I always love it when you meet someone and from that point on your life takes a difference course than you could have ever expected. About a year ago, at an IdeaCamp conference I was introduced to a young looking, old man named Bill Cummings (I seriously had no clue he was in his 40′s, I thought he was 33 at most!).

I had heard that the director of Lemonade International was at the conference and I really was looking forward to meeting him. Lemonade International focuses on educating and empowering people in the largest urban slum in Central America – La Limonada in Guatemala City. Since one of our soon to be four children is adopted from Guatemala, we instantly connected.

La Limonada, a ravine in the center of Guatemala City, is the largest slum in Central America and is also home to the fourth highest murder rate in the world. The slum developed in the 1950s as people came to Guatemala City seeking work. When they were unable to find work they ended up taking residence in the ravine. Since then, it has grown to be the home of somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 people.

The conditions?

They are nothing short of horrible. The terrain is so rough there are no roads. The homes are made of corrugated tin roof, cement block and sometimes plastic sheeting and cardboard. Gang violence is a major problem (as it is in all of Guatemala City). The drug of choice is glue sniffing. The river running through the center of the ravine is serves as the garbage dump and sewage system.

Add all this up and these men, women and children are outcasts of their city. There is a saying in Guatemala City that “Even Santa Claus doesn’t visit La Limonada.” If you are applying for a job and you put La Limonada as your address on your application, you won’t get the job. Most churches in the city don’t touch this community because it is so unsafe and the people “aren’t going to support your ministry.” Yes, that’s an actual quote from a pastor who serves in Limonada as he was explaining why he gets flack from other ministers for “wasting his time” with “those people.”

Generally speaking, if you are from La Limonada you may as well not exist.

But all is not lost. Tita Evertsz has been quietly serving this community for over 15 years after seeing the desperate needs in this community.  As she says, “God has tattood the people of La Limonada on my heart.” Her story is long, and I won’t try and retell it here, but she has basically given her life to these people. In the process, she has established two schools.  These schools and more importantly, the teachers and volunteers that serve there, have become a bright source of hope in La Limonada.

Me and Pastor Shorty

Pastor Shorty has also begun to give his life to these people as well. Shorty is a former gang member and drug addict who ended back in his home country after being deported from the USA. While in jail in the Los Angeles area he gave his life to Jesus Christ and shortly after returning to his home country God told him to plant churches in and around the city. He is now in the process of planting a network of house churches in Limonada.

Lemonade International came alongside Tita and Pastor Shorty two years ago to support the work there.  It is through Lemonade’s partnership that the second school was opened and they have been able to help expand and support the work being done.

This June, 13 of us from The Well went down to serve alongside the 30+ teachers and workers in La Limonada. Some of us has been witness to extreme poverty in the past so we thought we were prepared for what we would see. We we not. The first day there, we were floored with the desperate conditions these people were living in.  Where was hope in a place like this? But, as the week wore on and we met more and more people who were quietly giving their lives to the the people of La Limonada, we were struck with a sense that this is exactly where Jesus would be.  Somehow a sense of hope exists in this seemingly hopeless place.

We got back from Guatemala over a month ago and I am still processing the whole experience.  That’s mostly why I have been silent on my blog for so long.  I am trying to give it all time, let it sink in.  At this point, I have a few semi-connected thoughts running through my head and  I may write more fully on some of them in the coming days and weeks.

• Pastor Shorty gets it. He is living out all the “missional” stuff that we have been talking about here in America. But there is one main difference. I don’t know that I have ever met someone who believes in the transforming power of the Gospel as much as he does. That belief is contagious and I’ve been infected.
• The teachers in Limonada are heros in the truest sense of the word. Most of them grew up in Limonada and have chosen to stay there and serve their community.  While we were there, word spread that they might not be paid their $7/day salary.  Their response? “Don’t worry about it, we’ll be here on Monday. Pay us if you can but we’re not going anywhere.”
• I had the chance to preach at one of the home churches in Limonada. What do you say to people who have nothing? This was one of the more humbling experiences I had all week and I have a hard time expressing how this affected me.
• Praying with someone who doesn’t speak your language is a test on how much you actually believe in prayer. After our home group we prayed with people. The first young man that I prayed with was struggling to come out of the gang life. It’s likely that he had killed someone in the last couple weeks and yet he was there seeking God. As I began praying for him I realized that this might be one of the only times I have prayed with someone and my words were only being heard by God.  This guy had no clue what I was saying and he wasn’t going to be impressed with how eloquent my prayers were. I almost didn’t know what to do.  This hit me hard. I realized just how much my prayers weren’t really prayers but really good speeches. I thought I was over that. I ended up praying the only thing I knew for sure over and over again, “God, change this man’s life. Set him free from sin and death and let him walk in the life offered in your Son.”
• I can count the number of sober men over 30 that I saw on one hand. Read that again. I was in a slum with over 60,000 people and can only remember seeing 5 or less sober grown men. One of the biggest problems for the kids we met that week was that they just wanted to be loved. They are not getting that from their parents and especially not their fathers. We saw first hand the pain and issues this causes.  You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know the importance that father plays in a child’s life. This is huge need and it’s beyond my grasp of how to address it. But I do know what it means for me now. I need to love my own children well! So, fathers, love your children and love them well. Love their mothers too.
• Responding to God’s calling doesn’t always make sense and is often stupid in the eyes of mankind. I can’t tell you how many times we heard of teachers and workers there who had taken children into their homes without a second thought.  The thought process was: This child needs a home. I have a home. This child can live with me. Done. I was so stuck with their willingness to say “yes” when God placed a call on their lives. There was a beautiful wreck-less abandon the are living with. We calculate too much.
• The people in Limonada can only see a day in front of them, on their good days. They really don’t have the luxury of having too many long term plans. They don’t necessarily know where their next meal will come from let alone their next pay check. The result? Desperate dependence on prayer.

I could go on and on and on.  But one thing is clear, after serving alongside of Tita, Pastor Shorty and the many teachers, social workers and volunteers we know that we desire to maintain our relationship with those serving God in La Limonada.  God has tattooed this place on our hearts…

We cannot go back to normal. Instead, the biggest challenge we have now is to redefine normal.

For now, alongside of asking God how he would have us partner with our brothers and sisters in La Limonada now and into the future, I’m seeking to be faithful to the roles and worlds that God has placed me.

We’ll see where that leads.

(You can support Lemonade International now by adopting a child or teacher – visit their website for more info: www.lemonadeinternational.com/blog)

I’ve been reading Alan and Deb Hirsch’s (Twitter | Website) newest book, Untamed and I’ve really been enjoying it.

In their chapter called “kultcha-schmultcha” they have a series of things in the culture that need to be addressed when it comes to discipleship. This is a great section because they touch on a bunch of things that are deeply embedded in our culture that are in need of some critical thinking about how they influence and shape our faith, our lives and our discipleship.

Their little section on money is spot on. My only complaint is that it isn’t longer, but I know that’s not what they were trying to do – that is, write a long treatise on money. In this section they talk about how money has become a major problem in our culture. They notes that Luther said

“three conversions are necessary when a person decides to follow Christ: the conversion of the heart, the conversion of the mind, and the conversion of the purse.” (112)

Well said Mr. Luther!

They go on to note how money has become our master and has become that of a god in our lives. And personally, I think they are spot on. Heck, I speak from experience here. It tends to be true for me and I also think its true of a lot of people I know inside and outside of the church. They argue that money can often be in direct opposition to our discipleship,

“If we read Jesus and New Testament teaching correctly, we can only understand money if we interpret it in light of the teachings of the principalities and powers against which we must do battle. Money is not a neutral force, but is animated and energized by the powers.”

I think this is an important point. We tend to think of money as neutral and just our use of it as the bad thing. We say “it’s the love of money that is the root of all evil. Money itself isn’t evil.” Sure I guess that’s true, but I think they might have a good point here.

Later they say that,

“once we are rescued (from the power of money) we can be free to be generous, and when we are generous we are agents of Jesus’ remarkable grace. We cannot overestimate the power of generosity in human relations. Not only does it destroy the power of money, but it introduces the ones who receives the gift into the world of grace.”

Also, well said. I think that it is only when we are released from the control money, we are freed to be generous.

This is just a glimpse at their discussion. I don’t get the idea that they are saying we shouldn’t have money. But, rather they are saying that we need to constantly be aware of the role it is playing in our lives. We should constantly be checking out who is the “Lord” of our lives, Jesus or money.  Are we serving it or is it serving us.

This isn’t an easy road to walk. But the point is, This is a major issue of discipleship.

This is the very reason why at The Well, we take a very intentional offering every Sunday a part of our liturgy. I understand the idea that churches have to not want to offend people with asking for money so they just put a box in the back and let people give as they are led. I really do. But, I fear that what we are really saying when we don’t have the offering as a distinct, visible part of our worship gatherings is this: “Your money is between you and God, we have no right to ask you about it and is not really a big part of your discipleship, do whatever you want with it.”   To me, this is nothing less than giving into the cultural views of money in some very serious ways.

So every Sunday we take a few minutes to remind ourselves that our God has not given us money and our other resources to just be blessed, but to be a blessing. We pray that God would make us generous people in all aspects of our lives (time, money, friendships, etc).  In doing so we say that how you handle the resources God has given you, especially your money, is a very, very big deal. And, so it doesn’t seem like we’re just “trying to guilt people into giving money” like “all churches do” we make it very clear that the call in that moment is to be generous. Sure, they are invited to join us in our mission with their finances – if we neglected to do that it would look like we didn’t really believe in what we were doing – but the invitation isn’t just to give to The Well.  By the way, in the 4 years since we have started taking an offering, I have only heard one person complain about it.  In fact, I have heard quite a few people say they are thankful and refreshed that we are willing to talk about money in such a hopeful way.

It’s to be generous with the whole of our lives. I think, in light of consumerism of our day, this is a pretty countercultural act.

How is your church being countercultural in the area of finances?

Note: One of the best resources I have ever read that talks about how to talk about money in the church is from this book.  It’s good, goods stuff.

This year I was part of a book project called ViralHope: Good News from the Urbs to the Burbs. You can get it off the Ecclesia Press Website or Amazon.

This is the description of the book: “In ViralHope: Good News from the Urbs to the Burbs, fifty authors take on the task of sharing the good news for their city, together weaving a beautiful tapestry of the gospel in all its depth and complexity. These essays reveal how the gospel lives and breathes in neighborhoods around the world.”

EcclesiaPress just published a video about the book which includes some of the centent from the book as the content of the video. Here it is…

Today was our second full day in La Limonada with Lemonade International. We continue to talk about how we don’t have categories in our brain for what we are experiencing. I feel completely in the middle of a fog and I don’t know what’s on the other side. It’s a good fog though. You might call it a God-fog. I’m into making up words so that works for me. I have no clue where this trip will lead and I’m not really trying to figure it out. I think I’ll let God do his thing…

There is one practical way you can help with a very specific need:

Today I learned that the teachers are in danger of not being paid this month. Of course, these teachers are so awesome that they all said don’t worry about it and that they would show up to teach no matter if they were paid or not.

All of the teachers are from Guatemala City and many of them are from La Limonada itself.  Their compassion for these kids and this cause is awe inspiring.  We (The Well) are trying to figure out what we can do to raise some more money to cover the short-fall this month as well as going forward.

If you want to help pay the salary of some of the teachers loving these beautiful children go the Lemonade International Website and click “Donate” or “Sponsor a Teacher.”

Today was our first day in La Limonada. The picture above is from the top of the ravine where we visited with a family who had lost their home in the recent storms. They are now living in a communal shelter where they share a 9ft. by 4ft. space with three other families.

I’ve seen poverty in my day. I’ve been to Africa twice and have seen desperate conditions there. But, this is different for some reason. I’ve never seen anything like this and I don’t have a category to place today’s experience.

We talked tonight about what we “offer” and came to realize we can’t offer much more than our presence and maybe a hug. We can’t fix this. But we can be present in the name of Jesus. So, that’s what we’re trying to do.

Last fall I was at The Idea Camp conference in Washington D.C. While I was there I learned that there was some guy representing an organization from Guatemala called Lemonade International. Since our second son is adopted from there, and we had a desire to serve that country, I sought him out as quickly as possible. Little did I know that Bill Cummings and I would hit it off so well.

Fast forward 8 months later and here I am sitting in the Lemonade House in Guatemala City. Tomorrow we will meet the people who live in the community of La Limonada.

We have a long week ahead of us and we’re not totally sure what God is going to do with us and those we will get to know. Mostly, we are excited to learn from them and begin what we pray is a long-term friendship with Tita and the many volunteers who work here with the children, the gang members and the parents in this impoverished community.

If I have the energy, I’ll some more updates this week.

Right now? I’m just really, really tired from airports and flying and $6 hotdogs at Miami airport.

I haven’t really taught Cole how to swing a club. He’s basically taught himself from watching the pro’s on TV.

I’ve stated another blog, resource catalog website that will be focusing on the challenges and opportunities about being missional in suburbia. It’s a joint venture with a friend of mine and I’m excited about.  This isn’t going to be a your typical blog but really it will be a place we categorize and collect thoughts, quotes and resources.  We’d love to have you participate in the dialog.  But even more importantly we’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

Could you take 5 minutes to fill out our short survey on being missional in suburbia?  If so, you can do so here: http://missionalinsuburbia.com/survey

Last week I spend a few days here on the blog working out the leadership culture we are trying to create at The Well. Now, admittedly I am a big leadership book junkie. I love exploring the sociology of leadership and community. But, as much as I love that stuff I realize there is a danger in it. One can become so dependent on good leadership technique that we forget that it is the Spirit that works in and through us. While technique is important, and firmly believe we can’t avoid it, we must not depend on it.

With that being said, I want to highly recommend the little book by Henri Nouwen called, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership. This book is fantastic and it’s a good complement to our efforts in understanding good leadership technique. In the book, he talks through three movements we must make as leaders of the future (actually, today since he wrote this a while ago).

The three movements:

• From Relevance to Prayer.
• From Popularity to Ministry.
• From Leading to being Led.

In the first section he writes about our need to stop seeking relevance. His experience of working with the mentally handicapped played a huge role in him learning this.  He went from being a sought after speaker, author and professor at Yale, Notre Dame and Harvard where everyone was impressed with him to working with the mentally handicapped who could have cared less about his books and all he had accomplished.  He writes,

“Not being able to use any of the skills that had proved so practical in the past was a real source of anxiety. I was suddently faced with my naked self.”

From there, he was forced to discover his true identity  and concluded that,

“the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own valuable self.

My friend and former co-pastor Gary Alloway says all the time, “Remember your own irrelevance.”  This is wonderful advice (and I realize now he stole it from Nouwen!) because it reminds us that the message that we carry is that God loves and uses us as his servants, not because of what we have accomplished or how gifted we are, but because of his saving and unconditional grace.

The quesiton he asks in response to this call to irrlevancy is from Jesus himself, “Do you love me?”  That’s the question that we need to allow Jesus to ask us, “Peter, do you love me?”  Nouwen writes,

The question is not: How many people take you seriously? How much are you going to accomplish? Can you show some results? But: Are you in love with Jesus?”

I’ll be honest, I know from experience it’s way too easy to be a pastor without being in love with Jesus.  Nouwen writes some more,

“Knowing God’s heart means consistantly, radically, and very concretely to annnounce and reveal that God is love and only love, and that eery time fear, isolation, or despair begins to invade the human soul, this is not something that comes from God. This sounds very simple and maybe even trite, but very few people know that they are loved without conditions or limits.“

So, moving from focusing on our successes to others to focusing on our love for Jesus, he submits that the practice of contemplative prayer is essential. He writes,

“If there is any focus that the Christian leader of the future will need, it is the discipline of dwelling in the presence of the One who keeps asking “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” This is the discipline of contemplative prayer.”

and later he writes,

the future of Christian leadership it is of vital importance to reclaim the mystical aspect of theology so that every word spoken, every word of advice given, and every strategy developed can come from a heart that knows God intimately.

As Christian leaders, I pray that we are not seeking approval and acceptance from the “great” things that we have done but rather we are understanding ourselves as vessels of grace.  I pray that we would be serving out of a heart that is connected to Jesus through the practice of prayer and contemplation.

LIke I said, leadership technique is good, I’m a big fan of it and I will continue to explore it to help me grow as a person and as a leader, but I am reminded again by Nouwen that all of it is a big, giant waste of time if I am not connecting to the heart of God in prayer and remembering that all I accomplish is as a result of God’s grace in my life.

May we all remember our own irrelevance.

It seems to me that the world trains us to be pretty selfish, individualized people. Thomas Merton writes about this as he describes the problem of pride,

“The self must be treated as if, not merely in feeling but in actual fact, the whole universe revolved around it…If I am the center of the universe, than everything belongs to me. I can claim, as my due, all the good things of the earth. I can rob and cheat and bully other people. I can help myself to anything I like, no one can resist me.”

Now, this is a rather harsh assessment of our demeanor. I personally do not like to think of my perspective on my self as thinking that I am the center of the universe. But, if i am honest, and if I look hard enough at the way I am living and interacting with others, especially others outside my inner circle of friends and family, than I really do see myself as the center of the universe.

I don’t think we realize just how self-centered we really are. We don’t seem to realize that our actions really do affect the lives of others in significant ways. If we do realize it, we don’t seem to care too much. There seems to be an epidemic in our world of only caring about things that directly effect me (By the way, I consider myself a carrier of the original strand of this virus!). We have this uncanny ability to block out guilt and concern for things that don’t happen to effect my little world.

For example, I am firm believer that I am in the top 1% of the worlds best drivers. In fact, I’d argue that if you could somehow create an impartial and culturally fair driving contest, I would finish in the top 3, right behind Dale Earnhart, Jr. and the taxi driver I had in NYC last year (I’ll tell you that guy was good, I’ve never seen driving like that before).

But, despite my amazing driving skills, I’m embarrassed to say that this is one of the spheres in my life where my self-centeredness comes out in very clear ways.

You see, when I am on the road, I am the one whom all the traffic revolves around. You cut me off. You didn’t turn fast enough for me to get through the green arrow. You missed your turn and now I am waiting longer than I had to.

Now, if I happen to miss my turn that’s fine. You can wait for me. Because, after all, I am the center of the road.

I’m not sure if you remember that commercial from TV for the 1990 Nissan Sentra where the driver dreams about having all the road revolve around him, but I figure the road should be like that for me.

You see, when I am driving, it doesn’t really matter to me if I cut you off and that inconveniences you and you are late for work and then you lose your job and then you can’t pay your rent and then your three children end up eating generic macaroni and cheese for three months while you scour the internets for a new job.

Really, I’m ashamed to admit it, but it doesn’t.

Why?

I think the reason this kind of thing doesn’t bother me is because it didn’t happen to me and I don’t feel the effects of the pain that it causes.

This goes far beyond the silly example of driving. Think about the last time you saw a tragic story on the news. You probably felt sorry for the person or community a little while. If it was a big tragedy, you thought about it for a little bit longer and maybe you even gave money to the movie stars during the telethon.

But most likely your life went back to normal after a few minutes of thinking about how stinky that situation was. But, whether we think about it this intentionally or not our thinking usually goes along the lines of, “I didn’t happen to me. What’s for breakfast?”