My wife an I are in the process of adopting two children from Haiti. Today we ran across Jeremy Cowart’s excellent Photo collection called, “Voices of Haiti” Check it out and learn more about our adoption HERE.
Category Archives: International Missions
IMB Film Features Pillar/SBC’s Iceland Project
Pillar Church and Stafford Baptist Church have been working in the nation of Iceland since 2006 aiming to establish churches and Share Jesus among the Icelandic People. My friend and mentor Bill Jessup is just a few weeks away from moving his family of 5 to Reykjavik for Iceland Project v.3.0. Here’s a film IMB recently produced about the project.
As you may already know that IMB’s new president, Tom Elliff has launched the “Embrace” initiative with the goal of getting local churches directly involved in engaging unreached groups. Man I hope he succeeds.
I think it’s tremendously important that you, especially if your a church planter, do all you can to lead your church to engage in work among unreached people. There has never been a moment in our history as a church that we haven’t made sacrifices for the progress of the gospel among an unreached group and I can honestly say that it has be to our great benefit to do so. It has installed in us a sensitivity to the unreached people of the world. I cant tell you how important it has been to have personal relationships with nationals in unreached places. Knowing and loving these individuals has dwarfed the issues we face at home and given us a grander since of what God’s doing in the world. All of this has made us a better, more unified, more compassionate, more prayerful congregation.
The Church’s Response to the Plight of Orphans
Since our teenage romance my wife and I have imagined ourselves being adoptive parents. We’ve been changed by the gospel and compelled by the plight of orphans in Haiti and around the world. We’ve discussed the possibility many times but for one reason or another we’ve never acted on it. It could be because we we started pumping out kids as soon as the honey moon was over, or perhaps it had something to do with the fact that our occupation and our stupidity has kept us near the poverty line.
But in 2010 when we got our personal finances in order and learned we could have no more children naturally. We decided to visit a friend who runs an small orphanage in Haiti and ask the Lord if He’d allow us to be apart of his plan to realize the desire he’d given us so long ago.
While in Haiti we met two orphans that thawed our hesitations. We came home, with no clue how to pay for the adoption but an resolve do whatever it what it took. Within a few months nearly all of the money was in hand and our adoption proceedings were well under way.
Ever day we think about these two children, we pray for them continually and just like it was with pregnancy, we love them already. This week a worker at the orphanage sent us the following descriptions of their personalities and it made our week.
Betchina is sweet. I may even say that she’s the sweetest kid here. Her little giggle is just the best. She never, and I mean NEVER forgets to say thank you. Just recently, she had a bad cough (all the kids had it) and I would bring her medicine every night when she crawled into bed. Even though it didn’t taste good, she would always say “thank you!” with a sweet smile on her face. She’s such a lovely little girl! I’m really excited that you guys are homeschooling her because I think that it will be a good fit for her especially. She’s very shy. We just got report cards from her school and they told us that she knows the lessons, the problem is that she doesn’t like to talk in class very much. I guess the teachers will ask her questions but she won’t answer all the time. Sue and I were talking about it and how we think she will do really good doing school at home.
Jean is funny. He is literally the biggest three year old I have ever seen. He LOVES to be held. I feel bad for the poor kid because he’s so big that it takes more effort to hold him. I really think he would be happy if I just held him all day long. He’s so big that I can’t walk around holding him so he has to wait until I have time to just sit and be with him. He’ll walk up to me and mumble my name with his big puppy-dog eyes open wide and his arms up. When I pick him up, he just melts. It’s sweet. I think Sue needs to hire a worker just to hold him all day! He also has the best language skills out of any three year old I’ve ever met. He speaks so clearly and knows so many words. I’m amazed whenever I talk to him.
Jean literally will eat everything and anything. After everyone eats we always catch him licking off the trays of the highchairs and eating scraps off the floor. One time I gave him some lotion on his hands and I caught him licking it off. He cracks me up. So, to prepare for him to come home, put up all toxic substances where he can’t find them! Most of his spilled tears are over food. A lot of it comes from his personality I’m sure but he’s not the only kid here obsessed with food. All the kids here can eat more in one sitting than any American kid ever could. I’m discovering that it’s part of growing up in a third world country. Food is so important to these kids. Before they came to here it was a matter of life and death. While kids in the US are complaining about crusts, a lot of kids in Haiti are worried that they might not even get a next meal. I am sure that worrying about food is a habit that a kid doesn’t easily get over.
Our hearts are full of gratitude and joy about what the Lord is allowing us to participate in… but we see something that makes us sad… The American church gives special attention to the sanctity of human life each January but other than that it seems as a whole we don’t take much responsibility for the care of orphans. Meanwhile, our culture is snuffing out human life at a pace that is mind boggling. We are becoming increasingly aware that it’s the privileged and joy of the church to Display the Glory of Christ by responding in force to the plight of orphans.
Maybe you’ve considered adoption at one point or another but have been discouraged by the obstacles. I want to encourage you to do a few things in order to explore the issue further:
- Read Orphanology or spend a few days studying what the Scripture has to say about orphan care.
- Contact me or another adoptive family and learn about the process. (Clint@pillarchurchsbc.com)
- Volunteer to provide foster care in your community.
- Visit an orphanage like THIS ONE.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
Praetorian Project Film
For the past several months we have been working to develop the Praetorian Project. The project is our effort to plant a new gospel-centered church at every Marine Corps base around the world. I hope you’ll take a moment to watch the film. We are asking 100 churches to join us in this endeavor by:
- Pray corporately for the gospel to spread among Marines and for faithful churches to be established near USMC bases worldwide.
- Show the film. We have produced a short film about the project that we hope you will consider showing in an upcoming worship service.
- Give to the project. We are in search of 100 partnering churches willing to give $1775 each. With this we would be able to complete phase one of the project- establishing four new churches in the areas of the world most populated by Marines.
- Invite a planter to speak at your church. Several of the men that are preparing to plant Pillar Churches near USMC installations are available to visit your church. If you invite them they will share about the need for new churches near USMC bases, explain their motivation to do so, and share the way God uniquely called them to serve.
- Copy what we are doing. There are groups of people all around you in need of new churches and a faithful gospel witness. Your church can identify one of those groups and begin working to reach them.
Two New Cliftons
We need HELP from our friends. Throughout the fall our family is saving, scrimping and begging for the money we will need to adopt two children from HAITI. We need to come up with 28K to complete the adoption. We have set up very informative website that we hope you will check out at www.twonewcliftons.com.
Pictures from Haiti
Haiti Trip
Jennifer and I are in Haiti now exploring the possibility of adopting two children from here. A few months ago we met a woman, we’ll leave her nameless, who decided to move to Haiti 15 years ago when her husband passed away. Having never even visited Haiti, She left her comfortable life to spend her retirment serving the orphaned children of this tiny island nation. Now, She is in her mid 70′s and is perhaps one of the most inspirational figures I have ever met. This woman supports herself, 14 children and three staff, on her own retirement and social security benefits.
We’ve only been here for two days and in that time she has entertained us with amazing stories of rescuing babies out of poverty, malnutritian and grave danger in order to bring them into her home, nurse them to health and find a loving Christian home for them. She told us one story of rescuing a baby that had been abandoned in a corn field and claimed by a vodoo woman who planned to sacrifice the child. She wasn’t having that so she bought the child from the vodoo woman for $20. While other women her age are wasting their retirement on soap opras and bingo, She is literally saving lives every day.
There are two children here that Jennifer and I pray will someday live in our home. Five year old girl “Bebe or Baby” is a tiny figure who has a personality as much like our Ruthe as any little girl I have ever met. She is rarely without a smile. We’re trying not to show favoritism to her but ever time we look her way we find her staring at us with a huge grin. The boy, “Jean pronounced John” is a tank of a boy who we are told is only two years old (although he could easily pass for four). Both kids were attracted to us right away, and us to them.
Before we came the director of the ministry told us these two children would fit into our family nicely… of course we were skeptical, how could she possibly know that? But as much as two days can tell she hit a bulls eye.
Since our arrival we have spent very little time outside the walls of the childrens home. The area is unsafe and we don’t have any transportation so we have spent two solid days getting to know these children. Several of them are “spoken for” but others are still looking for homes. Tomorrow we go to church, we are told it will last for four hours.
H4N 2011
Tomorrow is Heart for the Nations, a time when we talk about our mission endeavors for the coming year. This year our mission projects have grown once again and will be sharing with the church a new initiative to plant a church at every Marine Corp Installation around the world. We are also continuing our work on the Iceland Project and Missio Dei Bali.
For those of you who may be considering joining us on a trip to Indonesia this year we will also be announcing our trip dates and team leaders. If you think you may want make this the year you go… Here is the info.
- June 17-30 ($2400)
- August 1-16 ($1900)
- October 10-25 ($1750)
Last, just a reminder about Jesus’ words to his followers in Matthew 24:14- “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Jesus says the proclamation is going to happen… and the crazy part is we get to be a part… Awesome.
New Roof for the Pillar House
For Christmas Pillar Church gave a new roof to our orphanage in Indonesia. I just got a photo from our director and it looks great. I have also included a picture of the old one to help you appreciate the new one.
The roof project cost about $2,000 dollars but will provide shelter for 15 amazing children. As you can also tell a driveway, stucco and a nice sidewalk have been added.
Christian Cruises and the Great Commisson
As a pastor, my mailbox and my inbox are constantly stuffed with “mission opportunities” that have nothing to do with Jesus’ mission of making disciples. Some slick salesmen have even created new ways for us to serve Jesus while simultaneously appealing to our love for luxury and self-indulgence. Did you know that for your next vacation you could go on a Christian mission cruise? These cruises offer the relaxation and luxury of a standard cruise but provide a nice break from the gluttonous gilt of a traditional cruise. The cruise starts few day’s spinning the slot machine and hammering the endless buffet then just when your starting to feel a twinge of guilt for all the self gratification the cruise liner will pull to an impoverished port of call so you can hand deliver some medical supplies to a needy villager. Now that everyone is felling better the passengers load back up for a worship service led by a Christian celebrity and a pop concert by a Dove Award winning Christian artist. The cruses organizers are even careful to choose celebrity pastors from various denomination persuasions to be so they don’t inadvertently exclude a segment of the Christian subculture. I know, I know, I know… I’m being pretty critical but am I the only one that thinks this kind of thing misses the heart of the great commission? Here are a few words from the promotional material of one such cruise:
Now, let me be clear – I’m not against cruises or nice vacations, but I do want to challenge the notion that this is what Jesus had in mind when he said, “go”, “baptize”, “teach” and “make disciples”. Christian Cruses are not the great commission. Painting churches, building orphanages and beach evangelism, as good as they are, miss the mark too. Jesus’ call is about the establishment of local churches. It most often includes self sacrifice and the super natural work of the Holy Spirit and almost never involves an all inclusive gospel gorging on a luxury cruise liner.
