tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190801822024-03-15T18:10:01.891-07:00notes from dave thoughts on life and short-term mission...Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.comBlogger134125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-65296414575249277752023-12-06T09:36:00.000-08:002023-12-06T09:44:54.725-08:00I say Jamás to Hamas!<p><b>I have not posted here in years. But today I feel compelled to share my thoughts. I warn you, the information here is brutal and graphic.</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>************</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">We are now seeing verified reports that members of Hamas, during their invasion of Israel, systematically raped Israeli women. </p><p>But it gets worse. </p><p>On October 7, Hamas men gang raped women. Some women were raped so often and badly that they were left with their pelvis broken. Some women were raped to death. Some were shot while being raped. Then their beaten, tortured bodies were dragged behind trucks and paraded before cheering supporters back in Gaza.</p><p>And it was all filmed on their GoPro's in living HD color.</p><p>As the recent "pause" in combat came to an end and bombing began again in Gaza, we now know why. Hamas refused to release women under 40 years of age, as had been previously negotiated. </p><p>Why?</p><p>Because according to reports, those women, many beaten, battered and some near death from the repeated rapes, would testify visibly to the world of the savagery and brutality of Hamas and their supporters in the greater Palestinian population.</p><p>Sadly we are seeing in the US and around the world an inability to forcefully condemn the actions of Hamas and yes, some of the Palestinian people. </p><p>Make no mistake, the actions of Hamas towards the people of Israel, including the taking of people, including infants and toddlers as hostages are war crimes. Using civilians as human shields are war crimes. Maintaining battle stations in and around hospitals and medical centers to avoid combat, is a war crime.</p><p>Period.</p><p>And every single member of the US Congressional delegation should say so unequivocally.</p><p>Because now is the time to stand with Israel. This is not the time to deal with whatever offenses Israel may have committed against the Palestinian people over the years.</p><p>We can deal with those issues and be critical of Israel once Hamas is defeated And we should. But now is not that time.</p><p><b>Now is the time to simply say Jamás, or in English, Never! To Hamas. </b></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[<b>Disclaimer... </b>the views expressed in <b>"Notes from Dave..." </b>do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Adventures in Life Ministry or and other entities the author(s) may represent.[</span></p>Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-61691786110452565352021-08-31T11:20:00.000-07:002021-08-31T11:20:16.609-07:00Is the Era of US Cross Cultural International Missions Over?<p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Nt7qL4-uis4e_vZ1ZrG4vqXR8kJoiWoCrHaWSnbwWPzal9vQlVpXfEp8GJfkMrR0dmX2CSSPbXaHDHGTcw7RyP-KLPeuhiPEMZSv2ZzlzQi3ZEatZkqkzizaPylpPApJ5gGI/s838/missions.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="838" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Nt7qL4-uis4e_vZ1ZrG4vqXR8kJoiWoCrHaWSnbwWPzal9vQlVpXfEp8GJfkMrR0dmX2CSSPbXaHDHGTcw7RyP-KLPeuhiPEMZSv2ZzlzQi3ZEatZkqkzizaPylpPApJ5gGI/w400-h167/missions.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />On June 6, 1944, the US and her Allies landed at Normandy, France. That invasion, known as Operation Overlord was a combined effort of over 155,000 troops, representing more than ten different countries. Within days, the Allied forces, while suffering thousands of casualties had established several beachheads across France.<span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue";"> </span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">D-Day as it soon came to be known, as important as it was as events unfolded, was even more important when you consider what came to be as a result of those deadly days of fighting. There is wide agreement among historians that the events at Normandy set the stage for the eventual victory of the US forces in the European theater.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">While there was still much fighting to come, the die had been cast in Normandy and and it was just a matter of time before official victory would be declared.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I’ve been thinking a lot about those events the last few weeks. I wonder if General Eisenhower knew as he was overseeing the invasion if that invasion would turn out to be the lynchpin upon which victory turned?</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I’ve also been wondering a lot lately if we are in another of those moments. A moment, as Ken Blue explains it in an essay included in the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement Reader, of the “already and not yet.”</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>I’ve asked myself repeatedly the last few weeks the following questions…</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Is the era of US Cross Cultural International Missions over?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li><li>Has the era of US church’s and denominational involvement in worldwide Christian evangelism effectively ended?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></li><li>Has the country that sent out people like Adoniram Judson, Jim Elliot and William Cameron Townsend decided that it is no longer interested, or able to stay engaged missionally around the globe?</li><li>Are we in Blue’s period of between? That time where we will still see missionaries leaving our shores but in reality, much like the German forces fighting for their homeland after D-Day it will be for naught?</li></ul><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Sadly, I think the answer to the above questions are not just yes, but a resounding yes, yes, yes and yes! </b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>But it’s not just me.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I reached out to a number of colleagues across the spectrum who have years of experience as missionaries, pastors and leaders of mission organizations to get their opinions. And there are not many of them bullish on the ability of the church to effectively mobilize people to be part of calling people into a relationship with Jesus. A few even posited that this closing of an era may be a good thing.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">While some will argue that we were never the great missionary force we believed ourselves to be, numbers don’t lie. Long term numbers for commissioned missionary and their families stayed constant at around 35,000 for years. Pre-pandemic levels of short-term participants went as high as 300,000 participants annually with budgets stretching to over three billion dollars.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">During the pandemic restrictions of the last two years, short-term missions have all but dried up. Many long term missionaries are still on extended home leave, unable to get the needed approvals to serve the countries where they believe God has called them. Others have seen their financial support dry up and as a result have been forced to seek out other work to feed their families.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I do not believe we will ever again see massive numbers of young people piling into vans to head south for their Annual Mission Trip. The call in US churches to “take up your cross” and go to the “ends of the earth” will not be answered as it once was if it is even given.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">US airports will see fewer groups of people traveling in packs with like colored shirts and fewer couples with all of their earthly belongings in a few suitcases heading off to far flung locations for the cause of Jesus.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>How did we get here?</b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It’s a mix of reasons, some within our control, others perhaps not.</p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 12px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Next up I’ll explore some of those reasons and try to point us in a forward direction.</p>Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-69310389138006961702021-05-01T11:27:00.001-07:002021-05-03T10:56:44.255-07:00On Race, and the Differences in Life... <p><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="color: white;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYG89PcNPsm6VdO5BxoZP4dKkwmgUxvtrkTLANYPV59nVhUMzZW5E3KgS_wcYa_CMoMKkfLIYBClfTSGKK7HrazCf_ia34qxBG7ASpJbJuTi8F63lhOdqpGTLXMNSBZgDv_dO-/s1195/Dave+%2526+Chelle.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="673" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYG89PcNPsm6VdO5BxoZP4dKkwmgUxvtrkTLANYPV59nVhUMzZW5E3KgS_wcYa_CMoMKkfLIYBClfTSGKK7HrazCf_ia34qxBG7ASpJbJuTi8F63lhOdqpGTLXMNSBZgDv_dO-/s320/Dave+%2526+Chelle.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: helvetica;">“Dave” he said, “you’ve just lived life differently than most of us here.”</span><p></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: helvetica;">That statement, by one of the guys who has been part of our Men’s Ministry in Oaxaca, has stayed with me since the day I heard it. </span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Because it’s true.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Raised as a middle class kid in suburban Southern California by blue collar working parents, my life changed the day my mom and I walked to the church around the corner from our home. That’s the place where I came to know Jesus, work my first real job, receive my call to ministry and meet my future wife.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">It’s also the only house of worship I’ve ever been to that resembled the words in Revelation. The ones that speak of people from “every tongue, tribe and nation” worshiping God. That’s because in that neighborhood church, where on a regular Sunday we held four services because the place was packed, we counted among our membership Mexican, Chinese, Japanese and African American people among others.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">The different life that my friend recognized started infecting me at a young age.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And so while on some level I knew that when I married Chelle way back in 1979 things were gonna be different, nothing really prepared me for reality. Let me share a little on that…</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I found out it was going to be different when Chelle’s grandmother said I was of the “other persuasion.”</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I found out it was going to be different when my mom’s dad, my grandfather, said I was marrying a “negress.”</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I learned it was going to be different when my dad’s parents, my other grandparents and leaders in their church, disowned me for marrying a black person. And I never heard from them again.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I learned it was different when as young kids on our honeymoon, Chelle and I stepped into a barbecue house in Central California and the place went dead silent. We took our food to go.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I experienced that difference when as I was renting our first apartment in Las Vegas before we were married, the rental manager told me that the blacks lived in the back area, but my place would be upfront. I almost rented the place just to make a mess of his racist policy.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">There was also the time Chelle was accused of stealing our child, because he’s light skinned. And the time I was thankful for that light skin of his when he and I were stopped by sheriffs in Alabama. Because as Joseph later learned, we were in a no go area for black people.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Chelle’s brother is an attorney for the US Government. We were fortunate to have his card with us on the night of Joseph’s graduation from Auburn University. Because that night of celebration, in spite of our having made a reservation weeks in advance, the front desk continually ignored us and seated others, leaving us standing… waiting.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">It took her brother’s business card, the one that said US Justice Department Division of Civil Rights, to get us our table.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I was even once on staff at a church in California when the pastor rented a house from one of church members and had to sign an agreement to never allow a black person inside. The landlord, a longtime member of that church, evicted him when he and his wife adopted their special needs black son.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">I do live my life with people different from me!</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And I am eternally grateful to God for that. But sometimes, like right now, it’s hard. The other night as I was sitting outside Costco with a steamship full of supplies waiting for my wife to bring the car around, I fell apart.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">There I was with tears streaming down my face, overcome by the reality of a guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin case. All of those experiences I shared above, and more came flooding back to me. Experiences that no one should ever have to endure.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And then it got worse, because I knew that absent a nine minute recording of a man’s life being ended, few would have believed what had happened. Just like when I share my experiences, people ask me if I’m sure I’m not misinterpreting something. Or making it up.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">In the US, it seems like we are sitting on a knife’s edge. I don’t know how we get past this place but I do know this… unless we stop, listen and believe the stories of those different from us, and live life differently from those who aren’t following Jesus, we’re never going to see that…</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">“great multitude that no one could count, from every tongue, tribe and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb… worshipping God.”</span></i></b></p><p class="p4" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 13px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><b><i></i></b><br /></span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">And I think that would break God’s heart.</span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="background-color: black; color: red;">****************************************************</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Read More... from the "other persuasion."</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Color-Compromise-American-Churchs-Complicity-ebook/dp/B07BB6R827" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Color of Compromise</span></a></i><span style="color: white;">, </span></b><span style="color: white;">by Jemar Tisby. Well researched and difficult to read if you are an evangelical. But invaluable if you want to understand a lot of the issues facing America and the evangelical world as it relates to reconciliation.</span></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tears-We-Cannot-Stop-America-ebook/dp/B01KFX66SQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=304G8IRVULKF&dchild=1&keywords=tears+we+cannot+stop&qid=1619892936&s=digital-text&sprefix=tears+we+%2Cdigital-text%2C224&sr=1-1" style="background-color: black;" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Tears We Cannot Stop</span></a><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">,</span></i></b><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> by Michael Eric Dyson. Dyson is a father, professor and pastor. This book, which he calls A Sermon to White America reads quickly, despite it's difficult title.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: black;"><b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Light-World-See-Thousand-Words-ebook/dp/B08KHVJT4V/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2N3VGN2IETWRA&dchild=1&keywords=light+for+the+world+to+see&qid=1619892983&s=digital-text&sprefix=light+for+the+world+to+see%2Cdigital-text%2C219&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Light for the World to See</span></a></i></b><span style="color: white;">, by Kwame Alexander. Poetry on the issue of race, and hope in America... in 1000 words. You'll be challenged to stop, think and reflect deeply. </span></span><span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/24/935504543/kwame-alexander-offers-new-poems-on-race-and-hope-as-psalms-and-balms-for-the-so" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Follow this link</b></span></a></span><span style="color: white;"> to the whys behind this book and hear Alexander read part of it. </span></p>Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-45782297965658159562021-04-13T11:45:00.000-07:002021-04-13T11:45:29.933-07:00The Least of These...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHgvavCpGsWdX-5EwimD97xIol8oHB3IcqT0NudCJViT5vB60G9OOyJoUNT7ncxHIGzCi6u0XDfy0Q3ndr7fdkoG5AuNKSzlZjytshGLUIxwnAVQapRBCMe_Mbxe2XrHNNmpZ/s1200/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHgvavCpGsWdX-5EwimD97xIol8oHB3IcqT0NudCJViT5vB60G9OOyJoUNT7ncxHIGzCi6u0XDfy0Q3ndr7fdkoG5AuNKSzlZjytshGLUIxwnAVQapRBCMe_Mbxe2XrHNNmpZ/s320/unnamed.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As I walked across the plaza in Guadalajara towards where I get my morning coffee, I saw him in the distance. Walking around, shirtless, in his bare feet.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We’ve all seen him before. Even you.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That guy. The guy who smells. Who just looks so… unkempt. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Homeless. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He’s the guy who sees you even before you realize he exists. The guy who when you get close, asks for money, help, or something else you aren’t prepared, or don’t want to offer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For many of us, guys like that, and increasingly women too, are the least of these.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We see them all the time, as I did that morning. And if you’re like me, even before you get close you are thinking of a strategy… of avoidance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When I saw that guy walking in my direction, I decided to not avoid him but simply to walk directly to where I was headed. As I did, our eyes met and we acknowledged each other. No conversation, no confrontation, no asking for money. Nothing, And in a few short strides I had completely forgotten him as I was drinking my hot latte and thinking about the day ahead of me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Until I got in my Uber to head to Pastor Raul’s church.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That’s when I looked across the street and saw him again. On the edge of the plaza. Kneeling by the rose beds, pulling them close to his face and smelling them. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And then it hit me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>He was human.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Just like me. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And just like me, he too was created in God’s image. With dignity. Worthy of our, or at least, my love.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I was pretty pleased with myself when I first avoided that guy. But now watching him tenderly pull a rose close and consider it, I was crushed by the reality of Jesus’ words…</span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“This is the truth I tell you… in so far as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”</span></i></b></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">My way of walking made sure I would not have to interact with him. Just like when I act like I have a phone call to avoid others like him as I leave department stores or markets during Christmas time back home. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGBPTZyvFW9eLkE3UBn30ZV_OLVg0_yTt5XRlX6F_6CPKck25QXXGYUFKzr9oG2aMNEnG_K8yp24IWTMAbOQud2H1l8ecncuTpH9CkzIlsC7ucROZEGEXjdAmOViPEr3Cm_Gm/s1200/vet+homeless.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFGBPTZyvFW9eLkE3UBn30ZV_OLVg0_yTt5XRlX6F_6CPKck25QXXGYUFKzr9oG2aMNEnG_K8yp24IWTMAbOQud2H1l8ecncuTpH9CkzIlsC7ucROZEGEXjdAmOViPEr3Cm_Gm/s320/vet+homeless.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They stand on street corners with “Help a Veteran” signs. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Depending on where you live, they might be selling bags of oranges to passersby at corners as people wait for the green light. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Or they dot the city landscape with their shopping carts loaded with all of their worldly possessions.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The least of these.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">But it’s easy to dismiss the least of these. Because for some reason, we’ve determined that they are not worthy of our time, our love, our touch, our hearts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And in so doing, our dismissal becomes a rejection of not just the person who’s bothering us, but if we’re honest, his or her humanity too.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Lord, I serve my life on mission. I’ve sacrificed for you, left home, helped build your church and made sure people all across Mexico have an opportunity to hear about and experience your eternal life saving Gospel. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">When have I ever treated you badly, neglected you or rejected you?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You did it that day, Dave, when you decided to ignore that man on the plaza. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That man you later saw considering the lilies of the field.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">That man who is just like you Dave… <b>I created him in my image too!</b></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Think on it...</span></b></p>Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0Las Vegas, NV, USA36.1699412 -115.13982967.8597073638211512 -150.29607959999998 64.480175036178849 -79.9835796tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-19387139674991427122017-09-15T09:54:00.000-07:002017-09-15T09:54:08.506-07:00Oaxaca, Earthquakes and Water... an urgent call to help!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDMTGYdSfc_nEL5vzTIO5bw5fC5E1hiRfD2eLhwcQIzXn8yOLa1BZjBuywFM41SONQ8mXmiB7pylZFy3E-n7T8gdXavfPfPubbGx4QIGgEgMMWFvl-PoPbnoUxkxrsmPtgixB/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25285%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDMTGYdSfc_nEL5vzTIO5bw5fC5E1hiRfD2eLhwcQIzXn8yOLa1BZjBuywFM41SONQ8mXmiB7pylZFy3E-n7T8gdXavfPfPubbGx4QIGgEgMMWFvl-PoPbnoUxkxrsmPtgixB/s200/FullSizeRender+%25285%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Here’s my coffee this morning. I like it in this mug because the shape of it works well if I’m making a latte. I also like what it says… <b>“Life is good.”</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Except today, that’s not true. It’s not true because when your friends are suffering, life can’t be good. And that’s happening right now in Oaxaca.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Saturday, September 9 an 8.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Southern Mexico. Immediately life was changed for thousands of people. Because of ruptured phone lines, lack of power and lack of real news reporting, the devastation was not really known the first few days.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Now the news is getting out, and it is not good. Devastated is the word my friend Pastor Chablé used. He said we need to do something. Anything. Because it’s unbelievable.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The main town affected, Juchitan, lost part of their main hospital, City Hall, an entire hotel and numerous other buildings and houses. But Juchitan is the main city in the area, the one with resources and the money to rebuild… and building codes.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl4A-Og9tmT0VA8jQPGI7wouloALANChF575m61b45JqW4poO0ZlERvLgxI4SiTiFpRA1mhZb-FrKfv2STaUaDpR-jNpmIStteoJ2bZ9F8PJyWyqoMe5C1bNFq0Xfc-Wew_Q8/s1600/Juchitan+Mash.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl4A-Og9tmT0VA8jQPGI7wouloALANChF575m61b45JqW4poO0ZlERvLgxI4SiTiFpRA1mhZb-FrKfv2STaUaDpR-jNpmIStteoJ2bZ9F8PJyWyqoMe5C1bNFq0Xfc-Wew_Q8/s200/Juchitan+Mash.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The rest of the region has seen house after house crumble. Streets and roads are destroyed. Infrastructure is essentially gone in many of the small villages across southern Oaxaca and Chiapas. More than 100 people have died and hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless. And the after shocks, more than 1500, keep coming. Homes continue to fall.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Pastor Chablé and Adventures in Life have identified three villages we believe we can help and make a significant long term impact. Those villages are San Mateo del Mar, Reforma de Pineda and Chicapa de Castro. All three are closer to the coast than Juchitan, which means closer to the epicenter of the quake. Houses across these cities are destroyed. Access to food and clean drinking water has been severely limited because of the quake.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1">As anyone knows, water is life and an inability to get clean water will have life threatening consequences. So here is what I </span><span class="s2">want</span><span class="s1"> need you to help us do. Raise $10,500.00. Right now.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">With that money, each village will get a water purification system that can be gravity fed, or even hook up to city water lines once they are restored. Additionally, we will put 100 personal water filters in and around the parts of the city too far from the main water source.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The cost is $3500.00 per village, $1500.00 for the village system and $2000.00 for the individual filters. Three villages… $10,500.00. We are already almost 50% of the way there! If we raise more than our goal, we will help other villages as we are able. So…</span></span></div>
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<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A gift of $1500.00 will give a village a central water purification system.</b></span></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A gift of $1000.00 will provide 50 individual water filters for one of our three villages.</b></span></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A gift of $100.00 will help us give 4 families clean safe drinking water.</b></span></span></li>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">That’s the ask. You can give through Adventures in Life, and view our IRS 501(c)3 tax exemption letter on our donation page by <a href="http://www.ailministry.org/donate" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>clicking here</b></span></a>.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9Lvmkt7nCxF3ge9k7PtvzaSWFsulB7nEbLFsEs6jrwpCqwf156jSbgxGZATp7RWRoChdlHVL_906kh9DNQHexQkWZG7Tegk0RFHupW2Q8cZq9C1EgA7cZJM2QWaOKqF9hXe7/s1600/EQ+Zone+Oaxaca+J.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="1600" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9Lvmkt7nCxF3ge9k7PtvzaSWFsulB7nEbLFsEs6jrwpCqwf156jSbgxGZATp7RWRoChdlHVL_906kh9DNQHexQkWZG7Tegk0RFHupW2Q8cZq9C1EgA7cZJM2QWaOKqF9hXe7/s400/EQ+Zone+Oaxaca+J.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Map of the affected area. The cities we are helping are marked.</span></b></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">In a few weeks, the world’s focus will turn from the hurricanes and fires here in the US and even the earthquake in Mexico. We have short attention spans. We will return to the political wars and the wait for the next disaster to grab our interest. Harvey, Irma and Oaxaca will fade from our minds. We’re already seeing it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">But what will remain, at least in those three villages, will be a lasting legacy of the love and the outpouring of God’s people to help the least of these in their moment of need. Long after the rescue workers return to their homes and locals are left to clean up the fallen brick walls and try and rebuild their lives, the gift of clean water will remain. Each and everyday.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">And then because of our work on the temporal side of life, we just might gain a chance to have a conversation about the eternal side of life and living water and maybe, just maybe a few folks in Oaxaca will be able to say once again... </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-size: small;"><b>Life is good!</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">To <a href="http://www.ailministry.org/donate" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>give through PayPal click here!</b></span></a> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">To read more and <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/emergency-water-for-oaxaca" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>give through Go Fund Me, click here!</b></span></a> </span></span></div>
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</style>Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-53403913563725443062017-01-05T10:59:00.000-08:002017-01-05T10:59:15.313-08:00A New Reality... Funding the Great Commission through Short-Term Mission <div style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 15px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">This is the final piece detailing what I believe the church needs to do to address chronic funding issues as they relate to ongoing missions work around the globe. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Today I want to offer some real world suggestions for financing the Great Commission work of US churches around the world. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Let’s start with a few realities.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1. Short-term mission [STM] is here to stay. Hundreds of thousands of people serve each year and STM is effectively a billion dollar industry when you factor in not only direct costs like fees and offerings, but travel and lodging.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2. Denominations are cutting back on their historical support of in-country missionaries as they scramble to fund their domestic operations and service churches closer to home base. This is forcing many log term people to have to learn themselves how to raise money to support their ministry and mission.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3. Cross-cultural Great Commission work is hard, takes a huge commitment, and is exceedingly costly. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Case Study 1.</b> Years back, the American Baptist Churches [<a href="http://www.abc-usa.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>ABCUSA</b></span></a>] responded to a series of bad financial decisions by breaking a historic pledge to their in-country missionaries, telling them that they now had to build teams to help raise part of their personal support. Sadly, this was decided not as good missionary policy, which I believe it is, rather, in response to the denomination’s inability to continue funding their global missions force.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Case Study 2.</b> I've had numerous discussions with pastors and leaders who wonder why churches should pay for anything beyond actual expenses when they serve on short term mission overseas. Many see no need for professional help and guidance, often prefer to go it alone, and believe paying host receivers for their time is bad stewardship of the dollars God had entrusted them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Case Study 3.</b> Not too long ago <a href="http://adventures.org/" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Adventures in Missions</span></b></a>, founded by Seth Barnes, had a little survey on their web page. The results showed that cost was the top factor in determining where to serve on short-term mission.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Short-term work, long the bane of career in-country missionaries is a billion dollar growth industry. </b> </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We need only look to the explosion of web sites like <b><span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">gofundme</span></a> </span></b>and <a href="http://www.shorttermmissions.com/?STM=69d58fa9dc14176c53d8c16ecb9576a5" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: red;">shorttermmissions.com</span></b></a> for evidence. In a tangential way, STM even made it into a Jeopardy episode a while back with the answer being “donor fatigue.” It's the feeling you get when you open the mailbox and see support envelopes from every student you’ve ever known. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I believe that the future of our ongoing Great Commission work around the globe is dependent on Short-Term Mission and Ministry [STM]. Without the energy, vitality, youth and direct personal experience from these ministries, we are going to struggle to fund and continue our long-term work.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>So, what should we do?</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>First,</b> long-term missionaries need to reorient their ministries to take advantage of this incredible resource and opportunity to call people to a long-term commitment to cross-cultural missions.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGPq0qiVwjtomcmLNSvLSc8lYxd3rFL2XuejzMEXudciPz4eAXrPwX8ru2xnpSLlQosuGpRiCuGwoHSEwqcCwP3z7-2S6Pmdyk_uj1-4xsEwK6bgsLNMg2P1h1oJONlGo7t5t/s1600/LTM+Quote.001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGPq0qiVwjtomcmLNSvLSc8lYxd3rFL2XuejzMEXudciPz4eAXrPwX8ru2xnpSLlQosuGpRiCuGwoHSEwqcCwP3z7-2S6Pmdyk_uj1-4xsEwK6bgsLNMg2P1h1oJONlGo7t5t/s1600/LTM+Quote.001.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gone are the days when these faithful servants served and lived their lives in isolation from anyone from their home country. With the availability of relatively cheap, and quick air travel to even the most far off locale, folks are going to visit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Simply put, there are people back home who want to visit and serve in other countries alongside knowledgable, God-loving people who are involved in God’s work over there. A long-term missionary in a stable country that is not open to short-term work, is a kingdom liability. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If you are a long-term missionary and are not making use of STM in your ministry, you are robbing yourself and your work of a valuable partner. Worse, you are refusing to develop relationships with the very people most interested in prayerfully and financially supporting your ministry over the long haul.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is ironic that even as denominations like the ABC recognize the necessity of career missionaries building partnerships with potential donors, those missionaries who will benefit from these partnerships still try to keep STM involvement at arms length. </span></span><span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">The very people in country missionaries are casting aside as not worthy of their time and effort, are those that will organize people back home to raise money for their work and causes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">Does the seminary where you teach need a new computer lab? Do you need a financial shot in the arm to jump start a new church plant? Would you like to finally move that long hoped for project from the shelf of dreams to reality? Short-term mission can help you in all of these, and more.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As a career in-country missionary, the short-termer is your friend, not an enemy, or an adversary. He or she, is there in response to a call by God to serve you, your people and your ministry. Make use of them! Encourage them, and maybe one day they will be your biggest supporter, or even the much needed replacement to continue the ministry you spent a lifetime developing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Next,</b> we need to recognize that it takes strong leadership to do effective mission, and that leadership costs money. It takes even more money to sustain long-term mission. If you are choosing your short-term ministry site primarily because it is a cheap option, you need to rethink your priorities.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Talk to anyone who has served long-term in another country and ask them how long it took before they felt like they were beginning to understand the people and culture where they served. It has taken me more than 20 years to finally feel like I have a grasp on “some” aspects of the Mexican culture. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Without a doubt, I made a myriad of mistakes in my early years serving. Thankfully those mistakes were forgiven both by God, and those I harmed. Grace and forgiveness were accorded me from many different quarters in those days.But that grace only came as a result of a years of humble learning and servanthood.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">However, the presence of grace and forgiveness should not be an excuse to not do all we can to ensure effective ministry. Often that means spending the money necessary to do mission and ministry right. The first step in this is partnering with a person or organization that has invested the time necessary to learn and understand not only the church culture, but the larger cultural issues where you are going to serve.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is not bad stewardship to make use of an experienced person, or organization, when you go abroad to serve. In fact, it is exactly the opposite! It is bad stewardship not to use a person who is experienced with the people and the culture you are going to serve. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Church planter and missionary Roberto Guerrero of <a href="http://www.delcaminoconnection.org/" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Del Camino Connection</span></b></a> says that any ministry that thinks they can sustain an effective cross cultural partnership without someone standing between those two cultures is<b> "doomed to fail."</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Churches, groups and individuals need to repent of their cheap gene. In all my years of hosting short-term groups, the strongest partnerships we had were ones where I knew if something came up, the church, or group was prepared to respond. They had raised extra money for their mission, were looking for God’s guidance, often through the missionary they were supporting, and came with a generous spirit and the resources to back that up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is that spirit of giving, and the wisdom to plan for it that leads to my final point.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Double up! </b></span></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://ailministry.blogspot.com/2011/10/supporting-mission-radical-approach-to.html"><b><span style="color: red;">I've proposed this before</span></b></a>, but with every passing day, it’s simpleness continues to gnaw at me. It is an idea first floated by Larry Hovis, Executive Director of the <a href="http://www.cbfnc.org/"><b><span style="color: red;">Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina</span></b></a> a few years back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After figuring out your cost for short-term mission, each and every leader and participant on a team should agree to raise double those fees. Let’s face it, those people on short-term teams have huge networks of friends and family that are not even part of our local faith communities. Those networks, and the people that make them up, are going to be personally vested in making sure little Billy raises the money he needs to be successful.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So let’s put little Billy and his networks to work not just for this mission, but the larger Kingdom need. And when that extra support comes in, give it directly in support of the local missionary with whom Billy is working.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Give to their denomination, their organization, or directly to their mission, but make it clear that the funds are a direct gift to the mission and ministry of the missionary you are serving. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This type of approach will go a long way towards helping our long-term in country missionaries achieve financial stability, fund a vision that often goes unreached for lack of resources and see the value of short term mission.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Imagine the impact this could have on a global scale.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If young people knew they could have financial security on the mission field, they may be more willing to enthusiastically meet the ongoing call for career in-country missionaries.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If those of us in the field knew with certainty that we had the resources available, in many cases, we could move from Christian relief to Christian development. Churches would be planted, workers would be resourced, lives would be changed and God’s Kingdom would grow.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The resources are there. Short-term mission holds great promise for the continued resourcing of vital long-term mission work. It’s proven ability to raise money and potential future missionaries cannot be discounted.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If I could rerun that conversation I had with the pastor who suggested paying host receivers for their time was bad stewardship, here’s what I would say.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bad stewardship on the part of career missionaries, churches, groups and individuals is a failure to leverage this billion dollar industry for the greater good of the Kingdom and financially provide for our ongoing Great Commission work now and for generations to come.</span></span></div>
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[The 1.6 million statistic is from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Faith-Outreach-American-Churches/dp/0520268083" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Robert Wuthnow, author of Boundless Faith,</span></b></a> the Global Outreach of American Churches. The $20,000.00 STM team statistic is from Asher Sargent, long time friend and Mission Pastor at <a href="http://www.colecommunity.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Cole Community Church in Boise Idaho.</b></span></a><br />
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Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-46179448733345100792016-12-14T10:00:00.001-08:002016-12-15T14:16:28.029-08:00The Great Commission and the Role of Short Term Mission<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">No area of funding Great Commission work is as fraught with peril as when we talk about short-term leadership and host receivers, or long-term missionaries. But before we begin, it is necessary to define the terms so we are all on the same page.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When I use the term Host-Receiver, originally coined by Roger Peterson and Wayne Sneed in their book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Maximum-Impact-Short-Term-Mission-Non-Professional/dp/0971125813" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>“Maximum Impact Short-Term Mission"</b></span></a>, I am talking about those cross cultural missionaries living in other countries who serve as hosts and receive short-term teams. Typically you know them as long-term missionaries.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Short-term mission [STM] leadership on the other hand are pastors and professionals whose job it is to facilitate effective short-term work around the globe. In my position as Executive Director of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AdventuresInLife" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Adventures in Life Ministry</span></b></a>, not only do I handle the day to day operation of AIL Ministry, I also spend significant time in the field each year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Others, at organizations like <a href="http://www.deltaministries.com/" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">DELTA Ministries</span></b></a> in Vancouver, WA, where my friend Brian Heerwagen works, spend significant time recruiting, training and preparing short-term teams and individuals for their various types of mission work around the globe.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All of these positions need to filled with quality people who are following God’s call on their lives if we are to have consistently effective cross cultural missions work. I believe that anyone who fills these valuable positions, just like a pastor at a local church, deserves a fair salary.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>And therein, for many, lies part of the problem.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Many of us on the field, and yes I include myself in that group, would serve for free. Few of us see what we do as a job, because deep down inside, we believe God has called and specially equipped us to be where we are. We cannot stop what we do anymore than a pastor can just walk away from the pulpit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But that presents us with some problems as it relates to funding. Let me give you an example.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Friends of mine serve as denominational missionaries in South America. They are asked, actually expected, to function as host receivers for anyone the denomination decides to send their way on short-term mission. Skipping past how they must alter their existing ministry schedule, let’s just deal with the finances related to this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When a team serves with them, they are not allowed to ask that team for additional financial resources beyond what the denomination has predetermined are reasonable expenses. They are expected to work longer hours, because they must also maintain their current ministries, provide additional materials and do it all, to use a business term, essentially at cost.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sadly, their case is not the exception to the rule. I have heard numerous stories of missionaries having to work double time facilitating groups with no extra financial compensation. How many people working in the states would gladly work double shifts for a week with no overtime pay? Yet that is exactly what missionaries are expected to do everyday in the field when STM teams arrive.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Even if those field missionaries are short on raising their financial support, often they are not allowed by their denominations or organizations to appeal directly to the teams the “home office” sends for additional financial support. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Is it any wonder long-term host receivers who deal with short-term teams, teams that often raise an amount equivalent to 50% of the long-term missionaries annual salary, are frustrated?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Long-term missionaries are expected to raise enough money not only to cover their salary and benefits, but their ministry as well and a chunk of change for the office back home. All without asking the very people serving alongside them for additional help! </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As someone who has to raise every dime my ministry spends, I can tell you this is no small feat for people who live a significant portion of their lives in another culture.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>We need to change this equation now. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In my opinion, failure to do so now, and to recognize the financial reality of cross cultural Great Commission work will have a long lasting negative effect not just on our current work around the globe. We can expect a greater difficulty in recruiting and keeping future generations of long term missionaries deployed on the field.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So what should we do?</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First, we need to accept reality. Short-term mission is here to stay! As much as many long-term missionaries might wish it away, that is not going to happen. So instead of complaining that STM siphons off valuable funds from effective long-term work, in country host receivers need to reframe their ministries.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Long-term missionaries need to look for ways short-term teams can empower the people they serve to accomplish their ministry goals. Almost every leader I encounter wants to be effective when they serve short-term. In fact, they are begging to know what to do. So let's tell them! As they are beginning the process of planning their time with you, an effective host receiver needs be honest and let them know how they can support your ministry.</span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One pastor who has served repeatedly with me in Mexico never fails to check all of his ideas by asking me if what he wants to do will actually be beneficial to my ministry. It is his goal he says to make sure that his short-term teams are actually serving the goals of the long term people he is serving.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now for some, this is going to be extremely difficult. Many long term missionaries have never thought of, or have never wanted to work alongside short-term teams. But folks, if short-term mission is not going away, and it isn’t, wouldn’t it be a better strategy to figure out how to use this resource in a way that improves your ministry?</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red;">Here's an example.</span></b><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">My ministry, Adventures in Life is currently working in Oaxaca, Mexico. Our partners in this area had a desire years ago to provide Christian camp experience to kids from some of the poorest indigenous areas in the state. The hope was that by giving children an opportunity to have a great week in the presence of people living out a joyful faith in Jesus, they would begin to have a positive impression of Jesus and Christianity. This positive experience would then open doors for local pastors and leaders to sit and share the Gospel with families and adults in this vastly underreached area. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There was one problem. There were no resources to make this happen, so the dream went unfulfilled. Until we came alongside these leaders, these potential host receivers, and helped make their ministry dream a reality.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now we have regular teams from the US that come as support staff for this camp. They don’t teach at all, as we prefer that to be done by trusted local leadership. But they can wash dishes, sweep floors, clean dorms, play with and love kids. And they bring the financial resources necessary for a successful camping experience.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">AIL Ministry had no plan for this. We never went to our partners and said we’ll do this for you. We simply asked what ministry dreams they had, and we tried to help make them happen, under their leadership.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If you are a long-term missionary serving in some far off land, don't you have long deferred projects that your ministry needs help with? What ministry dreams do you have that are sitting on a shelf because of a lack of resources, both people and financial? Think about this... hard. Because the answer contains the key to continuing to the funding of your ministry and that of future generations.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The second thing we must understand, and this relates directly to my friends in South America, is that cross cultural, ends of the earth ministry is expensive. Sadly, many church leaders, especially when they think about short-term mission, don’t like to hear that. So instead of really thinking about what they are doing, they want to design ministry on the cheap.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Apart from the travel required to get somewhere, there are a myriad of expenses related to hosting a group. Things like lodging, utilities, offerings, transportation and insurance are all part of this. But these are the easy expenses. Every church or group expects to pay these and generally does not struggle with them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Problems arise however when we get to leadership. Churches and groups that want to design ministry on the cheap do not believe they should have to pay for professional leadership. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I’ve been told by group leaders many times that they believe paying for on site field leadership is bad stewardship. I’ve also been told that those of us on the field have been gifted specifically by God to live with less. The implication being that while we might deserve more, we should be content with whatever we get.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: red;">I believe the future of long-term Great Commission work hinges on this...</span> </b></span></span><span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">Unless we can insure that on-field host receivers are fairly compensated and their families adequately cared for financially, we will see a steady downward trend in people following a call to serve overseas.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-size: small;">So, what should we do? That will be the topic of the third and final part of this series.</span></span></div>
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Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-12108057321634770602016-12-07T16:07:00.000-08:002016-12-07T16:07:21.669-08:004 Steps to Effective Support of Non US Based Churches and Pastors <div style="font-family: arial; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGCgjaVUbm2GPZ7GKeBasJnHM9QIMtNoWzIL9Jscz7aOMfg9zOMiE_HJVz4oA2VhiWdaj-qB_vs7XEeGLF9BerpbTo7HGJPX4fupwx-xIYXUzoGBBkcJEoZv8jD8YuuNfwt1GY/s1600/0554H526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGCgjaVUbm2GPZ7GKeBasJnHM9QIMtNoWzIL9Jscz7aOMfg9zOMiE_HJVz4oA2VhiWdaj-qB_vs7XEeGLF9BerpbTo7HGJPX4fupwx-xIYXUzoGBBkcJEoZv8jD8YuuNfwt1GY/s1600/0554H526.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Let's talk about missionary support.</b><br />
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Not the easy type that includes stuff like prayer and encouragement. We’re talking financial. Money. Dough. Greenbacks. Benjamins. Are you getting the picture?</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With many people contemplating year end giving, I wanted to open up the whole discussion of support of both long-term and short-term missions. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With more and more churches and groups opting to send people directly to the field, as opposed to through denominational systems, the time has come for some frank talk on how we can better fund our Great Commission work.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rarely it seems does a day go by without some sort of financial appeal making its way into our mailboxes, be they electronic or that old standby in front of the house or on a post. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But we before we go too far, we need to be honest about something... short-term mission [STM] is here to stay. Any discussion of funding ongoing mission work around the globe that does not deal with this reality cannot seriously address the issues. As such, it forms a central part of my thinking and suggestions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: small;">Here are three areas I believe we need to consider:</span></b></span></div>
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<li style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Direct regular support of national pastors and non US based churches.</span></span></li>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Today, we will deal with in country national pastors their churches, their needs, and our ability to offer financial support. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In my almost 30 years leading and hosting short term teams in Mexico I have been involved with many pastors and leaders across that country. Often these pastors have only one goal in life, to serve God with all of their heart, mind, body, and soul.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The decision to become a pastor in Mexico where I serve, and many other emerging countries around the world, is a decision to struggle financially. It can also be a decision to leave behind family and friends, and lead a life under constant examination by others.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: small;">Let’s look at the financial side of this and the impact of short-term mission. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here’s a picture of what being a church leader or pastor that might look like in another country. You decide whether it rings true to you or not.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A perspective pastor begins by sharing the Gospel to his family, friends, and people who live nearby. Soon he has a small group of 10 – 15 people gathering weekly for a time of worship and bible study. As the weeks go by, this newly organized group continues to grow and quickly multiplies to between 20 – 30 adults.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Through various means, a US church connects through short-term ministry and the two leadership teams dream about future ministry. At some point during the relationship, the US church expresses a desire to help support this fledgling ministry.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When the US group returns home, their leadership makes the case to the home church family that there is a vital Kingdom interest in helping this new church and their pastor financially.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Up to this point, every thing is good. However, this is where many US churches, all with good intentions, go off track. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>Because with big hearts, we respond without any guidelines.</b> </span>Guidelines that can make the difference between just throwing money at a problem, and being part of the solution to a very real issue.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here are some guidelines that I believe can make a difference for you, your church or mission board, and that national church, or pastor you want to support.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">1. Be generous.</span></b> Give enough to make a difference. If your objective is to support a pastor or a church, make sure what you give can do the job. Often a US church decides on a token gift of $100.00 a month, without regard to whether this amount will actually be a help, or a hindrance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Let me explain. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A gift that only does part of the job leaves the church, and the pastor, in a place of constant need. With scant resources, it is nearly impossible to stay afloat. This leaves the pastor, or ministry without a real ability to move ahead. This leads to the frequent letters or e-mails sharing about a new urgent need. When you don’t make enough money to care for your family, or pay your bills, there are always new urgent needs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Support and all its synonyms, words like undergird, bear, carry and hold up suggest something much more. Perhaps a gift of $500.00 a month is a more realistic amount in light of local living expenses and church expectations. Think about that for a moment.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Would you spend $500.00 a month on a ministry in your own church if you knew that ministry would be serving between 20 – 30 people each week, many of them new believers? If the answer is yes, why not a Kingdom ministry elsewhere that also is making that kind of difference? The bottom line for me is this... if your desire is to support a local church, ministry or pastor, give enough to do the job.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then whatever amount you can give, you will feel better about it if… </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">2. You only give money to an established church.</span></b> By established, I mean a church with a leadership team that makes the decisions, a level even a small mission church can reach. This ensures that there is accountability within the local body and that the members of the local church body you are supporting are aware of all outside support of the local ministry. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A corollary within this, to protect both the pastor and his family from charges of abusing his position for financial gain, is that the treasurer of the church should not be related to the pastor or his family. Now this can be a big hurdle in small churches, but you should hold firm on this, as it helps ensure accountability.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">3. Do not designate your funds. </span></b>Or, to put it another way, trust local leadership. This can be hard for US churches, but I believe it is vitally important. Let the local church leadership make the decision on where to spend the money. As people who are there 365 days a year, they know, better than us, where the needs are greatest. </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Years ago I was helping a church in Ensenada build their worship center. A church that was not serving through Adventures in Life came to do some work. They had explained to their home congregation that they were going to pour a floor, even though at that point in the construction, we did not need a floor.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I tried as hard as I could to explain to them that it would be better to not pour the floor and allow us to use the funds as local leadership saw fit on another part of the project. They politely explained that their church had given money for a floor, not some other part of the church we were building and it would be dishonest and deceitful to their people to not use the money for a floor. Even if it that floor was not in the best interest of the local church.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On their last day the leader apologized to me explaining that he needed pictures of his group working on a floor.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If we trust a local church, and her leaders enough to serve along side their ministries, we should trust them enough to make good decisions with the resources God has provided, through us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You will be amazed at what this simple step will do for your ministry partnership.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><b>4. Have a clearly agreed upon exit plan.</b> </span>In the late 1980’s I was involved in a new church plant here is Las Vegas. As a small group there was no way we could support a pastor. So our denomination agreed to support us for a period of five years, with that support declining by 20% each year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That was such a blessing for us. Their support told us they believed in what we were trying to do, but it also told us that at some point, we had to be self supporting.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Open ended outside support of national churches is the kind of support that encourages dependence. It does not lead to stronger church bodies and in fact tells the local members that they themselves do not have to sacrificially support their ongoing ministries.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A clear, agreed upon exit plan will help you avoid hard feelings in the future, and give the local church the time it needs to build a strong financial base.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>Let me give a final note on your exit plan. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There will be times when circumstances change. The global economic downturn of 2008 is a perfect example. That will demand that everyone involved be somewhat flexible. </span></span><span style="font-size: small; letter-spacing: 0px;">But please understand this. Those working on the field, and receiving outside support, have few, if any options to replace a sudden withdrawal of support.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If your church finds it necessary to eliminate, or substantially altar an agreed upon support amount, or plan, I believe you need to give that mission church at least one year notice to avoid a potential catastrophic situation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So there you have it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Four guidelines that can help you become a better steward of the resources God has given you or your church when it comes to direct regular support of national churches and pastors.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Be generous, give to an established church, do not designate your funds, and have an exit plan.</span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Next up... STM Leadership and Host-Receiver Support</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>[This is a reworking of a previous post I wrote last year. It was well read and I thought I would update both this post and the original series... dave]</b></span></div>
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Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-11759165276638667992016-12-01T13:08:00.000-08:002016-12-01T13:08:06.038-08:00Pharmacy Thursday for the AIL Cyber Week Celebration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Each year AIL Ministry facilitates three medical clinics in Oaxaca. We serve the Central Valley, Eloxochitlán in the Sierra Mazateca and Puerto Escondido.<br />
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By far our biggest cost is our pharmacy, known to many as one of the best in all of Oaxaca.<br />
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A<b> tax deductible gift of $500.00</b> helps sponsor our pharmacy and can literally change a life. Imagine not being able to get the medicine you need for your baby or someone else in your family. At our pharmacy, everyone gets the medicine they need, free of cost. This is a huge benefit to some of the poorest people in all of Mexico.<br />
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Please consider how you and your family can help and if you want to be part of Pharmacy Thursday, you can <a href="http://www.ailministry.org/donate" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>give through our website here</b></span></a>, or use the button on the right!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adventures in Life Ministry</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A 501(c)3 non profit organization</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Federal Tax ID 95-4434963 </span></b></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-10812862961057292132016-11-30T08:24:00.001-08:002016-11-30T08:24:26.688-08:00It's Water Wednesday this Cyber Monday WeekThis year Flint, Michigan was caught up in storm of epic proportions as their city water source was switched and every single resident of that city was literally poisoned with lead. City, state and federal agencies are working to fix this self inflicted wound for the people there.<br />
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But imagine contaminated water was just life. That city would not be called Flint, it would be called Mexico.<br />
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We work in some of the poorest areas of Mexico, primarily in the state of Oaxaca. Clean water is a daily problem for people there as many have little or no ability to buy clean drinkable water. Whether it is lack of money, or lack of access, the result is the same.<br />
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Parents and kids are not getting the water they need because they can't. Plain and simple.<br />
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But you can help. <b>A donation of $100.00</b> will give a family in Oaxaca a water filter that will give them a lifetime of clean drinking water. These filters are so good they can literally take water from a local river, filter it and then drink it.<br />
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Check out this video and then help us celebrate Cyber Week here at Adventures in Life by <a href="http://www.ailministry.org/donate" target="_blank">donating <span style="color: red;"><b>$100.00 here through our website</b></span></a> or by using the donate button on the right!<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Adventures in Life, a 501(c)3 non profit corporation</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Federal Tax ID 95-4434963</span></b></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-62849191709665521892016-11-29T09:33:00.000-08:002016-11-29T09:33:02.560-08:00It's Giving Turkey Tuesday at Adventures in Life <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As part of our focus this Cyber Week, we are giving some specific ways people can support our ministry. Today is Giving Turkey Tuesday at Adventures in Life.<br />
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A gift of $250.00 will get us 12 turkeys that will help feed the kids that come to our camps in Oaxaca each summer. And we are not talking about those puny 15 pound turkeys we have in the stores here in the US.<br />
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We buy our turkeys as babies, feed and take care of them for 4 months and then when it is time for camp, they top out at about 25 kilos. That's over 50 pounds of wonderful non GMO organic turkey. All for just $250.00.<br />
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Here's the <a href="http://www.ailministry.org/donate" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>link to our website</b></span></a>, or hit the donate button to the right, where you can give towards those turkeys, or even become a regular supporter of Adventures in Life Ministry!<br />
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As usual, since Adventures in Life is a US non profit 501(c)3, your donations are tax deductible in accordance with IRS regulations.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Our Federal Tax ID is 95-4434963</b></span></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-30128731807660148012016-11-17T13:36:00.001-08:002016-11-17T13:36:34.992-08:00A Missiological Response to the 2016 US Elections...<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">“Your job is now much more difficult.”</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I was at a national gathering of mission leaders from North America and the speaker was sharing what he was hearing from pastors and leaders across the Middle East after the US led invasion of Iraq. Because of our actions he said, Christians were in for an increase in persecution and the credibility of US missionaries was being called into question.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Why? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Because of the near total approval of the evangelical church for the actions of the Bush Administration in the aftermath of 9/11. The attacks on Afghanistan were understood by many in the world, but the escalation of violence in the Middle East to include Iraq was not. The speaker was not passing judgement on what we were doing. He was simply stating the facts as he understood them from his travels in the field.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Those were hard words for many in that audience to hear back then. </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I’ve thought a lot about those words the last few days as I have reflected on the recent elections here in the US. I hope our job has become <b><i>just</i></b> more difficult. Because more difficult is way better than next to impossible.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The numbers are stunning. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>81% of white evangelical voters</b></span></a> chose Donald Trump. As that sinks in, take a moment to read how Yolanda Pierce put it in her recent <a href="http://religiondispatches.org/watching-81-of-my-white-brothers-and-sisters-vote-for-trump-has-broken-something-in-me/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>article at Religion Dispatches…</b></span></a></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Last week I watched as 81 percent of [voting] white evangelicals and born-again Christians voted for someone who, on tape, mocked a journalist with disabilities, and who, also on tape, lied about mocking that journalist.</span></i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-size: small;">I watched as 81 percent of [voting] white evangelicals and born-again Christians voted for someone who admitted to sexually assaulting women and gleefully affirming that he would face no consequences for doing so.</span></i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-size: small;">I watched as 81 percent of [voting] white evangelicals and born-again Christians dismissed his affairs, adultery, multiple marriages, participation in porn subculture, refusals to release his tax returns, failure to donate to charities to which he promised money, mockery of his own supporters (including their wives and parents), participation in racist lies about President Obama, stereotyping of African Americans, Mexican Americans and Muslims–and still voted for him.</span></i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-size: small;">I watched as 81 percent of [voting] white evangelicals and born-again Christians voted for someone who lies about even the most trivial things.</span></i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-size: small;">I watched as 81 percent of [voting] white evangelicals and born-again Christians voted for someone who in his <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/09/politics/donald-trump-victory-speech/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: red;">acceptance speech</span></b></a> did not mention “God.” Not one time. Not even to thank God for his victory or to suggest that “God bless America.”</span></i></span></blockquote>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">People can disagree with who Pierce chose to support in our election, but about the above facts, there can be no disagreement. </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Sadly, 81% is only part of the story. Younger voters, those under 45, broke overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton. And there in lies my worry that in fact, our job, that of heralding the Good News of Jesus is going to be much more difficult. </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">By and large the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Gen X'ers</b></span></a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Millennials</b></span></a>, and the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/08/24/why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: red;">Nones</span></b></a> are multicultural, multiracial, diverse groups of people who are not as troubled by gay friends and relationships as are their parents. The evangelical church is already struggling to bridge a growing culture gap with these generations. I fear our near monolithic support of Donald Trump in the election past will only exacerbate this trend.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps my biggest concern is in the area of character. For many, it was the one area evangelicals could point to that set us apart. <a href="https://thewayofimprovement.com/2016/06/25/james-dobson-on-the-character-of-the-president-of-the-united-states/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Here’s what</b></span></a> longtime evangelical heavyweight James Dobson, Founder of Focus on the Family wrote on the importance of character in the middle of the Monica Lewinsky scandal during the administration of Bill Clinton…</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-size: small;">…character DOES matter. You can’t run a family, let alone a country, without it. How foolish to believe that a person who lacks honesty and moral integrity is qualified to lead a nation and the world!</span></i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>At any given time, 40 percent of the nation’s children list the President of the United States as the person they most admire. What are they learning from Mr. Clinton [or in this case, Mr. Trump]? What have we taught our boys about respecting women? What have our little girls learned about men? How can we estimate the impact of this scandal [or this election] on future generations?</i> </span></span></blockquote>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">James Dobson was right then and his words are right now. And yet, 81% of white evangelical Christians decided to vote for a man who clearly lacks the values they and Dobson used to believe were central to morality, good character and a strong Christian faith.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I am a missiologist. Here’s what that means… “someone who studies religious (typically Christian) missions and their methods and purposes.” In a practical sense, it means I think a lot about how to reach people for Christ, both here in the US, and in my case, in Mexico.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is my conclusion and fear.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I believe the White Evangelical Christian Church in America has forever tarnished her reputation among the culturally, ethnically diverse people that soon will make up the majority of the American people. </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Our excusal of how Donald Trump ran his campaign, his repeated mocking of people, dismissals of longtime Christian principles and repeated racially insensitive and misogynistic statements has, in the eyes of many, called into question our values and character. How, people have rightly asked, could we support someone so outwardly opposed to the values we expect from our children and believe are central to our faith?</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Simply put, we look like the hypocrites we are, not because we did not support Hillary Clinton in this election, but because we supported Donald Trump.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">And now because of that, I fear our job is now much more difficult. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>**************************************************************************** </b></span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: yellow;">A final note...</span></b> The history of the US is filled with many who despite their personal flaws, have been great leaders. Regardless, historically Christians have understood that we have a responsibility to pray for our leaders, whether we like them or not.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Let's make sure as the Trump team comes into office, that we commit ourselves to pray for him, his administration and our country these next four years. </span></span></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-88698176172826576002016-07-11T22:48:00.001-07:002016-07-12T06:41:39.541-07:00Cultural Awareness... the key to effective mission and connection in todays world<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">You should "Read the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in the other".</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">That quote has been attributed for years to the great German theologian Karl Barth. While the <a href="http://www.ptsem.edu/Library/index.aspx?menu1_id=6907&menu2_id=6904&id=8450" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Barth Center</b></span></a> has been unable to authenticate that he actually said it, the quote lives on in theological mythology, t-shirts and numerous quote books.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Perhaps because authorship does not matter. What matters is the reality of what is being said.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Stop and think about that statement for a moment. We are to have an awareness of what is happening around us. For the sake of the Gospel!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGh7YkVTINy9FesQSOqq2xxXn-8rtRgrZdcay5Siq7t_ZGWnmiXgfYsXeEYxnN_gLp3ktmq0htvv53AylHrDMGAo0CXHbY2CXnBB8hZYeC58BkH2meszAKxULHzNAUTvtEHsr/s1600/Chupacabra_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGh7YkVTINy9FesQSOqq2xxXn-8rtRgrZdcay5Siq7t_ZGWnmiXgfYsXeEYxnN_gLp3ktmq0htvv53AylHrDMGAo0CXHbY2CXnBB8hZYeC58BkH2meszAKxULHzNAUTvtEHsr/s320/Chupacabra_1.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The Mexican Chupacabra</b></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Years ago I was in Baja California talking to a family I'd known for years. They had made me breakfast at their very "rural house." As we talked, Gloria told me a few of their chickens had been killed recently, probably by the Chupacabra. The Chupacabra is a legend in the rural areas of Mexico. It's famous for killing animals, babies and causing all sorts of general mayhem. Think of it as the Mexican version of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The truth of the legend did not, and does not matter. What mattered is that Gloria, and indeed, millions of Mexicans across the country were aware of the Chupacabra. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br />
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Later that week I was walking with another missionary who knew Gloria and who had also served in her village for years. I shared with him her concerns about her missing chickens and that she felt it was the Chupacabra. I expected that we'd be able to share a little laugh together. What ensued has stayed with me to this day.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">That missionary, after spending almost 20 years serving in Mexico, had no idea what the Chupacabra was. He said he tried to keep his focus on God and did not involve himself much with locals events, news or culture.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If I could've sued that missionary for malpractice I would have do so. How is it possible that a person serving a specific group of people for any length of time could be so willfully unaware of the things that animate, or matter, to that community? </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Recently we have faced a significant level of unrest in Oaxaca, primarily as a result of massive ongoing protests from the teachers union in that state. In response to a ton of questions about those protests, I decided to write an article providing some detail and background. You can <a href="https://davemillersmexico.wordpress.com/2016/06/22/getting-schooled-in-oaxaca/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>read it here.</b></span></a></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Thousands of people across the US and Mexico read that article, shared it and commented. But two specific Facebook comments stopped me cold. One said as he shared, "read this article, it is the ABC's of what is going on." I appreciated that a local thought I had a good understanding of the facts. But it was the second comment that really hit me... another person asked how it was possible an outsider like me could understand the issues and culture of Oaxaca as well as I did.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>The answer is simple... it's my job! </b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As a missionary, I need to know and understand the culture where I am serving. It makes me a better communicator of the Gospel and enables me to better love and understand my neighbor. I spend hours on this. Reading, thinking, studying. Because I believe effective mission demands it.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If the church is going to have a prophetic witness in the world today, I believe this approach can not just be relegated to missions work "over there." It must be part of how we act and live everyday in our local worlds too.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Being unaware of the happenings of the day, needing to catch up with happened last week, or choosing to ignore cultural events make us woefully unprepared to effectively communicate the Gospel in a rapidly changing world. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Most of you will never be called to "the ends of the earth." But you are called to be a prophetic witness for Jesus in your local worlds. That means understanding the culture, knowing what is going on and being able to not just see both sides of an issue, but figure how Jesus fits into some difficult situations. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If we really want to change the world around us for Jesus, the words ascribed to Barth are as relevant here in the US today as they are in my missions work in Mexico... </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<b>Read the bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other!</b></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-60330312138449367872016-01-18T10:22:00.003-08:002016-01-21T12:23:00.451-08:00Immigration... Understanding the Divide between Mexico and the United States<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As someone who has served as a missionary in Mexico for over 25 years, there is one thing people from the US always want to ask me about, and no, it’s not water. It’s immigration, and usually it's phrased benignly, like this… “Dave, what are your thoughts on immigration.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This question, perhaps as a result of the coming presidential elections, is not just being asked here in the US. I’m also getting the same question from my south of the border friends. But the question there goes something like this… “¿David, que pienses de Trump?” Or “Dave, what do you think of Trump.”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">For better or worse, Donald Trump has raised the immigration issue to a level not seen in years, both in the US, and in Mexico.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I believe that if you are going to be about Jesus in another country, you owe it to that country to get to know her. For me, that goes well beyond what many feel are the typical ‘missionary” issues, things like food and the local church cultures. For one to thrive in a foreign land, develop the relationships necessary for success, and convince locals you truly love them like God does, requires a strong dose of <a href="http://davidlivermore.com/blog/cq/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">cultural intelligence</span></a>, to use a phrase coined by noted author David Livermore.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCxltoTqXY72t2k70snMf19kHxDS3Olw3FSLwhqPUHoGH0FNw5N09fZsuWGWZPsns8bW7VjG6rphz0rlpytcSf6YQevrAHNrpHOGvHIKxuXluTZY_Vs9dhL8krktXzMBDpomS/s1600/Untitled+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDCxltoTqXY72t2k70snMf19kHxDS3Olw3FSLwhqPUHoGH0FNw5N09fZsuWGWZPsns8bW7VjG6rphz0rlpytcSf6YQevrAHNrpHOGvHIKxuXluTZY_Vs9dhL8krktXzMBDpomS/s400/Untitled+%25281%2529.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">I’ve thought a lot about this issue over the years. I’ve been an employer in numerous jobs, responsible for hiring thousands of people both here in Nevada and in Southern California. I’ve had to deal with I-9’s both as a boss, and as an employee myself. I’ve worked alongside and yes, have hired illegal workers from around the world. And I’ve had both good and bad employees from both sides of that issue.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">While my Spanish is not perfect, and I doubt it ever will be as I came to the language late in life, I can sit and have the conversation with the two major sides of this issue fairly competently in both languages. This includes both my hard right and my lefty lib friends in the US and business owners and poor indigenous farmers in Mexico, and everyone between. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">In short, over the years I’ve built enough of a rebel image, that people from all sides feel comfortable talking to me and expressing their views, no matter where they stand on immigration.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">My first real conversation about this in Spanish was with a group of college students in Guadalajara almost 20 years ago. We were at a weekend retreat and a few of them decided to ask me about immigration. Truthfully, back then I had no real “side” in the debate, but I could argue. We talked long into the early morning hours. It was, and remains, one of my favorite nights ever in Mexico. I learned so much that night. About immigration yes, but also about how people think, feel and experience life in general in Mexico.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOkdE1t2wGAo1HH8wlnld5MjysW3NJTJU-ij1u40y9A7kBZezGnOB3k7YrDIdCp77Afs8do8f3IFdJ60TexQbBSppycVLddAFKxT7t-XUQUvbBlvz9XRm-SEMCWAnRZQ7A97J5/s1600/Untitled+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOkdE1t2wGAo1HH8wlnld5MjysW3NJTJU-ij1u40y9A7kBZezGnOB3k7YrDIdCp77Afs8do8f3IFdJ60TexQbBSppycVLddAFKxT7t-XUQUvbBlvz9XRm-SEMCWAnRZQ7A97J5/s400/Untitled+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">That was the beginning of understanding the issue of immigration as much more than just a series of laws, fences, walls, and regulations designed to keep people in, or out. It is an issue that divides friends, countries, families, and even churches. Simply put, few issues between our two countries are as emotionally charged as immigration. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Like all difficult issues, workable solutions are not going to be easy and no side will, nor should, get everything they want. Simply imposing one sided solutions from the US, no matter how good that might make us feel, will not get to the root of, or solve the problem. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">Conversely, Mexico cannot escape the fact that they have a role to play in this ongoing drama. It is the responsibility of government to care for her citizens, within her own borders. While the US is guilty of sometimes being a rotten big brother, the Mexican government has at times acted like a petulant adolescent and struggles to take responsibility for their own actions related to immigration, even as they are currently deporting more illegal immigrants than does the US.<sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></sup></span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Any solution is going to be difficult and costly. To be effective, it will involve political sacrifice, from the heights of the Mexican government, to the most seemingly insignificant US Congressman. On the line here are billions of dollars, years of political grandstanding, national pride, jobs, and of course, peoples lives.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">We should also acknowledge that while many in the US are fixated on Mexico as it relates to immigration, a large percentage, 48%, of those who come to the US illegally are from countries other than Mexico.<sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></sup></span><span class="s2"><sup></sup></span><span class="s1"> Additionally, new research shows rather than allegedly sneaking in, the largest group of people in the US illegally enter under the full authority of the US Government, on approved VISAS, and then, overstay their welcome. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.<sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></sup> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Of the more than 11 million immigrants here illegally in 2014, over 5 million are from countries other than Mexico. This means that even if we secure our southern border completely, no small feat, we will still have a significant amount of illegal immigration to our country.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Where do we start? First is education. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Before you can have a solution, you have to understand the problem. I’ve laid out a few facts above as they relate to Mexico, but there is more. Here are a few questions I typically hear from folks in the US.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Why can’t Mexicans follow the rules like people who come here from other countries?</b> </span></div>
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<span class="s1">This is a fair question, if there were in fact rules. The premise is also false, as the facts show. The difference between 48% and 52% is so small that in reality, people from other countries are no more likely to follow the rules than our neighbors to the south. To put it bluntly, you are just as likely to run into a person here illegally from Germany or China as you are Mexico.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">But the problem runs deeper. Literally, for Mexicans there are few hard and fast rules, other than you cannot cross the border without permission. For someone trying to visit, or immigrate to the US from Mexico the process can be cumbersome, slow, and costly. If you desire to come for a visit, add arbitrary to the list. Our government routinely denies tourist VISAS without ever providing a reason why, after the applicant has seemingly met all the requirements listed on the appropriate web sites and has paid his or her fees. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">I call this “hunch or feeling based” judgement. And while we all know that at times, yes, hunches can be very accurate, they are not a way for a country to effectively conduct foreign policy. We certainly do not want countries determining how they relate to us based on hunches or feelings. We want, and expect there to be sensible, fair, dispassionate laws to govern those interactions.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">To immigrate to the US, a person must have a passport and then make an appointment with a US Consulate office for a pre-visit, or immigration interview. The cost for that interview can be significant, depending on the number of people in your family. In addition to the “official” costs, there are costs for required medical exams, hotel stays, meals in transit, etc. Add it all up and the cost just for the appointment process can run into the thousands of dollars. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">All of that must be paid in advance, with no guarantee of your approval, sort of like a lottery. Imagine saving for years, paying all of your fees and then being told no.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Let me put that in perspective for you. For a family of four, that cost could easily reach $5000.00US when you include everything. That’s about half of the $10,000.00 family GDP in Mexico.</span><span class="s2"><sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">4</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></sup></span><span class="s1">Conversely, with the average US family GDP at $52,000.00, that family of four in the US would have to pay approximately $26,000.00 to have the same burden as a Mexican family.</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>5</sup></span><span class="s1"> How many families here in the US can afford to play in such an expensive lottery, risking half their family income?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">But rules are rules, and I get that. Just understand, that the rules are pretty stacked against the poorest of the poor, the ones who truly need a helping hand to feed their families, those that are sneaking across the border to put a few extra tortillas on the table, ala Jean Valjean in <i>“Les Miserables.”</i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>But Dave, people ask, aren’t illegal immigrants taking jobs from able bodied Americans?</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Again, the answer to this question is multifaceted. I’ve stated that I have hired illegal workers in the past. That was primarily when I was in the construction industry in Southern California. Here’s a simple truth I encountered. Without this workforce, construction in So Cal and many other areas would grind to a halt.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Builders have to make a profit, or else they will not build. There is always a maximum amount a builder/developer can afford to spend on production and still make their margin. Contrary to what people may wish to believe, there really are caps on what people will spend on real estate, even in sunny Southern California.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">No builder can pay a salary that makes the house he just built more expensive then the market will bear. The problem is this, hard as it is to hear, and even say… fewer and fewer Americans will work at the rate the builder requires to make his profit in the marketplace. A good example of this is the housing market in Southern Nevada. Currently the timeline from start to finish of new home construction is slower than normal and what would be most profitable for a developer. The reason for this? Lack of qualified workers in the construction trades, due partly to a net drop in immigration to the US from Mexico.</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>6</sup></span><span class="s1"> </span><br />
<span class="s1"><br /></span>
<span class="s1">When asked the obvious question, about whether higher pay rates would make up that difference, Keith Lynum, President of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors put it bluntly recently on KNPR, explaining that the increase in wages would drive prices beyond what people would pay.</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>7</sup></span><span class="s1"> Simply put, it is often more profitable to use labor that will work for a wage that some will consider sub-par. Not illegal, but sub-par.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">For years I managed a crew of primarily painters, working for $15.00 an hour, plus the taxes we paid for them. They lived together, pooled resources and saved money for the day they could buy their own homes. Again, many Americans will not work, or live like that. In the Los Angeles area, where simply renting a room in a middle class neighborhood runs upwards of $750.00 a month plus utilities, a job paying roughly $2400.00 a month before taxes will not go very far.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Today, everyone of those guys who worked with me is married, has kids, is legal and just like when they started, contributes to the American economy.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Let’s look at another example, farming. We are told to listen to those in the know, and for agriculture, that means farmers. Overwhelmingly they report that without immigrant labor, much of it illegal, they would be unable to harvest their crops at a reasonable price. Many farmers speak of leaving fields fallow for want of people to process the harvest.</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>8</sup></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Farmers too have a maximum they can pay their help and make a profit. And that maximum resides in our pocketbooks. Most of us already believe we pay far too much for the trip to the grocery store. What if you were told right now you’d have to pay an additional 30% on every piece of fruit or vegetable you bought? Again, the experience of farmers is that most Americans simply will not do the back breaking work necessary at the rate they believe they can pay, and the market will support, and still make a profit. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">The bottom line is this… America is addicted to cheap labor and that cheap labor primarily comes from the hands of immigrants, legal and illegal. Think our addiction is not true? In 2011 the Texas State Legislature was working to clamp down on the hiring of illegal immigrants. The author of a proposed bill made sure to grant John Q. Public an exemption from fines and potential jail time for personally hiring illegal workers to work in his private home.</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>9</sup></span><span class="s1"> </span></div>
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<span class="s1">In other words, this Texas legislator was ready to penalize corporations for hiring illegal immigrants and paying them subpar wages, but not someone living down the street, further feeding the addiction.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Be it farming, construction, gardening at your house, or even the twice a month cleaning lady, we simply talk a better game than we are willing to realistically face, especially if the issue hits us squarely in our pocketbooks. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Why can’t they just work in their own country? Why do they have to come here?</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">To be sure, the short answer is a lack of good paying jobs in many parts of Mexico. But let’s look a little at how that came about. Years ago many men worked in the corn industry of Mexico. But US subsidies paid to our farmers soon radically changed that market, making it almost impossible for Mexican farmers to compete in the world market. Now with the planting of GMO corn imminent in the birthplace of corn, we can expect even more problems.</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>10</sup></span></div>
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<span class="s1">I’ve written more on this specific issue both <a href="http://adventurenotes.blogspot.com/2011/08/story-about-corn-mexico-and-arturo.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a> and <a href="http://adventurenotes.blogspot.com/2010/06/maiz-corn-and-immigration.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>, exploring the link between US practices as they relate to both the corn and sugar cane industry in Mexico and employment.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Suffice to say, yes, Mexico needs more jobs. But US actions have contributed to the unemployment for which many criticize Mexico. Here’s what Sidney Weintraub, a political economist with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC., had to say about US practices in the agricultural world when they challenged the legality of what the US was doing… “The Mexicans never had a chance because their argument was based on fair play, and the US [argument was based] on law.”</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>11</sup></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Make no mistake, Mexico has employment issues. Too few people are able, despite educational gains, to find real, family supporting jobs. Official estimates run as high as 25% for the “underemployed” rate. In areas where I work, primarily indigenous villages, I think leaders would love to see a 25% rate. Few of the men in these areas have any kind of regular work. As the economy has struggled to recover from the world economic crisis of 2008 we are now seeing the peso getting crushed by the dollar.</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>12</sup></span><span class="s1"> Additionally, the employers, both private and public have been slow to embrace technology, perhaps knowing that will eliminate even more jobs, further exacerbating the situation.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Let me give you an example. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">I went to a papeleria, or a stationary store, recently in Mexico. I was greeted at the door by one worker and directed downstairs to find what I needed. I asked at the counter for poster board. The employee told me they had it and the price. I asked for five sheets and she wrote up a ticket. I then went back upstairs to pay and when I brought back the receipt, the employee directed another employee to get my five sheets.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Wrapping them up as I waited, they were then given to another employee to take them upstairs and confirm again that they had been paid for. I was finally given my poster board but before I could leave, the security guard had to check my receipt one more time. All told, 6 employees were involved in my transaction, valued at less that $5.00.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Technology and a better understanding of how to use workers would have undoubtedly cut down the number of people involved in my transaction. But that would mean fewer workers, and as we have seen across the globe, millions of idle unemployed young people, frustrated at the situation and the powers that be, can lead to social disaster. It’s the idle hands theory.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">At some point, leaders in Mexico will have to address the situation in a real and practical way. Until that happens, we will continue to see the pressures of immigration, both legal and illegal from our southern neighbor. The question is in the interim, what should the US and Mexico do about it?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Many advocate for a simple, unilateral approach. Build a wall, send everyone home and call it good. It is after all, our country. America, love it, or leave it! </span></div>
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<span class="s1">This approach, while appealing to many on the surface simply denies the above realities and will only manage to anger our neighbor to the south, a major US trading partner and a source of serious economic activity in the US.</span><span class="s2" style="font-size: xx-small;"><sup>13</sup></span></div>
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<span class="s1">That does not mean we should stand aside, do nothing, bury our heads in the sand and hope for the best, a charge leveled by many critics of comprehensive immigration reform. I believe we need a system that not only works to limit illegal immigration, but also deals compassionately, fairly and equitably with those who are already here.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I also think that any approach must be grounded in reality, be both operationally and politically workable, and ultimately, be seen as a net positive for all involved. It must also be honest about the 11 million who are already here.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">There is absolutely no way we are going to be sending 11 million people back to their home countries, no matter how much people like Donald Trump, your neighbor or any other presidential candidate wishes it to be so. Strictly speaking, to do so would require an airlift not seen around the world since the days of the Berlin crisis, involving over 22,000 full Boeing 747’s to get everyone home.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">So, what should we do? Or, as the original question asked, what are my thoughts on resolving this difficult issue? </span>I do not have the solution, but I know this. Any solution that does not consider the above thoughts, is going to fail.<br />
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<b>A final note...</b><br />
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The issues related to immigration are very personal to me, because I deeply love many people in both the US and Mexico who hold legitimate views on all sides of this difficult issue. As a missionary in Mexico, I believe it is my role to learn and understand as much as I can about the issues facing the Mexican people in their daily lives.<br />
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Part of that is understanding the politics, culture and history of the people I serve. Part of being effective when working within a short term framework, is putting those realities in context for the mission participants who serve alongside me.<br />
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I'd love to hear your thoughts...<br />
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</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>1. Arce, Mark Stevenson and Alberto. "Mexico Now Deports More Central Americans than the US." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 18 June 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span class="s1">2. </span> "5 Facts about Illegal Immigration in the U.S." <i>Pew Research Center</i>. N.p., 24 July 2015. Web. 04 Sept. 2015. <span class="s2"><a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/24/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s">http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/24/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s</a></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b style="font-size: small;">3. Krikorian, Mark. "On Immigration, Fighting the Last War." National Review Online. N.p., 1 Oct. 2015</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>4. Pineda, Martha. "Home." <i>GAIN Report, Mexico</i>. http://gain.fas.usda.gov/, 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 04 Sept. 2015.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>5. Noss, Amanda. "Household Income." (n.d.): Household Income:2013. U.S. Department of Commerce, Sept. 2014. Web. <span class="s2"><a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/acs/acsbr13-02.pdf">https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/acs/acsbr13-02.pdf</a></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>6. Barrera, Ana Gonzalez. "More Mexicans Leaving Than Coming to the U.S." Pew Research Centers Hispanic Trends Project. N.p., 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>7. "Las Vegas Real Estate Prices Stable As New Homes Come On The Market." Nevada Public Radio. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>8. Tomson, Bill. "Farmers: Trump Terrible for Agriculture." Politico.com, 1 Sept. 2015. Web. </b></span><br />
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<span class="s2"><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/donald-trump-2016-farmers-fear-argriculture-213201"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/donald-trump-2016-farmers-fear-argriculture-213201</b></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>9. Riddle, Debbie. "82(R) HB 1202 - Introduced Version - Bill Text." 82(R) HB 1202 - Introduced Version - Bill Text. Rep. Debbie Riddle, n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2015. <span class="s2"><a href="http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/html/HB01202I.htm">http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/html/HB01202I.htm</a></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>10. Bayless, Rick. "A Sad Day in Mexico." Rick Bayless. N.p., 22 Aug. 2015. Web. 05 Sept. 2015. <a href="http://www.rickbayless.com/a-sad-day-in-mexico"><span class="s2">http://www.rickbayless.com/a-sad-day-in-mexico</span></a>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>11. 24, August. "WTO's Sugar Ruling Leaves Mexico Bitter." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2005. Web. 05 Sept. 2015. <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/24/world/fg-sweets24"><span class="s2">http://articles.latimes.com/2005/aug/24/world/fg-sweets24</span></a>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>12. Irwin, Neil. "How a Rising Dollar Is Creating Trouble for Emerging Economies." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>13. Villareal, M. Angeles. "U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues and Implications." U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications (2015). www.fas.org. Congressional Research Service, 20 Apr. 2015. Web.</b></span></div>
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Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-21680372610067593992015-11-24T10:34:00.002-08:002015-11-24T10:34:59.987-08:00Life, death, prayer and community... we're with you Ernie!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCXEsk64vqPVFajwSIlCjOMdKE4MyK-uj4SVEo-rdKp16w36gO2iffvOSn3XcQQk7i6B23CWDnZnsk9y_NV6YY1sD65S7t6w4RTFZSj_seYbnM-SwW7jnBvMgxRqEX6jDGssD/s1600/ernienjoy2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLCXEsk64vqPVFajwSIlCjOMdKE4MyK-uj4SVEo-rdKp16w36gO2iffvOSn3XcQQk7i6B23CWDnZnsk9y_NV6YY1sD65S7t6w4RTFZSj_seYbnM-SwW7jnBvMgxRqEX6jDGssD/s400/ernienjoy2012.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Ernie, his wife Joy and their daughter Adrienne together in a photo taken by our own Brother Joe... a longtime family friend.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">It was October 1999 and we had just finished a week of ministry with a large group of people in Guadalajara. One of our staff people that week was Ernie Gonzalez, who back in the day, was also an early member of the Board of Directors of Adventures in Life.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Ernie, a Filipino, spoke Spanish and had studied in Oaxaca, so he was perfect for the next leg of our journey. We were heading, for the first time, to that southern state to meet with church leaders about supporting a few of their local ministries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">It wasn’t until we were on the plane that Ernie confessed that he was not as familiar with Oaxaca as I had been led to believe. He was in fact, so unfamiliar that he was not sure he would even be of much help once we landed.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">To make a long story short, in a series of meetings, Ernie was a wonderful translator, helping me, and Adventures in Life, take the first steps to establishing a series of long standing relationship there.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">While another person might have been able to do what Ernie did in a few short days in Oaxaca in 1999, the fact is, God put him there, at my side and all of our ministry there has grown out of those first very important meetings. If you have served with us in Oaxaca, you did so through the work and ministry of Ernie Gonzalez.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Last week, Ernie’s father died.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">I know personally how hard it is to lose a parent close to the holidays. I would like to ask you, as part of the Adventures in Life community to pray this Thanksgiving for Ernie, his wife Joy, & their family in this time of loss.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">The Pueblo de Dios, or Family of God, is built on relationships. Our relationship with Ernie runs deep, connected on many different levels and to many people within the Adventures in Life Ministry community. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Ernie, to you and your family go our deepest sympathies and heartfelt best wishes this holiday season.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-size: large;">Dios le bendiga hermano!</span></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-42986044772389000092015-10-08T10:02:00.002-07:002015-10-08T10:02:48.087-07:00Short Term Mission... Solving the Riddle of Your Return Home<div class="Body">
It<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s been more than three months.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
In that time you<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>ve prayed like never before. Clearly
you understood that God was calling you to join the short-term mission team
your church was sponsoring. As you thought about that, you became convinced
that in order to present yourself holy and pleasing to God, you had to make
some changes in your life, both public and private.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRlfzVKpK6jy6N1XHB_fRfyQo-x5BmEGqxaS5bWp8kAvUg-T5vhLb7AFMB8ASR-piJDsgm6cn69J0odBMo5uZ62_C13ao7vEzfZL5a29LyB5NzW5SWw90y_6cHOZq9Czq0F0L/s1600/facts-about-God.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVRlfzVKpK6jy6N1XHB_fRfyQo-x5BmEGqxaS5bWp8kAvUg-T5vhLb7AFMB8ASR-piJDsgm6cn69J0odBMo5uZ62_C13ao7vEzfZL5a29LyB5NzW5SWw90y_6cHOZq9Czq0F0L/s200/facts-about-God.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="Body">
In addition to prayer, you attended every pre-trip training
meeting and have even been doing a daily bible devotional so you<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>ll
be ready once you get to the field.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Your fundraising went well and you were able to raise over and
above your goal, helping others on the team get over the hump. Once you arrived
on the field, everyday seemed so vital. If you were not sharing Christ directly
with your words, you were serving others in his name, a visible witness to the
loving and transforming character of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Each day seemed to show a new level of the depth of Jesus as you
poured yourself into his mission 24/7. You had never experienced anything like
this in your faith walk before. You were alive in Christ, living each moment
for him. It was challenging, stretching and frightening, all at once.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
And then the dreaded day came<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">…</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;"> </span>the
end of your mission. You found yourself at the airport with the rest of your
team and that<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s when you started to notice it. Looking around, with the
trip in your rearview mirror, the team started to change. Incredibly, before
even getting on the plane, many had already returned home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Instead of the simple cup of tea your hosts made for you each
morning, everyone now needed a Caramel Frappucino from Starbuck<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s.
No one even noticed that most of the drinks at that coffee house cost more than
a days wages of the people you were serving. No longer was the team looking for
ways to build each other up. Making fun of the way people looked as they
traversed the airport was way easier. And a lot more fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9T3LrNbZphRmhSLAw8oOrkRFIsSfDCKdMkSSFhrVSRgZ62GaoUfNQz8xoA6WQsVcBOD8G01R8t4KrsDXNjBvTzKBuPfATDC0yqtF35jqrDCmBVQXI34spqik7ayCq5uTtmBJ/s1600/shower-head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9T3LrNbZphRmhSLAw8oOrkRFIsSfDCKdMkSSFhrVSRgZ62GaoUfNQz8xoA6WQsVcBOD8G01R8t4KrsDXNjBvTzKBuPfATDC0yqtF35jqrDCmBVQXI34spqik7ayCq5uTtmBJ/s400/shower-head.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
When you arrived home the first place you went was to the
bathroom. Your bathroom. You had never dreamed that the simple task of flushing
paper could bring such great joy, but it did. Next was the shower, and gallons
upon gallons of hot steamy water. You weren<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>t aware of it at
the time, but you were washing your mission experience right off of you and
down the drain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
The next day you and the team shared at church. Each team member
brought up a moment when they felt uniquely connected to God and the people you
went to serve. The pastor asked about future plans and most of you said you
were already making plans to return, praying daily for your new friends on the
other side of the globe and sharing Christ more in your home circle of friends.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
And then it was over. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
You went back to school, work, or the challenges of daily life.
The remote control seemed like it was calling your name the moment you walked
in the house. Texts from your friends started filling your phone almost
immediately and when you opened your email for the first time in over a week,
you had almost 800 messages waiting.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: red;"><b style="background-color: black;">"Coming home from your STM without a clear plan in place to consider and apply the lessons of that mission is a recipe for disaster, one countless people and groups serve up every year."</b></span></blockquote>
<br />
Soon not only were you not reading your bible, you weren<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>t
even praying. Life had crowded out your mission, making it indeed a short-term
experience. You felt like a failure, to yourself, your friends and perhaps
most, to God.</div>
<div class="Body">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Relax, you<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>re not alone. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
You<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>re not evil and you are definitely not
a failure. You are like thousands of other people who have gone on short-term
mission. You were incredibly impacted by God, but now back home no one seems to
understand what you went through. You are struggling to keep your mission <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>game
face<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;"> </span>on as you navigate a world that seems designed not to
encourage faith, but to push you everyday into a more self absorbed
individuality apart from God.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
So what should you do? The answer lies not so much in what you
should do, but in what you should have done.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
I<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>ve found in over 25 years of receiving
short-term mission teams that the single most important part of mission prep is
not getting ready for the trip. It<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s getting prepared to come home. If
leaders and participants are not preparing for the reality of reentry and the
impending faith challenges back home, short-term mission participants will
continue to struggle when they come home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
Coming home from your STM without a clear plan in place to
consider and apply the lessons of that mission is a recipe for disaster, one
countless people and groups serve up every year. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
So, what should you do? Here are three simple steps to help you
cement the faith and life lessons you learned on the field. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<b>Set aside time for reflection.</b> This seems so basic, but it
is often overlooked. On mission, every day you were intimately connected to
God, and you also should be when you get home. Pray and spend time doing
nothing except listening to Him, seeking wisdom for your life in light of your
mission experiences. As on the field, make Him a priority.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<b>Don</b><b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>t go it alone.</b> Proverbs 12:15 says
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span>The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to
advice.<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;"> </span>In business we call this taking a partner. Get a trusted
elder, pastor, leader or friend to walk with you on your return. Often they can help
you better navigate the feelings, struggles and difficulties of coming home and
understanding God<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>s will. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<b>Get involved.</b> Find a local ministry where you can serve
others as you did on the field. God does something in us when we serve. We
should do it at home with as much excitement as we do on the field.<br />
<br />
Three simple steps. But they come with a caveat.<br />
<br />
You<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>ve got to plan them ahead of time.
Completely. Set dates, times and appointments with people before you even leave
on mission. Otherwise, you<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span>ll be like so many others when they
return<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">…</span><span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;"> </span>wondering why just a few weeks ago God was so close to you,
but now seems so incredibly distant.</div>
<div class="Body">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-88615347367219171672015-08-06T08:07:00.000-07:002015-08-14T12:40:29.780-07:00A Cross Cultural Covenant... Stopping short term mission team disaster before it strikes! <div class="p1">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbTv05yUFTcuvehbv6-R-4fMTYrs5TSHNWIoJ1md61qnvGNX5LyLDTEW4OKMO8jdLUGMyxddb6jNPaSZ6TbnmQtfRtgwn-uNTfVR-T3XcGGOgWX20XD1ClTRA2E_NZf8_-xDR/s1600/AILmf+Spring2015-2-3-2464x1642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkbTv05yUFTcuvehbv6-R-4fMTYrs5TSHNWIoJ1md61qnvGNX5LyLDTEW4OKMO8jdLUGMyxddb6jNPaSZ6TbnmQtfRtgwn-uNTfVR-T3XcGGOgWX20XD1ClTRA2E_NZf8_-xDR/s320/AILmf+Spring2015-2-3-2464x1642.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rod Fry in Oaxaca with my Men's Ministry last February</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="s1">One of the hardest things for people serving cross-culturally is giving up the comforts of home. That’s true if you go for a week, a month, or years. There is just something about having things your way that causes us to struggle when we are faced with something that changes that reality.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Recently I was in Mexico City with <a href="http://mexicomatters.org/about-us/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Rod Fry</span></a>, a 20-year Missionary there with <a href="http://mexicomatters.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Mexico Matters.</span></a> We work together on a program called missionXchange where people come to Mexico for 6 weeks alongside both our ministries. Rod’s in Mexico City and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AdventuresInLife" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Adventures in Life</span></a> in Oaxaca.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As part of our orientation, we touched on the subject of our “right” to have things as we want them. We included them in a Cross-Cultural Covenant that Rod developed. Everyone who serves with us reads and agrees to follow the covenant their time here in Mexico.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Today I’m going to share part of that Covenant. It has been my experience that if someone going "over there" can get, or understand this, their time serving will be much more effective and rewarding. It can even save your mission and ministry by heading off difficult issues before you ever get on a plane. And, it gives you a basis for resolving the inevitable conflicts that arise when you are in a foreign place.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Thanks Rod for all of your work on this!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Cross Cultural Covenant</b></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We live in world full of rights. Our particular culture is one where we take pride in rights. As a matter of fact, the rights of the individual are constitutional, but as we see the demanding of those individual rights increase, we are seeing the moral fiber of our society decrease. Jesus laid down his rights to the heavens and all his glory to become man and serve, not be served. </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are asking you to consider laying down your rights on this short-term mission. Not to lay them down for better or worse, but to entrust them to Jesus. While many of these rights may seem reasonable, indeed, who can argue about a comfortable bed, on short-term mission, they can become an unnecessary distraction.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Please take the time to search your heart and consider this… are you willing to surrender your rights to God?</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I Give Up My Right To:</b></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A comfortable bed</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Three meals a day on a set schedule</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eating familiar food</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dressing cool and fashionable</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Seeing the results and fruits of my labor</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Control what I do</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Control what others do</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Control the circumstances around me</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have pleasant circumstances around me</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make decisions about all that I am doing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Be offended</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Be successful</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Be understood</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Be heard</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Be right, or correct</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To worry</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I Will Entrust To God</b></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My strength and energy</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My health and hygiene</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My likes and dislikes of food</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My security in him</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His purposes, results and fruit in His time</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My need for the Holy Spirit</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His work in others</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His purposes in making me more Christlike</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The privilege of suffering for His sake</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His sovereign hand on my life</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My deepest needs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My security in His love</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My reputation</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My need for recognition</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My need for His righteousness</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Divine Control</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>If you like what you see and want more info, contact us.</b></span></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-35049365333829898892015-06-12T10:44:00.001-07:002015-08-06T06:42:20.581-07:00Culture and Missions... Don't get caught with your pants down on your mountaintop moment!<h3>
<b>Culture. </b></h3>
<b><br /></b>
<b>noun cul·ture \ˈkəl-chər\ </b><br />
1. The beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time<br />
2. A particular society that has its own beliefs, ways of life, art, etc.<br />
<br />
Few things in long term cross cultural missionary work or service are, or should be as important as culture. The moment we cross a border we are entering into another culture, that essentially has, another culture.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHAiTY7tz5MvGJ1bLIFn3T_6YsROqe7mWypNKFnwRwr2h0yZtwe-XgHk5m25EfvxSQ_YL4pS6L2G6qI_2t65I_8kGC8Rk0Ga8telZDXDo8SO-Bw9HY0aBOM91RmfKSf1qpPyR/s1600/i-XQRkQKx-2474x1649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="culture, mexico, Oaxaca, missions, short-term missions" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHAiTY7tz5MvGJ1bLIFn3T_6YsROqe7mWypNKFnwRwr2h0yZtwe-XgHk5m25EfvxSQ_YL4pS6L2G6qI_2t65I_8kGC8Rk0Ga8telZDXDo8SO-Bw9HY0aBOM91RmfKSf1qpPyR/s400/i-XQRkQKx-2474x1649.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sadly, in my experience in the field, and within personal relationships with hundreds of missionaries [both long and short term] and pastors, the understanding of local cultures and mores takes a back seat to all the other things that are believed to more important.<br />
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Recently a group of tourists in Malaysia was hiking on Mount Kinabalu. One of the members of the group decided to issue a challenge to the others. Who could strip and stay naked the longest on the cold mountain top. Despite pleas from their guide to not do so, the group was soon buck naked on the mountain top. You can <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysian-mountain-stripping-2-canadians-2-others-get-prison-time-served-to-be-deported-1.3110576" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">read about it here.</span></a><br />
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What they didn't understand was that this particular mountain is considered to be sacred ground by many locals. That lead to arrests after an earthquake hit the region, killing 18 other climbers. The people who stripped, the Deputy Chief Minister said, had disrespected the mountain by posing naked, thus causing the earthquake.<br />
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Now, we can argue all day whether or not their nakidity had anything to do with the earthquake, but that misses the point. If the travelers had understood the culture, or had listened to and respected the advice of their guide, they would not have been arrested and facing a host of charges and fines.<br />
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One of the hallmarks of Adventures in Life has always been our desire to learn, and give others the opportunity to learn about the culture of the people they are serving.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1iHGOQ3yCcHbjDHKrBcR9x_HZTSnUM5AQ7wj5aXn7mXo6-9tBhhRGTQuYTxFgsT2h83KpyGcqikPM8OHnBdCeXJJ0FzmuZB-L9CKjhG5GE7RmwIG_38Ikc3OUxClsWR1rzgCV/s1600/i-Z2JpcgH-2438x1625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Short term missions, mission trips, culture, Mexico, Guadalajara" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1iHGOQ3yCcHbjDHKrBcR9x_HZTSnUM5AQ7wj5aXn7mXo6-9tBhhRGTQuYTxFgsT2h83KpyGcqikPM8OHnBdCeXJJ0FzmuZB-L9CKjhG5GE7RmwIG_38Ikc3OUxClsWR1rzgCV/s400/i-Z2JpcgH-2438x1625.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Cathedral of Guadalajara</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Years ago, on our first mission in Guadalajara AIL Ministry Co-founder Grady Martine and I took our team to the Cathedral of Guadalajara. As we toured the cathedral and walked on what for many people from Guadalajara was sacred ground, one of our team members came up to me.<br />
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"Dave" he asked, "why are we wasting time here when we could be outside witnessing and saving these people?"<br />
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That attitude, that any time spent learning about the culture, is time taken away from "real" Gospel work, in my opinion, tells locals that their culture has no value. It is a prideful attitude that hurts, and ultimately builds barriers to the types of relationships we need to share about Jesus.<br />
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Chances are you will not find yourself in a situation like that group of tourists in Malaysia. But a refusal to learn the culture of the people you are called to serve, can render you just as clueless as they were, and negatively impact your Gospel mission.<br />
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When you understand the culture of people you are trying to serve, whether they live across town, or on the other side of the globe, you will be a better witness and ambassador for Jesus.<br />
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Think about it.<br />
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Want more info? Check out the <a href="http://davidlivermore.com/blog/cq/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">resources from Dr. David Livermore</span></a> on Cultural Intelligence, or CG.<br />
<br />Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-27813366478947041412015-06-05T09:03:00.000-07:002015-08-06T06:42:31.351-07:00Mission and Ministry, Just Like a Great Rack of Ribs, is Best When it's Done Slow...<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">If you’re a barbecue lover, you know slow is good.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Few things make your mouth water like a rack of ribs that’s been slow roasted for hours over a low heat. Just the thought of it has me wondering if I can pull something like that off here in Oaxaca, Mexico, where I serve.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The idea that slow cooking was good seemed to really take hold with the masses in the 70’s with the crock pot. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44SDdjJ6mL3dNUnPusGvKfgcQAxFZxuFd1osZR31axr0qEGuIxzRm2t5V2Ad0pk_KdFpS5O8uMHENHtfyPG7m5I4A9rTz3s1DhU_KAuM2ga9IdCLpvqwrYQyqB_kmgRbEM2o1/s1600/il_570xN.321703453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj44SDdjJ6mL3dNUnPusGvKfgcQAxFZxuFd1osZR31axr0qEGuIxzRm2t5V2Ad0pk_KdFpS5O8uMHENHtfyPG7m5I4A9rTz3s1DhU_KAuM2ga9IdCLpvqwrYQyqB_kmgRbEM2o1/s400/il_570xN.321703453.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1">Rival, the number one maker back then was incredibly successful in teaching an entire generation that if you slow cooked your meat in their crock pot, using their recipes, you could have an incredible meal, full of flavor and as tender as can be.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Today you can find entire web sites and blogs dedicated to the art of slow cooking.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It’s too bad it is so difficult to convince people that when it comes to short-term mission [STM], just like barbecue and the crock pot, slow is usually better. Let me explain what I mean.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Years ago AIL Ministry partnered with First Baptist Church in Oaxaca [PIBO] to build a training center in Tlacolula. The plan was to have a dormitory, kitchen, restrooms and use the existing church building as a classroom to train Zapotec leaders from the churches where PIBO was planting missions.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">We started construction in 2005 and in a couple of years we had it mostly finished. Except no one was ready to use it. So it sat, for a couple of years, mostly vacant, except on Sundays when there was a church service there.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Then one day the pastor and his wife asked me if they could live there while pastoring the church. That was one of the quickest answers I’ve ever given. “Of course” I said, “why not?” And soon, with the pastor living there, classes began to be offered to the very group that PIBO had dreamed about, almost 7 years earlier.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Now, more than 10 years after we started construction there, there’s been another change. While classes are still being offered from time to time, the church, under new leadership has started to grow. And grow. The church now has almost 100 people in their community and all the rooms we built for dorms and restrooms are being used on Sundays and during the week by this growing congregation.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bfPQAIO2E1XeCa9pTyeGlkb-ANnYEIfPfwbSQdkCK33sJ8wCKyleBsBH097lJNWk0OExriGtlaYMdlFdFRz6I7UjkFQqMxH22sSvYCg2oScOkAi9AnutaxsER9sqsD_3QKno/s1600/DMX+Blog+Quote+Box+J.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5bfPQAIO2E1XeCa9pTyeGlkb-ANnYEIfPfwbSQdkCK33sJ8wCKyleBsBH097lJNWk0OExriGtlaYMdlFdFRz6I7UjkFQqMxH22sSvYCg2oScOkAi9AnutaxsER9sqsD_3QKno/s400/DMX+Blog+Quote+Box+J.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1">Why is this important? Because there were some who wanted to see that facility used the minute we finished, but that doesn’t always happen in mission. One of the reasons for this can be found in culture. One of the things Americans do well is plan for the future. Other cultures, sometimes not so much. They won’t start planning the next step until everything is ready to go, because they’ve seen many unrealized dreams when funding, or resolve ran out.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It’s not wrong, it’s just different.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">That difference can be very hard for Americans on short-term mission to understand, especially when their hard earned dollars are involved in the financing of projects like this. Understandably, if you’ve given money to a project, you want to see it being used as soon as possible.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">But sometimes, the culture is not ready, even when, like in this case, the building was. Why? Because just like good barbecue, or a great crock pot dinner, the process cannot be rushed. Ministry and mission, especially when you are working in other cultures, takes time. Often, more time than us folks from the states want to admit.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">To get a great rack of ribs, or an incredible stew from a crock pot, you need patience. Sure you can microwave your food, or add some liquid smoke to get that slow cooked barbecue taste, but it won’t be the same. The taste you want just won’t be there.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Simply put, there are no short cuts in mission and ministry, no way to speed up the process. No matter how much money we put into a project, or a mission, when we are crossing borders and working in other cultures, often times the best results come after a long, slow process.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Contrary to our thinking here in the US, over there, where ever there is, just like barbecue and a great crockpot dinner, slow is good! </span></div>
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Think about it.</div>
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Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-35671355797250971352015-05-27T06:42:00.001-07:002015-05-27T06:42:40.422-07:00The Presence of God Defeats a Hopeless Mad Max World!<div class="p1">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3Rv54jKXiIpHsup8Jv0RNlBmskzgBEOypiymdWdPyufG5UgPM5WdC_HXNL9G7B8iWo3NlITDSSjGjyvuMOKAoP4pj5lHrLe84xEijcf-WrC6xoIKX_cFJYaSC8Xbpf3EjWUt/s1600/tumblr_nge90iwiJ31ruqkgko2_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ3Rv54jKXiIpHsup8Jv0RNlBmskzgBEOypiymdWdPyufG5UgPM5WdC_HXNL9G7B8iWo3NlITDSSjGjyvuMOKAoP4pj5lHrLe84xEijcf-WrC6xoIKX_cFJYaSC8Xbpf3EjWUt/s400/tumblr_nge90iwiJ31ruqkgko2_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1">Like about 47 million other folks, I went to the movies Memorial Day weekend. Which means in addition to the movie I wanted to see, I also saw significant portions of movies I'll likely never see. You know what I'm talking about... the previews.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">One of the previews was for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEJnMQG9ev8" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Mad Max Fury Road</b></span></a>. As the trailer played on suddenly the screen filled with the words, WITHOUT HOPE. A few seconds later another message flashed on the screen, WITHOUT MERCY.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The Mad Max movie series, being redone from the Mel Gibson 1979 original is all based on a world gone mad. It is a world where literally there is no hope and no one has, or shows any mercy towards anyone.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Years ago when I went to San Dionesio Ocotepec in Oaxaca for the first time, I sat down with a group of children, all under 12. I asked them about their plans for the future. The answers stunned me. Almost all of them, boys and girls alike had a variation on the theme of going to the Estados Unidos, the United States.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">When I asked them why they would want to leave Oaxaca, they had all sorts of reasons. No work. Too hard to raise a family. Little, or no opportunity to advance in life. And then one of the kids said the words that I'll remember all of my life... "there's no hope here."</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Think about that for awhile. No hope. Or as the movie Mad Max would put it... A WORLD WITHOUT HOPE! How could you live, thrive, or even survive?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">That's a major part of the ministry of Adventures in Life in Oaxaca. Working to bring a holistic emphasis to ministry, we are striving to address not just spiritual hopelessness, but economic hopelessness as well. We are trying to bring hope, and live mercy for today, and eternity.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">One way we are doing this is through our Vocation Camp Week. We are expecting about 40 teenagers this year. They will be studying Photography, Agriculture, Science and Culinary Arts. Each of these disciplines will begin the steps to help the students at camp learn a skill that will enable them to make a real salary in Oaxaca.</span></div>
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Every village needs a photographer. Part of the culture of Mexico revolves around photos of family events, just as it does here. So, if you can shoot, you can work. Our agriculture classes will help people understand better ag practices which will increase crop yields and allow them to better care for their animals, increasing food output. Our science track will hopefully instill in people a love for experimentation and exploration that is so central to entrepreneurship. It may also inspire a few of our kids to become scientists.<span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">Finally, our culinary arts track will be totally hands on giving the kids a chance to develop some of the skills necessary to succeed in one of the high end restaurants prevalent in Oaxaca, the gastronomic capital of Mexico.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Perhaps most exciting about all of this is that it is a ministry of the local church! </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Every person attending our camps will know and understand that the church, and Jesus, stands with them, and wants to be a part of giving them hope, not just for eternity, but for today, tomorrow, next week and beyond!</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The people of the Mad Max world are living in a hopeless, merciless world, a world gone mad. For me, and AIL Ministry, mission is most effective when it is holistic. Because that holistic style gives witness to the mercy and love of Jesus and his power to transform and bring order to our lives. Both for eternity, and for today.</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AdventuresInLife" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;">Learn more about Dave and Adventures in Life Ministry</span></b></a></div>
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Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-87792741713663807032015-05-01T11:23:00.001-07:002015-05-01T11:23:48.632-07:00Long Term Missionaries... is the clock winding down while the church stands by?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="s1">Quick, when was the last time you heard someone in church encourage a young person, or anyone for that matter to consider spending their life as a cross cultural missionary?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I’ll wait.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Okay, time’s up.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It’s been awhile hasn’t it?</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Years ago, that was a call we heard regularly from the pulpits of churches across America, especially on Mission Sundays and in the almost extinct Sunday evening services. The world, we were told, needed people to step up and boldly answer Jesus call to share his love on mission in some far off land.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Africa, Asia, South America… it didn’t matter. Jesus needed us and our spiritual leaders made sure we knew it. But they did more than that, they encouraged us to answer that call, get trained and go. For the sake of the Gospel.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It all seems so quaint now.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">One of the by products of the short-term mission [STM] movement is that it has, in a sense, demystified missions and missionaries. That’s both good, and bad.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Here’s why…</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The good has been our ability to open eyes. Missions is no longer seen as the providence of a few. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Regular, everyday folks are as likely to get on a plane and serve overseas as those who study for years to prepare for professional ministry. There can be no doubt that the cross cultural exposure literally millions of people have as a result of short-term mission is changing the way people view and interact with the world. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">However, our current emphasis on short-term mission, and with it the sugar like rush people get from serving, is giving us a false belief that we truly can share Christ effectively in one week micro ministry bursts.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">We can’t, and in fact, effective short-term mission relies on dedicated long-term missionaries in the field. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">The bad is that the current emphasis on STM in our churches is pushing long-term missionary recruitment to the back burner. Add in the current rage of programming every minute of our weekend services tightly around a specific theme, and we literally have no opportunities to share the need for people to go overseas full time.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Gone are most Mission Sundays, gone are services where missionaries share their stories, gone are the messages calling people to forsake the comforts of home, take up the cross and share about Jesus around the globe.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">In our efforts to identify everyone as a missionary, we have robbed that term of its power to call. No longer is the overseas missionary seen as having potential for an individual or a young couple.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">A few years back I was asked to say a few words at a local denominational missions conference. I was excited when, after I spoke, they announced they were commissioning a new couple to go to field. The new couple was in their mid 60’s. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Now I am not saying people in the 60’s, and beyond cannot be effective. I’ll be there myself soon, but I was saddened that the new couple was not younger. The reality is that the clock is ticking towards retirement for an entire generation of long term in country missionaries and the church does not seem to have a Plan B in place for when those folks return home.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Cross cultural missions work is hard, heroic work. The Kingdom needs new blood in the field. In all of our ministries, be they youth, women’s, men’s or pulpit based, the church needs to once again take up the mantle of recruiting and sending not just short-term teams around the globe, but long term in country missionaries as well.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">What say you?</span></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-51445733628266316702015-04-03T11:10:00.000-07:002015-04-30T13:32:20.847-07:00Holy Saturday... living in the tension between Jesus death on the cross and his resurrection on Sunday morning<div class="p1">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In his book <a href="http://site.paracletepress.com/samples/exc-orthodox-heretic1-20.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>"The Orthodox Heretic: and other impossible tales"</b></span></a> Peter Rollins imagines a story of a group of early followers of Jesus. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BbLNZdXmcHDMWslQSbeQ1NIowmc1kclZjXr5dI0cKL1z5vGRuPSsMrhdop-zDQedMDyNi7I5ks8bkBQ0XeEeCpdR5XkuWtHYnN2chu0nQNrU8UmAzs95Ji0SGM4XS3NQKaCb/s1600/250cef3b-31b3-4a64-aa36-ef3a20a8568d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3BbLNZdXmcHDMWslQSbeQ1NIowmc1kclZjXr5dI0cKL1z5vGRuPSsMrhdop-zDQedMDyNi7I5ks8bkBQ0XeEeCpdR5XkuWtHYnN2chu0nQNrU8UmAzs95Ji0SGM4XS3NQKaCb/s1600/250cef3b-31b3-4a64-aa36-ef3a20a8568d.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Living alongside Jesus, they followed him, learned from him and were trying to order their lives so as to give witness to what they saw in Jesus everyday.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then something happened that changed everything.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jesus was apprehended by the authorities and put on trial. Being found guilty, he was sentenced to death on a cross, where he died.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After Jesus was buried, this little group of followers left the area to try and live out the ideals of Jesus as they had learned from him when he was alive. His death did nothing to change their love for him, or their desire to follow him and his teachings.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Their little community lived in relative peace for over 100 years. Until one day a Christian missionary from Jerusalem found them. As this missionary and some of the leaders of this community were talking, the missionary quickly learned that this community had no idea that while Jesus had died on that cross, he had also risen from the grave.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That evening there was a huge party as the group celebrated that Jesus has won the epic battle against death, and because of that, they would experience life in eternity with him. As the party was going on, the missionary noticed one of the leaders was missing. He soon found him in his tent, on his knees praying, with tears streaming down his face.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He sat with him awhile and finally asked the leader why he was crying. Didn't he understand the importance of Jesus resurrection? What was the matter?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The leader looked at the missionary with his swollen eyes and then he spoke. "For 100 years, my people have followed Jesus unconditionally. We have tried to live as we believe Jesus called us to live, simply because we believed that was his will."</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Now" he said, "I fear my people will live instead for the resurrection."</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What the leader was saying was that his people would no longer live for Jesus, but for themselves. What he was saying was that faith for his people would soon change. Gone would be the focus on Kingdom now, traded in for Kingdom later.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rollins brings us to Holy Saturday, the day between Jesus death on Friday and resurrection on what we celebrate as Easter Sunday. How he asks, might our faith be different if all we knew was Jesus life and his death? What would life look like if we lived it on Saturday, instead of in the light of Sunday.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In essence, he is asking the most pressing of questions. If there was no resurrection, would we even follow Jesus? Would living a life totally devoted to Jesus and his teachings be null and void if the resurrection never happened?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We are forced to look deeply at the motivations for faith, and our decisions to follow Jesus. Do we follow Jesus because what he called us to do was right on Holy Saturday when he was dead in the tomb? Or, did it only become right with the resurrection, on Sunday?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I hate questions like this, because they call into question my motivations for following Jesus. If I am being honest, these are the type of questions I wrestle with everyday. Ask my wife! She will frequently ask me what I am thinking, and out of fear, I'll say "nothing really" because the questions, and the answers scare me.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week as we enter Holy Week, many of us will attend one or more remembrances of the last few days of Jesus' life here on earth. Maybe it will be a Maundy Thursday service that looks back at the Last Supper. Perhaps some will take time Friday to remember the crucifixion. Almost all of us will be celebrate his resurrection on Sunday, and then perhaps we will break bread together, at either a potluck, or with friends at a local restaurant.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But what about Saturday? Do we follow Jesus because he called us? Because he was the son of God, not just in the resurrection, but in his death as well? Or, do we follow him because, as the leader in Rollins' story feared, we want want eternal life? Are we into God and Christianity because of what we can get? </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tough questions during the holiest of weeks for believers. Tougher still when we stop and consider how and what we, as missionaries for Jesus, communicate to others about the central truths and reasons for our faith.</span></span></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-40469373671682990012015-03-02T07:37:00.002-08:002015-04-03T15:41:51.794-07:00Photography as mission... focusing in on building bridges<div class="p1">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizf6h07kY7FncHCZPlTDlFeR0ymjgaISr6g1vi4ilbhRnVgLhCinNSkeN446d77fyqW34Jw1AsEDHgl30DSiw6tD3ld8a2nZFBNjKXyttJMC7suXrDrJzHbsLgGMHrjppfpZLQ/s1600/7108b5a89ce3d6cc0341f876681f8546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizf6h07kY7FncHCZPlTDlFeR0ymjgaISr6g1vi4ilbhRnVgLhCinNSkeN446d77fyqW34Jw1AsEDHgl30DSiw6tD3ld8a2nZFBNjKXyttJMC7suXrDrJzHbsLgGMHrjppfpZLQ/s1600/7108b5a89ce3d6cc0341f876681f8546.jpg" height="320" width="248" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Selfie. </b>(/ˈselfiː/) A self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone. They are usually flattering and made to appear casual. Most selfies are taken with a camera held at arm's length or pointed at a mirror, rather than by using a self-timer.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">They are everywhere. You text them to friends, attach them to emails, and make them your Facebook profile pic. You can post them to Tumblr, pin them on Pinterest, Instagram them to the world and, erase them in a few seconds with Snapchat.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Most of us have so many photos of ourselves and our families we hardly think twice about them. With the advent of the digital age, many people have more photos then they can ever hope to display, let alone organize. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTFCrxmcjvfby8-z_tD-a3KhEZ1RREnmgC3CNOtHTKimSP2m8XNWAGJIF_vVwVwQWZuo0jC7Eeb6fl1C3c5Es65FO5A1GDLJT0Mt08vA45h5NS7U6SpOVJMBf5IV2ixXSc6EN/s1600/Kodak_Instamatic_100_Blitz_offen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPTFCrxmcjvfby8-z_tD-a3KhEZ1RREnmgC3CNOtHTKimSP2m8XNWAGJIF_vVwVwQWZuo0jC7Eeb6fl1C3c5Es65FO5A1GDLJT0Mt08vA45h5NS7U6SpOVJMBf5IV2ixXSc6EN/s1600/Kodak_Instamatic_100_Blitz_offen.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="s1">The days of the Kodak Instamatic Camera with the square flash cube are long gone. And so are photo albums, drive thru film processing from Fotomat, and those classic frames with holes of every size and shape. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VfEJnQFX9s93sOKKJge38hFzf3HqB1Eo-hJ1XyQxdM5neH8_aDCzQ-RiRfj0i2uEhZ-LzUf87njXfa5c2h0v7tpkCW3C165rEjB0bPbfm5rmTtdaUNpj6i1wrF_ws_8WVFj0/s1600/fotomat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2VfEJnQFX9s93sOKKJge38hFzf3HqB1Eo-hJ1XyQxdM5neH8_aDCzQ-RiRfj0i2uEhZ-LzUf87njXfa5c2h0v7tpkCW3C165rEjB0bPbfm5rmTtdaUNpj6i1wrF_ws_8WVFj0/s1600/fotomat1.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1">Today, if you want a picture, you just pull out your phone, snap it, save it, and print it. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">But what if you lived in a place where that new fangled technology had not reached? What if you lived in a place like San Dionesio Ocotepec, Oaxaca?</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfT9kk5q9_lKN_qNOwqCJ5qS8Z9AX2vlXtTobHOL884jcVrMXvv3uBHXQMdQ6N1fzRTEnFuGBIxEQ-soaaFbH9MGIhHaizKM2qRAQziXyTmfCdlfmEivlgYS_hdWjNujIMApd/s1600/Cjoy-3816-2474x1649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfT9kk5q9_lKN_qNOwqCJ5qS8Z9AX2vlXtTobHOL884jcVrMXvv3uBHXQMdQ6N1fzRTEnFuGBIxEQ-soaaFbH9MGIhHaizKM2qRAQziXyTmfCdlfmEivlgYS_hdWjNujIMApd/s1600/Cjoy-3816-2474x1649.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Getting vitals checked at our clinic in San Dionesio Ocotepec, Oaxaca</b></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">I was there recently with my ministry, Adventures in Life, to hold a medical clinic for the people of that largely Zapotec community. Alongside the medical checkups and eye exams, we also offered personal photos to the people of the community.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqgyeYzNWrieEQdeYKGgOOq7JjHLDHKdW-VkEqBiG-pxr8CapYuoOw6wCmSMFK-cNQH69Iw-sXlsAd0CaJJXkTycrI2f94KnZABPsvsLfn84xlUlhSqaembalXHHLeQTKB3PZ/s1600/10974615_921707711192929_1515398975650043983_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqgyeYzNWrieEQdeYKGgOOq7JjHLDHKdW-VkEqBiG-pxr8CapYuoOw6wCmSMFK-cNQH69Iw-sXlsAd0CaJJXkTycrI2f94KnZABPsvsLfn84xlUlhSqaembalXHHLeQTKB3PZ/s1600/10974615_921707711192929_1515398975650043983_o.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Cyndy Smith of Mission Focused climbing to get the perfect shot</b></span></td></tr>
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Using <a href="http://www.mission-focused.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Mission Focused</b></span></a>, a San Diego based non-profit dedicated to using the power of photography for God’s glory, we were able to give many of the people, like this man, of that small pueblo, and others around Oaxaca, the first photos of themselves.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_Fej9_NSyOhO-_bV5Pfs-8JB4KBi1eIiFEvrd489ew9iDNAHciDyA4ODRMp4qJJ2DL1RinVMDYLfAtnavDnuBbYCU6N2D4eugfHZAzzxz9glZByOaBT5U7IFn5lIbYmimp3b/s1600/10981955_681602875283395_1738279146645555375_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM_Fej9_NSyOhO-_bV5Pfs-8JB4KBi1eIiFEvrd489ew9iDNAHciDyA4ODRMp4qJJ2DL1RinVMDYLfAtnavDnuBbYCU6N2D4eugfHZAzzxz9glZByOaBT5U7IFn5lIbYmimp3b/s1600/10981955_681602875283395_1738279146645555375_n.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="s1">Read those words again… <b>the first photos of themselves!</b></span></div>
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<span class="s1">You see, the selfie craze hasn’t quite reached many of the people of San Dionesio. Neither has the ability to quickly, and inexpensively print photos. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">As I think about mission, thoughts of connection are always closely intertwined. How do we, as believers, connect with people who are different from us? What are the ways we can develop bridges into communities to make a kingdom difference?</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEbgFr8w-89B5SAOkKs0o7OR9c9zTDBKirWTzss_ezUonq-QPwFxgYpc2GA7SLFnkYO9zrZVFOF49SCtQ02356X01CHDv4L7ohrRPA2EEJdBdwASmoVQ48WrDgnHcc-MtCzZ6/s1600/5f301209d9cd203a68612902a32bce42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsEbgFr8w-89B5SAOkKs0o7OR9c9zTDBKirWTzss_ezUonq-QPwFxgYpc2GA7SLFnkYO9zrZVFOF49SCtQ02356X01CHDv4L7ohrRPA2EEJdBdwASmoVQ48WrDgnHcc-MtCzZ6/s1600/5f301209d9cd203a68612902a32bce42.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>The ubiquitous Splash Mountain shot, complete with a selfie </b></span></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">One of those ways is through photography. Even if you are that person who hates having your picture taken, I’ll bet you still go check out that candid photo Disneyland takes of you on Splash Mountain. We can’t help ourselves. There is just something about seeing our faces, smiling or not, on an artist’s canvas, or in this case, through the photographer’s lens.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b>Especially, if it is the first time. In. Your. Life!</b></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xusMNdCSHrmRhhKt22xn1_eTA790QuROegOGqkeYKUHAxEqMLxFYwL0I8MJA8066DVWur34lk8_FpNPnk35yglMSTy4Mr0tDWfDQADX4pcJcOf5fdu47icQskfsWDvqxZ5EB/s1600/10393679_681539108623105_397103753840417580_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xusMNdCSHrmRhhKt22xn1_eTA790QuROegOGqkeYKUHAxEqMLxFYwL0I8MJA8066DVWur34lk8_FpNPnk35yglMSTy4Mr0tDWfDQADX4pcJcOf5fdu47icQskfsWDvqxZ5EB/s1600/10393679_681539108623105_397103753840417580_n.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Brother Joe printing out photos in San Dionesio Ocotepec</span></b></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Now imagine if that gift comes from a group of people who love God and are freely giving you that gift. In a world where everything seems to come with strings attached, that idea seems like a relic of a bygone era.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Effective mission, the kind that connects to people for the long hard work of disciple making, takes relationship. It is not accomplished by giving one of Chick’s Tracts to someone you’ve just met. I place great value in the old Young Life saying that you need to “earn the right to be heard” before sharing about the Gospel. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Those pictures Mission Focused took for us? Along with our medical mission, these were the first steps in relationship building for Adventures in Life in San Dionesio Ocotepec. My hope and prayer is that they will serve as a bridge for the local churches with whom we work in that area to challenge people to live for Jesus.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Here are a few of the portraits taken that week by Brother Joe and Cyndy Smith during our week of ministry in Oaxaca. We made sure everyone got a print of the photos we took of them. Check out more of their work on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MISSIONfocusedPhotography?ref=br_tf" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">Mission Focused Facebook</span></a> page...</b></span><br />
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Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-58537486239564312892015-01-27T16:53:00.001-08:002015-03-03T11:56:33.809-08:00Kaycee Kaba... Missionary to Mexico!<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">10 ten years ago, I did not see it coming.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqEiXqOTMO000tI2tav0Nvg6zvT8y_Z8EuYG9JMfZgGV6KtHAoiMr6ge8olYGIZnOVeeGiMUkImFBTCYtNeKT4XE9sYFNZKunZgwG7mzOLb5u-GZtNNfuSke_sR334TKza_tGJ/s1600/i-c9v3CWx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kaycee Kaba, Adventures in Life, Short Term Mission, Mexico" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqEiXqOTMO000tI2tav0Nvg6zvT8y_Z8EuYG9JMfZgGV6KtHAoiMr6ge8olYGIZnOVeeGiMUkImFBTCYtNeKT4XE9sYFNZKunZgwG7mzOLb5u-GZtNNfuSke_sR334TKza_tGJ/s1600/i-c9v3CWx.jpg" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Kaycee, Chelsea, Becca and Jacqee in 2006 in Ensenada</b> </td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The year before, in 2003, I was contacted by a friend and asked if Adventures in Life would be able to host a group of students from the Asian American Christian Fellowship [AACF] at UCLA for a week of mission in Ensenada. Little did I know then how far what my friend Asher Sargent calls the ripple effect would extend.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">That first year with AACF was amazing. They did nothing. Really... nothing. Nothing at all, except reach across cultural lines, and love on people as if they were Jesus himself, which of course for that week, they were. Never before, and never since, had I ever seen a group so able to put their wishes and needs aside, step outside themselves, and serve quite so selflessly.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">It truly cemented the idea I had that mission, and short-term mission [STM] in particular, could be about something more than just building stuff. What I saw that week, and year after year with AACF, was STM being about people and relationship.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">The next year they returned and a young woman named Kaycee was on the team. If I was to look back at that particular team, some of the people who became leaders were obvious. More than a few of that group have gone on to make a significant Kingdom impact around the world.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">But Kaycee was not one who was on my radar. </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">At least not at first. But then, she kept coming back. Year after year she served with me in Ensenada. Then one year she joined our intern program and found herself with us in Oaxaca, hundreds of miles from her little comfort zone of Ensenada. Soon she was leading a team each year to Guadalajara to serve alongside Pastor Raul and our ministry there.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXti8WxFD5S4mH3mgYchj604y1YAQFVQBV39a45Yc_1sgdp3FlZM0XSZ8ML0mIEkdlQrwOTHePfoCMrFwU3uQtNI9kOGc3Gq5qSY1beKaRlqV99RAqxzPG6mzpmDYSD7OFTsD/s1600/i-PHzJSdX.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kaycee Kaba, AIL Ministry, Adventures in Life, Short term Mission" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXti8WxFD5S4mH3mgYchj604y1YAQFVQBV39a45Yc_1sgdp3FlZM0XSZ8ML0mIEkdlQrwOTHePfoCMrFwU3uQtNI9kOGc3Gq5qSY1beKaRlqV99RAqxzPG6mzpmDYSD7OFTsD/s1600/i-PHzJSdX.jpg" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Donde esta Kaycee? Inside the AIL Ministry Scooby Van years ago with her AACF Team</b></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s when I began to wonder if maybe Kaycee would join the ranks of some of those other AACF team members and step even deeper into the mission field. I decided then to began a deeper conversation with her about her future.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">I kept coming back to her, always with my trademarked “hard” questions, finally ending, a couple of years ago, with a “why not?” Why not step out, follow your heart, and Jesus, and serve long-term in Mexico?</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Today, Kaycee joins me on mission Mexico. While she will be working directly with mission partner Rod Fry in Mexico City, Kaycee will also be working alongside AIL Ministry as her schedule and ministry permits.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">10 years ago, Kaycee arrived a little scared, for a week of ministry with folks she still serves to this day in Ensenada. Over the years, she has been stretched and grown into an incredible woman of God with a gigantic heart for the people of Mexico. Now, because of that heart for God and Mexico, and a willingness to listen to His leading, she is stepping out in faith, trusting in a way unimaginable that first year she came with AACF.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzonGpDQG1f0iTiRnaYr66PDmWxExpd92LbQ369BLGQZcWPwnBlAEWQBk9zpG9f6_OEvQQw6p2OfcoHDd0b9jpiHdPwxNL3R4bcmclYNpFKACURA5EeJjMketecu-CYgSfTF3/s1600/TerrySchwartz-1938-2474x1649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dave Miller, Kaycee Kaba, Adventures in Life, Short Term Mission, Mexico" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGzonGpDQG1f0iTiRnaYr66PDmWxExpd92LbQ369BLGQZcWPwnBlAEWQBk9zpG9f6_OEvQQw6p2OfcoHDd0b9jpiHdPwxNL3R4bcmclYNpFKACURA5EeJjMketecu-CYgSfTF3/s1600/TerrySchwartz-1938-2474x1649.jpg" height="266" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>One day Kaycee told me she wanted to eat her way across Mexico... here she is with me, off to a great start!</b></td></tr>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">From a week long short-term mission trip to Ensenada, to Oaxaca, to Guadalajara, and now to Mexico City, Kaycee’s ripple continues to move and have a Kingdom impact.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: large;">Please join me, and the Adventures in Life community, in welcoming Kaycee Kaba to the long-term mission field, and make it part of your mission to pray for her, not just today, but regularly, as she seeks to build the types of relationships in Mexico City that will become bridges to Jesus for a brand new ripple in her life. </span></span></div>
Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19080182.post-44197715991253069702015-01-20T13:58:00.001-08:002015-01-24T11:07:13.191-08:00Eloxochitlán, Oaxaca, a tale of jealously, hate and revenge... all tragically lived out on December 14, 2014<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“They came to kill us!” Those are the words of Elisa Zepeda trying to explain what happened in her village of Eloxochitlán on Sunday, December 14, 2014. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">It’s a story as old as David and Saul. A tale of jealousy, hate and revenge, all lived out in a village high above Oaxaca City in the Sierra Mazateca, known by locals as San Antonio Eloxochitlán.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJViEHf4YVC-WqTypwRZSM2jJYJgf50I5QdbIRwSQ0QTuSr5d-Ch8rYQJOa4PESLaBk6uhjaWbcRg8exlPTrAQ6S1z0EeBp2YtbtOf28wDw3l_rUVqtisscnkPwVF5pCErO3P/s1600/AIL+MF+Oaxaca2014+072+3996-2727x1364.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJViEHf4YVC-WqTypwRZSM2jJYJgf50I5QdbIRwSQ0QTuSr5d-Ch8rYQJOa4PESLaBk6uhjaWbcRg8exlPTrAQ6S1z0EeBp2YtbtOf28wDw3l_rUVqtisscnkPwVF5pCErO3P/s1600/AIL+MF+Oaxaca2014+072+3996-2727x1364.jpg" height="200" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The town center of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón</b></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">December 14, 2014 will stand as their 9/11, the day everything changed. It is the day that a new normal would be ushered in with a hail of gunfire, beatings, attacks with machetes, shovels, rocks and even pieces of rebar. At the end of the day 7 people were incarcerated for their role in a series of attacks that left 2 dead, many wounded, destroyed cars, businesses, homes and lives shattered across the town.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The story goes back years to a young farmer named Acasio Zepeda and his wife Gregoria who lived in San Antonio Eloxochitlán, or as locals simply called it, San Antonio. Located almost directly between Puebla and Oaxaca, San Antonio is a small village without much to recommend it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Hours from any real population center, literally above the clouds, San Antonio is not that much different from hundreds of other small primarily indigenous towns that dot the Mexican landscape. In place of a formal state, or federal government, local law is based on a centuries old tradition known simply as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usos_y_costumbres" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>Usos y Costumbres.</b></span></a> Through this system, most legal matters are handled by town elders, their own elected officials and the people are largely self governing. This was the world, for better or worse, of Acasio Zepeda, father of six boys and one girl. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vvUPUmSSMMs9O495Wn19mXlBQ1-g3z_cHEroQjlh7wKjxbOh2qWzrwGpgrh2lummRNIs38LLAnWQsJASa3QCX12WfTMqeSmSodjMZuD3wfLuEAzYAIoGT8mHtqI_1RuZUuV4/s1600/DMX+2014-4253-2474x1649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence, Dave Miller's Mexico, Elisa Zepeda" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vvUPUmSSMMs9O495Wn19mXlBQ1-g3z_cHEroQjlh7wKjxbOh2qWzrwGpgrh2lummRNIs38LLAnWQsJASa3QCX12WfTMqeSmSodjMZuD3wfLuEAzYAIoGT8mHtqI_1RuZUuV4/s1600/DMX+2014-4253-2474x1649.jpg" height="265" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Elisa Zepeda, roasting locally farmed coffee at her home before it was destroyed</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="s1">Acasio was a farmer, growing mostly coffee, and at times corn, beans and chayote in what essentially is a cloud forest. Farming in the best of conditions is hard work. It is also not a job that generally is not going to make you rich. In the mountainous indigenous areas of Mexico, under local customs, a farmer is usually only able to plant and care for just enough land to feed and care for his family. It requires hard work and long hours. It is often lonely, and many a farmer from San Antonio would end his day of work with a little too much aguardiente, the local “firewater” distilled from fermented sugar cane.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Knowing how hard the work was, Acasio was determined to give his children another option. As each one of them came of age, he gave them a choice. They could stay and work the land, as he and his ancestors had for years, or they could leave San Antonio, choose a career, and study. But there was a caveat. If they left to study, there was no coming home. They were to stay in school and figure out how to make it through.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">That is the path almost all of his children took, including his oldest daughter Eusebia and Manuel, the fourth of his children. Both of them chose to become teachers, not so much because of a calling, but because it was the least expensive career to enter and the family never had much money.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">After graduation, both Manuel and his sister Eusebia returned to San Antonio to find love, and begin their careers as teachers in the town of their youth. Manuel soon fell in love and married Malena Laguna Ceballos of Tenancingo, while Eusebia met and married a man by the name of Jaime Betanzos Fuentes from Eloxochitlán.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Over the years, life in this tiny mountaintop village carried on without much fanfare. Manuel and Eusebia taught in the local schools for many years. However in addition to teaching, like his father, and many of the other men in San Antonio, Manuel became a man enamored with aguardiente. Cheap and powerful, often running to 120 proof, it might have proved to be his undoing. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Then a man named Gaspar Camaal Chablé entered his life. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Fresh out of the <a href="http://www.seminariolacy.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>George Lacy Baptist Seminary</b></span></a> in Oaxaca City, Gaspar, or Pastor Chablé as he is known to many, became a spiritual mentor to Manuel. It dad not take long for Manuel to give up drinking and become a regular member of the small church Gaspar was starting.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It was a friendship that lasts to this day, stretching across almost 20 years.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Over the years, having cast aside his tendency to over imbibe, Manuel became a strong force in the church. His story of how God had saved him from himself and gave him the strength to improve his life became a powerful witness in a town that had known him mostly as a teacher who drank too much.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27_TXCsNDrh5OV1Hoc57NMotMQqic2NbHFdHcIPfVdrKlkNlbPW4BkbLeg-VvzLpciIdlda15Oo8dPpW0za6tr6kETYS1RfjumoF1ULq0YdgSnya1QUBxQEfPlM-BFk7S0Duw/s1600/AIL+MF+Oaxaca2014++117+1038-2474x1649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27_TXCsNDrh5OV1Hoc57NMotMQqic2NbHFdHcIPfVdrKlkNlbPW4BkbLeg-VvzLpciIdlda15Oo8dPpW0za6tr6kETYS1RfjumoF1ULq0YdgSnya1QUBxQEfPlM-BFk7S0Duw/s1600/AIL+MF+Oaxaca2014++117+1038-2474x1649.jpg" height="266" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Manuel Zepeda's trout farm in Eloxochitlán</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="s1">Having taken his last drink, Manuel soon discovered an entrepreneurial spirit deep inside himself. He and Malena sold the home where they had raised their children Manuelito and Elisa, and bought a plot of land on the banks of the Petlapa River. As he built a new house for his family, he also started a small trout farm.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Over the years that trout farm has grown to include nine tanks that when fully utilized, are stocked with almost 500 trout. Trout that his wife prepares in her kitchen and are served to people on the patio restaurant of their house. Trout that go a long way to help feed the townspeople.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Meanwhile, as Manuel and Malena were were expanding their trout farm, Eusebia and her husband Jaime were busy building their own life. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Both families, extremely ambitious, aspired to win the votes, and the love of the people of Eloxochitlán. Manuel eventually won election in 2009 and Jaime in 2013 was elected to the position of assessor. A sort of assistant to the President of the community. But by then, their relationship had been poisoned by a previous election.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Jamie, running for office against his own brother Raul Betanzos Fuentes came up short on the vote count. He went to Manuel, his brother-in-law, and asked him to stand with him against Raul. He believed that between the two of them, they could prevail in a move to contest the election.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Manuel however felt differently. Looking at the vote totals, and the facts, he simply believed that Raul won, fair and square, and that it would be better for Jaime to wait his turn. Feeling betrayed, Jaime was angry and the seeds of anger and jealousy were sown deep.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Over the ensuing years, Jaime was never satisfied with the political leadership of the city, convinced he could always do better. When his brother-in-law Manuel won election in 2009, the stage was set for a full scale confrontation.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Over the next few years, until Jaime finally won election, the two sides of this familial and political divide traded numerous accusations. As is often the case in Oaxacan village politics, both sides have been accused of treason, brutality, murder and corruption. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkB5uPlM6wOUrCCw48MUyEsBo7NjdkkRRjpds35Lsf9zei_eaPzeeze1Uu3gCT8YNpZRdkBMu1taIxAJwRkYCDQP-FIE5o31zLhFbkbl9wir0VuACTwIkfeMcpVZIPtX6_Z3ZE/s1600/DMX+2014+-IMG_4362-2474x1649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkB5uPlM6wOUrCCw48MUyEsBo7NjdkkRRjpds35Lsf9zei_eaPzeeze1Uu3gCT8YNpZRdkBMu1taIxAJwRkYCDQP-FIE5o31zLhFbkbl9wir0VuACTwIkfeMcpVZIPtX6_Z3ZE/s1600/DMX+2014+-IMG_4362-2474x1649.jpg" height="266" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The marketplace of Eloxochitlán, where people gathered to vote. </b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="s1">On Sunday, December 14 the people of Eloxochitlán assembled in the town square to vote for the new mayor, a largely ceremonial position charged with settling property and land disputes. It is a job that requires lots of work, many complaints and little or no pay. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">It was a slightly sunny day, a rare surprise in a place normally dominated by clouds and rain. But the weather was not to be the only rarity on that day. As the people gathered for the noon meeting, a small group, led by Jaime Betanzos, had a much more ambitious agenda.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">He and his small group of leaders wanted to settle a few old scores against his brother-in-law and former President of Eloxochitlán, Manuel Zepeda.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQWCRW827DmeuQoMupMmhBkkWGWrLZcQJ5VrZ5wKd-nrBjh3q9-_qbVYANOhXReMTwL0vni58Sy8Fbw_Mn2tnarV4GjY2m87_JGqJmoDl9SMr2ndQdNIQJ9782o5sEvwA8mkhp/s1600/IMG_6618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence, Dave Miller, Manuel Zepeda" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQWCRW827DmeuQoMupMmhBkkWGWrLZcQJ5VrZ5wKd-nrBjh3q9-_qbVYANOhXReMTwL0vni58Sy8Fbw_Mn2tnarV4GjY2m87_JGqJmoDl9SMr2ndQdNIQJ9782o5sEvwA8mkhp/s1600/IMG_6618.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Dave Miller, Manuel Zepeda and Abisia Camaal, son of Gaspar, in Manuel's house as electricians work to repair damage.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="s1">As the assembly began, word started filtering out to those still arriving that there was a group of hooded men armed with shotguns, machetes, shovels and rebar sticks. Soon there were explosions and shotgun blasts emanating from the city center.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It did not take long for people to scatter, fearing for their lives. The panic was evident on their faces as they ran. All the while, explosions could be heard rolling across the green hills of the city. Soon large clouds of black smoke could be seen rising from the area where the town meeting was to be.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Regardless of the cause, this is what is now known.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Elisa Zepeda, the daughter of Manuel and Malena, was the one the armed group was seeking. Long active in the human rights struggle for the people of Eloxochitlán, she had become a thorn in the side of those currently in power, led primarily by her uncle, Jaime Betanzos, the husband of her father’s sister, Eusebia.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">When it became apparent Elisa was the target, she took refuge behind the house of her friends Gilberto and Noemi, shielded by her uncle Vicente. Hiding in a small closet, they both feared for their lives because the armed mob had, in addition to guns and machetes, molotov cocktails, loaded with gasoline.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AGPAh-m1oVKb6GVi3npcb7dMAdSTLi8UmUrwyVdJ80GTiXdc7Ndg5qjKptLrXFCibuwG4370W-Og_iFm_wIH_y0k2JMtn3mh7Zeaqh4p1B35UtwGetHJYQzH4D277uqNZfln/s1600/IMG_6579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence, Elisa Zepeda" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3AGPAh-m1oVKb6GVi3npcb7dMAdSTLi8UmUrwyVdJ80GTiXdc7Ndg5qjKptLrXFCibuwG4370W-Og_iFm_wIH_y0k2JMtn3mh7Zeaqh4p1B35UtwGetHJYQzH4D277uqNZfln/s1600/IMG_6579.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is the closet where Vicente and Elisa hid.</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="s1">As the group approached, Vicente and Elisa, knowing there were the typical tanks of propane stored in every Mexican home stored nearby, made the decision to abandon their hiding place and make a run for her dad’s house.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Elisa did not make it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">As they ran, she was grabbed by the mob, now numbering in excess of 50 people, and was savagely beaten. The final words of the group, widely reported across Mexico, were “This is where your dreams end asshole. Don’t stick your nose in the town’s business again.” And with these words, they left her to die.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">That’s when the mob turned to destruction.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwM86FS0ilnAlz4zoCaa0kt3rvVcQnekM-EuR66M-x68_NCQH3jpQop16N8gC4ZVMCrPweRXhIbP1PKkXn6ves0DTbMGkN-VkdogpVnAFnC9CM0PdeSMZFm-AnwbskVUVbiSgZ/s1600/IMG_6574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence, Elisa Zepeda" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwM86FS0ilnAlz4zoCaa0kt3rvVcQnekM-EuR66M-x68_NCQH3jpQop16N8gC4ZVMCrPweRXhIbP1PKkXn6ves0DTbMGkN-VkdogpVnAFnC9CM0PdeSMZFm-AnwbskVUVbiSgZ/s1600/IMG_6574.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>This was part of the living room of Gilberto's home.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="s1">Gilberto’s home and restaurant where she sought refuge was quickly engulfed in flames, as was a local grocery store owned by Elisa’s uncle Vicente’s son-in-law, Gamaliel and his wife Dolli. As the home and businesses burned, they turned their attention to the families’ trucks, showering them with gallon sized molotov cocktails. Proceeding across the street, they completely gutted the local cyber cafe, owned and operated by Vicente and his wife Eudoxia and burned it too. This was the cloud of black smoke everyone was seeing. While all the windows of Vicente and Eudoxia’s house were broken by rocks thrown by the mob, mercifully, they chose not to destroy their house.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcb5-f1mc0GuBM83HGcTDx4gSNorOww7_d6AiLSz2WglV6d7RFh8n5vIHZm6mxxJm5y2LJtr8Xb4XlhoK7GYn12hC3RVu36mpV0HxxUo-QTQ1P5VF0F9U1HLueMJtwEqomqSDs/s1600/IMG_6598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcb5-f1mc0GuBM83HGcTDx4gSNorOww7_d6AiLSz2WglV6d7RFh8n5vIHZm6mxxJm5y2LJtr8Xb4XlhoK7GYn12hC3RVu36mpV0HxxUo-QTQ1P5VF0F9U1HLueMJtwEqomqSDs/s1600/IMG_6598.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The former storefront for Gamaliel and Dolli's grocery store.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="s1">By now, the once tranquil city resembled a war zone set upon by an armed mob. As the group moved out from the city center, people ran, screamed and sought cover where ever they could, fearing for their lives.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVa758M8M1vpDcajPElvOBZoOYRQR_TihW4l9COxFnNBMnySuHljlTu9rRzbUGs6MusJf3Z-SSZY1sb4xYBjc38kgsbZtKsA9j9RXhTyRA_2-uanLYzlishE-FjUP28lvypB8v/s1600/IMG_6583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVa758M8M1vpDcajPElvOBZoOYRQR_TihW4l9COxFnNBMnySuHljlTu9rRzbUGs6MusJf3Z-SSZY1sb4xYBjc38kgsbZtKsA9j9RXhTyRA_2-uanLYzlishE-FjUP28lvypB8v/s1600/IMG_6583.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Inside the former store of Gamaliel and Dolli.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="s1">Many of those running, relatives and associates of Manuel Zepada, father of Elisa, sought refuge in his home, a two story structure about 500 meters from the town center. They locked themselves in the kitchen, and as religious people, began to pray.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">That’s when the bullets began to fly through the doors and the rocks began to fly though the windows. Miraculously, Elisa, not dead after all, had made her way back to her childhood home and what she hoped would be the safety of her parents arms. It was not to be.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The doors of the house were no match for a group determined to kill and humiliate as many members of Manuel’s family as possible. As the attackers entered, some looked for cover and others fled out a back door, only to be caught between two sides of the same mob.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdp4aEN6sPtqq5UCL-3RBJy6jfwD0Sv6U8xXrGIK7UspUF0Erxjq1rnNm0xSvVQ8fJr8nvv0qH1o1f-F8UakdGDxCexjyJI36-BqJk3C_x8NOsyjit3nTuITUIQJ7vbuKKs8g/s1600/IMG_6609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence, Elisa Zepeda, Gaspar Chable" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWdp4aEN6sPtqq5UCL-3RBJy6jfwD0Sv6U8xXrGIK7UspUF0Erxjq1rnNm0xSvVQ8fJr8nvv0qH1o1f-F8UakdGDxCexjyJI36-BqJk3C_x8NOsyjit3nTuITUIQJ7vbuKKs8g/s1600/IMG_6609.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Gaspar Chablé with Gregoria, both victims of the violence in Eloxochitlán</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Elisa was beaten again, even as her mother Malena sought to protect her. Covering her with her own body, Malena took several blows in this new beating. Even today, it is not known if she will ever see again from her right eye. Pastor Gaspar Chablé was also beaten at the house, receiving numerous cuts on his head from the machetes and rebar. Manuel’s 86 year old mother, Gregoria, pleading with the attackers to stop, was also beaten, receiving cuts to her scalp. Gaspar remembers the group talking about killing them all as he collapsed behind an old cistern that now is permanently marked by his blood.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">But it was two men who paid the ultimate price. When the mob set upon Manuel’s house and the house of his daughter Elisa, they came across Manuelito, the town mechanic. Manuelito was known as a standup guy. Regularly fixing cars and charging very little, he saw his work as a way to give back to the community. His taller, or garage, was on his father’s land, next door to his sister’s home.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">He was taken, tortured and beaten in an attack that rivals anything the Ku Klux Klan ever did in America. All to send a message. One other man, Gustavo Andrade, the sole member of the local police force to stand up to the mob, also died, giving his life to protect Elisa. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Manuel leaves a wife and two children. Gustavo, a wife and four kids.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cEfHChjWP6yc6Wy1QAnYKinzGJh8Z2Jmz9c-pexfyb9unaLNscZhYo4QJbKaYkXf0kEcp9sSiPQF8KX9eivJEIEOPLW6SJL6Jpoz-bhfIQU7rvNQWc_zLVZ_Zoc2yOkNwHpD/s1600/IMG_6603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cEfHChjWP6yc6Wy1QAnYKinzGJh8Z2Jmz9c-pexfyb9unaLNscZhYo4QJbKaYkXf0kEcp9sSiPQF8KX9eivJEIEOPLW6SJL6Jpoz-bhfIQU7rvNQWc_zLVZ_Zoc2yOkNwHpD/s1600/IMG_6603.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Gamaliel and Gaspar inside Vicente's burned out cyber café.</b></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">With bodies strewn everywhere across the city, and with numerous houses and businesses burning, the mob couldn’t resist the cars and trucks of Manuel, his family, Pastor Chablé and others. More molotov cocktails were tossed on every nearby vehicle they could find.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">At the end of the day, Gilberto and Noemi lost their home, truck, and business. Elisa and her husband David lost their home and Elisa’s car. Gamaliel and Dolli lost their business and their truck. Vicente and Euodoxia lost their cyber cafe. Manuel and Malena had their house looted, their money stolen, much of their furniture destroyed and their restaurant ransacked.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Manuelito and Gustavo lost their lives and their families now have no way to support their suddenly smaller families. Pastor Chablé lost his truck, one of 19 vehicles burned that fateful day and was sent to the hospital with numerous gashes on his scalp requiring stitches.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Elisa and Malena, by far suffering the worst of the injuries, were beaten to within an inch of their lives. Both of them spent days in the hospital, in and out of comas. Both of them face months of both physical and emotional rehabilitation. Many of the scars may never heal.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">All of the ringleaders of the attack are now sitting in prison in Oaxaca under order of the Attorney General of the State. In addition to former mayor Jaime Betanzos Fuentes, and the current mayor Alfredo Pacheco Bolaños, local police, Fernando Martinez Gavito, Wilfrido Salazar Herrera, Omar Morales Alvarez and Ruben Jimenez Cerqueda are also in custody. A seventh man, Monfil Avendaño, was also involved and is being held. All seven men are awaiting trial for their involvement in the events of December 14, 2014 in Eloxochitlán.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">The rest of the attackers, and Jaime’s wife, Eusebia, the older sister of Manuel, remain in hiding across the region known as the Cañada de Oaxaca.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Recently I was in Eloxochitlán. For this story I talked personally to each and every victim. I saw their homes, walked among the destruction of their businesses and listened as each one told me their stories, many as the tears fell from their eyes.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">I saw the closet where Vicente tried to shield his niece Elisa from her attackers. I also saw the holes that a shotgun made in that closet, moments before they fled. I saw the remnants of buildings that people will never be able to rebuild, because the fires burned so hot, the concrete encased rebar melted.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpIEh5YPIhvyvKky_rg27yg6-G-NrpADPMd6wRnQ3j_cBGzZ8SOAgfa9gtFI-_rStjkHXJw8KMBum4P_LSSo6RK3vrcNsf5m3WvGzscw0YVQgizVGRZnXvs7YwUJs33hZYTclN/s1600/IMG_6571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence, Elisa Zepeda" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpIEh5YPIhvyvKky_rg27yg6-G-NrpADPMd6wRnQ3j_cBGzZ8SOAgfa9gtFI-_rStjkHXJw8KMBum4P_LSSo6RK3vrcNsf5m3WvGzscw0YVQgizVGRZnXvs7YwUJs33hZYTclN/s1600/IMG_6571.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The front of Elisa Zepeda's burned out home.</b></td></tr>
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Locals told me the stores, buildings, cars and trucks smoldered for days. They spoke of looking into the eyes of the aggressors and seeing a level of hate they had never experienced. They spoke of men, drunk on power and aguardiente coming at them with machetes, determined to kill. It was chilling to hear their stories and experience the violence from each of their different perspectives.<span class="s1"></span></div>
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<span class="s1">As I walked and talked with people, I kept trying to get at the spark that caused the uproar. Was it political? Yes. Was it religious? Yes. Was it personal? Yes. But finally, as I continued to peel back the layers of the onion, I started to understand.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">This was about respect. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Jaime Betanzos and his family were old school. They liked things the way they were. Thinking back to that first election he lost, he wanted to “fix” it, for years a Mexican tradition. When his brother-in-law Manuel, the college graduate and local business leader, would not go along, he felt disrespected. He took it personally. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpf-jzwN0W0vlxR4AaH-6etW4dwcO5bapTPJN5YMnsJrzWvljWQbe7Ey33E-hbwksqc96SEtrmi-YedJjxLr_L-NgQiV5PTQlkmxig3MCUKUoz0jtTjulN9UGmuatHAarDb23/s1600/IMG_6561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpf-jzwN0W0vlxR4AaH-6etW4dwcO5bapTPJN5YMnsJrzWvljWQbe7Ey33E-hbwksqc96SEtrmi-YedJjxLr_L-NgQiV5PTQlkmxig3MCUKUoz0jtTjulN9UGmuatHAarDb23/s1600/IMG_6561.JPG" height="300" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A few of the 19 damaged and burned out vehicles from that fateful day.</b></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Thousands of years ago, David, the boy who vanquished Goliath in the biblical epic, became the darling of the kingdom. Saul, the current king, saw that the people were giving much more of their love and respect to David, than to him, the current king. In him burned a jealous desire to set things straight. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">In an attempt to recapture the glory and respect among his people he once had, Saul set about to destroy, and ultimately kill David. He unleashed scores of his soldiers in an attempt to find and finally remove the one person he could never vanquish or conquer. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Jaime, like Saul, quietly steamed for years. Finally, when he was elected, he decided to get the respect he had always felt he was due. If he could not earn it, he would take it, violently, if need be. Working with many of the other local authorities, Jaime used the town budget to recruit the mob that would ultimately wreak havoc across the town. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CeEjSKOHa8OD6T5jQU3NecZR1DffjCozQZ4RxeQNoL1UD-Evp5ohfaxNOE1DsIZMYTfUdJ6LByHquoGVqRbXaIF4rf0jdTvVBjeranj056jmhXeK7IBrQ5Np_noZQUI4GOTS/s1600/AIL+MF+Oaxaca2014+071+3994-2474x3711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Eloxochitlan, Oaxaca, December 14, Violence, Flores Magon, Ricardo Flores Magon" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CeEjSKOHa8OD6T5jQU3NecZR1DffjCozQZ4RxeQNoL1UD-Evp5ohfaxNOE1DsIZMYTfUdJ6LByHquoGVqRbXaIF4rf0jdTvVBjeranj056jmhXeK7IBrQ5Np_noZQUI4GOTS/s1600/AIL+MF+Oaxaca2014+071+3994-2474x3711.jpg" height="400" title="" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The monument to Ricardo Flores Magón, in the heart of Eloxochitlán.</b></td></tr>
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<span class="s1">Ironically the town recently changed its name from San Antonio Eloxochitlán to Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón after the activist and one of the most revered intellectual leaders of the Mexican Revolution, Ricardo Flores Magón, who was born in the small village.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">It was that spirit of change, the same activist spirit that motivated Flores Magón, that inspired Elisa Zepeda and her family. </span></div>
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<span class="s1">Many of the people with whom I spoke shared that they were eager for their little town to get back to normal. They liked it quiet and without much fanfare, or drama. But all them were forced to accept a new reality. Their town could never go back to what was normal. December 14 will always be the day that changed normal for the victims and the residents of Eloxochitlán.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">Where do they go from here? That depends on whether the people want to continue the long march into modernity that stands in front of many indigenous communities in Mexico, or if they will retreat, fearful of the kind of change that Jaime Betanzos and his group could never embrace.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Copyright © 2015, Dave Miller, All Rights, Photo and Written, Reserved</b></span></div>
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Dave Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16777087329254991970noreply@blogger.com2