Endings and Beginnings

Good and evil. Light and dark. Filled and empty. Pure and dirty. Peace and war. Joy and sadness. Love and hate.

I have seen and felt it all in countries around the world and time and time again in Guatemala, where my heart remains no matter where I go. For years I poured myself out for one small village there, but I knew all along that the time would come when the Lord would call me to move on to another place in Guatemala and that time is now. For two years I heard about and watched the work of Lemonade International from a distance, never being involved any more than just an occasional donation and certainly never thinking that I would become part of the team that works in La Limonada in zone 5 of Guatemala City.

But that is exactly what has happened.

Earlier this year I visited La Limonada to see in person the work being done by Lemonade International and more importantly the work of Vidas Plenas, the Guatemalan organization that Lemonade partners with and supports. What I found while I was in La Limonada is partnering organizations that are as real in person as they are online, by phone, in Reparando and in the testimonies of their supporters. There are many good organizations working in Guatemala, but what I have learned over the past two years is that Lemonade International and their partner, Vidas Plenas, is the organization that I believe in more than any other, even more than my own, because they are one of the few doing what I always envisioned but could not grow in a small village that is not yet ready for it. After returning from Guatemala and accepting that it was, indeed, time to move on to another area of focus in Guatemala, it was decided that I would end the ministry of Across All Borders and join the team of Lemonade International as their Director of Strategic Partnerships.

I returned to La Limonada a few weeks ago, just nine days after returning from a twelve day trip to Mumbai, India. It was during this time in Guatemala that I realized I only thought there was conflict in other parts of the country, but there is nothing like the conflict in La Limonada. I can see it. I can feel it. I have heard stories that are so heart wrenching, just the thought of them brings me to tears and I have heard the cries of just a few of the people living lives there that I cannot even begin to explain. But what's amazing is that I know that good will win over evil. Darkness is becoming light. The empty are being filled. What is dirty can become pure. There is peace in the midst of war. Joy prevails in sadness. And while there is hate...oh how there is hate...there is intense love like I have never seen before. The presence of the Lord is so strong in this place where there is such evil, that you cannot help but believe and know that He is overcoming the darkness with His Light.

I am humbled, blessed and excited to be part of the Lemonade team and looking forward to what is ahead for the beautiful people of La Limonada.

If you or your church are interested in partnering with us in any way, please email me at terry@lemonadeinternational.org.

Adding Value to Life

Monday I will be back in Guatemala with a large team of people from several states. This trip has come together beautifully and I could not be more excited about meeting each person I will be serving with. It's a trip that is a little different than the norm. They requested to spend time working in an orphanage that one of their children lived in before being adopted from Guatemala, so of course we worked in plenty of time for that. We will also be in Pueblo Nuevo and we will enjoy a "free day" so the team can experience more of Guatemala and visit Lake Atitlan.

I wonder how many times I have spoken here about how much our good intentions sometimes hurt those we go to serve. Unfortunately, it is true more often than not and I say that only because I KNOW it. Some people do not like to hear that it does no good to do constant hand-outs of shoes, clothes, hygiene products, toys, blankets, food etc. in these countries and that certainly goes for Guatemala. In fact, as I have said probably hundreds of times by now, those hand-outs truly hurt the people they are given to often. Sometimes we are blind to that fact; sometimes we just ignore it. It hurts the local business owners and it hurts those on the receiving end by removing a little more of their dignity.

When this team mentioned wanting to provide shoes for the children at the orphanage, I held my breath as I waited for the response to my email that suggested we buy the shoes there or better yet, hire a local shoe maker to make the shoes instead of collecting shoes here and bringing them with us. I had no idea if they would go along with my suggestion to raise money here and pay someone there to make them, giving him more income to care for his family. They agreed and I was thrilled. After much help and coordination from staff at Lemonade International in La Limonada (the largest slum in Central America that is in Guatemala City and a place I will be visiting next week as we decide how we may begin working with those that are already working in the area), it was arranged. A man named Otto that lives in La Limonada agreed to make the shoes. He went to the orphanage and measured 29 children so he could make their custom shoes.

With every thing in me, I believe in helping the people of Guatemala (and the world) realize their true potential. I love when people realize that they are capable of doing more than they thought. And we all know that I will do anything to not harm the people of Guatemala with what I think are good ideas and intentions, so bringing shoes there was simply not an option because it would have hurt business owners like Otto.

Imagine the joy I felt when I received this email from Hubert at Lemonade International last night:

"Your shoes are done!!! I went to visit Otto today and they're looking amazing!!! I'm so in love with the design they picked at the orphanage. To be honest, this was a big challenge for Otto, but it was amazing to hear him say, "Now I feel capable of doing any kind of shoes. This has been one of the hardest things for me to do, but now I know I CAN." You're challenge in having him create shoes for such little people added value to his life and now he feels like he grew in his abilities and capacity to excel. Thank you! He went to find soles that are special for the kids learning to walk for the shoes he needed and he's been extra careful with those details. It's amazing to see him and Cristian, his son who is paralyzed from the waist down, work on these shoes.... The leather he used is a much higher quality than the one used for the shoes from the project we developed with him which was already great quality. This is because this leather is really soft so he could make really small shoes. It is really hard to work with leather already and it is something you understand once you see him making the shoes. Thank you for giving opportunities to those that need them the most."

JOY! Overwhelming joy! Isn't is amazing what an order of shoes can do for the one making them, the one ordering them and the ones receiving them? I had no idea that this would be such a challenge for him, but I am so excited that he now knows that he can do anything! God is so good in the way He works out the details.

"Our perspective should be less about how we are going to fix the materially poor and more about how we can walk together, asking God to fix us both."

"Development is not done TO people of FOR people, but WITH people."

"Until we embrace our mutual brokenness, our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good."

Pretty much all of my well-worn copy of "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert is highlighted and underlined, but those are a few of my favorite quotes.

This is just one example of what I truly believe is the best way to do missions. It cannot be about giving to "the poor". Of course we are called to serve, but we need to be careful that what we call service doesn't further harm to anyone. It's not all about shoes. Far from it. But this is one of those times that I just have to say (AGAIN!)...

The next time you plan on packing suitcases full of crocs and tennis shoes and used dress shoes (or anything to distribute, for that matter) for the mission trip you're going on, remember people like Otto. Every pair of shoes (or whatever it is) you bring to another country to give away takes away from a business like his which puts that MORE PEOPLE in a position where they cannot care for their families. If you really stop to think about it, it just makes sense. It's the ONLY thing that makes sense.

People are not projects.

Check out Otto's awesome work! I cannot wait to meet him next week and hopefully hear a little of his story. What a blessing his hands are to the feet of 29 precious children!

What I Learned in Uganda

So, some of this I already knew well before going to Uganda, but confirmation is always a good thing.  Other things were brand new to me there and it is incredible to be constantly learning more about yourself and others from around the world.  Some parts of the trip were hysterical; other parts as serious as it could be.  Here’s what I learned (or learned more about):

1.  Taking photos of the bridge that crosses the Nile River is illegal.  And even if you are taking a photo of the rapids and are not interested in the bridge whatsoever, you will still be pulled over by crooked cops if they see the flash of your camera.

2.  I am not above paying $10 to keep my camera and avoid any type of conflict with said crooked cops despite how much I protest paying bribes in other countries.

3.  Learning how to work the camera properly BEFORE arriving in Uganda would have prevented the problem.  So would listening to the driver that said taking photos of the bridge is illegal (but still, I wasn’t taking a picture of the bridge!).  Lesson learned: know your camera and even if your driver is “off”, pay attention.

4.  As afraid as I am of creepy, crawly things and most things with scales, I can sleep when there is a mini dinosaur of a lizard under my bed.

5.  Some guys are more afraid of mini dinosaur lizards than girls are.

6. Team leaders are not super humans.  In fact, they are just regular humans.  Like me.  It makes me feel better to be reminded of that.

7.  I can go MUCH longer on a LONG drive than I ever thought without stopping to use the restroom.

8. Gas stations are few and far between when riding to North Uganda.  And those that exist usually do not have toilets (the ones we found anyway). 

9.  Latrines are no big deal.  They serve their purpose.  So does the side of the road.  Because sometimes there is no latrine to be found.

10.  Lights out by 11pm.  Maybe before if the generator stops.  And I mean out.  For the whole town.  Until the next night when they come back on for a few hours.

11.  I can be in total darkness by myself for hours without having a panic attack despite being afraid of the dark.  God likes hanging out under mosquito nets in the middle of the night, too.

12.  There is a hospital in Arua.  If you’re dying, just suffer through it at home.  If you’re not, suffer through whatever it is that’s wrong.  Because if you go to the hospital, which appears to be the only medical care in the area, you probably won’t make it out alive.  The closest decent medical care is 7 hours away in Kampala or a short flight to Nairobi. 

13.  If you must be sick enough to require being flown to Nairobi, try to get sick during the day.  The tiny airport with the unlit dirt runway is not open at night.

14. People are human no matter where they live.

15.  Being the only girl on a team isn’t bad at all. 

16. Mosquitos will find the smallest hole in your hotel provided mosquito net and attack when you least expect.  And some of them obviously like the taste of deet.

17.  I can live on chips (french fries), toast and pineapple for 10 days.  And sometimes I prefer goat to chicken.

18. Being close to the (White) Nile River was as exciting as I thought it would be.

19. Having a fan in your room is pointless when the power is out.  You eventually get used to sleeping in the heat despite being used to having your thermostat set on 70 degrees or lower at home.

20. I enjoy cold showers.

21. Every country is not as full of stray dogs as Guatemala.  In fact, I only saw ONE the whole time I was there.  But just like in Guatemala, there are cows and goats and chickens that wander around all over.

22. Darkness is everywhere, but so is the Light and I know what wins in the end.

23.  Malaria really does kill a lot of children under the age of 5 simply because there are not enough mosquito nets being distributed.

24.  Even if people have access to clean water, they often do not use it for drinking just because they are not being educated on the importance of drinking clean water.  People are DYING from diseases caused by dirty water when they have access to clean water because how can they know if they are not educated?  And we all know that many still do not even have access to clean water.

25. Missionaries usually rock (the Taylors do!) and are totally human.

26.  Some people get it.  Most still do not.

27.  There are clothes and shoes and soccer balls and every thing else you might consider collecting and bringing over already in Uganda.  Buy it there.  And if you won’t take my word for it, find a missionary that “gets it” and talk to him or her.  They will tell you the same thing.  Let’s stop crippling already broken communities with our handouts.

28. After day 1 of any trip, especially this one, I do not care how much texts and calls cost and will pay anything to have access to my family and dearest peeps whenever I want. 

29.  God really does care about the seemingly small things that matter to you.

30.  Praying helps settle your stomach.

31.  Lost souls stand out more than poverty.

32. We need to rethink the way we think about short term missions and realize that we do not need to fix everything because not everything is broken despite what we think.

33.  Tukuls (hut houses) are NICE.  Really!  I WISH the poor in Guatemala could live like that, but hurricanes and earthquakes make it impossible.

34.  African tea is not bad, but my favorite wake me up drink will forever be my Guatemalan coffee.

35.  African mountain dew looks like a glowing toxic chemical and may very well be just that.

36. Coca Cola Light bottled in Kampala is better, yes BETTER, than Coca Light in Guatemala.

37.  You can fall in love with a place quickly.  And you can fall in love with the countries that border it without even going there.  I always thought that you could love a place and the people that live there without ever having visited.  Now I KNOW you can.  And that makes me pretty excited since I am still totally in love with the people of Southeast Asia (and maybe even India…we’ll see soon enough) and I have never been to that part of the world.  Yet.

38.  White people freak a lot of people out. 

39.  Muslims want to win Uganda.  It is coming across borders from all sides.

40.  I am loved.

41.  You can feel the prayers of your friends and family when you’re on the other side of the world.

42.  My husband rocks.

43.  So does our kid.

44. Flying still freaks me out.  I guess it always will.  And that’s OK since it’s never going to stop me from getting to where I have to go.

45. Being in Uganda makes you stink different than your typical “I’ve been sweating in the Louisiana heat stink” and it. is. BAD.  But it’s OK because everyone else around you smells the same way or worse.

And the biggest thing I learned….

46.  Guatemala is just a part of the story God is telling with my life, but it isn’t the biggest part or even the overall theme.  A new chapter is beginning.  I do not know what will be written.  Guatemala will definitely be in it, but so will some other parts of the world that until now I have only dreamed of.  And some country in Africa, maybe Uganda, maybe the Congo, maybe Sudan or maybe another part of Africa altogether may possibly (I will even say likely) be a part of it.  Every thing seems to be changing and because I know it’s Him turning the page and starting this new chapter, I like it.

Uganda

We got back from Uganda two weeks ago and ever since I have been waiting and waiting for the words to really talk about the trip.  I’ve been able to sum up what we did (and didn’t do) easily enough, but going beyond surface level chit chat and answering, “It was great!” when asked, “How was your trip?”  hasn’t happened.  The words still do not come no matter how much I think about what I should say or write so I thought I would just start typing and see if anything starts to flow.

In the words of a friend that came to help me out the day after I got home, I’ll give you the basic, not “big God stuff” details first.  That’s the easy part.  It’s always the “big God stuff” that is hardest for me to describe.

We had no idea really what we would be doing during our time in Uganda other than meeting up with a missionary in Arua (we LOVE the Taylor family and I would go back to any country in Africa time and time again just to work with them…check out their blog HERE), getting to know our new partner pastor in Koboko and spending some time with the Uganda Baptist Seminary president in Jinja.  We knew this wouldn’t be a “work” trip, but we thought we would at least get to do some evangelizing.  Wrong and that is totally ok.  This was an assessment trip of sorts and even though we learned things that we aren’t very happy about(ministry…it’s never easy), we found out all we needed to know and jump started some serious and necessary training/mentoring/discipling after days of tough questions.  Basically, it was what I think a typical first mission trip to a new area should be.  Get to know the local leadership a bit.  Do nothing in the town/village other than meet people.  Pray and decide where to go from there.  And that’s what we did.  That may sound like a wasted trip, but trust me, it wasn’t.  It was a necessary trip.  We did what we set out to do and returned with the information we needed to move forward.

That’s the church answer.  The basic summary.  That doesn’t answer the tough questions I’ve been asked.  They don’t sound like they would be hard to answer, but for reason they are this time.

“So, did you see God’s hand in every part of the trip?”

“Was it life changing?”

“Will you go back?”

“How was it really?”

“Was it hard to be there?”

“Aren’t you glad to be home?”

As it so often happens, I think I can answer all of the questions that are still being asked much better here.  I have had two weeks to reflect and the longer I am here (away from Uganda), the more I can see God in every detail of the trip, from years before until now.  So that church answer, the basic summary above, is what we did and did not do in Uganda.  Next comes fun details about LONG van trips and almost getting arrested (not really, but we did have a scary incident), life without power and sometimes water and being the only girl in the group.  More importantly, how God brought me to the other side of the world to answer prayers up close and personal and what He is stirring in my heart now is coming soon…

Wet Feet

“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” Joshua 3:6

“Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: “When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.” Joshua 3:8

That is how Mark Batterson opened a session last week.  When I opened my Bible to follow along I saw notes that I wrote in the margin long ago about “taking the first step” and was encouraged by the reminder he gave us that day.

In Joshua 3, the Lord gives Joshua the above message for the priests.  Even though the river was at flood stage, they were instructed to go and stand in the water.  I wonder if they had any idea what “amazing things” would happen next?  As soon as their feet touched the water’s edge the water from upstream stopped flowing and was piled up in a great heap and the water flowing down was completely cut off.  The people crossed over and the priests who carried the ark of the covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan.  In chapter four, after the priests came out of the river, the waters returned to their place and ran at flood stage once again.

God knew He was about to do something amazing, but the priests had to obey Him before they would see the miracle. 

He still wants to do that kind of work in our lives and through us.

Mark talked about a recent trip he took with his son where they went paragliding.  He thought it sounded like a great idea until he got to the top of where he would be required to run off the cliff as fast as he could so he could catch the updraft.  In a split second his thoughts turned to “This is crazy!”  But he ran as fast as he could off of the cliff, caught the updraft and looked down.  What he thought was crazy became awesome.

“If you aren’t willing to have a “this is crazy moment”, you will never get to “this is awesome.”

Years ago I sent an email to a friend that said something like, “I feel like I just jumped off of a cliff and I am free falling…”  I did not know what I was doing then and will probably always be able to admit to not always knowing what to do now.  It feels like I jump off of a cliff again every time I say yes to the Lord about something else.  And the rest of the time I am just free falling.  It is scary at times (ok…most of the time), but it is an incredibly exciting life to live.  Following Jesus is never boring.

We spend so much time asking God to move.  What if He is asking us to do the same?  What if He is telling us to just take the first step?  What if He is telling us to step into the river and get our feet wet before He parts it? 

I have heard it so many times.  “God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called.”

It may sound crazy (what God idea doesn’t?), but stop waiting to do what you know He is calling you to do just because you don’t know how to do it.  Don’t wait until you have the resources.  Don’t base your vision on your budget.  Don’t wait until you have enough volunteers.

If we wait until we have it all figured out we will never do anything.

All He wants is for us to say yes and to keep saying yes.

Sadly, a lot of us do not have that kind of faith.  We are too dependent on what we can do and hung up on what we cannot.  We pray hoping that our prayers will be heard and answered, but preparing ourselves for a let down just in case God doesn’t come through the way we want Him to.  I’m like that sometimes.  As recently as two months ago I was praying for a way to get to Uganda while trying to figure out how to make it happen myself just in case God didn’t provide the way.  By now I should know that because this trip was His idea, He would make sure I would be on it and He used so many people to make sure it would happen.  And when that last donation came in that put me at 100% I cried tears of joy and tears of shame because how could I doubt Him again?

In the last couple of weeks several people have talked to me about things that they believe the Lord is calling them to do.  Some of these people I have known for a long time and others I have only met in the last month or so.  Some of their passions are for local outreach and others for international missions.  A few have asked for advice on getting started in the area of ministry they feel they need to be in and even though I do not have experience in all of these areas I do have advice for getting started.

It is very simple.

Stop thinking about doing something.  Keep praying, but stop praying for things to line up according to your plan before you become willing to move.

Step into the river.  Get your feet wet.  And just watch what God does.  If you expect Him to move, be willing to move yourself.  If we consecrate ourselves to Him, amazing things will happen.

The Ordinary Heart

I have to give credit where credit is due even though I said I was not going to name names from the conference last week.  I won’t name names of those that disturbed me, but most were great and I can’t help but share their words.

Christine Caine is the founder of A21, a ministry with the mission of ending human trafficking.  (If there was one reason I feel like God had me at this particular conference, I am convinced it was to hear her heart because I have silently been overwhelmed and burdened by this global injustice issue for the last year at least and have had no idea what to do about it or if I should even consider tackling something other than poverty alleviation.  It is something I have been praying about for just as long.  It’s so cool when things become crystal clear.)  But her message was not about human trafficking or slavery.  (I attended a Q&A breakout session with her later that day on that topic.)  Instead she spoke about “The Ordinary Heart”.  About her heart and my heart and yours.

She began by explaining that the only reason darkness is on the earth is because there is an absence of light.  And WE are the reason for it because we allow darkness to reign in some places when we refuse to shine the light of Jesus into those areas. 

“We have hearts that lead us to do nothing.  We do not deliberately withhold compassion, but we do not think beyond our personal worlds.”

Isn’t that the truth even though it’s hard to admit?  Most people that I know are not deliberately withholding compassion and add myself to that group.  I want to love others with all of my heart.  I do not want to judge.  I don’t want to ignore a need.  And sometimes I do not.  Sometimes I am as compassionate as one can be.  But there are more times than not when I would rather not inconvenience myself and I turn away from what could be a life changing moment.  Life changing for another person and life changing for myself.

“If I am not loving my neighbor, I am not loving God.” 

OUCH.

“When good people do nothing, injustice strives.”

Being good is just not good enough though.  It isn’t “good enough” to get to Heaven or “good enough” to impact the world. 

“It is not the unredeemed (the rapist, the murderer), nor the broken (the abused, the poor) that do not do enough, it is the ORDINARY HEART, people like you and me, that do not do enough or nothing at all because we think that the problems are too big to solve so why do anything at all?”

“The church has confused compassion with emotion.”

She spoke about how we see a video on one of the big global issues (human trafficking, extreme poverty, etc.) and it makes us sad for a moment.  We may even shed a tear or two.  We are moved, sometimes to action for a short time.  But then life goes on, we get wrapped back up in our own little worlds and we forget that there is an entire world of injustice out there.  That is not compassion.  That is emotion.  And emotion is not is what is needed to make a change.

The story of the good Samaritan is always talked about during conferences like this.  We know two passed by without caring enough to show any compassion.  They were probably in a hurry to get to the synagogue and had no time to stop to help.  Crossing the street and showing compassion to this man would have been an inconvenience.  Chris said, “Until we are willing to cross the street and be inconvenienced, nothing will ever change.”

“It is Billy Graham AND Mother Theresa.  Not either/or.”  We cannot focus on only sharing the Gospel verbally while ignoring the physical needs of others and we cannot be just humanitarians while neglecting to share the Gospel.  Jesus did both and we have to do the same.

“When we have to hold a conference like this to remind the Church to be compassionate, something is fundamentally wrong.”

Amen!  As I sat there throughout the conference I realized that it’s always the same people at these type of events.  The same pastors, the same ministry leaders, the same people from the Church that are pumped up about local and international missions.  And yet we are still having conferences to learn how to get people involved, whether within our churches or in the general public.  Something is seriously wrong.  Do we have churches full of people that are not willing to deny themselves convenience in order to show compassion to those in need?  The answer saddens me.  I have heard excuse after excuse as to why people cannot or will not become involved in local or global missions.  And that is really all it is.  Excuses.  And Christine addressed that.

“Until our hearts are engaged, we will always find an excuse as to why we cannot “cross the street.”

Why is there still so much injustice in the world?  Some blame God.  They ask why He hasn’t done something.  Why He allows it to continue.  It isn’t God’s fault.  It is ours.

“It is our silence that allows people to remain in unjust situations.”

I wonder if we will ever see an end or even a significant change in the right direction to some of the big global issues?  And I still wonder why do more people not care?  Is it because so many have not seen it first hand or because it is easy to ignore from the comfortable lives we lead?

For me, it is hard to shut off the images that race through my mind every day and I cannot possibly turn my back on those that I do not even know that are suffering injustice around the world.  The Lord created in me a heart that longs to go beyond faceless statistics and to not only know their names, but to see their lives changed both now and for eternity.  It took far too long for me to give in to the Spirit’s leading to GO.  And even now I tend to pull back and resist at every nudge to do something new or out of my comfort zone that I know will be hard and uncomfortable.  I have the God given passion, but I still have that human nature that doesn’t always want to be as compassionate as I need to be.  So I pray for myself and the rest of us, that we will remove ourselves from the equation and be willing to follow Him with every part of ourselves despite the cost.  We may be ordinary, but He created each of us to make an extraordinary impact for the Kingdom.

The Country Club Church

Last week I attended a conference at a local church.  Many of the main sessions and breakout sessions related to local outreach, but a lot of it could (and should) be applied to international ministries as well.  Just like any other conference, there was good and there was bad.  There were speakers that I like(d) and those I think must be from another planet (and no, I won’t be naming names either way here).  I had no preconceived notion about some of the speakers and that made it a little easier to really pay attention to what they had to say.  (What’s the point in blogging if you can’t be honest, right?)

So on the second day of the conference I listened as a guy talked about “The Country Club Church” and I thought,sadly, “Right on, dude!”  (Because at this point we should not be having to have conferences to tell us to have compassion and to start loving like Jesus and, well, start doing what the Bible says.)

He talked about the lepers in Luke 17 and how, as they walked away from Jesus on their way to the priests, He healed them.  He didn’t require that they make it to the synagogue and sit through a sermon in order to be healed.  He saw their need and met it, right where they were.

It’s a never-ending debate in the world of ministry, I know.  And it’s something that I struggle with. 

“Bring the people to the church.”  “Grow the Church.”  You get the picture.

I know the importance of going to church and I believe in growing the Church (I’m talking about the body of Christ here).  And I absolutely believe that we should work to bring people into the fellowship that is the local church body.  But church isn’t what’s on the inside of the building.  It isn’t the pews or carpet or big screen tvs or drums and guitars or huge gyms.  It is the people.  And if we, as the Church, do not get out of our buildings and do something that is going to appear to be ridiculously bold, we aren’t going to reach anyone for the Kingdom.  And if we aren’t doing that, we have no right to call ourselves a church.

This guy said, “We’re letting demons have free reign in the alleys, in the strip clubs, etc. while we drive by on Sunday mornings trying to get to our country club church on time just to pray for them when we get there.”

DEMONS.  You know, evil.

And pray we do.  We pray that lives will be changed and souls will be saved and that we will be used to make a difference on this side of Heaven for eternity’s sake and I think that somehow we truly mean it because surely we aren’t intentionally praying for something that we do not mean, but then something happens.

God tells us to GO.

Go INTO the world.  That includes those places that we ride by on Sunday mornings on our way to church.  It includes those places that make us uncomfortable and freak us out.  It includes places in our own backyards and on the other side of the world.  He wants us to go INTO those places gripped by darkness, shine His light and help lead the people we’ve been praying for out.

It’s time to stop praying only from our pews and occasionally on our knees and start praying as we go INTO the world to reach the lost and hurting.