Foreign Policy and Missions

As we continue through this crazy election season, I want to encourage Christians to be thinking (and then voting*) about how this or that administration will affect the proclamation of the gospel to the nations.

When I was in college I had the chance to "smuggle" some Bibles into a foreign country.  Although carrying Christian literature was constitutionally legal in that country at that time, the anti-Christian religio/political situation was such that you pretty much had to sneak them in.  Ten of us folded a total of 250 thin-line Bibles into our clothing in our backpacks.  We hid the books in such a way that a superficial inspection of our bags would leave them undetected.  We traveled into the country in pairs and proceeded through the various baggage checks and customs stations without making any noticeable contact with our group -in case one of us got caught, we didn't want all the other's to be compromised as well.

After crossing the border we traveled into a city and convened at a restaurant.  At the Restaurant we sat at a table and stealthily transferred all the Bibles from our 10 individual bags into 2 bags under the table cloths. Two guys then boarded a train and traveled deeper into the country to deliver the Bible's to an underground church somewhere and the rest of us occupied ourselves with some sight-seeing for the day.  Especially for a college student, the whole experience was a blast; we felt like missionary James Bonds or something!

The experience was profoundly inspiring in a few different ways.  Not only was it strengthening of our faith and confidence in Christ, but I also took away a significant lesson related to international relations and the accessibility of the gospel.

If any customs officials or police would have found the stash of Bibles in our bags or caught us transferring the goods etc. the consequences for us as American's would probably have been pretty minimal.  This country had (and has) a good relationship with the U.S. and pretty much out of respect they would most likely have confiscated the Bibles and then refused to let us across the border, sending us back the way we came.  Possibly we would have been detained for a few hours for questioning.  Although it was possible that there could have been more dire consequences, that was pretty unlikely at that time.

A local resident or even a citizen of another country might not have been so blessed; they could have been subjected to a more harsh punishment.  But simply because we were from the U.S. we had less to worry about.  Our countries relationship with this foreign nation was so positive and they were so fundamentally appreciative of the United States,  that we as American's would have been given extra mercy for transgressing a serious social norm.

On the way out of that country I had another experience that was interesting.  We were actually leaving on a boat/Ferry and at the port station there were the various different security checkpoints.  If I remember correctly, there were 3 different checkpoints that we had to pass through.   The lines were held up and the boat departure time was drawing nigh.  We weren't sure we were going to make it!  But then, while in line at the last checkpoint, a border guard stood up and held up a Blue U.S. passport and shouted "American's" and began waving his hand in a gesture for any American's to pass on through.  The line was full of international travelers with passports from many different places and we were able to walk right by them to the front of the line and pass expediently through the last checkpoint with virtually no handling.   We simply held up our passport and the guard directed us to the boat!  We were literally given special treatment because we were from the U.S.!

I remember thanking God for such a successful adventure while marveling at the irony of the situation.   And I also remember thinking this: "Wow! Blue American Passport's are very powerful!"  To quote 'uncle Ben' "with great power comes great responsibility"   I remember thinking about how useful American citizenship was for enabling the spread of the gospel!  I remember being grateful and even proud that America had such rapport!  Because of America's role in the world, we were able -as American college students to carry scriptures to people who needed them with incredible expedience and a considerably limited risk to boot!   I remember thinking that this was really cool!

America's role and reputation in the world were actually helpful for the cause of Christ!  Having an American passport was a powerful and precious gift!  I didn't personally earn it, but for the sake of the Gospel, I wanted to steward it well and help other American's to do the same!  And I felt there was an urgency -even as I rejoiced, I remember thinking that such privilege probably wouldn't last forever!   Even then, I speculated that a day would come when our blue passport would gain us nothing positive at a foreign border!

In September of 2002 I was in Spain standing outside one of the University buildings handing out a mini-magazine talking about the events of 9/11 and explaining the gospel.  Most people were respectful, a few were engaging and another few shouted belligerently at us, ridiculing us for being American's.   On that day, in that country, our U.S. citizenship was NOT actually helping us to make the gospel accessible!

I have many concerns about the candidates running for president and the effects their administrations would have on our lives and the world we live in, but one primary grid that I can't not filter things through is what I'll call the "missionary grid."   I look at potential candidates and ask questions like "if this person were president, how would that help or hurt the forth-going of the gospel in the world.   In particular, I ask; "will this person as president make it easier for American's to travel abroad serving as gospel-proclaiming ambassadors for Jesus, or harder?"

Jesus' command (known as the Great Commission) to us in Matthew 28:18-20 factors into pretty much all of my big life decisions, as I actually think it should for every follower of Christ.  I know that the president is not the "pastor in chief", and yet, I think committed Christians should be thinking very much about the spread of the gospel to the nations and how a presidential administration will either impede that or enable it.   There are many important issues in the world, but the ultimate answer and hope for the world is found in the good news of Jesus Christ.

*Yesterday I went to the DMV to get my address changed.  While filling out the forms I also changed my political party affiliation to "none".  I'm planning not to vote in the presidential election in November.  

Cru Short Term Trips are Worthy!

Right now we have a team of Cornell students working in South Africa with the Mamalodi Initiative.  The Mamelodi initiative is in my opinion, a model of effective, sustainable, Christian humanitarian aid. Pioneered with Cru students from Harvard, the Mamelodi Initiative is an educational program that serves underprivileged teens and school age children.  Ivy league college students spend time teaching and tutoring kids so that they can pass the matriculation exams that stand between them and a quality education.  It has been rightfully observed; "if there is one thing every Cornell student can do, it’s pass a test!"  

Our team that’s there right now is reading the acclaimed book; When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert.  Insightful and provocative, the authors of this book (along with their organization The Chalmer’s center) are an asset to Evangelical Christianity in America.  Their organization has played a key role in pointing out the different ways that Christian mission trips can be categorically detrimental even as the participants are trying to be a blessing.  As the title makes clear, it is possible to hurt even when trying to help.  Together, they are enabling all of us to take a more critical look at Christian missions and offering insights about how to do things well.   This is an excellent resource for everyone who wants to minister in and to the world in a way that makes a comprehensively positive impact.  

Certainly they are not the only ones to write about this topic.  In recent years, much has been written on the web questioning the wisdom and overall value of evangelical missions trips -especially short term ventures.   I’ve read many articles and even had conversations with students here on campus who contend that most short-term trips are not worth doing. I disagree!  believe that short term trips are thoroughly Biblical and we must keep sending out teams both to do short-term and long-term work.  But we should help each other to strive after wisdom and move forward with God-centered purposefulness.  

I really believe that it’s possible to do things well, and on the whole, I think the short-term trips that we offer with Cru are very valuable and effective.  Cru has both international and U.S. stateside summer mission trips that college students can participate in.  

I want to point out three things that help enable the Cru trips to be more helpful than hurtful on the whole.  

#1  Gospel Centrality.  One of the things that makes Cru’s projects so valuable is the gospel-centered nature of our missions. Throughout its history Cru has prioritized the communication of the good news of Jesus Christ as our primary objective.  The core of the Great Commission is to make disciples of Him!   We certainly value humanitarian aid and social justice initiatives; we believe in both good words and good deeds!  But no matter what else we do, we press forward with our conviction that the gospel is foundational.  Everyone everywhere needs Jesus, and our first aim is to make him known. Helping others to discover and follow Jesus is categorically helpful and good. Always.

#2  Working in Partnership.   When we take a short-term student team to another country we are typically working on or near a college campus, in conjunction with a long-term team of missionaries in that country.  Often, the long-term teams include local ministers who are native to that area or country.  Yes, sometimes a short-term team goes ahead of a long-term team, but in either case, we strive to connect our short term activities with those who are long term.  This format helps us to work in ways that are truly constructive, and it literally enables our short-term participants to contribute.  We aren’t just taking a group of students to a foreign country on some type of “Christian tourism” adventure, but we are able to involve them as ministers engaged in the long-term work.  

#3  Students working with Students.   A more cynical colleague of mine once asked the question: “Does anyone else think it’s weird that we take unskilled youth group kids to do construction in a country full of men who are skilled construction workers?”  He was scoffing the classic “mission trip to Mexico” phenomenon.  Certainly it’s an over-statement to say that everyone in Mexico is a skilled construction worker, but there is no doubt that most American junior high kids are in way over their heads at a construction site.  That’s not all bad, but what we’ve got going in Cru is different.  The majority of our ministry consists of straight-forward discipleship and evangelism in a context that our students are at least generally familiar with.  We take university students to a university!  It’s a venue where we are considerably experienced.  Sure, some methods need to be tweaked and “contextualized” a bit, but on the whole, our students are engaging in a kind of ministry that makes sense.  They are building relationships with other college students, they are building friendships and they are talking about Jesus.  It’s the same thing they do here at our campus!   

Here are some links: 

Mamalodi Initiative Website http://mamelodi.org/?page_id=651

Mamelodi Report Summary  http://mamelodi.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/mitwopager.pdf

When Helping Hurts  https://www.chalmers.org/when-helping-hurts

A couple of Articles on this topic:

From Gospel Coalition:

Why You should Consider Cancelling Your Short Term Mission Trips  

AND

Don’t Cancel That Short Term Mission Trip

Some Biblical examples of Short-term missional methodology.

Jesus’ whole ministry was a 3 year short-term trip.

The Apostle Paul’s ministry was a series of short-term style mission ventures.

Jesus sends his disciples on some very short-term trips. eg: Luke 9,10.  

Jonah’s mission to the Assyrian’s was quite short.  

Michael Horton talking about the Church’s mission to make disciples.  He talks about needing to be aware of “mission creep”; losing sight of the main mission.  Scrub to the 2:10 mark.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXIVOvTANv0

"Right In Our Own Back Yard!"

Two of our kids were downstairs riding skateboards and the rest of us were in our apartment when after a quick rap on the door, a girl from China walks right into our house with a confident "hello."  It's 9:15 in the morning, and  even though we have never met, she's standing in our entry way, exclaiming at the cuteness of Juniper and wandering down the hallway to the living room! 

"Hello!"  I greet her back.  We all introduced ourselves and began to talk about apartments for rent in the area.  I ended up walking around the neighborhood and helping her and her friends find some living accommodations for the summer.

It's not that that was a daily occurrence by any means, but I tell you that story to highlight just how involved we are with the international student population in Wildwood!  The students are everywhere -even walking right into our living room!  

So often it's merely sentiment to say "there are people from all over the world right in our back yard." But on the Wildwood Summer Project, it's actual fact!   Throughout the week and with increasing frequency we and our students hang out in the backyard of the project house talking with new friends from all over the world.

I was hanging out one night talking with a guy named Alex from Romania along with a couple of other guys including a guy I'll call "G" from China.  We were talking about original sin and I was explaining the Adam and Eve story which was actually brand new to "G."   Alex, had grown up around the Eastern Orthodox tradition, so he was at least familiar with the narrative.  As we talked about the effects of the fall in the world and in our lives Alex exclaimed grievously "Awww Adam!  Why did you eat that F****** apple!?"  (I think he speaks for all of us.)  As we went on, I was explaining that Jesus is the only one who has ever lived a perfect and sinless life.  So that the gospel was not confused as being simply another moralistic tale, I told some other stories from the Bible, explaining that all of the characters in the Bible are actually sinful, fallen human beings, and only the God in the flesh, Jesus can save us.  As I told different stories, I dialed em up using BibleGateway on my iPhone.

It was a great conversation and everyone was really engaged.  "G" said, "I am really interested in the Bible right now!"  I explained that he could read the whole thing online in his own language!  He said, "yah, but how long would that take?"  I said "Probably a couple of months."  He said  "Don't they have a movie or something?"  I said "well, actually...yah.  They kind of do!  Just this past year the History Channel made a movie!"  I said "I'll buy it and how bout next Thursday we can start watching it!"

Here's what's cool.  "G" actually went home and downloaded the full miniseries on his computer!  But then, someone stole his laptop!!  NOOOOOO!  But he came out on Thursday, and towards the end of our International Cafe, we set up a screen right in the driveway and about 10-15 of us watched the first episode of the Bible movie.  

There were guys literally getting their first exposure to the Biblical narrative!  And they were into it!

  

The World in Wildwood

The main reason that we love the Wildwood Summer Project is because there are so many people from so many places in the world.  Cornell is certainly a place with students from around the Globe, but during June, July and August, Wildwood, NJ is the hot spot for college students from other countries. Morey's Piers - a collection of beach front amusement park attractions and restaurants is largely responsible for the legacy of foreign summer migration.  Supposedly inspired by both the Great Commission and Walt Disney, Morey's sends recruiters to job fairs at foreign universities throughout the year highlighting the employment opportunities and amassing their workforce.  

It's not uncommon when you're walking down the street to see postcards advertising "Bulgarian Parties" or other country specific gatherings.  

In 2011, more than 7,000 came from abroad to the Garden State through Summer Work Travel program and worked a myriad of service industry jobs.  

Below are a couple of links.  The first is "testimonials" page on Morey's Piers website.  You can hear some of the exchange students talking about their experience and get a real feel for where the students are coming from  The second is an article from NJ.com
http://www.moreyspiers.com/work/testimonials/
and
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/for_international_students_wor.html

Eunice Ko: Blessed in Guatemala

Eunice Ko is known for her exuberance and un-ceasing encouragement.  She actually had some trouble raising the funds to go on the Guatemala trip, and for a few days, I really didn't think she was going to make it!  I was bummed about that, not just for her sake, but because I knew what an encouragement she would be to everyone else on the trip!  (Eunice is in the back)

She wrote an email to friends and supporters and I asked her if I could post some of what she said.  

Psalm 27:13 says "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living."  That verse really stuck out to Eunice as she was preparing to head to Guatemala.  

She writes: "On our first day in Guatemala our team worked on pouring a concrete roof for the Hope Renewed Bakery. For this project all of the Hope Renewed scholarship students were required to volunteer so I got to make a lot of Guatemalan friends! This was the day I got to meet Jacqueline! She lives in the ghetto but God has allowed her to get into (arguably) the most competitive medical school in Central and South America! When Jacqueline was younger, she had cancer and almost died but her mother. who is an amazing woman of God, believed that God would heal her! Because of all the time she spend in the hospital as a child, Jacqueline decided that she wanted to be a doctor despite the impossibility of her circumstances! She was rejected from medical school twice but when her mom prayed, God showed her a green light and she encouraged Jaqueline to apply one more time. Now she is a third year medical school student with a lot of struggles, but God is ministering to her through all of it!"

Praying and ministering with Jaqueline was a true highlight of the trip for Eunice.  

"We also got to visit the women's prison where we listened to testimonies and we got to pray for the women. It was funny to realize that all prisoners are the same as us. Some of the women are charged with murder and some are charged with laundering, but every woman in the prison was just looking for God and so open to receiving His love. 

There is a separate area in the prison where gang members are isolated so that they don't hurt other people or hurt rival gang members."  

The Guatemala  team was blessed to meet one former gang member who came to know Jesus while she was in prison.  Today she ministers to the other inmates and has been able to see over 100 people put their faith in Christ.   

Our Cru team was able to spend  3 days at a girls orphanage.  

Montezuma's revenge was unyielding and most of the students did get sick at one time or another.  Eunice was grateful for the chance to not only serve the Guatemalans, but to grow closer to the team thru service as the week went on.   

Eunice  wrote "Although our time in Guatemala was brief, it was such a great blessing to love people and watch God moving in the hearts of Guatemalans and my teammates!"

Transformation in South Africa

I want to re-iterate what I wrote in my last post; that we are passionate about being involved in God's global ministry.  

In an amazing orchestration of events, God enabled one of our interns, Kelsey Karys to travel to Pretoria, South Africa this January with a group of Boston-area Cru students.  

Our Cru staff at Harvard; Pat and Tammy McCleod have been leading groups of students to join with South African college students in an incredible mission to tutor high school students, grades 8-12.  Check out the Mamelodi Initiative website for more information: http://mamelodi.org/

Kelsey Wrote about an 11th grade student named Emmanuel who was one of the students she had the privilege of meeting.  "Emmanuel is a smart, quiet boy who loves cars and dreams to go to MIT and then work for BMW.  Like most kids from Mamelodi, his father is no longer a part of his life.  Unlike other kids, he does remember his father being a Christ-like role model who taught him to work hard and trust God.  
Part way through the week, one of the American tutors, a student from MIT, got to share the Knowing God Personally booklet with Emmanuel. On the page that talked about how our sin separates us from God, he asked if that was really true, and listened intently about how Jesus is not just a good role model, but also his savior!  When I talked to Emmanuel on the last day I learned about his church background that was, like many black South Africans, a mix of traditional ancestral beliefs and Christianity.  But I got to share with him about the work of Jesus and how the Holy Spirit will shape us more and more into the image of Christ.  Emmanuel prayed that the Holy Spirit would bear fruit in his family, and bring love back into his household."

As Kelsey and the team were leaving, Emmanuel handed her a poem about the way God carries us through all difficulty.  For Kelsey it was humbling to witness some of the students' grasp of God's sovereignty -confidently trusting in God even as they may not know where their next meal will be coming from.  

Radical Summary

"We need HIM!"
"We come to Jesus to get Jesus!"  

A few months back, I talked about David Platt's book Radical.  It's a worthy read -but you can get the gyst of it all by watching this 30 minute message.


Platt spoke at the Urbana mission's conference in December. 

Provoking and inciteful, Platt asks: "Have we twisted Jesus into a God we are more comfortable with?  A Jesus who is o.k. with nominal devotion?  Are we molding Jesus into our image?"

1.  Jesus is worthy of all our trust. 
Speaking of some worshipers gathered overseas, Platt proclaims "Jesus is enough for them!  Is he enough for us?"  

"What happens when followers of Christ begin to say that 'he is enough for us'?

2.  Jesus is worthy of all our plans and dreams.  
"when you follow him you have an obligation, a responsibility, a plan, a dream, an ambition that supercedes every other obligation, responsibility, plan, dream, or ambition in this world...go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

Speaking mostly to students Platt reminded them that the reason you are going to be a teacher, engineer, doctor isn't so you can make it big and be rich, but so that you can proclaim the kingdom of God and declare the glory of God to the ends of the earth!!

"What happens when every single student in this room makes it their primary ambition, their primary plan and dream the proclamation of the gospel to the nations?  What plan or dream can you give your life to that is more worthy?"

3. Jesus is infinitely worthy of all our affections.  

"Does Jesus have your heart?
Is he the center of your affections?"

"We preach the gospel on college campuses because Jesus is worthy of the worship of every single college student on this continent!"

"This is why we go to the toughest places on earth."

By the Bed of the Dying

C.T. Studd has been described as the Michael Jordan of Cricket.  (Pick your sports icon: Babe Ruth, Tom Brady, Koby Bryant?...whatever.)   As a college student in the late 1800’s C.T. became a legend and an inspiration playing the most popular sport of his day in England.  He was a rising star destined for riches and renown as a professional player.   You could say he had everything going for him; he was having fun, he was successful.  But he was also drifting away from the things of God.

Then came his brother’s illness.   C.T.’s  younger brother George contracted some kind of sickness that left him bed-ridden and debilitated for weeks.   He was suffering and presumably headed towards his death.  C.T. spent time sitting beside his dying brother and it was there that God met him and prompted him to contemplate life. 

There is something quite powerful and transforming about sitting by the bed of someone who is dying –or even very sick.  I am currently becoming more acquainted with this as my dad’s ALS disease continues to paralyze more and more of his body.  I got to hang out with him this summer and I plan to join him again in just a few weeks.

Grieving beside his brother, C.T. thought "Now what is all the popularity of the world to George? What is all the fame and flattering? What is it worth to possess the riches of the world, when a man comes to face Eternity?"   The reality that life is a vapor (James 4:14) came to bear upon his soul and the brilliance of worldly fame began to pale as he thought about what really mattered.

Pastor Dave Jones at Bethel Grove Church here in Ithaca was talking this past Sunday about sitting beside a friend dying of pancreatic cancer.  This friend was the best man in his wedding.   Dave said  “sitting there you come to realize something that you should behold every day!  You realize that this life and this world are out of your control.”   It’s so easy to delude ourselves into thinking that we are stronger than we really are –more wise than we really are, and even more important.   We go thru life with a false sense of invincibility and an inflated view of our significance.  But death has a way of slapping you back to reality!   Watching someone die reminds you that we aren't that powerful and in fact we are all terminal. You come to a new place of desperation as you grasp the truth that you are not the king of the Universe!  From that vantage point, many are given the grace to see and finally know Him who is the king: the one who is in control.    Sitting there watching someone’s life expire you get to see the emptiness of those things we typically glory in and recognize the greatness of God.   

God miraculously spared George Studd’s life and he suddenly recovered from his illness.  But thankfully, C.T. never recovered from the transformation he experienced sitting by the bed of the dying.   He returned to college much less passionate about cricket and much more passionate about Jesus.  He begin sharing his faith and joining with other men for the purpose of prayer.  C.T. Studd committed his life to the cause of world missions.  Banding together with some other classmates, C.T. toured college campuses with the “Cambridge 7” challenging students to live for God and give themselves wholly to the work of God’s kingdom.  After that he departed to foreign mission fields.  

Everyone needs to come to the realization that this life and this world are out of your control.   But thankfully, our God is in control and he loves us. 

Here is a video of C.T. Studd sermon quotes: 

Letter from my Dream World!

A big part of our work on campus with students involves mobilizing students to go to the world as missionaries. We have both short-term and long-term trips that students can be a part of. There are so many needs in the world, and the experiences are so valuable that we promote these a lot. This year, we've got students going to Haiti, as well as Colorado, and Montana on Cru Summer Projects. Sadly, one of the biggest inhibitors to student participation in missions is parents. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. Even (and very often) Christian parents can be extremely discouraging of their kids spending a summer serving others and spreading the Gospel. Usually, the discouraging sentiments are rooted in a lack of faith and zeal on the part of parents, and that is very unfortunate and sad. But, other parents are different! Below is a real email written by a parent of a student in our movement. This father is absolutely filled with faith and confidence in the Lord as well as a dedication to the Great Commission. He wrote this last year to both of his sons when they were applying for the summer projects that they eventually went on. One of the boys is a leader in our ministry, and his brother is at another college. I can't even imagine what my job would be like if every parent was like this! I call this a letter from my dream world! Hi Alex & Jim, I reviewed the online materials regarding CRU's summer mission programs. I believe these are valuable programs and I'm happy to see that both of you have expressed strong interest in participating. As I will be making a couple of mission trips myself this year, and Mommy and Mark may also sign up for a trip to [closed country], I can see that the Lord is really blessing our family to participate in His work. I understand the cost is high but I also trust that the Lord will provide. With this, I would encourage you to start the process as early as you can, including signups and fundraising efforts. If you want me to assist in providing contact information for your fundraising exercises, please let me know. Just in case you want to know, we recently received a fundraising letter from Brian Smith, who is planning to go to the middle east with the same CRU program this summer. God bless! Dad In my dream world, Christian parents would be the biggest cheerleaders for Christian Missions. I can't even explain how many encouraging elements there are in this note! His interest in what his kids are thinking about doing is commendable. He encourages his kids to sign up early, and start raising their money. He is not the least bit concerned that the whole family will be trusting God for financial support in order to participate in missions, because he knows what a privilege it is and that God will provide. Then, he mentions another student, a family friend, and implies that he will be supporting him financially to go on a Cru summer project. Who is this guy!?! His example is one that I hope will be followed! *I have changed the names of the students and the country.

Guatemala Trip

In addition to Big Break in Florida, we also sent Cornell students to Guatemala over Spring Break.

A few short years ago the Campus Crusade Lifelines ministry in Vermont pioneered a trip with an organization working in Guatemala. Students get the chance to serve in the barrios, dumps, orphanages and prisons of Guatemala City

This year, Mike Sugihara and Sarah Furnish along with Cru Lifelines Staff Wes and Meghan Wright led a team of 13 people.

This trip is truly one of a kind and that is due primarily to the full time missionary named Ashley. Ashley is a young woman who moved out to Guatemala city to work full-time with orphans, gang members, the poor and the hurting. I've never met her personally, but she seems like a young Mother Teresa with a sassy spirit and fashion sense. She loves Jesus and his love pours thru her all over the ghetto. She's an inspiration to everyone who's ever worked with her.
Basically on the Guatemala trip, you spend most of your time walking around with Ashley, seeing God work mightily. You get to hear the most incredible stories of faith while working amongst the poorest of the poor in a ridiculously corrupt country.

This year, the group got to work on a community center being built right next to the dump.

Olivia Lee is a sophomore here at Cornell. She went to Florida with us last year, and this year she got to go to Guatemala. She wrote a short post about one of her experiences at the women's prison. Read Below.

When Ashley asked,“Who wants to do crafts with a guilty inmate, a real criminal?” my hand shot up. I love crafts! And perhaps, I thought, “I will LOVE this inmate too.” I knew her story as I headed into the prison, and I was a little nervous that I would accidentally let it slip that I knew who she was and why she was in prison. However, in a room full of many women, and not exactly sure which one she was, I got down to business with our intricate sewing craft and began chatting with the ladies.

He went away sad....

This past weekend was an amazing time of championing the Greatness of God, and promoting world missions involvement. On Friday night at our meeting, we talked about God's missionary heart and our role to participate with him in making himself known to the nations. We talked about seeking first the Kingdom of God and not missing out on the things God has for us by seeking greatness for ourselves.

That was followed up (perfectly) on Saturday night with an event here on campus we call LIGHT 2010. Cornell alum, and World Missionary Alex Lee came out to challenge the students to surrender everything to our savior Jesus and follow him -wherever that might lead!

He told parts of his own story, and preached from Mark 10 -the story of the Rich Young Ruler as well as the book of Esther (chapter 4) challenging Cornell's rich, young, successful, "rulers" with the realities of a life spent in pursuit of God vs. a life that deny's His call.

The rich young guy in Mark 10 was unwilling to "sell everything", to leave behind his worldly riches and success and life to follow Jesus. As a result "he went away sad" Lee pointed out the fact that not surrendering to the call of God is a sad loss for you personally, and it's also a loss for those around you.

He challenged the students to step out in faith, to seize the opportunity God has for them now, like queen Esther, and not to miss out like the Rich young ruler did.

These are some words from an article that Alex wrote that corresponded to his message:

Let us take Christ's words to heart. The rich young ruler was first in the World's eyes, but what did that mean to Jesus? Did the wealth of the world really make him rich? The twelve ordinary men who left their boats and fathers and businesses behind -they were the rich ones. She was wise who broke her alabaster jar and anointed her Lord extravagantly. Church, break your jars! Leave your boats! If we are not careful, an entire generation of [north] American Christians will pass away silently into spiritual obscurity, impotent in eternal influence and mournfully barren. we will walk away the saddest of them all. Then we will have proved Christ's warning indeed. How greatly Good wants to use us! How Jesus longs to give us life, and life to the full....As God saved a nation through Esther, so he plans to save many more in our day? Through whom? The answer to this question lies with you.

Real Life topic:Missions

Tomorrow night, I will speak at our weekly meeting -called Real Life- about "Missions". We'll talk about God's heart for the nations, and the worthiness of God's glory to be proclaimed and made known everywhere! Every Christian has a role to play in the spreading of the good news.

Historically, college students have been used by God to take the Gospel all around the world. In fact, here at Cornell, a guy named John R. Mott gave his life to the mobilization of missionaries. John Mott was a leader in the YMCA back when it was a campus ministry, -and not an exercise facility, and he was a founding organizer of the Student Volunteer Movement. The student volunteer movement was responsible for mobilizing thousands of students for Christian world missions.

Please Pray for our meeting. Friday nights, 7:30. Olin Hall 155