Easter and Heaven And Why We Go To Colombia

For more than 30 years of my life I never understood the meaning of Easter. I remember wearing my nicest clothes to church and hearing about the resurrection of Jesus and then eating loads of candy and hard-boiled eggs from a basket that was hidden in the house, but I never got it.

Easter to me, even into the early years of my marriage, was really just another day of the year that was somewhere around the start of baseball season and watching golf greats compete in The Masters. The candy and hard-boiled eggs of my childhood were just replaced as an adult by going out to eat a nice brunch ... while just who Jesus was and why he died was still not a factor in my life and a question I cared about finding the answer.

If someone had knocked on my door back in the late 1990s after we moved to Dallas and were in the first few years of our marriage and asked me, "God created you, but why should he allow you into heaven," I would have either politely closed the door and said, "No thank you whatever you are selling" or said "because I'm a pretty good person."

Either way, I would have closed the door. End of discussion.

The latter response, when we met people in Colombia during the past week, is what we often heard. Over and over and over and over again. But the door never closed. In four trips to Colombia over the past five years, I've never seen a single act of rudeness and very seldom does someone cut short a dialogue, unless lunch is being burned in their kitchen.

People who say "because I'm a pretty good person" are also next door to us in North Dallas, down the street, around the corner and all around us in the States.

This begs the question ... why did Lisa and I and 32 Americans fly all the way to Colombia to spend one week planting 14 churches and sharing the love of Jesus and the Gospel when our own backyard is so spiritually empty? Couldn't we just knock on doors in our area code and the money we paid and raised be donated to the poor in our city?

The final words of Jesus, before he ascended into heaven after his resurrection, were recorded in Matthew 28:18 and are the cornerstone of this blog: "Therefore go and make disciplines of all nations ...."

So we went. And Lord willing we will go again.

The reality that if we knocked on 10 doors in the United States, probably four would not answer and six would politely say, "No thank you whatever you are selling," in some manner, propels us to head outside our borders. We explain this story to Colombians time and again ... how defeated we would be if we conducted the same expedition in our own communities.

In the same way you are captivated meeting a stranger from around the world and hearing one's accent, Colombians make time in their day when a gringo appears in their doorway. Lisa's visits into homes during the past week in Cali were typically 45-60 minutes.

Our culture is one, sadly, that many of us prefer to text someone than have to call and talk to them. At the end of the day today, think of how many calls you made to tell loved ones saying "Happy Easter" and then total the number of texts, emails or posts you made to convey the same. Phone providers have made the switch in subscription plans from minutes (calls) + unlimited texting to unlimited calling + texting because of our cultural shift.

Think about that for a bit.

And what do we say when we walk to someone's door or sit down with someone in their home (in Colombia)?

Exactly how I started this blog is what I say, but everyone's testimony is unique. Our goal every moment we were out in Colombia was sharing the story of Jesus and plugging the community into the church we were planting, or finding a church where they feel comfortable. Whenever someone hesitated when I mentioned the word "church" I offered the analogy of becoming a better soccer player ... can you do it by yourself, or is it better achieved surrounding yourself with other soccer players who make you accountable and challenge and fuel your growth?

So are you Thomas? Are you one who upon hearing of the resurrection of Jesus and listening to so many in his community talk of seeing first-hand his close friend Jesus defeat death, say in John 21:25: "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."

(Ah, the doubting Thomas. I wondering for so many years where that phrase came from.)

One week later, Jesus and Thomas were reunited and Jesus said in John 21:27: "Peace be with you ... put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

Jesus added: "Because you have seen me, you have believed, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

And if you believe -- if you understand the story why Jesus had to die, how he exchanged his sinless life for the sins of all of us on the cross, and that he rose from the dead to be made perfect again, you have a place in heaven. But you have to accept that (free) gift.

Now you're ready for that knock on your door, and now you can stop wondering if you're good enough to meet God's criteria for gaining entrance into heaven.

Yet maybe heaven isn't important to you?

I read an article in this week's Time magazine while flying back from Colombia yesterday. The article, "Rethinking Heaven" mentioned a survey that said 85 percent of Americans believe in heaven, but our younger generation is more focused on social causes than understanding our history and why Jesus is the cornerstone of everything. "Angels and harps are all well and good, such Christians believe, but fighting HIV/AIDS is more urgent" the article said.

It's interesting to note that our mission "escorts" on our expedition to Colombia is Dallas-based E3 Partners. They manage expeditions to 44 countries on 5 continents and depending on the destination, some of the trips have a medical focus, sports focus, some trips stress HIV/AIDS prevention where the communities are being torn by the deadly disease, some focus on cultural transformation and others even cater to the deaf.

Regardless of the trip, however, the cornerstone of the ministry of E3 Partners is Jesus. I pray that he's the center of your life, and if not my prayer is that you open your mind to His life and His story to help you make your decision.

How can you pray for Lisa and I? Even for Matt, who was gracious enough to transport us to/from DFW Airport and is headed to Colombia in the fall? That we are bold enough in our own backyards to share our faith, no matter how many doors may close on us or how many hearts may go cold on us. A life and future of someone in the States is as important and fragile as someone in Colombia.

Happy Easter. He Is Risen!

Blessings,

Dave

Sightseeing In Cali

It was a wonderful mid-day in Cali, Colombia, to check out the sites, before our Victory Service tonight where each of the new Christians in the 14 churches we planted will come together for a celebration.

We were told in our morning breakfast/devotional time that the official number is 1,741 new believers ... from 30 Americans and translators and dozens of church members from the 14 sites acting as servants for an amazing God who can anything. Anything.

And exceed out wildest expectations.

Blessings,

Dave

(Pictured is our team of 5 Americans and local translators, and locals playing on the street today.)

"Kate Plus 8" Has Nothing On Maria Plus 13

Finales are supposed to be special, and my final home visit Thursday afternoon as we closed on our second church plant in four days in Cali, Colombia, didn't disappoint.

Maria Erenia has one of the busier homes in the barrio of Ciudad Cordoba in South Cali. She greeted us warmly at her front door and as I began explaining the purpose of our team of Americans and translators working with a local church on her street, there was a constant flow of traffic in and out her front door and an exchange of greetings.

I inquired about her family to my translator and heard Maria answer by saying "trece hijos."

Tres? 3?

Uh, no. Trece (tray say) hijos. That's 13.

Kate + 8 ... + a starting basketball team. Maria was as solid a mother as I met during our four days out in Cali and thanked us for bringing the message of hope to her area. I jokingly asked if there ever was ever a point where she or her husband thought of screaming "enough" but Maria said they never wavered on adding to the family photo album.

Trece. 2 soccer teams and 1 left to be referee.

Amazingly, nearly everyone we visited inside Maria's home today were nephews and nieces. On the left side of the photo are nephews Carlos and Didier, but in the other photo is the youngest of her 13 children, Cindy, who happens to be 13 ... and appears to be the Under-16 Mayor of her street.

If you're interested, Maria is a young 57 and her family includes eight boys and five girls: Leison (36), Valerio (35), James (34), Sandra (32), Gerardo (31), Tito (29), Lida (25), Asael (23), Nilson (21), Gina (19), Deysi (17), Kevin (15) and Cindy.

Sadly, Maria's husband died three years ago after getting electricuted during a lightning strike, but there was never a bit of sadness on her face during our time in her home.

Our church plant in Cuidad Corboda is a five-month old, three-story building (see photo) which began with the pastor's family and another couple meeting in their second-story home. When we arrived, they had 35 attendees during their latest church service.

If you read the Blog from Tuesday, I likened our Colombian trip to "Extreme Home, err, Church Makeover." After two days in the barrio, our team of 5 Americans/5 translators/5 church members working in groups of 3 saw 151 people accept Christ.

From 35 attendees ... to 151 new Christians looking for a church home.

O Praise Him.

Blessings,

Dave

View From Cali Paradise

Everything is beautiful in South Cali, where or team began planting a second church on Wednesday morning.

Our barrio is Cordoba, which is on the far south end of Cali. From the open third floor of the church, looking South makes us think of Texas ... and to the North and the Andes Mountains and downtown Cali ... a little bit like Colorado.

Readying for our final day in the field ...

Blessings,

Dave

Extreme Church Makeover

When 'Extreme Home Makeover' became the hit of prime-time TV on Sunday Nights several years ago, we became captivated at the ability of ABC's crew to construct a home in 48 hours with the help of a building crew and a local crop of volunteers.

If you're in a home you watched build from the ground up ... wasn't it like a 3-4 month process?

Nope, 48 hours -- and that includes themed bedrooms and custom features from the workspaces in the garage to the backyard. There's a difference between tricked out and cracker box.

Of course, we didn't see all the behind-the-scenes work that went into the makeover before ABC's crew arrived on the scene. Applications were scoured and potential homeowners were interviewed and local partnerships were sought before anyone began formal planning.

It hit me tonight on our van ride from our church plant in Southern Cali to dinner back on the north side of town: our team of 10 (5 Americans and 5 translators) actually oversees two "Extreme Church Makeovers" during the first five days that we are in Cali.

For our team of 34 Americans participating in this Cali expedition, the total will be 14 "Extreme Church Makeovers" from the time we began on Sunday morning until the early evening of Thursday.

And yes, there is substantial behind-the-scenes work in our project too, well before our arrival on Colombian soil. Pastors and their churches are hand-selected by E3 Colombia personnel and local partnerships are also sought in the form of translators who simplify our communication barriers in communities.

And then there's the power of prayer from hundreds of Colombians and Americans ... not an after thought in any way but a priority, every step of the way.

So here we are ...

- We spent Sunday reviewing the "blueprints" that our expedition hosts, E3 (Partners) Colombia, carefully prepared for us in each barrio. On Sunday night, our team met with church leaders from the two churches we were assigned to review the plans and to make sure we are on the same page for our two-day build.

- Two days later, (tonight), our building crew (our team of 5 Americans) and local volunteers (translators) presented the homeowner, AKA Pastor Rodrigo and his church family, with the "keys" to their new home. In this case the "keys" were a stack of cards detailing information on 206 members of his community that we personally visited during the past two days. Of that group, 188 put their trust in Jesus and as newby Christians will desperately need a church to connect with others and to grow in their spiritual walk.

Pastor's Rodrigo's current church, where we visited on Sunday morning, has been in existance for 10 years and with 160 members his building is simply not large enough to handle their growth.

In 48 hours, God opened the door for us to meet with more than 200 people, with the majority being less than a couple blocks from the church plant. Like the tricked-out home with features catered to the homeowner's tastes, these names we presented to Pastor Rodrigo all submitted and approved to the doctrines of the church plant and a large majority indicated a need for a church home.

Amazingly, our van pulled away from the church after our "reveal" in the early evening and we returned to the hotel after dinner at 8:30 PM. At 6 AM on Wednesday, we will begin in prayer at our hotel for our "blueprints" for our second church project, with vans departing outside the hotel at 8:45 AM.

We will land at our second site around 9:30 AM, with a renewed commitment to give our second set of "homeowners" our best effort. The "reveal" from last night is in the past ... it's a new neighborhood, with dozens of remarkable life changes God will place us front and center to experience.

It's comforting knowing so many have been and are in prayer for us, and that God is in control. His artistic hands, which created the world in six days, can open hundres of doors for us and transform a community in 48 hours.

Perfection has its perks.

(Our picture tonight is our team praying over Pastor Rodrigo [pink shirt] and his church family after delivering him the "keys" to his new church ... the reveal. No dry eyes this time, either.)

Blessings,

Dave

So Much Diversity, So Much Unity

One of the highlights of returning to Cali for a third straight year (and during Easter week) is rekindling relationships with missionaries from all throughout the States, as well as with local translators who work tirelessly alongside us every moment we're away from the hotel.

More on the 34 Americans who are serving in Cali this week later ...

We returned to the hotel tonight and Lisa remarked, "now I know how you can fall in love with these translators. We just left them in the (hotel) lobby a few minutes ago and I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow morning."

It's one thing if you hire a translator to take you on a tour of Rome, it's another if you're sharing the Gospel with a woman who feels so ashamed of her past that's she's weeping uncontrollably and wondering how and why she still matters to God. You're trying to comfort the tears and meet her where she is -- and your translator is equally tied into the moment's emotion with the additional responsibility of listening to us and staying composed enough to switch back and forth into two different languages.

Our picture from today is from our team of 10; 5 Americans and 5 translators, after we completed a full day planting a new church in the barrio of Republica Israel in Cali (Colombia). We arrived at the church at 9:30 AM and when we departed at 5:30 PM, we had presented Pastor Rodrigo and his staff with 101 people in his commuity who we had presented the Gospel and 81 who made a decision to take Jesus into the foxhole of their lives as their Savior and King.

All God. We were just honored to be the messengers.

In the front row of the picture is Bill, who is from South Carolina and is making his 14th trip to Colombia in the past nine years. Bill has been on my team for the past three years and is unquestionably the wisest man I have ever met. Seek wisdom ... seek Bill.

Isidoro is next to Bill in the front and is a local translator from Cali. We worked at his church during our 2010 expedition in Cali. He's 32 years old and works for a gas company in Cali ... but like us is on vacation this week to play the role of servant to churches across the city.

In the back on the right is Esteban, who I met during my first mission trip to Colombia in 2008, in his hometown of Barranquilla. Esteban was a translator on Matt's team during our '10 trek and asked all about Matt today and wondered when he would be back carrying the torch at this blog he created for our trip that year (Matt will return to Barranquilla this fall).

Next is Joel (Nike hat) who is also from South Carolina and participating in his first expediton. Anywhere. He's a financial analyst in the States, heard about our trip coordinators (E3 Partners), flew to Dallas to find out all about them in January and signed up for Cali before he flew back home.

Bleidy is next to Joel and participating in her fourth expedition for E3 Partners in Colombia. She's 20 and studying to be in the healthcare industry. (She's also my translator and still giggled in the afternoon when she kept having to translate me saying to someone "crazy redhead.") I'm the first to say sharing Jesus should be entertaining, and foremost explaining that if He was patient with ME for 30-plus years ...

Vicki from Dallas is next in the back row. Vicki and her husband, Sam, are full-time missionaries for E3 Partners. They devote 100 percent of their careers to E3 Colombia and have managed expeditions and pastor training in the country for 20 years. Amazing heart that Vicki has.

Andrea, or Andy is next to Vicki. I've spoken about her enough on this blog the past two years, but she's 19 and works as a critical care nurse after graduating No. 1 in her class last June. Two of Andy's three key patients at a local hospital are on ventilators, so she came into our expedition on Sunday after working a 24-hour weekend shift rather broken and looking to bring life to others in a whole new way.

Diana is next to Lisa and is one of the most likeable and passionate translators on our expeditions. She works in daycare locally and after working with Lisa today earned enough love from my wife that Lisa told me, "you can switch translators ... but I will divorce you."

What we do every moment in Colombia is not about us, but I love my team.

Can't wait for tomorrow.

Blessings,

Dave

Praying For Open Doors and Ready Hearts

Day 1 is complete for Team Cali, as our 12-hour day of Sunday training was culminated tonight with the late arrival of 5 members of our team who were delayed for 24 hours in Miami due to heavy rain in South Florida on Saturday afternoon.

For most of our 34 team members from the States, the absence of the 5 had no effect. For my team of 5, it was significant as 2 of the missing 5 (Bill and Joel) are on our team. A veteran of 14 trips to Colombia, Bill was gracious enough to train Joel, a first-timer, during their downtime in Miami.

Notably, Joel is among 17 first-timers on Team Cali; Lisa being another. No surprise Lisa was fantastic today ... salsa dancing alongside locals during our morning service and picking up the slack in the evening when we were strategizing with our two churches while operating shorthanded. (Her only disappointment for the day was probably finding meat inside the empanadas Pastor Rodrigo's staff prepared for us after the morning service.)

Team Cali will plant or strengthen 14 churches in Cali in the next 96 hours, with each of the 7 teams working with a differen church Monday-Tuesday, then Wednesday-Thursday.
We are headed to the Cali barrio of Republica Israel tomorrow morning to work with a church which hosted us for their 2-hour service this morning. Our expedition over the next 48 hours in their community will help fuel a church they are planting several blocks from where we were today. Their existing church has been around for 10 years and with 90 in attendance today ... it was standing room only and time for expansion.

Pastor Rodrigo at Republica Israel warned us tonight not to wear jewelry and to leave all electronics back at the hotel, which makes us believe the nearby barrio where we are planting a church will be a notch down from where we visited today ... an area our translators labeled 2 or 3 on their socio-economic Cali scale, with 6 being Beverly Hills.

Our Bible verse for today is from Colossians 4, verses 2-6: "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation always be full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Prayer. Open doors. Making the most of every moment in a spirit of kindness.

Amen.

(Pictured are Pastors Rodrigo and Carlos (right) in the middle of our circle tonight praying for our week in their communities. Pastor Carlos and his five-month old church of 25 members we will strengthem on Wednesday-Thursday.)

Blessings,

Dave