Pray

It seems hard to find the time to keep this blog updated. I have great intentions, but it seems like too many things get in the way.

However, I just had to write my thoughts about giving and prayer. In the past few weeks, I have been especially touched by the prayer requests coming into Mission of Mercy. Every Tuesday morning, we break into small groups and pray over every single prayer request that comes in - even if it just a note on an enclosure in an envelope.

Many of those requests show the heart of compassion that people have for their families. Some say that they are having to financially help their married children, or children writing that they have to help their parents - all because of lost jobs, or serious medical conditions. Many have asked for prayer because they have lost their jobs. A lot of those who write send in their check for the sponsorship of their child, despite their own need. Some need to stop their sponsorship because they just don't have the money to continue.

Even though I am very aware of the needs of the children we serve in developing nations, the US is also a nation in need. Millions have lost their jobs and there are many other circumstances that are occurring that are forcing people into financial desperation. Maybe we could all benefit by praying more. A nation in need becoming a nation of prayer? You know what? If that happened, we'd change the world.

I want to say thank you to all of those who continue to support us in prayer. And those that support the kids despite their own person time of crisis. It is humbling to see that kind of spirit on a daily basis.

Speaking of prayer, if you need someone to stand with you, please let us know. You can email us at prayer@mofm.org. We will stand with you in prayer. The lessons learned from this economic crisis may get us back to the fundamentals of faith and life.

One Child Matters

It's hard to believe that a month has passed since I have written. Time flies, eh? I've been busy with budgeting, office catch up and I spent a week in Orlando at the Assemblies of God General Council saying "hi" to old friends and meeting new ones. Sometimes it is easy to lose perspective in the middle of all the busy-ness. The past few days I've been thinking a lot about the reason that I do what I do. It's because One Child Matters.

If you follow Mission of Mercy, sponsor a child or are involved in some other manner, you are going to be hearing One Child Matters a lot. It is the center-point of what our ministry is all about - children. Here's what our message is:

One:
Whether it's our sponsorship program providing practical help and hope for the future, or making surgery to remove a life-threatening tumor possible, it's about One child. It is also helpful to keep this in perspective. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the need. But, if we can help One child, then we have made a difference!

Child:
This is our passion - children. We provide the opportunity for them to become productive leaders and effect change in their families and communities. To change a culture, we start with one Child.

Matters:
To matter is "to have importance or consequence." Think of how your own child has significance in your life - you would stop at nothing to protect your child from danger or harm. Whether a child attends a school in India or lives in the bush of Africa, that child Matters to us - and we are called to provide them opportunity and hope in Christ.

The thing I love about what is happening inside of Mission of Mercy is a tremendous resurgence of energy and creativity, despite a troubled economy. No expensive outside consulting firms; no high priced designers; just a group of staff members contributing thoughts and ideas. An artist, Aaron Crider, has written an awesome song around this theme; a song that will freely distributed soon. It is all happening “organically.”

Think about how much your own children mean to you. You can offer hope to a child in poverty – and hope to the child’s family and community. To get involved, sponsor a child today at www.onechildmatters.org.

Struggling with Life

The last few weeks have been a very emotionally charged time at our house. Our dear friends, Amy and Bennett, are in the midst of a battle for Amy's life. Amy has a very invasive cancer. She has not reached 50 years of age. She is at MD Anderson hospital in Houston. MD Anderson is one of the leading cancer treatment centers in the country.

At the end of June, Dee and I headed to the Black Hills (SD) to see our children, as well as our granddaughter Montana. Just before the 4th of July I got a call from Bennett. He had thrown his back out, and was unable to drive to the hospital to see Amy. Needless to say, I got the first flight out to Houston to be with them. Over the next four days, I observed one of the greatest struggles - the struggle for life. Amy's condition remains serious, and I know they would appreciate your prayer.

Dee and I have spoken about the blessing of health in our lives - and in the lives of our children. Most of the time I don't even think about it. But when a close friend, even younger than me, goes through such a struggle, I am reminded of that blessing. While I know that Heaven is the ultimate healing, we want Amy to be with us for years to come.

How do you deal with this kind of situation in your life? How do you pray when a friend of family member is near death?

May God grant you simple joys in your life every day. And may you not take those joys for granted.

Kenya comes to the US

Last week, we had the blessing of having two of our Kenya workers in the Mission of Mercy office in Colorado Springs. Hapi Wanje and Nicholas Kimatu work with our projects throughout Kenya. They are deeply committed to seeing that the sponsored children are well taken care of. They have hearts of gold and encouraged all of the people they met while in the country.

Dee and I were able to spend some time with them. We have both been to Kenya, so this was a special reunion time for us. Nicholas got his promised latte, but I'm not sure he is hooked yet!

It was Nicholas' first trip to the US. We asked him his thoughts. He talked about how wide our roads are, and how calm people are on the road. To him, we are very uncongested and organized. I think some of our Colorado Springs residents would differ with him. But, I remember the streets of Nairobi. Chaos everwhere. The lines on the roads are merely suggestions. People pack the streets and there is litter everywhere. Most of us have no clue how difficult life can be in Kenya and other countries around the world. Even simple things become major projects and consume hours of time.

As we said goodbye the Nicholas and Hapi, I was very grateful for the opportunity to know them. If you sponsor a child with Mission of Mercy in Kenya, please know the kids are in good hands. They are served by these two men who have an intensity of purpose to improve the lives of the children.

If you don't sponsor a child from Kenya, you can. Go to www.missionofmercy.org and search for a child from Kenya. There's also a Mission of Mercy trip to Kenya planned for this October. Dee will be going along as a team leader. You can find more information about that under the "Get Involved" link on the front page.

I am honored to be a part of a ministry that works with people like Hapi and Nicholas. They know that One Child Matters!

The Pictures Tell the Story!

One of the greatest joys that Dee and I have had with Mission of Mercy is meeting the children we sponsor. We have met all of the six children we currently sponsor, as well as children that we sponsored before. We have met parents, brothers and sisters. It is truly a joy!

Recently, a group put together by radio station KSLT in Rapid City, SD, traveled to the Dominican Republic to work on buildings that will house a project and a sports complex. The project is set to be dedicated in November with pro baseball players in attendance.

I know the highlight of the trip for many of those traveling to the DR was to meet their sponsored children. Here are a couple photos that tell the story of those meetings.

When you have a chance to understand what sponsorship does for these kids, you don't hesitate to jump in.. many sponsor more than one. If you would like to become a sponsor for about $1 a day, go to the Mission of Mercy website at www.missionofmercy.org and find a child that you can help. Remember that One Child Matters!

Don't Answer the Phone!!!

I recently received an email from Jack Eans, who is the VP of International Child Ministry for us at Mission of Mercy. This is a situation that exists in Honduras, but also in a number of other countries in Central and South America. After this email hit our offices, another member of our international staff, Yolie Lalama, also shared specific instances, as well. I hope this message will encourage you to keep these countries in prayer... - Mark...

At times it’s hard for us to imagine the different types of stress and pressure the kids, families, project workers and our own field staff in the various countries are under in their personal daily lives.

The following is just one example from one of our countries that needs our prayers.

Imagine your telephone ringing and like you do any day, you answer it but this time on the other end is a stranger who threatens to kidnap your son or daughter unless you pay them thousands of dollars within 72 hours. You have no idea what to do because you don’t know who called. Somehow they know you. You can’t go to the police because they either don’t care, couldn’t do anything anyway or are involved themselves. You start calling family members asking them to loan you money. Pretty soon every sister, uncle and cousin is aware and trying to pull the money together. Eventually you manage to get the money and you stand by your phone waiting for them to call again to give you further instructions. I know this is true because it just happened to a family member of one of our project workers.

This is the latest way the gangs in Honduras are using to extort money from innocent people. It usually happens in the poorest communities where the gangs run rampant. People are afraid to even answer their phones for fear of it being a call like this. And their fears are well founded because people have indeed been kidnapped and even killed for non-payment. They don’t have time to make a “pay no ransom” policy. They just pay and pray.

In these economic down times where everyone is focused on Wall Street, layoffs, interest rates etc. I always find it interesting and yet heartbreaking how poor people are rarely worried or preoccupied with these issues, rather they inevitably have some issue of fear or survival to deal with. We don’t always understand why they can’t just do what we need them to do quickly and right the first time. That person we’re waiting on may have to take a taxi downtown to an internet café (after it took them a week to get approval to take the cash to pay for both), plus run a dozen other errands for the project, all on their day off from their regular job while at the same time scared to walk down their own street or get home when its dark, and then assuming they are locked safely inside their house – afraid to even answer their own phone.

Please pray for each person somewhere out there working on behalf of the sponsors and children that they will be safe, have their own needs provided for, and feel encouraged that what they are doing for pennies is reaping a major investment in the Kingdom.

Thanks and be blessed!

Jack

It's a Small World

A few days ago I posted a blog after I had connected again with our former sponsor child.  Someone at Mission of Mercy thought it would be nice to talk to her about her experience, so I arranged a time for us to record an interview on Skype.  As Lavinia spoke, I remembered my trip to Romania in 1995.  We visited the Mission of Mercy site, where I saw a computer lab of about 10 to 12 computers.  I remember thinking how great it was that kids were going to have the opportunity to learn on computers.  Very few in Romania had a computer at home, and even back in the States, they were really coming of age.  Well, Lavinia turned out to be one of those that had been tutored in that lab.

I found out in preparing to post the audio, that here and on Facebook, you can't upload audio, only video.  So this is a very simple video, but the most important part, of course, is the audio.  What would expect would be the focus of someone who spent over 30 years in radio?

I hope you enjoy the interview.  The world gets smaller every day!