For the Love...

God rests in His love Zephaniah 3:17 explains. He has no more complaints against us; He has extinguished every one of them in the Son of His love. “Divine wrath is silent, because love has hushed it. Divine justice is silent, because love has satisfied it. Sin is silent, because love has condemned it. Satan is silent, because love has vanquished him. God’s love has silenced every voice but its own.”

Oh what power the love of God,
To silence wrath on sinful clods;
Love pierced the heart of His own Son,
To hush the voice of ev’ry one!

Oh what power the love of God,
To satisfy and silence law;
Love bruised His Son in my own place,
To justice fill and give me grace!

Oh what power the love of God,
To banish sin and fill with awe;
Love stopped to serve and judge my case,
To draw me near to see His face.

Oh what power the love of God,
To vanquish Satan with His Rod;
Love conquered him -- my enemy,
To put to death all enmity.

Oh what power the love of God,
To rest and never be at odds;
Love stills all voices but its own,
To reign forever from its throne!

From the book Growing Up In Grace, by Murray Brett

Cap Haitian, Haiti

i just returned home from a return trip to Cap Haitian in northern Haiti. Amy Mulvihill, one of our team leaders and Peak instructors joined me as we spend several days working with Open Door Haiti. The ministry that is taking place in the village of Bois de Lance where the ministry is located is nothing short of amazing. Several work teams had been there working hard on the medical clinic, doubling it capacity and helping to create an on site laboratory so the blood work does not have to be sent out. They have also completed a tiled and painted computer lab. This is the only one of its kind as far as the eye can see. They are now working on an irrigation line that will bring much needed water to several acres of fields that they will use to provide food for those in the community that have need. So as you can see God is doing amazing things here.

Amy and i spent the first day working at the clinic. Amy helped to organize medical supplies, while i did rotations with the Dr. and got a better grasp on what medical and health needs the people in the village have. We talked about the prevalence of TB, Malaria, and that almost every person who walks into the door is suffering from a Urinary Tract Infection. The need for community health education is something we are working to help with through teams of nursing students from the Universities we work with as well as adult medical professionals who can go in an teach on community health issues.

The next day we headed up into the mountains for a time of worship and prayer. i wanted Amy to get a glimps of the villages up in the mountains where we hope to take Peak Teams to do relational outreach, and connect them with Open Door Church and Pastor Wiljean. Amy was able to get a great look at some of the villages and meet many of the locals, and a ton of kids!!

Sunday was a great day! i was asked to give the message in Church, which was an honor, and a ton of fun. Wiljean is an excellent interpreter, very gragarious and animated like me...so it was great!! We also experienced a couple local markets. One market, that in some ways would be like a farmers market in the states and in many ways nothing like the ones in the states, was just outside the walls of the church. The hustle and bustle of the local market is always a ton of fun to be a part of, especially when you the only non-local in the market :-) We also went to a market near the ocean where they have some arts and crafts. This is always a great cultural event that the students will enjoy being a part of.

Also while we were there Amy sat down with the pastors wife to begin to plan out a womens conference that they have asked us to help facilitate. This would take place a year from this December and would include up to 1500 women from all around Haiti. Amy will be putting together a team of women to go and train, encourage, and pour into the Haitian women from Open door as well as their two daughter churches and their surrounding communities. An incredible opportunity to share the love of Christ. The theme will be on Being Wholly His. What does it look like to be a Godly woman? What does it look like to be a Godly wife and mother? A Godly neighbor? All of these questions and more will be on tap for this conference.

The next day we jumped on a plane and headed back to the Cities. It was a very quick but very productive trip. We now will begin to plan out some possible spring break trips with college and university students as well as teams of medical professionals who would like to give of their time and talents to minister to these people. So if you are interested in being a part either as one who sends or as one who goes, please do not hesitate to give ma a call or email me at holywseat@hotmail.com.

Thanks so much for all you do to make this ministry happen. Your financial support, your prayers, and your love and encouragement are so very vital to not only the longevity of this ministry, but to my spirit as i seek to serve Christ the best i know how. God bless, and Much Love to all of you...Thanks so very much.

scotty

Heading Back to Haiti!

The second weekend in November Amy and i will be heading back to Haiti. Amy will be meting with pastor Wiljean's wife to discuss the possibility of doing some womens ministry training with the ladies from the church. Amy has had a passion for training and discipling women and God has opened up some significant doors for her here in the States and is now seeking to take this training to some of our partnerships overseas. It is an exciting opportunity that will open up a new genre of ministry for 212 degrees. i will be building a low initiatives course for the school of youth ministry, working with the health clinic there in Bois De Lance, and heading into the mountains making some relational contacts for our future Peak teams. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel, for safety and for all the logistics to go smoothly. We are very excited about the future of this partnership and the real diversity of ministry that God has provided for us. The potential for Kingdom impact is huge and we are so very thankful to Open Door Haiti USA and Pastor Wiljean of Open Door Church for allowing us to come along side and be a part of the great things God is doing there and to have the chance to go into these un-reached mountain villages with the message of the love of Christ. We will keep you posted on all that is going on, and thanks in advance for your prayers!!

scotty

Pastors Training in Nepal

Many of you know about the pastors training that we did last year in the rural areas of the far west Nepal. Well two of our trainers are back in Nepal doing a follow up to last years training, and the ministry has been fantastic. Tom and Dee Johnson are from Spokane, WA and are in Nepal right now finishing up a two week stretch. i just received an e-mail from Tom today that i wanted to pass along to everyone.

Scotty!!

Greetings from KGH in KTM. We are here after a week in Dhangadhi. Raj Kumar, Samjhana, Dee and I went over and had a three day conference with Pastor Pushba Raj, et al. All went as planned and our time with everyone was very sweet. A primary difference this time is Pushba Raj had the conference at his church. Yes, that little lean-to room we visited. he tore off the wall on one end and put up a huge tent; added some lovely potties outside, dug a few holes to cook on and we were ready for a few hundred people for three days. it was a great time.

then back to ktm and a day at Raj Kumar's bible school. we sat in a class of fourteen students and listened to the testimonies of about ten of them. words fail in trying to describe how moving that was.

today we are finalizing prep for the conference here. tomorrow we begin the three days at rk's church. Then a couple days on the road visiting pastors and home.

we are taking rita etal to dinner tonight. they send their greetings.

wish you were here!

T & D

Thanks for your continued prayer for this and all the ministry here at 212 degrees.

Sweet Nisha...Please pray!!

This is not one of my traditional blogs about what God is teaching me although He is teaching me a great deal about trust in situations that make little earthly sense. But this is more of a call to prayer and a request to pass this along to as many people as you feel might actually bend a knee. Nisha is a little girl who i have "adopted" as my own about 5-6 years ago and have been supporting those years sending her through school, handicraft training and all taking care of all her physical needs. She is truly one of the greatest blessings in my life and one of the greatest loves of my life. The following is an update on a situation that arose a few weeks ago, and i would ask and would covet your prayers!
Many of you have been praying very hard for Nisha these past few weeks and i wish i had some news to give that would indicate and clear answer to those prayers. However, despite much effort we have yet to locate Nisha or have any awareness as to her whereabouts. For those who don't know, Nisha was a little girl, who about 6 years ago was living on the streets of Kathmandu. Her father left the family years before, her mother had died, and her two brothers were taken to unknown orphan homes. She was living in alleys and drawing pictures to sell to tourists for money. She was at great risk of being trafficked and had already been exposed to some horrific experiences. So, one afternoon she grabbed my hand and asked me if i would take her to America with me. Through tears i told her i couldn't, but i asked her if i could take her to a safe place where she would be educated, have a place to sleep and food to eat. New clothes and a new family. Through tears of her own she said that she would love that. So this began an amazing relationship between me and this little girl of about 11 years of age. Since that day, she has gone through many handicraft trainings, school, and has found Christ as her Savior. Several years ago i tried to go through the process of adopting her as my daughter but due to being single i was told it would not be possible. So i began to search for her brothers so she could at least have some family there in Nepal. i have not only found her older brother and her twin brother, but have also found her father and have been able to reunite her with her brothers. She has been doing really well and has been able to work to save money and provide for herself through the training she has received. A few weeks ago i got word from the place where she has been living for the past 6 years that she had "left". i have contacted her brothers and their father, the people she knows in Kathmandu, as well as the organizations through which she has recieved her training. She has not been heard from or seen since the day she was missing. As you can imagine, i am struggling to understand so much of what is happening, and am praying that she turns up soon. My worst nightmare is that somehow she was taken. She is only about 16, and is a beautiful young Nepali woman who was living in the southern part of Nepal where there are incredible risks for women her age. So please join me in continuing to pray for her safety and that she will find her way home soon.

What Would You Rather Have?

Saturday night i sat in a little church nestled in a NE Minneapolis neighborhood listening to the music of Flora. Mark and Lisa are two of my very favorite people and if you ever have a chance to see them live, it is truly an amazing experience. Their flavor of Americana Gospel with a rockabilly flair is always a recipe for a great night. Towards the end of the show, Lisa stood alone at the mic, and sang a very powerful rendition of the old hymn "I'd Rather Have Jesus". As she sang, and as her heart spilled out into the ears of those who listened, you could almost hear Jesus say, "What would you rather have?" i was unable to get that song out of my head for days and in the quiet moments since, i can still hear it echoing in the chambers of my mind. i can say without question, that yes, i would rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today. Knowing that my life does not always emulate this desire, and i sometimes fall short, i am reminded that some things i have been chasing after pale in comparison to the living water that Jesus offers not just the woman at the well, but to each and every one of us who thirsts. So often i forget and try to drink of so many things that will never satisfy. i hope that this song whispers gently into your ears this week as an amazing reminder of the love that Jesus has for us, and that He is truly all we need. This is such a counter cultural message especially right now when so many of us are suffering job loss, and economic hardship...but i think this is maybe when we are most open to the reminder in Luke 12:22-34 You are more valuable than the lilies! Also read Mathew 16:24-26; Phil 3:8 Thanks Mark and Lisa for sharing your hearts and for not only listening to your Abba, but for going where He says "Go!".

I’d Rather Have Jesus –
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
I’d rather be led by His nail pierced hand.

Than to be a king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway,
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name.

He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He’s sweeter than honey from out of the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs,
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.

I’d Rather Have Jesus is a song written by Rhea F. Miller with the tune written by George Beverly Shea.

His Love is Good Medicine

There is an old Haitian saying that says, “Giving people medicine for TB and not giving them food is like washing your hands and drying them in the dirt.”. i could share with you a number of stories where the “good deeds” of well intentioned people resulted in not only very little change, but often very negative effects on a specific community. In his book Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer who has dedicated his life to being an agent of change in the country of Haiti. If you have not read this book, i would go so far as to say it is a necessary addition to everyone’s library, a must-read. In his journey Dr. Farmer realized that the constant lack of nutrition, scarcity of clean water, and the exiguity of good hygiene will always work against, and often foil the attempts of treating what would otherwise be a curable illness in most places around the world. As a result, he has established rules at his hospital, that in addition to receiving free treatment for TB, each individual will also get regular visits from community health workers, and a small monthly cash stipend for food, child care, and transportation to their appointments. (Kidder p. 34) You see, he wants to save peoples lives. To do this they must do more than hand people a bottle with directions on hoping that they will not only follow those directions but also that they would somehow believe that what is in the bottle will actually do what it says it will, which in Haiti can be a very significant issue.

As it relates to evangelism, i have found that a similar law is at work. For over 18 years i have been leading teams of students on outreach trips around the world. For the past 10 years my journey has taken me to developing countries, primarily Nepal. Nepal is an exotic place that holds great mystery and is steeped in traditions that date back thousands of years. Our teams walk through ancient villages in remote places high in the Himalayan range where time seems to have stood still. The terraced fields are still plowed by hand or with a yoke of oxen. They build their homes from the rocks they unearth from the fields that yield their crops. There are no phones, no cars, and until recently not even electricity. They live from day to day, dependent on nature and each other for their survival. Their buddhist culture rings in your ears from the time the monks begin their morning prayers as the sun peeks over the mountains, until the time of their evening offerings long after the sun has made it’s journey to the other side of the earth. These are a people who often exist outside of the monetary system of their own country. They survive by working the land and bartering goods with one another. And when nature takes an angry turn during the monsoon season, and washes their lives into the river below, life gets very difficult. The needs that arise in that moment are paramount. They become all-consuming and the people make sacrificial trips over rough terrain, often for days, just to obtain food for the family. The entire village suffers as they rebuild their lives and try to hold on to some semblance of hope for the future.

These are the lives that 10 years ago i went to save high up in the mountains of Nepal. In my eager ambition and authentic love for Jesus Christ, i entered into these peoples lives with an honest desire to “save” them. i took teams of university students into their villages to share the phenomenal news of what Christ had done, and that He has them in His heart and on His mind. i wanted them to know the depth of love that He has for them and how He desires for them to know Him and His goodness. And so, as they reached out with empty hands, hunger pains and desperate hearts, i tried to fill them with words. Good words. Powerful words. But words they could not hold. Words that did not fill the stomachs of their children, and thus could not make it into their hearts. It took me a while to fully grasp what i was doing, which can happen when you are blinded by a passion for something good in a place or with a person you may not fully understand. It is not that this passion is wrong. Doesn’t Jesus tell us to go and preach the gospel? i think sometimes i get a little ahead of Him. Like a little kid, i run ahead and need to slow down and rethink not my passion, but the effectiveness of my communication. i learned that giving them a bottle with directions on it, or walking them through certain steps to salvation did not guarantee that they would be healed of their disease. For what good is medicine, when you are washing your hands and drying them off in the dirt? What good is the love of this “Jesus” whom they have never heard of, when their stomachs are empty, and their village needs to be rebuilt from the damage of the monsoon? When i began to rethink this many years ago, it quickly set in, which often is the case when true passion is involved. It may take a bit to get it, but when it hits, that potential energy quickly translates into kinetic!

You see, Jesus healed the Leper of Matthew 8 with a word, but restored his dignity with a touch. Jesus did not give the woman at the well a systematic approach to who he was and then leave her there to ponder this new formula for obtaining eternal life. i heard John Piper say in a recent sermon, “He did not even condemn her for her sin of adultery.” (desiringgod.org) He simply pointed it out and continued to tell her about the living water that He longed to give her. He also did not end their conversation on a distant hillside, but Jesus continues to meet a need by going into the village and living among them for a few days. By doing this He physically demonstrates and embodies the love that He has for them; pouring Himself out, the living water that will never run dry. As a Jewish Rabbi this was so radical...we can’t even wrap our minds around what He was doing and the cultural barriers He was shattering...it is absolutely crazy!
i have found these same principles hold true in Nepal. When the local people see these students working to rebuild the only trail that connects their village to the rest of the world, when a widow with four hungry children sees me walking up to her make shift home with a 50 kg sack of premium rice, when the 450 children at the local mountain school see a group of students from the U.S. repairing the playground equipment, when a team takes time to “live among” the people and invest in their lives into them...it is then that they see Jesus. When, over a hot meal, we share what Tim Hansel calls the 5th gospel, the story God is telling through OUR lives, it is in that holy moment that they not only see, but are experiencing the lavish love of the Savior of the universe! This is the kind of love that leads to the transformation of entire villages. Villages that now have house churches on Saturday mornings and whose worship rivals the chants of the buddhist monks who have stood uncontested for over a thousand years. It is this love that leads those same monks to inquire how they can experience this Man who has so altered the road they have traveled. It is in these moments that the simplicity of the gospel comes to life. A man was quoted once as saying, “And the word became flesh, and through theologians became words again.”. Now please don’t misunderstand me. There is definitely a place for systematic theology, for the study of God’s word and for spiritual formation. It is for this very reason that we have another team returning to the remote parts of west Nepal, for an in depth training conference. But when someone is sick and in need of medication or they might die, you may very well need to couple that medicine/message with personal investment. Meeting of the impending physical or emotional needs that would otherwise constrict or even mask the transforming love that is the ultimate healing agent, becomes vital. This has become an intentional focal point in how we DO outreach in places like Nepal, Haiti, and Turkey.

Now i find myself back in the affluence of my comfortable suburb on Lake Minnetonka. The rules have changed, and the needs are again shrouded by a different way of living. How will i adjust to effectively communicate the good news of Jesus Christ? Are there physical needs that are in the way? Emotional hurts buried under layers and layers of forced smiles and self sufficiency? People here in the US are equally as needy for the Gospel; we just miss it because it is more subtle than a stomach visible with malnutrition. We hide our superstitions much better than the witch doctors of Haiti. As followers of Christ, our passion should be to reach ALL people with the good news of Jesus Christ, those who are our very best friends who we don’t want to make uncomfortable, our co workers, and our class mates. How are we loving them, living among them, demonstrating the love of Jesus through our intentional actions. Everything Jesus modeled for us was intentional...how are we emulating Him?

i am always looking for good answers to these questions. In no way to i have the market cornered on this “evangelism” thing. i would love to hear your stories or the different ways you have demonstrated this love to those around you. i am always encouraged by the stories of what God is doing in your lives. Write a note on our Facebook site, respond to the blog...How are you meeting needs and loving others well and leading others into an eternal relationship with Christ?

To learn more about our trips, check out our web site at www.212degrees.org. We are headed back to Nepal this coming January. We have a team heading to Haiti this fall, and our training team will be in Nepal at the end of Sept through mid October. Keep us in your prayers. i also covet your prayers and financial support as my income is dependent on your kindness. You can support me via our web site donation link or shoot me a note if you want more information. Thanks for honoring me by reading my often meandering thoughts and reflections. It has been a while since i have written, and God has been giving me many good things to ponder. i look forward to sharing with you and having this be a very reciprocal “blogging” relationship. Much love to you all, and thanks again!! God bless you as we all crawl towards the Lamp.