...to everyday life

Another Missions Partner Update from China

Please lift us up immediately!  As you know we experienced an earthquake here in our city this past Monday afternoon.  We have had many afterschocks, yesterday a fairly substantial one.  Tonight we are having a thunder and lightening storm.  No big deal to us Wisconsin/Minnesotanites right?  Right!  Accept in our 3 plus years here we have had very few storms and even rarer to hear thunder and see lightening. 

So why the concern?  One of the big fears around town is that some of the hard hit mountain cities also have dams which have been cracked by the quakes and there are already fears of them breaking.  One dam in particular is very large and would result in the flooding of much of our city-home to over ten million people. 

Many people are currently living outdoors out of fear of a recurring quake and further structural damage if not collapse of their highrise buildings.  Also many of the relief efforts are still underway night and day as we approach 135 hours the race is closing. 

Several of our local friends and teammates are staying in these mountainous places volunteering with rescue and medical operations.  We fear their safety and those they have gone to help.  Please pray for these dear people.  That all would cry out to Him who is able to keep them and that God in His mercy would spare us from another tragedy of a flood.  Thanks!

Sleepless in Sichuan

Mission Partner Report from China

We got a report from one of our missions partners. I'll include it below. He sent along these pictures that show people living in the outdoors to avoid being in buildings that might still collapse. Hospitals have moved outdoors (see picture 4) and to complicate things, it's been raining. This opens opportunities for ministry, so pray for relief, help and open doors.

Hello Friends,

I am sending yet another update concerning the earthquake ravaged area of China.  We are calling for urgent prayer for the situation in China, in fact our organization country leader has called our coworkers living in China to pray and fast this week.  It seems the forces of good and evil are colliding in a intense battle over Sichuan province.  The magnitude 7.9 earthquake has killed over 50,000 people many of whom were children attending schools, followed by over 50 (to date) aftershocks above magnitude 4.5 (all serious earthquakes as well) causing many landslides and killing more people.  These aftershocks are also adding to the stress being felt by those living in the area as they fear more damage.  Many in Chengdu are sleeping outside even in the rain for fear their homes will be the next to collapse.  Over four million homes have been destroyed or heavily damaged by this earthquake.

Yesterday I read about one town, where relief efforts were underway, that had to be evacuated because it was feared a landslide-caused dam was about to break.  There are also many other dangers in the area such as over 200 dams that have cracks (some serious) and fears of radiation leaks from nuclear reactors in the area.  Now there are thunderstorms and heavy rains adding to the misery with fears of dams breaking and floods coming. 

I am convinced that a huge door has opened to our work in China as a result of the Sichuan earthquake tragedy of May 12th.  I see God using the relief effort in the Sichuan area to reveal God’s love to many including those in the government, those in China and those in the West.  I am amazed how quickly God can bring the great and mighty to their knees before Him.   The openness to the West through this tragedy is unprecedented in China.  As believers join together from the West and the East in sharing the love of Jesus through these earthquake relief efforts, who knows what impact will be made for the gospel.  An impact that will be felt for years if not for a generation.  I believe this tragedy and the potential for God’s glory through the recovery efforts is on a scale that a generation could be impacted in China.

All of us, in the West and the East, need to be humbly on our knees before God to seek His direction about what role He wants us to play in this drama as it unfolds.  We are being told that this relief effort will be a marathon and not a sprint as millions of people will need to be helped over the coming weeks, months and yes...years.   Please pray with is as we make a decision this week about whether or not to go help in the relief effort in Chengdu.  Over 16,000 critically injured people have been moved from the mountains to Chengdu.  [My wife's] skills as a registered nurse would be extremely helpful there right now but we’re not sure we’d be helpful at this time or just get in the way.  We need wisdom from above.

For the King...

Helping Burma Cyclone Victims

This is from Jennifer Dunbar, our Karen refugee local P.E.A.C.E. coordinator on how to help. Myanmar is the home country of the Karen.

Several people have asked if there are ways to help the cyclone victims in Burma.  I spoke to World Relief, and they recommend donating through Gospel for Asia if people are interested.  This is a mission which has been in Burma for years.  Their Bible school in Rangoon (Yangon) is housing many cyclone victims.  Their website is www.gfa.org.  They have information about the cyclone and ways to help.

A Five Star Local P.E.A.C.E. Opportunity

Resident reviewer Bill Markham submitted this review of his small group's experience at Feed My Starving Children:

I would highly recommend a night at Feed My Starving Children (990 Lone Oak Road, Suite 160  Eagan, MN 55121; 651-379-2775) to any individual or small group, especially those with young children (your four year old will remain engaged in a meaningful activity for two hours). 

Our group, which consisted of 18 adults and 14 children (including one visiting child!) arrived at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night (IMPORTANT NOTE:  If you want to do this activity, call the Eagan number on the website now. Sometimes there is a wait of a few weeks for large groups.) The evening began in a large room where we had a very short orientation and a DVD with short stories about the operation. 

Whoever designed this ministry is a genius.  Kids as young as five years old worked alongside other children and adults. The team on that Friday night created 12,500 bags of food in one hour. The operating area is set up with 12 work stations and each work station has five or six people.  Each person has a specific job (load rice, chicken, soy, etc., hang the bags, seal the bags, pack the boxes, etc).  Other adults worked in the warehouse refilling food bins and weighing and placing boxes on pallets. 

Laughter and cheering filled the room as the event turned into a little bit of a competition to see how many boxes we could fill.  At the end of our time, we all ate a sample of the food, and had a short debrief.  There was also an opportunity to pray over the boxed food that is going to starving children.  There was very little solicitation of funds from the staff, although they did point out where to make donations, and they also had hats and shirts for sale with the ministry logo. 

We walked out at 8:30 pm and then went to a nearby Culver’s for burgers and ice cream...a guilt ridden meal. :-)  This is a brilliantly designed ministry that will make you feel like you really contributed to an important cause.

Karen

Great weekend with the Karen at both campuses. The meal they made for us on Saturday night was delicious. The crowd was huge. Those of us at the end of the line missed the noodles, rice, the round sausage things and the pancake-like things (okay, so I'm not up to speed on Karen cuisine). But never fear, there's always kids around who don't eat all their food and I'm not too picky...so I got to taste it all. The sausage I almost missed was fabulous and very garlicy. Stayed with me all night, according to Lois...but it was worth it.

Pray for the Karen's home country (Myanmar, formerly Burma), which has been hit by a cyclone. Thousands are feared dead. Did you know the latest Rambo installment takes place in Myanmar? I haven't seen it, but that's what I've been told.

Don't forget about the informational meeting on Tuesday night this week at the Woodbury campus. Find out how you or your small group can help Karen refugees settle in.

Kriesel Family Update- Ribbon Cutting

It was great to be at the ribbon cutting ceremony a couple of weeks ago for John and Katie Kriesel's home. We had a chance to pray for a blessing on their life in that home and give thanks for all the folks that made this home possible. John lost his legs in a roadside bomb in Iraq and the community has come together in a big way to make this handicap accessible home possible. I presented the Kriesels with a check from Five Oaks to help with John's medical needs (we set aside for the Kriesels 15% of the money raised for part three of our capital campaign). John continues to be an encouragement to so many. He's got an incredible outlook on life and a great sense of humor.

P.E.A.C.E. is a Team Effort

Dana recently got this email from a Five Oaks family that illustrates that PEACE is a team effort.

Dana

I was just filling my family's love bag for a 6-8 year old girl when I heard this email arrive.  I was praying for the little girl who will receive this bag- I hope she knows how loved she is and is filled with incredible joy!  I was also thanking God for those who will be delivering this bag as well.  I thank God for the opportunity to be a part of this global mission- especially when I would love to go to Haiti but have young children and an infant to care for here at home.  I thank all of you for allowing our family to be a part of sending the love of Jesus to these underprivileged children.  I know the Lord has blessed our family with  more than we need in order that we may bless others.  Thank you for giving us this opportunity!

Haiti Love Bags

We outdid ourselves this past weekend. We went for a new record 350 Love Bags and ended up handing out 400! We'll have 50 more this week. The bags go first to the kids at the orphanage. Then to the students in the school. And what is left goes to kids in the community. And the kids do come from all over the town when they hear about the bags. This year we may be able to give a bag to every kid that comes!

This is also a great partnership with the GVCM church because the church is the one that gets a lot of the credit and gets to make an impact on that community.

So, way to go and keep taking bags!

Launching Large

One of the church planting philosophies that's being used today is called "launching large." Lots of church plants are doing things differently so that they have critical mass on the first "official" launch day. It looks like a great approach because the plant hits the ground with greater traction. That's one of the ideas behind the multi-site approach to starting campuses. We've seen an average of 200 folks at Hudson. That's launching large. Some of those folks are there to help in the first few months, and we don't know what it will settle into yet. The baseline likely to be smaller than 200, but that baseline to grow from is much larger than most church starts and has most of the benefits of a much larger church from day one. For example, the Hudson youth will participate in the Jr. High and Sr. High Camp Getaway retreats with about 175 of the Woodbury youth. We're off to a great start. I will be at Hudson the weekend of October 14 since Dana will be preaching, and I can't wait.

More Karen Refugees

Many of our small groups are heavily invested in the lives of the Karen refugees from Myanmar (the country formerly known as Burma). Myanmar is on the news lately because of the pro-democracy demonstrations and the marching Buddhist monks. Channel 11 is doing a report (or did it last night) on the resettlement of Karen's in the Twin Cities and it will probably include interviews with Jennifer Dunbar and Denise Coronado of Five Oaks. Here's a note Jennifer recently sent to Dana Hayden (our Outreach Director) and me and I'll include it here to get the words out.

Hi, Henry & Dana.

I hope you both had a great weekend and had fun getting soaked at the Harvest Festival.  Thanks for being such good sports.  It's probably the first time any of the Karen children have been allowed to throw sponges at a pastor.  :-)

Denise Coronado and I have been talking about the magnitude of the needs for the Karen and the need to get others involved.  For instance, I know of 6 new families who arrived between Tuesday and Friday of this past week:  2 families of unknown size, 1 family of 8 (with another on the way), 2 families of 9, and 1 family of 10!  I'm not sure if there were others we weren't told about.  We've given some help with to the family of 8 and 1 family of 9.

Denise suggested that it would be good to let other churches in the area know of the needs.  We could at least present them with information on the Karen, possible ways to help, and invite them to consider getting involved.  Neither of us knows the proper channels for doing this or the most effective way to go about doing this.

Could you please give us feedback with your thoughts on how we might effectively spread the word to other churches in the area about the Karen and their need for help?  I think the large numbers of recent Karen arrivals has overwhelmed the resettlement agencies, the Karen community, and the few churches who are helping already.

Thank you,
Jennifer