My roommates were gone, but I asked our landlord which bus to take. That bus got close, but stopped short; maybe 10 minutes by bus, but also 30 min on foot as I didn’t know the next bus to take. I got off and started walking, only to find it was raining.

Not feeling great, and now walking in the rain, it was difficult to “walk in the spirit”. I got to the bus station very late and found that everyone had gone. I was, it would seem, alone.

I walked the city Center for hours, checking at the restaurants where I thought they might be, rechecking the bus stop, and finally going to Ivan’s house to borrow his telephone. Ivan lives 30 min from Center. I was cold, tired, sore, and hungry, feeling that I had been left alone. I was depressed.

But, the Good Spirit brought to mind Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose,” and I began to claim it. I put my iPod in one ear listening to songs God had given me for over here. Then I journaled a bit and at a time I had perhaps the most compelling reasons to feel alone, I wasn’t.

Sick? yes. Sore? yes. Tired? incredibly. Alone? no. And when I claimed that, I was at peace.

I went home and missed my bus stop and had to walk further than I needed, then stood outside in the rain waiting for a roommate to come to the gate. But the realization of never being alone… THAT was worth every lost laugh, missed hug, missed meal, and every raindrop on my head.

Response:

–Have you found yourself, like John, in a new circumstance where you felt lost and alone?  Ask the Lord to show you where He was and how He was working during that time.  If you have trouble finding His presence be sure to review Seeing and Hearing the Lord.

–Come up with a list of five verses that talk about how much the Lord loves you and is with you even when the circumstances are difficult.  Memorize the shortest verse, and when you can say it from memory move on to the next.  When your circumstances become overwhelming confess these verses to help you know you are not alone.  Here are a couple of suggestions to start with:

Psalm 139:1-3

Hebrews 4:16

1 Thessalonians 5:24

John “Jovan” Lufi was raised in East TN and never wanted to leave home. After a complicated series of events, he heeded the call of God and joined the DPI Intership Program. He is now living in Belgrade, Serbia working to build the Kingdom of God and is constantly amazed at God’s Love and redemptive Grace.

Last fall, one of the books we read for school was A Little Princess by Frances Burnett.  If you’ve never read it, it is the story of a young girl who loses her privileged status at a boarding school when her father is presumed dead.  She becomes a servant and is forced to live in the attic.

It’s amusing to me how often you can find reflections of your own circumstances on the pages of a novel.  As I read the story to my children, I often found tears rolling down my cheeks (in some cases pouring down my cheeks!) with my kids staring at me wide-eyed wondering what on earth was wrong with mom?

In truth, there was nothing wrong.  I saw a little bit of myself on those pages.  I saw a young girl who maintained the identity of a princess when everything around her was screaming otherwise.  She knew who she was regardless of what she wore, how she looked, and even the way others treated her.  How?  Because her father told her she was a princess and she believed HIM despite the facts staring her in the face.

And then it occurred to me:  I am crowned by God (Psalm 8:5) and I am a royal diadem in the hand of God (Isaiah 62:3).  He has crowned me with His lovingkindness (Psalm 103:4) and as the King’s daughter, my clothing is interwoven with gold (Psalm 45).  That is who I am and may I be so bold as to remind you:  That is who YOU are, too.

After finishing the novel we all sat down to watch the movie together.  We laughed, we cried (well, I cried) and when the ending credits were rolling we listened.  The song playing was beautiful.  It was called “Kindle My Heart” and is a little girl singing to her father.  As I listened, the pictures in my head began to swirl and mingle with the idea of doing a dance.

And so it came about that we would offer the women and girls of Dwelling Place a chance to dress in full princess regalia and declare in movement who they are in Christ:  Daughters of the Most High God.  Here are some pictures of our beautiful declaration.

Kathryn Worley and her husband Robert have been members of DP NRV since its beginnings on campus at Virginia Tech. She is the mother of five children, ages 4 months through 11 years, and is currently pursuing God’s vision of restoring dance and other arts to the Church as worship.

Why is it that when we are in the midst of troubling situations we often think and feel we are all alone?  Our Heavenly Father has promised that He would never leave us, nor forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5-6). He is with us! We are not alone. Yet, sometimes we think we are.  Why can’t we see Him or hear Him?

The Lord showed me Luke 24:13-16 where two of Jesus’ disciples did not recognize Jesus as He walked with them.

“And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.”

I also noticed in Matthew 28:16-17 that some of the disciples were doubtful when they saw the resurrected Jesus; while the others were worshiping Him.

“But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.”

In John 12:28-30 we see something similar when God the Father audibly speaks from Heaven and the people surrounding Jesus thought it was thunder.

“’Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came out of heaven: ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.’ So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered… Jesus answered and said, ‘This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.’”

In all three of these situations their conscious minds were seeing and hearing, but their hearts (subconscious mind) were not able to fully understand.

Before we make big judgments about these people we need to ask how many times has the Lord appeared or spoken to us and we have not recognized Him? It is so easy for us to face the tribulations of life and not see the Lord working or hear His voice. So I have been asking the Lord why is it that this can happen?

The Lord called my attention to Luke 24:13-26 and showed me three reasons why Cleopas and his friend (2 of Jesus’ disciples) could walk with the resurrected Lord in the midst of a time of uncertainty and not recognize Him.

1. They were preoccupied with the tribulation of the moment and not the possibilities of the moment.

If you read the passage you will notice they are focused on the negative facts concerning Jesus’ crucifixion and not the positive possibilities of the news of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus rebuked them and told them they were slow of heart to believe the truth that had been spoken and revealed. “And He said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!’” (Luke 24:25) The disciples allowed the negative facts to overshadow the positive possibilities.

2. They had established expectations concerning the promises of the Lord.

“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened” (Luke 24:21).

Notice they said they were expecting Him to redeem Israel. The truth is that He did and is redeeming Israel. The problem was that they were expecting Him to do it physically at that time. Instead of His Kingdom being established, He was crucified. Their expectations of what God had promised shut down their hearts and opened the doorway for hopelessness. “And they stood still, looking sad” (Matthew 28:16-17).

When Jesus was brought to Jerusalem as a baby both Simeon and Anna were able to recognize Him. Both knew He was the deliverer of Israel (Luke 2:30, 35) even as a baby. Of all of the thousands of babies both of them probably saw in the temple over all of those years, they were able to instantly recognize the redeemer of Israel. Anna and Simeon were able to see and recognize Jesus because they did not get distracted with the expectations of what the redemption of Israel would look like.

Many times I have had words from the Lord and could not fully see the Lord working. The reason was I had established expectations of how I thought His promises would look and/or work out. Because I had established these expectations it opened the door for disillusionment and discouragement. “Hope (expectations) deferred makes the heart sick, But desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).

3. They were looking for the promises of the Lord more than they were looking for the person, the Lord Jesus Himself.

Their statement that they were hoping He was going to redeem Israel was evidence of their heart’s focus. Proverbs 3:6 tells us that our lives’ focus is to know the Lord. “…In all your way acknowledge (literally: know) Him.” God’s promises are magnificent. But our obsession needs to be for the Lord more than for His provisions.

When we look for the Lord more than we look for His provisions, we will be able see and hear the Lord clearly. We will see and hear what we are looking for. If our heart looks for the promise more than the Lord, then when the promise is delayed–or seemingly delayed– we will fall into discouragement because we do not see what we were looking for.

But the Lord will never leave us. When we seek the Lord in tribulations and trials, I believe, the Lord’s provisions most of the times are behind Him. We will find Him before we will find and receive the provisions. We know we have found Him because the fruit of the Spirit will be present in our lives.

One time I was with some friends and we were carefully walking over a decaying, unsteady swinging bridge. The bridge crossed a very fast flowing, wide river. I was the last in the line of six crossing the river.

As I started onto the bridge I looked up and I saw a man, plainly dressed, standing at the other side. My first thought was, “I hope the man doesn’t try to cross the bridge while we were on it.”

As I got to the middle of the bridge I saw the man still standing there, only a few yards in front of first people in our group. When I got to other side he was not there. I asked the others where the man was. They told me there was no one there. I looked all around for evidence of the man and I found none.  Then I realized I had seen an angel with my physical eyes and I did not even realize it.

I believe if I had not been so preoccupied with the danger of the bridge I might have been able to recognize an angel of the Lord.

God is calling us to be preoccupied with Him and Him alone. Sure He gives us His wonderful promises, but the fulfillment and revelation of life is not God’s provisions, it is Him.

Response:

–Identify some areas or circumstances of your life where you feel alone?  Confess the Hebrews 13:5-6 and ask God to reveal Himself in these areas or circumstances.

–Pray through an area or circumstance of tribulation in your life.  Ask yourself three questions, asking the Lord to reveal the depths of your heart and the depths of His heart.

1. Am I preoccupied with the tribulation of the moment or the possibilities of the moment?

2. Have I established expectations concerning the promises of the Lord in this tribulation?

3. Am I looking for the provision of the Lord or the Lord Himself to show up?

My dove!…
I stretch out My longing
And you come to My palm!
In the morning
You sing Me a song that the night has been whispering
To your ear
In the noon
You hide yourself in My blaze till your feathers
Start glittering!…
Only I know this side of your being
Vibrant and shivery
Others calls you ‘The Builder of the nest’
I call you “The Delicacy of My Palm”.

Together with her husband Radovan, Jelena is committed to the pioneering work of building up an urban, dynamic church and expanding His Kingdom in Serbia – one of the “toughest” nation for the Gospel in Southeast Europe.  Her passion is to stir up the prophetic creativity in His Body and minister His healing love to the broken hearts of the Serbian people.  Jelena and Radovan live in Belgrade.

You are unique. You are one of a kind. You are beautiful. You stand out from the crowd. You are the beloved.

We all have a desire to know, in the depths of us, that we are unabashedly loved. That we are loved for who we are, that for no other reason than there is no one else on this earth like us. And if we feel this way, I can guarantee the One who made us does too.

God wants to feel the joy of His children loving Him without restrictions and standards. We were made for this, to love and be loved.

I recently had a conversation with a Greek woman who told me, “I want to believe what you tell me but at the same time I hear all these other scriptures in my head that say otherwise.” That is the danger of religion. That is the danger of years of so-called biblical teaching void of relationship, never knowing intimacy with the God who made her.

Jesus was reclining at a table with a religious leader. Maybe they were discussing theology. Maybe the man wanted answers on some difficulty in his life and Jesus seemed to possess wisdom beyond this world.

Unexpectedly, a woman, who had a reputation as a sinner, walked into the Pharisee’s house. Clutching a vial of perfume she hid behind Jesus. She must have had a thousand reasons to not go into that man’s house. I’m sure her mind was filled with all the things she hadn’t done right, the sin she was trapped in, shame. And I’m sure she felt the man, religion, staring right through her.

But in one bold moment, she fell to the ground and began to weep over Jesus’ feet. She poured out perfume on Him and wiped it with her hair. She kissed the places where her tears fell. What a display of intimacy!

This great prophet, this man claiming to be the Son of God, Jesus, did not send her away. He did not tell her of all the areas she needed to repent. She already knew them. She needed a love that had the power to heal and set her free. She needed a love that knew the depths of her heart and the struggle it must have been just to walk into that house (Luke 7:36-39).

Intimacy always offends religion. But intimacy is at the very center of God’s heart. He is intimately acquainted with all our ways. And my longing is to see the nation of Greece enter into the revelation of God as their Lover. It’s a nation that has heard the words of God, but doesn’t know Him.

For me personally, I have felt that the call of intimacy comes at a new cost. I felt the Lord ask me to increase my time in prayer and worship, and that I will be surprised at how He meets me. I felt Him remind me that I can settle for lesser lovers but that He won’t be there.

As Paul states in Philippians 3:8, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ.” He didn’t count all things as loss for a smooth-running ministry, or so that millions would be saved, or so that he would walk as a super Christian while on earth (though these are all good things). He was after one thing. To know God as God knew him.

Response:

–Begin by seeing yourself as the beloved of God. Confess it, pray it back to God. Lay aside any thoughts contrary to this. Take some time and journal how the Lord feels about you.

–Pray for someone else that they would receive the revelation of God’s love for them. Pray that they would experience it in a real way, and begin to see them self differently.

Amy French is a singer, song writer, worship leader, former Intern and long-term missionary who has begun a DPI Ministries Internship Program while living and serving in Thessaloniki, Greece.

What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? That is what seemingly happened when Jesus prayed to His Father the night before He died for our sins. The immovable object of our sin and death met the irresistible force of God’s will.

Ever since Adam and Eve ate from the tree, the immovable object of sin and death has held men and women in bondage. But the irresistible force of God’s will patiently worked to position the redemption of God into a place where it could remove the immovable object from mankind.

And in the middle of the immovable object of sin and death and the irresistible force of God’s will is God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

From the foundations of the world Jesus knew that He was going to have to carry the immovable failures of mankind (Revelation 13:8). But when the very moment came to carry the pain of sin and death it was almost unbearable for Him.

“And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will” (Mark 14:35-36).

Jesus deeply believed that all things were possible for His Father. So in humility and reverence He asked His Heavenly Father, if it was possible, to remove from Him the burden of carrying our sins. I am sure at that moment carrying our sins seemed like an impossibility for Jesus. Remember, He was tempted in all things just like us (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Many times in our lives we face obstacles that are seemingly impossible to overcome. When we face those obstacles we must rest our faith on the truth that with God all things are possible.

I have faced many impossible situations and have seen the impossible occur. Like the time I walked into an emergency room where a good friend lay in a bed. All the tests they administered showed he had a heart attack. That night he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, and after establishing Jesus as Lord, we prayed healing for him.  He checked out of the hospital the next day having been miraculously healed.

But there are also times when the impossible seems to not be moved. In those times we have to go to a place ultimate trust, where we declare, “Nevertheless, not my will but your will be done!” The total abandonment of every area of our hearts has to be surrendered to the will and love of God.

This statement is not a statement of defeat, it is a statement of resting in the eternal truth that our Heavenly Father, causes all things to work out for my good. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

For years, when I read the passage in Mark and saw Jesus pray and rest himself in the will of God, I believed Jesus was merely surrendering to the circumstances of death and the Father was reluctantly turning a deaf ear to Jesus’ request. But when I read Hebrews 5:7-9 I see a different story. “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation’ (Hebrews 5:7-9).

Notice the passage says the Father heard and answered Jesus’ request (if the Father hears, He answers; 1 John 5:14-15). When we look at the situation with an earthly and temporary perspective, it looks like the Father did not answer. But when we look at with the spiritual and eternal perspective that God sees, we see things in totally different way.

First is the reality that God the Father did deliver Jesus from death, by raising Jesus from death. “…he (David) looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He (Jesus) was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear” (Acts 2:31-33).

Before Jesus died on the cross every person (except for Elijah and Enoch) who had ever lived was captured in the cords of Sheol/Hades when they died. No one had ever escaped from it’s cords. It was a source of fear for men and women for centuries.

“The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me” (Psalm 18:5).

“…and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Hebrews 2:15).

But God the Father did not abandon His Son to that fate. God the Father delivered Jesus from the cords of death and Hades. He empowered Jesus to triumphantly overcome the forces of darkness. “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (Colossians 2:15).

Jesus did the impossible; He was resurrected from the dead. He was raised in a manner that never again would He touch Death and Hades, except to throw them into the Lake of Fire.

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11, Lazarus had the unfortunate problem of having to face death all over again. But Jesus was victoriously raised from the dead taking with Him the keys of Death and Hades. Having the keys of Death and Hades, He could now loosen God’s children from the effects of these two tormenting spirits.

Not only did God the Father raise Jesus from the dead, but He also highly exalted Him and gave Jesus honor and distinction like no other. Jesus was given a name that is above every other name. “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

To the degree Jesus humbled Himself, that was the degree which God the Father exalted Jesus. The reason for this awesome exaltation was the abandonment of Jesus to the will of His Father in the face of the impossible.

Jesus is for us the most awesome example of living by faith. When the obstacles of life for Him seemed impossible to face, Jesus abandoned Himself into the truth that His and our Father would cause the impossibility to become a possibility. The irresistible force of God’s will conquered the immovable objects of sin and death.

When the Lord called Paula and I to go into full-time ministry in 1986 we were involved in a successful retail grocery business, but we were personally in massive debt. It seemed like it was impossible for us to be able to do that which God was calling us to do.

I remember asking the Lord if He wanted me to work another year and try and satisfy some of the debt. But He told me to go and we went.

We packed our things and moved our small family to a place we had never been before in our lives (Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas). I remember crying as I drove the moving truck loaded with our things out of the town where I thought I would retire.

As I was fighting back the tears so that I could drive, I remember crying out, “God what am I doing?” I went on to say, “I am moving my wife and my child (Michele was not born yet) away from a secure job, out of the house we built, away from family, and away from our  ministry.” Every thing seemed like an impossibility for me as drove out of town that day.

But as looked back I can see where the impossibility of debt was removed within a matter of months. And, I see where God’s faithful hand has caused all of the craziness of our lives to be turned into good. We have watched as God has touched our lives and the lives of many other people.

But the story does not end there. In this age God is always taking us from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Along with the churches and ministry that God has started, God is now telling us to build a retreat center in the mountains of Virginia. We believe this is to be place of regeneration, renewal, restoration and rest for people of all ages. Right now the reality of the retreat center looks like an impossibility.  But, I know better because I know my God.

At times this journey seems impossible. But we continually hold to the truths that God causes all things to work out for our good and that our loving Heavenly Father will accomplish that which concerns us, for His lovingkindness is everlasting (Psalm 138:8).

Suggested Response:

–As you look back on your life, can you point to things that seemed impossible at the time but where God showed up and made it a possibility? Make a list, starting with the time God intervened between you and the immovable object of your sin.  Then pray through the list, giving thanks to God for answering your prayers and confessing “that with God all things are possible.”

–What “impossible” things stand in the way of your future?  Ask the Lord if you are looking at these things from an earthly or eternal perspective.  Read and meditate on the Hebrews 5:7-9 passage and ask God to help you see the thing through his eyes.

I am a very vivid dreamer. I dream huge epic dreams almost every night. I usually am very aware that I am dreaming, and because I am aware I can do what I want in my dreams. Sometimes I change things, or fast forward, or rewind dreams, or even replay dreams. It’s pretty fun, actually.

On my first night in Belgrade, on the very first time I went to Serbia, I had a dream like I do every night. But on this night I did not know I was dreaming. This night I was soaring through the heavenlies with two angels. We had been given orders from Jesus to move some stars around. He gave me two angels to help me in this task. So we soared through the galaxy, diligently carrying out our orders.

And not once did I think that this was out of the ordinary. I didn’t remember who I was (that is, who my flesh was)– this was who I was.

Then the dream changed. I was back on earth, doing things that pertained to the earth. It was then that I remembered, “Oh yeah. My name is Danielle. I live on the earth. There is such a thing as an earth. I don’t typically soar through the heavenlies, moving stars around with two angels. And, oh yeah, I’m dreaming right now.”

Even as I continued to dream, I kept thinking about that experience of soaring with the angels (really, they were soaring with me). And when I awoke, I still couldn’t shake the experience.

Do you not know that we shall judge angels? (1 Cor 6:3)

We are eternal beings. We have destinies that stretch far beyond the short time of this world.

What’s coming soon…

“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are it’s temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is it’s light. And the nations who are saved shall walk in it’s light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it.  And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: they need no lamp, nor light of the sun, for the Lord gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”

Danielle Vitelli is from Brevard, NC and a former DPI Ministries Intern who says, “My hobbies include doing Jesus stuff, getting one hundred thousand million people saved, doing more Jesus stuff, and crocheting.”  She is currently living and serving in Belgrade, Serbia.  You can catch up with all things Danielle on her blog at www.kingdomcome1.webs.com.

1.  The Lord is in it. This may seem too obvious to mention, but it can be a real issue when planning a mission strategy.  While there are some major categories of activities that every person and every church is called to be involved in (evangelism, helping the poor, etc.) not everyone is called to do everything or be everywhere.  Focusing on a relationship with the Lord and hearing instructions from Him is always the first step.

DPI Ministries is not rushing in to help in Haiti.  Why?  Because the Lord hasn’t yet called us to Haiti and we don’t have relationship there.  Instead we are encouraging people who want to help to contribute to the organizations that have the experience, connections and authority, such as Compassion International, that the Lord gave them in Haiti through their relationships long before the earthquake.

2. Knowing our target. What are we trying to accomplish?  Is it relief?  Is it development?  Is it church planting?  Is it church growth?  Evangelism?  A combination of all of the above?  Unless we know what target we are trying to hit, we can’t know if we are successful.  Of course, the Lord is free to adjust our aim and we need to leave room for that.  But, having a target helps us pursue excellence in what we do.

3.  Focus. There’s an old saying in missions about a program being a mile wide and an inch deep.  By focusing on what the Lord is calling us to do, whether in a particular region or with a particular area of ministry (orphans, single mothers, malnutrition, the disabled, etc.) we can become experts in that area and benefit from accumulated wisdom over time.  More importantly it allows us to learn about, and from, the community we minister to as well as build all important relationships.

4.  Not too focused. Too narrow a focus, however, can have the unintended consequence of exacerbating problems instead of eliminating them.  For example, as we’ve discussed a key element of poverty is fatalism.  The poor are inundated with the message, “You don’t matter and no body cares about you.”  When a church or organization pours itself into a narrow focus, such as an individual church, neighborhood or village, the message sent to the neighboring churches and communities is, “You’re right. You are not important enough to be helped.”  Deciding if our focus is too large or too small is a delicate balance, but it is important to reach that balance.

5. Based on partnership. This topic deserves an entry all its own, but just to touch on it, a true partnership is one where each party has an equal contribution, an equal responsibility and an equal say in the outcome.  Too often missions programs lack accountability and create dependence, or they are domineering and impose unwelcome “solutions”.  Here are a couple of good questions to gauge the quality of our partnerships:  Can our partners say no to our ideas?  Will they?  What are your partners able to give back to us?  Do we let them?

6. Based on relationship instead of resources. Once again here is the “R” word.  This is what it is all about.  The fundamental key to understanding and alleviating the suffering of the poor is relationship.  Relationship allows a church or ministry to get inside a community, alongside people who truly understand it.  It allows them to build up people, which is a key to solving fundamental problems.  It allows our friends to build us up as well.  It brings accountability and partnership.  And, it follows Jesus’ model.  A building, a computer, cash, clothing, a car, a bicycle or even a Bible may be important, but they are never more important than the people who need them.  Relationship is the most precious, and strategic, thing we have to give.

We pray that this series about “What is Poverty?” will help you shape and guide all your ministry opportunities, whether as an individual or an organization, in the future.

Response:

–What and in what sphere of influence has the Lord given you authority to speak and minister?  If your not sure, make a list of relationships you have and follow them.  They will lead you to the answer!

–If you are responsible for a ministry program, take an honest look at the partnership aspect.  Ask yourself the questions outlined above.  Are you in a true partnership?  Or, does something need to change?

I recently saw a lecture by Paul Farmer at Virginia Tech. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Farmer runs Partners in Health and has been working for many, many years in Haiti. His story was told in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains.

In response to a question he gave an extended answer about why our missions programs sometimes don’t work. Poverty and development is such a tremendously complicated issue that no answer during a lecture, no matter how extended, will be complete. But, he covered some important ground that any organization, whether government, NGO or church needs to consider.

He gave four reasons our programs don’t work: infrastructure, poor diagnosis of problems, a poor understanding of history, and a lack of persistence. Let’s look at each of these in a little more depth.

1. Infrastructure. A society is a web of many interconnected needs and delivery systems. If you address one or even a few without considering the overall environment you may bring short-term relief but not long-term solutions. A simple example is a church that built a cistern for a village in Central America to provide clean water. It worked great for a while, but then the pump broke. No one in the village had the resources or the skills to fix it, and the church had completed its work and was no longer there. The cistern sat while the people of the village once again drank unhealthy water.

2. Poor diagnosis of the problem. The American mindset is often that the solution to poverty is about adding resources. For example, if a village doesn’t have a school then the solution is to build a building and buy books. And while that may be part of the solution, sometimes we ignore the underlying factors that kept the village from having a school in the first place. Maybe there is a cultural or religious issues that keep children out of school. Maybe the location can’t attract teachers. Maybe there are government requirements that make going to school too expensive. A building doesn’t make a school; you can have a perfectly acceptable school sitting under a tree. If there are problems other than resources, they need to be addressed as well or resources won’t help.

3. A poor understanding of history. We know we’re coming in with good intentions and want to help. But, what if the people we’re trying to help have seen others, over a long period of time, come in with good intentions and cause tremendous hardship? Whether that’s a war that killed relatives, missionaries who tried to extinguish culture, or just extensive promises that were never fulfilled, it shouldn’t be surprising if people are less than receptive to our wishes, desires, requests or even commands. It’s arrogant to assume we have solutions to long-term problems if we don’t understand the history of the people suffering or the history that brought about the problems in the first place.

4. Lack of persistence. As a very wealthy country, we’ve come to expect quick fulfillment to our wants. That’s not how it works. It took many generations to get into the grinding poverty of much of the world and it may take many generations to get out. How long are we willing to commit? Do we have a one-year plan? A five-year plan? It may take God using some of us for an entire lifetime. Are we ready for that kind of commitment?

Next time we’ll look at some of the reason our programs work.

Response:

–Has God given you a particular heart for a specific area of your community or the world?  The place to begin may be to learn more about the history and culture of that area.  Start with a heart to learn and God may use you to teach.

–Are you looking for simple answer in your life or in your ministry? Ask yourself, in what areas of your life are you seeking to explain when you may need to first understand.