions. Where you headed?'   ' St. Louis .' 

'Where you from?'   'Oh, all over; mostly Florida .' 

'How long you been walking?'   'Fourteen years,' came the reply. 

I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.' 

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. 

He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God 

'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'  'Ever think of stopping?' I asked. 

 'Oh, once in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God has given me this calling. I give out Bibles, that's what's in my sack. I work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.' 

I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked: 'What's it like?' 

'What?' 

'To walk into a town carrying all your things on your back and to show your sign?' 

'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's concepts of other folks like me.' 

My concept was changing, too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused He turned to me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.' 

I felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked. 

He said he preferred a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It was also his personal favorite.. 'I've read through it 14 times,' he said.

'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our church and see' I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would do well, and he seemed very grateful. 

'Where are you headed from here?' I asked.   'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement park coupon.'  'Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?' 

'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.' 

He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded his things. 

'Would you sign my autograph book?' he asked. 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.' 

I wrote in his little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a hope.'

 'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really just strangers, but I love you.' 

'I know,' I said, 'I love you, too.' 'The Lord is good!'   'Yes, He is. How long has it been since someone hugged you?' I asked. 

A long time,' he replied 

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.' 

'I'll be there!' was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?' 

 'You bet I will,' I shouted back, 'God bless you.' 

'God bless you to.'  And that was the last I saw of him. 

Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car. As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them.... a pair of well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that night without them. 

Then I remembered his words: 'If you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?' 

Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said. Yes, Daniel, I know I will... 

 'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.' 

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GOD’S MISSION

Modern missions has become the fad of the few. 

Not since the first century has missions been given its rightful place of preeminence in the ministry of the church. Of course, efforts have been made to take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth by churches, mission groups, societies, and individuals; but if we were to count all those involved in any phase of Christian missions... the number as a percentage would be dismally small.

The results of the fad-of-the-few-mentality have been disastrous. Two misconceptions have been most damaging in the effective and diligent spreading of the gospel message. First, missions is perceived as a super special assignment for extraordinary people.

Nothing could be farther from God’s purpose. The Bible teaches that God’s method is to use the foolish, the weak, and the despised persons of the world to bring glory to Him (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). 

God’s purpose is to be accomplished by ordinary people who believe in and serve an extraordinary God. The apostle Paul has been upheld for nearly 2,000 years as the quintessential missionary who evangelized the known world of his time.  However, many more were involved in the first century spread of the gospel.  While he was a major factor, he was not alone.  First century gospelization was  accomplished primarily by people named Barnabas, Silas, Mark, Aquila, Epaphroditus, and a host of other Christians. God intends to use everyone--the Marks and the Epaphrodituses, as well as the Pauls--to accomplish his mission. 

If we are to carry out God’s mission during our lifetime, we must erase from our minds the idea that only unusually gifted persons are capable of being missionaries. Such thinking discourages one from identifying himself with missions unless he thinks he has an extraordinary gift and some “special” calling. This kind of thinking places a halo over the missionary’s head, making it impossible for him to measure up to the ideal.  

A second misconception fostered by the fad-of-the-few mentality is that world missions can be done by proxy. 

Some think missionaries are their substitutes in world evangelization.   They feel satisfied to pray for missionaries, to support them, and to encourage them.   All these things should and must be done, but doing them does not relieve each Christian of his responsibility to be involved directly in God’s mission.  

Missions by proxy is the standard operating procedure for many churches today.  Some Christians interpret their giving as paying their part in missions... thereby discharging their obligations to personally evangelize the world.

Missionaries, mission agencies, and mission boards are practical expressions of concern by Christians and local churches, but these alone cannot fulfill the obligation God has given to every Christian and to every congregation of the body of Christ.  One command and one logistical overview help us to define our personal responsibility in God’s mission.

First the command of Jesus as recorded at Matthew 28:19-20:  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Secondly, the logistical overview that defines the mission and provides a place for all to participate... in the words of Jesus recorded in Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus commands us to... “Go... make disciples... baptize... and teach”.  He then recognized that not everyone who believes in His mission will be free to go to the ends of the earth.  So he provides a clear directive that begins in our own neighborhoods, communities and expands as our circumstances afford greater opportunities to pursue our personal evangelism for Him.

No special skills required.  No academic credentials required.  No special calling other than the ones just sited.  All you need is a love for Him and people... and He will empower you to open your mouth and declare the gospel of salvation. 

Not everyone can be a missionary in Africa or Asia or a far off place, but everyone can be on mission for God right where you are planted.

Door-Knocking for Christ

Door-knocking is the most effective way of making face-to-face community contact, whatever your message might be. Politicians do it all the time and get pretty good results on election day for their efforts. It’s typically called “get out the vote”. Many social-humanitarian causes do it and also get good reception at the door.

Unfortunately it has become a lost art. It has also gotten a bad wrap over the years as many unsavory characters have knocked on your door hawking everything from questionable insurance, cable TV, to brushes and cleaning supplies. Today we have an aversion to anyone knocking on our door with a commercial offering. We also cringe when Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons come knocking with their respective religious messages.

We have been culturally conditioned to see such activity as an invasion of our privacy. Be honest... you probably get a bit irritated when you hear an unexpected knock on your door. “Whatever you’re selling, I ain’t buying...get out of here... leave me alone!”

That being said... those who are courageous enough to try it for the first time are usually surprised by the pleasant reception they receive. What better way to spread the message of Salvation to unbelievers! It’s been done for 2,000 years very effectively and with stunning results.

Here are some pointers that will help when you go door-knocking for the first time with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

BEFORE YOU GO OUT – PREPARE A STRATEGY

Begin with a door-hanger
If you’re church can afford it, leave a door-hanger two days before you go door-knocking. It will prepare people for an expected knock at the door. The door-hanger should briefly describe the purpose of your visit and say that someone will be around in person. Make the door-hanger with light cardstock, cut about 5.5 by 8.5 inches, with a 1.5 inch hole cut in the top and a slit on the side of the hole for easy attachment to the doorknob.

Wear an official name tag
Door-knockers should wear name tags with clear identification and affiliation with the local church name and address. The name-tag ID your wear should match the ID that was on any door-hanger used a few days prior to your knock-day. The best name tags will also include a color photo of you with your name. Name tags are especially important in neighborhoods where people might be suspicious of someone knocking on the door.

Have people knock their own blocks
The easiest way to get started in door-knocking for Christ is to do your own block. This allows door-knockers to introduce themselves with something like: “My name is Bill Smith and I live in the red brick house three doors down from you.” Being a neighbor creates an immediate connection with the person answering the door; after that, everything else is much easier. Arranging for people to knock their own block is the basis of a lot of grassroots organizing.

A survey is a good excuse to door-knock
If you simply want to make a connection with people in your neighborhood or the neighborhoods near your church building, consider preparing a short survey about local concerns,civic projects, or ways to serve the needs of the poor and homeless.

Figure out responses for various situations. What if no one is home? What if the person who answers the door cannot speak English? What if a child answers the door? Figuring out responses ahead of time will make door-knocking easier. more productive and satisfying for you.

Once you have a simple STRATEGY defined... it's time to take the next step... GO!