Mexican Terrorists in Spain?

No kidding here.

One of my boys was speaking to grade 11 female friend who will be traveling to Spain at some point in the future. She expressed her worry & concern over the trip. Inquiring as to the sources of the hesitation, he was told by said female 11th grader that she was worried about all the Mexican terrorists crossing the border into Spain.

My son laughed and informed the girl that Mexico was not next to Spain, and in fact, it is not even on the same continent. She said to him “I think you better learn your geography Homeschool Kid”.

Ted explained that Spain is under France and next to Portugal.

She replied “I don’t think so! Is France near Mexico?”

“No!”, was sons reply. “

Where is Mexico then?”, was the returning question.

Ask me why I homeschool!

Good Question!

"How can you worship a homeless Man on Sunday
and ignore one on Monday?"

said the sign outside St. Edward's Cathedral in Philadelphia.

(The New Monasticism, Rob Moll. Christianity today. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/september/16.38.html) Accessed July 26,2008.

In Need a Modern Mission Hero!

Three Prince Edward Island, Canada, missionaries deaths bring the Gospel to Vanuatu, and I have to share the story.

Our, ......my........, shallow, convicted, evangelism of today does not stand the test of examination in the light of their sacrifice. How much passion do we have to reach lost people anymore in western Christianity? Sacrifice for the gospel, is it on the radar, called for in our preaching?

George & Ellen Gordon must have been people of deep conviction. However, the even, more profound story is embedded deeply inside –the story of James Gordon, Georges Brother. After receiving word that his brother George was killed in 1861, James finished his missionary studies and immediately went to pick up his brothers work in 1864. James himself was also killed in 1872. The Memorial Monument is not far from my house. So, in some small way, I can't help but wonder if my call to missions was not to satisfy, though in some very small way, the cry of the gospel to the nations that was left unfilled by PEI, and the kingdoms, loss? I do wonder, who are our missionary hero's today? Who is modeling deep, willful, intentional, sacrifice to free their lives, and resources, to get the gospel to the front lines. Shallow, shallow me, would my faith ever enable me to be a hero some day?

(The note under the photo states)

TWO DELEGATES from the Presbyterian Church in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu Rev George Aki, Moderator General and Pastor Kalsakau Urtalo, Assembly Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu visited the birth place of martyred missionaries Rev George Gordon and his wife Ellen Gordon and his brother Rev James Gordon. They were slain by natives of Erromango in the 1800s but their work was not in vane. Now 38 percent of the islands once known as New Hebrides are Christian and they belong to the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu. (This Monument in Huntly PEI, contains a memorial plaque)

Here is the rest of the story that appeared in the West Prince Graphic June 11,2008:

Missionaries Visiting the Roots of Their Faith

Visiting Gordon Memorial Cairn and the Gordon Cemetery in Huntley held great meaning for Pastor George Aki and Pastor Kalsakau Urtalo.

The delegates from the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu were on PEI and NS as guests of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. They felt honoured to walk the same grounds as the martyred missionaries from Huntley didbefore leaving for the South Sea Islands of New Hebrides 150 years ago.

The islands are now known as Vanuatu, an archipelago nation consisting of 83 islands in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, north of New Zealand and east of Australia. Vanuatu has a population of 240,000 people and 38 percent belong to the Presbyterian Church.

Their Christian faith can be traced directly back to some of the first missionaries to go there so long ago, Rev George Gordon, his wife Ellen and later his brother James Gordon. They were raised in the peaceful little farming community of Huntley, PEI, which was literally and figurativelyworlds apart from the place they were called to spread the gospel.

“It is in our history, the story of Christianity”, Pastor Urtalo said while viewing the stone cairn that marks the Gordon’s birthplace in Huntley The cairn also serves as the tombstone for the three missionaries who were killed on the island of Erromango.....

Pastor Urtalo is assembly clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu and Pastor Aki is moderator general for the church. Joining these guests were the closest living descendants of the Gordon's, Robert Gordon of Alma and Jean Burnett Farris,who grew up on the farm where the missionaryGordon’s once lived.

Mrs Farris said her mother told her many stories about George and James Gordon and how they went to the uncivilized islands to bring Christianity to the people there. They were murdered by those who weresuspicious of their motives, blaming every disaster on their presence.

“There were a number of reasons’ Mrs Farris explained. White sandal wood traders were exploiting the islands for many years, doing unscrupulous things to the native people in the name of commerce. They were slave traders and through them, measles were introduced causing many to die. On the heals of that a hurricane and another disaster occurred-There were some who quickly became Christians but there were a number of island natives who didn’ttrust the missionaries.

Two missionaries came in 1848 from the London Missionary Society. They were killed as soon as they landed. In June of 1857 Rev Gordon, who had been educated at Free Church College in Halifax was placed as a missionary on Erromango. The island was described as a dark and godless place at the time.

In a 120-year-old book entitled “The Story of John G Paton’, also a missionary at that time, a chapter is devoted to the Gordons. It explains how they were making inroads among the people, gaining their trust. A group was attending church at a Mission House they had built and was listening to the stories from the Bible, singing hymns and reading a small book from the Bible that had been translated into their own language. The young men and women living at the Mission House were being trained to become teachers. Rev Gordon was in the process of moving the house a mile or so up a hill partly because of Mrs Gordon’ health and partly to escape what was described in the book as “the annoying and contaminating influence of the sandal-wooders on the Christian Natives:’

“On the 20th of May 1861, he was still working at the roofing of the printing office and had sent his lads to bring each a load of the long grass to finish the thatching.

“Meantime a party of Erromangans from a district called Bunk-Kill, under a chief named Lovu had been watching him. They had been to the Mission House inquiring and they had seen him send away his Christian lads. They then hid in the bush andsent two of their men to the Missionary to ask for calico:’ the author wrote.

Rev Gordon scratched a note on a piece of wood telling his wife to give them two yards of cloth each. They insisted that he accompany them back to the house, saying they needed medicine for a sick boy and their chief wanted to see him. As he led the way, he crossed a stream and slipped. “A blow was aimed at him with a tomahawk, which he caught: the other man struck but his weapon was alsocaught. One of the tomahawks was wrenched from his grasp”.

Rev Gordon was knocked to the ground with a blow to the spine and a second blow to his neck killed him. His wife was slain as she came out of the mission house to see what was happening. Over the four years of their mission work, the Gordon’s learned the language, and had been writing stories from the Bible in the native tongue. News of their murder travelled quickly and heightened the danger for other missionaries who were living on nearby island communities.

Mrs Farris explained that when Rev Gordon’s brother James received word of his death, he was studying to become a missionary. He went to the islands in 1864 with Hugh Robinson and his wife who stayed to continue the work started by the Gordons. James met a similar fate in 1872, becoming one of six martyred missionaries of the South Sea Islands.

“We are shameful this happened and regret it,” Pastor Aki said. Coming to the place where the early missionaries were born, is like a journey from the past to the future for him.

“We feel it is a great honour given by the United Church of Canada to be here with the roots of our Christianity”, Pastor Aki said. They came to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the arrival of Rev John and Charlotte Geddie in Aneityum, Vanuatu in 1848.They also visited Camp - Geddie and Geddie Memorial Church in New London, PEI as part of their tour.

“It is like seeing things come full circle. It was very thrilling to see these men and hear that the Islands are now Christian:’ Mrs Farris commented.

In 1968, the late Alice (Gordon) Green visited Vanuatu for a rededication of the martyr’s church. She brought back memorabilia which is displayed at Gordon Memorial United Church. Mrs Farris has her research papers about their ancestors, who are now very much revered in that corner of the world. A reception held at Gordon Memorial Church after the tour gave people from the community an opportunity to meet Pastors Aki and Urtalo.”

Honest Arizona Saloon Owner Writes in 1906

This is suppose to have been actually printed in the local paper: Appeared in West Prince Graphic July 16,2008, Alan MacRea

Friends and Neighbors:

"I am grateful for past favors, and having supplied my store with a fine line of choice wines and liquors, allow me to inform you that I shall continue to make drunkards, paupers and beggars of the sober, industrious and respectable." Honest Saloon Keeper, Tombstone, Arizona...The Guardian, 10 February 1906.

Frank Statement Issued By Man In Tombstone, Arizona

“Tombstone, Ariz: claims credit for frankest saloon keeper in the United States. He keeps the Temple Bar Saloon, and advertises his business with most surprising frankness. ‘Allow me to inform you that you are fools; he says, yet his place is usually filled. He maintains that he is an honest saloon keeper, and that it will not hurt his business to tell the truth about it.”

“He has had printed an advertising card which would make an excellent manuscript for a temper-
ance lecture. Copies are being circulated through the western states and are attracting much attention. The card reads as follows:”

“Friends and Neighbors:

I am grateful for past favors, and having supplied my store with a fine line of choice wines and liquors, allow me to inform you that I shall continue to make drunkards, paupers and beggars for the sober, industrious, respectable part of the community to support. My liquors will excite riot, robbery and bloodshed.”

“They will diminish your comforts, increase your expenses and shorten your life. I shall confidently recommend them as sure to multiply fatal accidents and incurable diseases. They will deprive some of life, others of reason, many of character, and all of peace. They will make fathers fiends, wives widows, children orphans and all poor.”

“I will train your sons in infidelity, dissipation, ignorance, lewdness and every other vice. I will corrupt the ministers of religion, obstruct the gospel, defile the church, and cause as much temporal and eternal death as I can. I will thus ‘accommodate the public’ it may be at the loss of my never dying soul. But I have a family to support—the business pays—and the public encourages it.”

“I have paid my license and the traffic is lawful; and if I don’t sell it, somebody else will. I known the Bible says:’Thou shalt not kill, no drunkard shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven: and I do not expect the drunkard make to fare any better, but I want an easy living and I have resolved to gather the wages of iniquity and fatten on the ruin of my species’

“I shall, therefore, carry on my business with energy and do my best to diminish the wealth of the nation and endanger the safety of the State. As my business flourishes in proportion to your sensuality and ignorance, I will do my best to prevent moral purity and intellectual growth.”

“Should you doubt my ability I refer you to the pawnshops, the poorhouse, the police court, the hospital, the penitentiary, and the gallows, where you will find many of my best customers have gone. A sight of them will convince that I do what I say Allow me to inform you that you are fools, and that I am an honest saloon keeper.”

Well at least he is honest, Right?

Dare to do the Gap!

Jesus Christ’s passion for the world is so vast that he willingly died to bridge the gap between God and humanity. He is looking for a people like himself, a people who will dare to ‘stand in the gap’...... The Lord Jesus, in his Great Commission to the church, told his followers to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations. Sadly, a Christian believer or Christian church that is not passionately and practically seeking to fulfill the Great Commission is, in effect, neutered because it has lost both the desire and the DNA to reproduce and multiply. We are out of sync with God’s vision if our vision is limited only to the welfare of our family, our church, or our city. These are only platforms for launching out into the world to make disciples of all nations. The Great Commission should be the signature tune of every believer and church. "
(Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader. Rad Zdero, William Carey Library, p19)

Challenge to Live Simply For Missions! Are we too High on the Hog on the mission field?

How far above the people is reasonable?
General Romeo Dallaire, of Canada took his post in Rwanda just before the Genocide there. He remained during the genocide. When offered the fancy perks that “Influential” people get in Africa, as he took his post he wrote;

“…..because of my rank and secondment contract from Canada, Hallqvist seemed to expect me to take advantage of every possible perk and privilege: fancy car, big house, all the little luxuries. I believe a commander does his mission a disservice when he lives high off the hog while his soldiers are eating meagre meals prepared by cooks standing in the pouring rain in temporary kitchens. I think I may have actually shocked Hallqvist when I returned the Mercedes staff car he assigned me in favour of the UN standard four-by-four Land Cruiser and sent Willem de Kant out to rent us a small house, where I intended to house him and myself, and Brent and my personal driver when they arrived. I did not want one of the comfortable residences that so many of the UN staff were acquiring, because it sent a message to the Rwandan people that we put our comfort before their interests, and I couldn’t stomach that. I loved the house that Willem found us: it was on a hill in Kigali and was cosy and clean behind its wall and single metal gate. Each morning I drank tea on the patio, staring out at the view of the city spread below me, and I sometimes struggled to find the resolve to leave that peaceful spot to take up the challenges of the day.

(Shake Hands with the Devil: A Failure of Humanity in Rwanda: LGen Romeo Dallaire, Random House, 2003, pg 107-108)

Self -Supporting National Church Planting Only Needs Members to Give Eggs?

I was privileged to participate in a seminar some time ago in Lomé, Togo. One of those
in attendance from a neighboring country told the following story. He said that the church of which he is a part decided to launch a campaign to evangelize a number of villages in an area that they identified as needing a Gospel witness. They knew the cost would be high, so they drew up a budget. The amount they felt would be required in CFA francs was the equivalent of
US$100,000.

The one telling the story said he felt that was an unrealistic amount for a church of their size, so he told the other leaders that he did not believe such a goal could be reached. However, one of the other leaders suggested that they invite the members to give what they can. They said, “If someone can bring an egg, they should bring it. If they can bring a chicken, they should bring it. If they can bring a cow, they should bring it.” After all, in 2 Corinthians 8:12 the Apostle Paul says the gift should be according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

The effort to raise funds was launched and to the surprise of many, the entire goal of US$100,000 was reached with some to spare. In fact, they had enough over and above the goal to purchase a van for the project! The evangelistic outreach was launched, and when it was completed, thirty- three new congregations were started!

Those who try to justify Western funding for cross-cultural church planting in places such as this most likely do not understand the power of local creativity and local resources. Westerners just don’t think of beginning with an egg. How many times do we as outsiders rationalize that since we have the funds, we are obligated to give regardless of the impact on those we are trying to help. God blessed the efforts of those in this West African country, and they were rewarded with the blessing of a goal accomplished. Consider the harm that is done when local participation is overlooked or even spurned in favor of the outsiders need just to give. And that need to give—on the part of outsiders—is what results in donor-driven missiology, hardly the best kind.

(Glen Schwartz: Can a church Planting Effort Start With and Egg? Mission Frontiers. Nov-December 2007, p27)

Is Christianity Relapsing Globally? Does Our Missions Movement Have Depth?

This article is a needed challenge. I have dealt with syncretism and poor ethics in leaders. I have also dealt with missionaries who indicated "Their" work or church does not have the same problem as mine. I listened politely. However, I also know what leaders knew about actions of "their" national leaders, and I realized these guys where just fooling themselves.
Read this and Let us examine the fruit of our work, and work for more depth.

"Is Christianity Relapsing Globally?
Far worse, is the nightmare of a thought that our vast global, hard-won expansion of Christianity is falling to pieces before our eyes. We always used to think, “Even if things are not going too well in the USA, at least those millions of newly won believers overseas are flourishing in the faith.”

Okay, that is mainly true. They are flourishing. However, there are some disquieting facts that are hard to ignore. Kenya, with over 400 denominations and almost as many Evangelicals as in all of Europe, has exploded before our eyes—into nasty and unprecedented intertribal warfare—despite being 80% Christian, just like the USA.

Nearby, the Central African Republic is considered by some to be one of the more dangerous and corrupt countries of the world. We might say, “Those people need Christianity.”Well, 70% of the country is “Christian” in 59 denominations, with a higher percentage of Evangelicals than any other country in Africa.

In Nagaland, almost 100% of the Nagas are Christian—it is the most Christian state of India. It also is considered the most corrupt. At least there is less head-hunting.

Does this mean we are planting a superficial kind of Christianity all around the world? Are people seeking or accepting our offered Gospel for reasons other than what we have expected?"

(Ralph D. Winter. Editorial Comment, Mission Frontiers, March-April 2008, p 4)

The Need for Self-Supporting National Work

"The first thing I remember about encountering self-reliance thinking happened nearly fifty L years ago when I was a college student. I read a story about missionary work in Vietnam following the Indo-China war. It was about the return of missionaries to Vietnam following the devastation caused by the war. When they saw the ruined pastors’ houses, the missionaries felt compassion and wanted to help rebuild. The local people, however, had other ideas. They asked the missionaries not to help, saying that it was their privilege to rebuild their own pastors’ houses. That was a very small seed sown in my thinking a long time ago.

The second experience that brought this issue to my attention happened when I served as a missionary in Zambia in the 1960s. Several Zambian believers and I were sitting under a grass shelter discussing their desire to start a church in the village. They wanted to know if there would be outside funding available to provide a building. I noticed that they constructed the shelter in which we were sitting using only local material. I also noticed that next to us there was a grocery store made with burnt brick and a metal roof. I asked if the missionaries built the grocery store for them. They were happy to say, “Of course not, we did it ourselves.” A few more seeds were sown in my thinking. That was in 1967—about twenty years before I began to deal in-depth with self-reliance issues..............

............................The fifth thing that influenced my thinking on issues of indigeneity and self-support came from listening to and interacting with hundreds of church leaders and missionaries while traveling in Africa from 1984 to the present. Many times, church leaders or missionaries would say, “Let me tell you my story.” Recently I was in Canada speaking on self-reliance issues. One man in the audience spoke up saying that he had been a missionary in Botswana for twelve years. As he was preparing for his return to Canada, the local churches in Botswana took a collection equal to US$1000 to help him and his family relocate back home. He made a point of saying that some of the churches doing the giving were poor churches. Like others, this missionary learned how humbling it can be to receive from those who give out of their relative poverty."

(My Encounter With Self-Reliance. Glenn Schwartz. Mission Frontiers, May-June 2008, pp 27)