Blog Updates

Welcome Desiring God Conference Attendants!

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 19:54:37 +0000

Did you attend the Desiring God Conference?

We were there, too! If you found your way to our site because of our booth at Desiring God, make sure you reach out—we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line! And check out what we've been up to this year. If you are new to Safe Harbor, check out our distinctives and opportunities to get involved. We'd also love to connect with you outside of SafeHarbor.us too!

Interact with us on Facebook, or Follow us on Twitter.

We plan to be at Desiring God Conference 2013, but hope to see you again before then.

Desiring God National Conference

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:43:30 +0000

"Bringing the Gospel to the Unreached and Unengaged" - Minneapolis, MN

Click photo to visit conference website

It was a pleasure to be at the Desiring God National Conference, and we were encouraged to continue to reach the nations with the wonderful hope of the Gospel! We had many visit our booth to learn more about Safe Harbor’s calling to serve the Church in proclaiming the Gospel and ministering to the physical needs of those who are suffering worldwide.

We are very excited to explore opportunities to serve likeminded churches throughout the United States. As we identify crisis response opportunities in Horn of Africa and elsewhere, would you consider praying about how you, your church or group of nearby churches may be called to respond?

One way you and your church can become involved is through our Alliance of Churches for Crisis Response (ACCR), which was birthed out of the many churches that have expressed their calling to respond to global crisis with the hope of the Gospel, but are not able to take on the burden of carrying out the many details involved. While opportunities for individuals to serve overseas are available, it is our vision to serve the greater church body through this network of churches. Contact us at info@safeharbor.us.

Horn of Africa Crisis: First-Hand Experience

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 06:41:11 +0000

In October, we sent a small assessment team to evaluate opportunities on the ground through local partnerships. During our assessment, we looked at various areas that have been significantly impacted by the annual droughts.

The situation in Horn of Africa is considered a complex humanitarian crisis due to the significant political, economic, environmental, and religious context that has persisted in Somalia for two decades. This has resulted in large-scale migration into Kenya and Ethiopia during this time. The crisis is chronic and cyclical, with acute short term needs predicated upon the time of year and the extent of the drought. We found that the people observed are extremely vulnerable, and can slip into severe malnutrition very quickly should shortened rains persist. In the meantime, chronic long-term needs such as basic health care, water & sanitation (WASH), and education are clearly not being addressed. A well-planned, strategic livelihood intervention is required for future food security. Given the nature of this complex humanitarian crisis, a long term, highly technical response is required.

With the support of the local church, experienced staff in East Africa, forming partnerships on the ground and a network of skilled and passionate volunteers, Safe Harbor is preparing to serve alongside partners with basic care required for survival and eternal hope through the message of Jesus Christ. We are currently forming a program that addresses critical needs in health, nutrition and WASH (water and sanitation hygiene) with hopes of beginning work in early 2012, pending project funding.

What Can I Do?

We aim to partner with likeminded organizations through focused projects where there is high impact and ministry opportunity; and to mobilize, train and send skilled volunteers who are called to serve.

Prayer

For the outpouring of God’s grace over the physical and spiritual needs of those in crisis, and for clarity in how Safe Harbor can most effectively respond alongside our partners in the field.

Volunteer

We are developing our list of medical professionals, water specialists, food distributors and others who may be called to serve on the ground. This crisis is considered a complex humanitarian crisis and will require a more technical response in the short term. This looks to primarily be in the area of health. Opportunities may include trips lasting 2 weeks to several months. Advanced training in international disaster relief will be required and provided, so contact us today if you are interested: Info@Safeharbor.us / 800.797.HOPE

Support

We will continue to provide updates on resource, staff, and infrastructure needs. If you are interested in supporting this project, please state “East Africa Famine” on your check or submit your donation online by clicking here.

Horn of Africa Crisis Information

The following websites offer up-to-date information on the Horn of Africa crisis.

Famine Early Warning System (FEWSNET): http://www.fews.net

IRIN: http://www.irinnews.org

ReliefWeb: http://reliefweb.int

UNHCR: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

Prepared at the Southern Sudan Border

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:04:29 +0000

The country of Sudan puts its stamp in history, as the overwhelming majority vote was to split in two independent nations. These events deeply affect the lives of those that Safe Harbor has come to love and serve during several recent years of service in South Sudan. Please join us in praying for our loved ones during the reestablishment of the North and South, and that Safe Harbor would remain prepared to serve in this region in the uncertain days ahead.

At the heart of the African continent lies the largest country and one of the first regions in the world to ever hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today we see this region continuing under intense civil turmoil and attack. Because of the recent secession of the South from the North of Sudan, it is reported first hand from our staff on the ground in Uganda that there have been rumors of war and everyone remains on alert.

Located miles from the border of Sudan, our history in North West Uganda was birthed out of the Southern Sudan civil war inthe mid-nineties whereby thousands of Sudanese flooded over the border into Uganda. Since then we have continued to serve the Southern Sudanese migrants who have remained in our area. Most recently, several children and their families have come over from Sudan in order to attend our school.

The turmoil of over 2 decades of civil war and the ghastly loss of an estimated 2 million people have certainly taken its toll on the country. God has already planted us in a strategic location to serve His people and if war breaks out, we desire to be ready for an influx of refugees and cross-border insecurity. We remain watchful and prayerful in preparation for what lies ahead, and we are excited to see God's Sovereign hand move as we His people continue in steadfast prayer.

Would you stand with us in watchfulness and prayer?

For more updated news information visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/news/sudan.

Prayer for Japan

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:01:34 +0000

In the wake of Japan's recent 9.0 magnitude earthquake, Safe Harbor is asking for prayer for the numerous lives that have been adversely affected by the disaster. We are currently monitoring the situation and identifying the capacity of the local church to deliver a crisis response where the hope of Jesus Christ is proclaimed in a country with an estimated Christian population of less than 2%.

According to Operation World: The Definitive Prayer Guide to Every Nation, "The impact of the Japanese Church on the nation is inadequate. The Church must turn from its insular, bunker mentality to engage with society. The government is not adequately solving the social ills confronting Japan; the transforming power of Christ, as expressed through a revived Church, is an answer not being adequately offered. There is, however, a new emphasis on evangelism in many churches and a willingness to try new paradigms of ministry (2010, p.492)."

Let us pray together for the lives that have been affected by the earthquake in Japan and for the Japanese Church's opportunity to share the hope of Jesus Christ. As an organization that is called to respond to crisis where few others will go, we look to prayerfully approach every disaster with the understanding that God may be calling us to respond in some way. Please join us in these prayers.

A Glimpse Into the Heart of the Father

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:54:12 +0000

Mark Dodd is Co-Founder and Co-Editor for The Gospel for OC, one of Safe Harbor's local ministry partners.This blog has been reposted with permission of The Gospel for OC.

It was almost a year ago now that I was at the Gospel Coalition conference, in Chicago, attending a workshop entitled The Gospel and Social Action. It was then that I heard something that would help solidify my understanding of both good works and miracles. The leader of the workshop said to us, “Ministry should be an eschatological sign of a kingdom that is yet to come.” This means that the things we do, as Christians, should show the world what the Kingdom of heaven will be like after the second coming of Jesus.

A Christian’s job in doing ministry is not to perfect the world; such an effort would be an exercise in futility. Rather, the Christian’s job in doing ministry is to show the heart of the Father, and the Kingdom of heaven, to people who are in a world that is fallen—and will remain fallen—until Jesus returns.

Let us remember that every person Jesus healed died a bodily death at some point. Lazarus even died twice. Let us also remember that God is not interested in band-aids, but is infinitely purposeful in all that he does. So then, we ask: why does he heal when the healings never stick? Why does he raise people from the dead when they will only die a second death? It is because these miracles are an eschatological sign of a Kingdom that is still yet to come. Therefore, healing does not exist for the sake of healing. Feeding does not exist for the sake of feeding. The point of miracles is not miracles. The point of good works is not good works. God uses the miraculous, as well as practical ministry, to show the truth of our present spiritual reality, and the promise of the physical future.

That true present spiritual reality is death.
The promise of the physical future is in Jesus Christ.

God grants healing because we have full spiritual healing through Jesus, and we will have full bodily healing in heaven. We give food and water to the needy because God has met our every spiritual need and he will meet our every physical need in heaven. The dead are brought back to life because we have been given eternal life through Christ, and will live forever in heaven with him.

In short, miracles, as well as practical ministry, exist to give us a tangible sign of the heart of the Father so that we might know the truth. This does not diminish the importance of ministry, but rather, it amplifies it. With this view of ministry, we see that we are not merely accomplishing a worldly goal, but that our efforts are a means by which people might see the Divine, and praise the one and only God.

Let us do ministry with this in mind: that we are not perfecting a broken world, but that we are showing the truth of God’s nature, and his promises, by the way we live and by our interactions with others. This world is not our home. But while we are here, as pilgrims traveling through this world and onto the next, we must be ambassadors for the Kingdom of heaven showing the world a glimpse into the heart of the Father.

Let our work in this world be evidence of the next.

Missions and Social Action: God’s Unique Calling to Every Believer

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:51:44 +0000

Following the last blog’s posting, a commenter named Chad referenced a piece written by Kevin DeYoung regarding an emerging movement of socially active causes that are lacking in theological soundness. Upon further correspondence, Chad posed excellent questions that I’d like to address in this blog:

“How do you define your ministry as a gospel-centered mission first and a social cause mission second? Or are these defined as one in the same?”

Certainly, a blog post alone cannot possibly do justice in providing a comprehensive biblical response to this question. However, I will present a brief biblical framework for both missions and social action which guides the work of Safe Harbor.

1 – Loving God and Neighbor

“And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)

In this passage, God clearly spells out the two greatest commandments, namely loving the Lord our God AND loving our neighbor as self. Notice that the commands are not mutually exclusive, as in, we are not called to obey one command but not the other. Loving the Lord our God is spoken of as the “great and first commandment”, thus creating precedence that loving God must be foundational to our lives. Similarly, we see in other places in Scripture that our love for others, i.e. social action, flows out of our love for God who first loved us.

2 – Make Disciples of All Nations

“‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Our command to make disciples of all nations is the ministry precedence of our calling as believers, as it offers hope and an everlasting significance beyond the temporal accomplishments of social action. This reality is perhaps most clearly communicated by Jesus in John 6:26-27 (biblical passage is footnoted) when he states that we are to labor for food that endures to eternal life through Christ Jesus. Romans 10:14-15 takes this concept further in stating the need to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ if others are to partake in the Bread of Life that never perishes: “…And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” We cannot look to social action as an act that precludes the preaching of the gospel.

3 – Call to Social Action

“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:15-17)

Our principal call to preach the gospel does not in any way negate our explicit call to ALSO serve those who are in need – as the latter is most certainly a God-ordained manner of fulfilling His commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves. In Matthew 25:34-37 we see that caring for the hungry, thirsty, estranged, naked, sick, and imprisoned are tangible ways of serving Christ Himself. We see this typified in Isaiah 58:6-7 as God declares the kind of “fast” that pleases Him – namely, “…to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”

Or are these defined as one in the same?

To answer Chad’s final question, it is clear from a biblical perspective that gospel-centered missions and social justice are NOT one in the same, in that preaching the gospel does not satisfy the command to serve the poor. In the same way, serving the poor does not preclude the need to preach the gospel. At Safe Harbor, our aim is not to dichotomize the dual call of missions and social action, but rather, to fulfill these calls by responding to both the spiritual AND physical needs of the poor.

A former Safe Harbor staff member who served in Sudan administering relief amidst incredible starvation and suffering once told me: “I can’t stand by and watch people starve to death and not share the gospel of Jesus Christ” (paraphrased). In the face of this incredible tragedy, Safe Harbor endeavored to look after the immediate needs of the people (James 2:14-17) AND to share the eternal hope and salvation offered through Jesus Christ (John 6:26-27). While missions and social action are not one in the same, missions and social action are God’s unique calling to every believer.

Footnotes:

All passages are referenced from the English Standard Version

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.’” (John 6:26-27)

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” (Matthew 25:34-37)

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6-7)

To Share in Christ's Sufferings

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:55:33 +0000

“Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance.” –James 1:2

The short time spent in Haiti this past week was none too different than the time I spent in Africa last summer—and I suppose that’s how it should be. It was full of joy, excitement, ministering, discomfort, exhortation, perseverance, unfamiliarity, observation and investment of our time and prayers; it was, for me, also a time of comfort. On going home I noticed, once again, that life always seems easier when I’m away from my life. Not because I’m so busy at home, or because I have more redundant responsibilities at home, and especially not because my life is hard or difficult—it is far from any of those things. On the contrary, my life is incredibly blessed. Rather, it is because I feel farther from me. I’m taken out of my comfort zone, my schedule, the things that I am used to and tend to wrongly identify with, and I am placed in unfamiliar, unpredictable, and (in Haiti) dirty, hot, and sweaty circumstances. All of these to the typical person from any developed nation make for an undesirable predicament. But I have found in this situation, as any lover of Christ will, something far more desirable than my comforts of home—I have found the comfort of God. When I am in a situation that initially makes me uncomfortable I am forced to rely on God and his Spirit to comfort me. When I feel so physically hot, sticky, dirty, and maybe sick, I am reminded to pray and think how miniscule these temporary physical trials of mine are compared to the life-long ones of those around me, and I am reminded of the sufferings of Christ. He reminds me that this life is merely a vapor, that I am not only told I will suffer in life, but that I am called to suffer in this life. It is a privilege to suffer anything at all for the sake of his name, and so I am not only comforted but also overjoyed.

The mission field is a field of ministry to others, a field specifically to spread the Kingdom, a field of affliction and trials, and a field of growth. We grow when we suffer for Christ, and so suffering should be a road that we are more than glad to be on considering the destination to which it brings us. Christ suffered for us to bring eternal life, and we are called to share in that suffering as joint-heirs. The people of Haiti suffer everyday, some for Christ and some for themselves. When I saw people afflicted with starvation and poor water, disease and abuse, I remembered that this is why we are called to take care of the poor: to show the love of Christ by sharing in their sufferings and bearing their burdens. We suffer everyday, whether we are at home or in the mission field, and we are so blessed to have a church come along side of us and be the hands of Christ to hold us when we’re weak. So it is that we should be willing to give up our temporary comforts of air-conditioning, healthy food, clean water, and comfortable beds for a blessing and joy that is everlasting. That is what the team went to do in Haiti, and that is what every missionary trip aims to do. This is how they glorify our God—in sharing in His suffering. Paul said, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our own spirits that we are children of God; and if we are children, then we are also heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ—provided we are suffering with him in order also to be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16,17).

We should remember this: “If contentment were here, heaven were not heaven”

–Samuel Rutherford, The Loveliness of Christ

Sheryl has been a Safe Harbor Behold Your God team member in both Africa and Haiti, and volunteers as a contributing writer

As always, we welcome your comments and reflections! Please follow the comment link below.

Suffering and the Glory of God: Reflections from Haiti

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 01:52:01 +0000

As I exited the plane my senses were greeted with the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of a third world country in distress. The smoke from the burning trash filling the air, United States Marines and U.N. Soldiers patrolling the dirt streets surrounding the airport; the crowds of locals in and around the airport shouting for the attention of the arriving passengers hoping to serve them in some capacity or perhaps sell them a small trinket. Some laying claim to individual travelers and willing to defend their new found treasure from the other locals at all costs. Generated by desperation, shouting and shoving amongst them breaks out and the police quickly step in and restore the peace; the opportunities to provide for themselves and their families are truly few and far between in this desperate place.

Traveling from the airport I scan the landscape before me and the question that I seem to carry with me on my travels confronts me yet again: Why? How is it that these people are born into all of this and I somehow grew up in Orange County in sunny Southern California not wanting for anything?

One of our missions on this short trip was to assist in completing the replacement housing for the 60 or so children of an orphanage that was destroyed in the earthquake. Just the fact that these children were living in a Haitian orphanage indicates that many of them have already survived unspeakable tragedy; even before the events of January 2010 that took the life of the man that had cared for these children. I did not know him but I learned that he was a local who lived the words of Jesus: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). He was not a man of means yet he gave all that he had for these children, he gave himself.

As I ponder the question I am reminded of the fact that the only hope to have a grasp of this is through God’s word. I am reminded that I serve a perfect God whose ways are not my ways. Through the tragedy I see a stage that is set where God is being glorified; God’s people coming from around the world to offer the people of Haiti relief from the unrelenting pain and with a message of hope. When asked why they answer: “Because the love of God compels us” (2 Cor 5: 14). Through this the change occurs that will make a real difference in the individual lives and thusly the country of Haiti as a whole.

God never promises to insulate anybody from difficult circumstances. “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him (Nah 1:7). However, He does promise to “never leave us or forsake us” (2 Cor 13:5). I believe that we as believers play a major role in God revealing Himself to those in time of need; not that God needs us to achieve this, but to allow us the privilege of participating in a fulfillment of His promise.

As I draft this entry for the Blog, Luke 12:48 resonates through my thoughts: “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

References:

Bible passages referred to are from the New King James Version, found at www.blueletterbible.org

The 'Unadjusted' Gospel to the World

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:52:04 +0000

This week has been a monumental one as my wife and I have been so blessed to bring our first little child into this world. As a new father, I wonder how society will evolve; praying that our little boy would be shaped by a biblical worldview that upholds the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ rather than the evolving secular worldviews of the moment. Unfortunately, we see all too often how a secular or humanistic worldview can even shape the message of the gospel – causing global movements and trajectories towards wealth prosperity, liberation theology, or what appears to be a renewed emphasis upon the social gospel.

This past spring, we attended the Together for the Gospel (T4G) conference whose goal is “to reaffirm this central doctrine of the Christian faith and to encourage local churches to do the same.” Underpinned by the conviction that “the gospel of Jesus Christ has been misrepresented, misunderstood, and marginalized in many churches and among those who proclaim the name of Christ”, T4G’s network of churches affirm the inerrancy of Scripture and the centrality of Christ in promulgating a gospel that is ‘unadjusted’ by the tides of popular social thought.

During the conference, Albert Mohler illuminated the trajectories of current societal movements that influence an ‘adjusted’ gospel in the United States in which my thoughts race towards how an ‘adjusted’ gospel extends its branches, globally, through the work of Western-based overseas ministries. In serving the spiritual and physical needs of those living in impoverished countries, we must constantly ask what our gospel message is and whether it is in alignment with the inerrant, unchanging Word of God.

In John 6, Jesus proclaims Himself as the ‘bread of life” (verse 35), which is followed by a discourse on the true meaning of these words. The Jews grumbled (verse 41) and eventually, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (verse 66). Looking at the words of Jesus, it is clear that the followers had a much different expectation of what the Messiah’s purpose was. Perhaps, they preferred to hear a liberation theology, expecting a political figure that would lead them in an earthly reign - “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (verse 15). Perhaps, they would have preferred to hear a wealth prosperity gospel in which Jesus’ purpose was to continuously give them their physical desires – “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (verse 26).

Instead, Jesus gives us the words of eternal life that place Him at the center of the gospel – “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (verse 40). It is a gospel that is pure, unaltered, unchanging, and everlasting! Jesus was not concerned with impressive evangelistic numbers or man’s approval; He was concerned with the Truth of Himself.

As I look upon my newborn son, I am filled with an unbelievable joy knowing that the ‘unadjusted’ gospel of Jesus Christ transcends time, social movements, and differing cultures throughout the world. I am excited for a renewed emphasis upon the purity of the gospel that is taking thousands of churches in this country by storm, and am eager to witness how it is already changing and will transform the work of global missions and development in impoverished regions throughout the world.

Links:

Together for the Gospel can be found at www.t4g.org

Albert Mohler’s, “How Does it Happen? Trajectories Toward an Adjusted Gospel” can be found at www.t4g.org/conference/t4g-2010