- Praying for the Poor!
- HELP needs some help with our office.
- Orphan Sunday is THIS Sunday.
- Trip to Atlanta.

Go check us out. For those who use RSS (Google Reader, Bloglines, Etc.), our feed is: feed://www.helpendlocalpoverty.com/feed/

God has answered some prayers, when I left this morning, I had no clue where I would be staying. Lucky for me a friend donated cash for a hotel room tonight, and tomorrow I’m staying with a family I’ve never met-God’s Kingdom at work.

In the morning I will meet with a church that is interested in doing some international work. Tomorrow night I get to reconnect with the Extreme Response boys (Jerry & Dan) in Atlanta. We spent five days together in Cairo last year. Good dudes, who are doing some great work!

Friday, I’m looking forward to hanging with Jeff Shinabarger in East Atlanta. I also have some other meetings lined-up. I love connecting with folks, dreaming together and seeing what God is going to do with each conversation!

That being said, traveling is tiring. I remember talking to Tom about this issues, if we are going to love and serve those in need, we will have to travel a lot, it’s our sacrifice to the Lord and on-behalf of those whom we advocate for. So I consider it a privilege to travel and share my passion to rescue and restore orphans and serve those in need.

Lucky for us, they’ve decided to donate the proceeds of the conference to HELP and One Day’s Wages, which is a new organization led by Eugene Cho. Pretty cool eh?

Don’t get me wrong, we can always use extra cash, so many needs to be met and resources are hard to come-by at times.

But, here is what’s more important, the belief. I can’t tell you have encouraging it is when people “do something” to help us an organization, it means the world!

So, if you live in the Philly, make sure you go to Scripture & Culture, and let me say a big thanks to JR, Todd and all the others who decided to support HELP, it means so much.

Recently I’ve been really encouraged with the progress of HELP. There are some emerging opportunities that are currently taking shape, initiatives that are being launched and partnerships are being formed. Building a platform is not easy, but we all have to do just that, no matter what field you work in, or what dream you have, without a platform, it’s just an idea!

HELP was launched out of a church that I helped plant in Austin, TX, our church was 100-150 people, we were about two years into the launch. I say that to say this, HELP had no platform whatsoever, we had no resources to speak-of. What we did have was a network of friends, and that was our initial platform.

I’ve spent close to 15 months building an audience, casting vision, sharing our story! So far we’ve raised little money, instead we’re doing our best to create trust and spread awareness.

How do you build a platform? Here’s how I’ve done it:

1. Personal relationships: I tell everyone about our dream to rescue and restore orphans.
2. Social Media: My personal and HELP’s Twitter and Facebook accounts and this blog. However, you must have a strategy! Add value via social media, Re-tweet, make comments, and connect. Following is NOT enough, you have to engage your audience.
3. Events: We’ve done two launch parties, they were simple and effective!
4. Conferences: I attend any conference I can and my goal is never the content of the conference, it’s the connection that are formed at the conference. Content is icing on the cake.
5. Meetings: I meet with anyone I can…and than I find a way to help them, it’s never JUST about HELP. I want HELP to be a blessing to the local church, to my community, to the business person, etc. Also, a ton of these meetings happen because I connected to someone via social media outlets first.
6. Follow-up: You have to continue to follow-up on every conversation. It’s vital, send a thank-you email, a Starbuck’s gift card, (I almost always send a $5 gift card) or a quick note.

Remember, it’s vital to be authentic, you have to tell a great story and make sure you add value. It’s a two-way relationship!

Now, the last thing you need is patience. Wait, wait and wait…and wait…and little by little, you will build a platform, and then you can take the next-step, ask for the help you need to pursue your dream!

Evil Exists: This is hard to embrace, but it’s true. As follower of Jesus, we desire to bring light to dark places, but if we are going to do that, we will have to look evil in the eye and experience the pain that comes along with it.

Theology: It’s easy for us to seek justice when we realize it’s Biblical, every Christ-follower is called to seek justice, do good and show compassion. (Isaiah 1:17)

Rhythm & Rest: Jesus himself would leave the crowds and all their needs to seek the Father, spend time with friends, eat good food and rest. If Jesus needed to find a rhythm and rest, then so do we.

Empowered by the Spirit: Matt 11-28-30: Jesus’ yoke is light. In other words, I seek justice and compassion with the strength of Christ; I seek the Holy Spirit’s power to supernaturally help me! If I choose not to do this, I will quit and forgo the pain and frustration that walks closely with all justice seekers. But if God is leading me, even in the worst conditions, I can trust Him, and rely on His power & strength, not my own.

It’s okay to be normal: (Yes, its hard to define normal) Rest in what God has given you, just don’t horde it for yourself. We see this in O.T. festivals, Jesus’ life, and Paul’s writings. We are free in Christ and God wants us to walk in that freedom and blessing. The key here is the heart and balance. Giving and sacrifice is required, but it’s all within a “Spirit of freedom,” not of guilt or condemnation!

A new world is coming: Someday, it’s all going to get better. Begin with the end in mind. We seek justice for today, yet we also know and embrace that there is another life that brings ultimate peace to all those who suffer! If show compassion, a better world is coming today, but a perfect world is coming someday. So as we seek justice, let us realize that the most important thing we can do is lead people to the cross and into a relationship with the Jesus. At the end-of-the day, it’s always about the Gospel, it’s always about “knowing” Jesus, his love, grace, truth, power and life.

So together, let us journey in this life, as we seek Gospel Justice for all those who suffer, let us choose to use our passion, gifts, and resources to serve humanity!

Our world faces many problems and large-scale issues. For those of you who are seeking justice and showing compassion, I commend you, it’s not for the faint of heart!

But, let me warn you, as someone who has spent the past two years (I’m still new to the game) living and breathing the issues of extreme poverty, position yourself for the long-haul. If you want to make a difference, you have to think in terms of “decades” not “years.”

It’s easy to take a trip, experience extreme poverty and pain, come back with a huge burden for those who suffer. But, if we are not careful, we will burnout, and if we do that, those who suffer, will continue to suffer as we disqualify ourselves from serving because of exhaustion.

I’m currently learning how to comprehend this right now, how do I wake-up daily and do what I can to make the world better, yet knowing that evil is so real and tangible, the suffering is so brutal and pain is so deep, and somehow I have to carry this with me, while I still live my life.

Tomorrow, I will post part two, which are some practical ways that I think will create longevity and wholeness as we seek justice and show compassion for those who suffer. Until then, you can mediate on this verse.

The weather was amazing, the show was in Raleigh, we had great seats and both bands were awesome.

Muse opened up with a 45 minute set that was really good. Muse, by nature is a perfect stadium band, the funny thing is, I plan almost EVERY sermon while listening to Muse.

After a thirty minute intercession U2 hit the stage, the crowd of 70,000 was electric, U2 was high energy and fully into the moment. The one downside to the evening was the sound, it was hard to hear Bono talk in-between songs!

U2 played 23 songs, I think my favorite moment was Bono singing Amazing Grace, pretty epic. I snapped some pics from the iPhone. I think last night was by far my favorite music experience, like I said above, it was really perfect.

The thing I like about Miller’s writing is his self-depricating style. He does not come off as some “guru” on the topic of story, rather he allows the reader to journey with him as he fully’s tries to embrace what it means to live, and he uses his life as an example.

After I finished the book, I was inspired to live more fully. I’ve read Miller’s past works, which are also great. But, in this book, you could see the maturity of the writer, and how life has a certain rhythms of learning, growing and becoming. It takes time to embrace one’s own story!

I must say, I was a bit disappointed that they did not release this book from the Kindle. That makes no sense to me. But, I would encourage you to pick-up the book.