A picture of unity

Sunday was a beautiful day. It was also a confusing day. One of those days where the worship service does not go as planned, but still created a beautiful image of Christ. We had an area wide worship of the urban congregations on Sunday. The auditorium was packed. It was an interesting mix. Inner city poor, missionaries who are working on Masters of Divinity, and people who do not speak English. We have never really had a bilingual service. It was difficult to communicate. It was uncomfortable at times, but it was a beautiful picture.

The theme of the day was unity. We were a group of people seeking unity. We were people that most would say would have nothing in common. It is true. We did not have much in common. We did not all look alike. We were not all from the same part of town. We were all different ages. We did not all speak the same language. But we do all serve the same Lord. That brought us together. We were together in the name of Jesus singing songs together. The songs were in English and Spanish and we each would sing in our own language at the same time. We were, if only for two hours, a united people. Memphis is not known for unity. It is a very segregated city. We made an effort to be a family. As our Spanish speaking brother would say "Somos familia." We are family.

Communion took on a new meaning. It was not a smooth well played out communion. We decided we would all take the communion together as a symbolic sign of unity. It took a while to pass out the trays and there was awkward silence in which we decided to sing a song that probably wasn't the idea choice for communion, but it was a song we all knew. As I looked across the audience while giving the communion meditation, I saw black, white, and Hispanic all sitting together ready to take communion with each other. It was a small picture of unity.

How beautiful it is to know that there are Christians all around this world. Brothers and sisters who do not look like me, think like me, dress like me, or share the same hobbies as I do. They do not speak the same language, but they do serve the same God! I pray for them and lift them before our Father. And I pray for unity. Unity: such a small word, but what a difficult word it is. For unity is not always popular. But when Christians unite, it is a wonderful picture.

Jesus: The Servant

They were often dirty and in need of being washed. They were usually tired from a long journey. What were they? They were feet. Feet that needed to be washed. Our Lord recognized the need and brought out the water basin and towel. He began to wash the feet of those who didn’t deserve it. They were the men who should be washing his feet, yet not one volunteered. Jesus then began to serve those who did not deserve it. He served the one that would deny him. He got on his knees and performed an act of service on the one that would stab him in the back with a kiss of death.
“For the Son did not come to be served, but to serve,” the words ring in the memory of all who were present. It was hard for Peter to understand and so our Lord said, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” Christ had to serve. He had to wash their feet, for that is why he came. He came to serve.
Christ has served you and me also. Because he recognized a need in us that no other could, or would, meet. We were in need of cleaning and so He wrapped the towel around his waist and became a servant. “Unless I wash you,” he says, “you have no part with me.” I pray that you allow Christ to wash you this very day.

Embassy

Well, things are coming along fast. We had our court date on November 6 and we got a call yesterday telling us that we have an Embassy date of November 28. We must be in Addis Ababa no later than November 27. Time to start packing and buying tickets and finding a place to stay. This is so exciting. We had been praying to have our boy home before Christmas, now we will see him before the end of this month! God answers prayers.

Picture Time

Since our court date was a success, I can show you a couple of pictures. Look at those eyes. We are so excited to bring our boy home. Thank you all for your continued prayer and support.

Court date a success!

We received news today that our court hearing was successful. We are the parents of Leuleseged! Praise God. He has been our source of strength during this journey of adoption. There have been many bumps and detours along the way, but through His strength we are one step closer to bringing our boy home. The first question people will ask is "when will you travel?" We do not know. We hope it will be before Christmas - what a great gift that would be. We want to thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. You have helped us through the dark times when it was hard to stay on course. You have pointed us to the light and we are truly thankful. It feels good to officially say that Leuleseged is our son.

American Youth: The New Mission Field

This passed weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a youth seminar by Group called Re-ignite. It was a great time to get re-energized and to be reminded of how much this generation need to know Jesus. According to the National Study of Youth and Religion, 9 out of 10 American young people do not have what social researchers call a devoted faith. Their faith in Christ is not central to their life. They do not know the basics of their faith. They do not see how their relationship with Jesus makes an impact on their everyday life.

What have we done wrong? Why is there such a disconnect between this generation and the older generations? What has gone wrong?
According to Battle Cry, this generation of teens is the largest in history and current trends show that only 4% will be believers by the time they become adults. Compare this with 34% of adults today who are believers in Christ. Something must be done. Our method must be off. We have built youth ministry around a big event and big personalities. The problem is that our big events cannot compete with the other big events in life. Thepersonalities we build our programs around do not always stack up. We have focused on men and not on Jesus. We have left Jesus out of ministry. When Jesus is left out, our teaching becomes irrelevant. When asked to describe Jesus, teens described him as "nice." The problem is that we do not teach the real Jesus. A Jesus who is simply nice is not strong enough to walk with teens into the difficult stuff of everyday life. At the Re-ignite workshop, we focused on three questions that are very relevant for our world today.

1. Who do I say Jesus is?
2. Who does Jesus say that I am?
3. Who do I say that I am?

We have spent the majority of our time talking about issues with teens. We have told them not to have premarital sex, but 1,000,000 teenage girls are pregnant and 8,000 youth develop an STD everyday. We have talked to them about avoiding peer pressure, but 1/3 of all youth have been drunk and 1/4 of all youth have used illegal drugs. One in five teenagers have attempted suicide, while 1,500 hundred a year succeed.

Maybe we should spend more time teaching about the real Jesus. If nine out of ten youth do not see how their relationship with Jesus impacts their daily life, maybe we are not teaching the real Jesus. The questions are real. The trials are real. The struggle is real. It's time for youth to be able to see the real Jesus.