When We Need Some Convincing

This sermon was given at First Presbyterian Church, Wilmington NC on Aug. 16th. You can find a video of it here: Sermon Video Link

My sermon two weeks ago ended with a lot of talk about foundations.  I was preaching on 1 Cor. 3 and verses 10-11 make a strong point that a master builder must begin any project with the right foundation.  Of course we know this to be true both literally and figuratively in our everyday lives.  Anyone who tries to build a lego tower on nice fluffy carpet as opposed to a flat hardwood floor can tell you this, as can any of you who have built a house along the beach or the waterway.  Foundations are important, they make structures strong, they give them the support to stand tall, they give them the strength to withstand the stress of a passing storm or even worse.

Figurative foundations do the same for us as they do for buildings.  Our personal foundations of belief and faith help us to stand tall, feel secure in our footing, be sure of our identity.  When we are firmly planted on our foundation then we feel capable,like we are in our element, and able to withstand the stress when the storms of life come.

Scripture is filled with this metaphor.  We hear it in 1 Cor. 3, we hear it in Psalm 31, “You are my rock and my fortress.”  Jesus even uses it as a metaphor for one of his parables, when he tells the story of the two people who built their houses, one on the rock and one on the sand.  What Jesus says in this parable we know to be true in our lives, that when the storms of life come, they can shake us, they can throw us, they can be difficult to endure, they can make us doubt and feel like a fish out of water.

            In the book “Learning to Walk in the Dark” by Barbara Brown Taylor, she tells the story, not of a fish, but of a turtle who can’t find its’ way back to the water. She says that she was walking along the beach and came across a logger head turtle.  It had probably come ashore to lay its’ eggs in the sand, but something had happened.  The turtle was clearly in distress, it was lying in the hot sun, unable to move.  So, she covered the shell with cool sand in order to shade it from the sun and then got the help of a ranger.  The ranger told her that these turtles will come up on the beach to lay eggs and then when they try to get back down to the ocean will get confused by the bright lights on the mainland.  Mistakening them for the rising sun shining on the ocean, they move towards them and then can’t find the water and eventually become exhausted.

In an effort to save the turtle the ranger connects her with ropes to his jeep, so he can drag this large turtle to the cool ocean waters.  I can only imagine what the turtle might be experiencing as she is drug through the sand in what must seem like torture.  Once they get her to the water, they weren’t sure if she was going to make it.  But with each wavep of water that ran over the turtle washing away the sand and the heat, signs of life began to return. Until finally, it began to slowly move and inch deeper into the water, and eventually the waves returned this logger head turtle back into the deep of the ocean.

As agonizing as it can be to hear a story of suffering like this, I know that some of you have experienced suffering like that for yourselves.  You know what it is like to be that turtle, to be thrown off your normal course in life.  To be forced out of your element, to be slogging through sand with flippers instead of swimming in an ocean. To feel lost to the point of exhaustion.  To be in the midst of struggle until you can’t move anymore.

It is in those times that we could use some convincing.  We could use some convincing that our foundation of faith and belief will indeed support us; convincing that we made the right choice, building our lives upon this rock instead of the shifting sand; convincing that God has not abandoned us, that God loves us, is present with us, and that God is indeed faithful and will continue to see us through even in the midst of hardships when hope is hard to come by.

The words of our scripture passage seemed to be carefully crafted in order to do just that.  In the book of Romans, Paul writes to the followers of the way in Rome, in hopes that he will get to visit them there.  It is a wonderful book in which he shares many of his beliefs and theological viewpoints, but in which he also shares words of encouragement like we ones we will read today.  So let us look now to the words of scripture as we seek to be encouraged in our faith and firmly planted on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long;  we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”  37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These are some powerful words spoken here in our scripture.  Ones that are not timid or nuanced, but are firm in their proclamation of God’s constant love for us.  There is no guesswork here in these few verses, their message is clear and true.  Even though there are lots of questions found in this scripture, they are all rhetorical, Paul knows their answer even before he asks them.  Therefore there is no question about the message they are trying to communicate to the people of Rome or to us. God is for us, Christ intercedes for us, even in the midst of suffering nothing can separate us from the love of God.  It is no wonder that we often turn to this scripture in times of sadness, suffering, and grief.  That it is used in many of our funeral services.  Because it is in those times of grief, when we feel lost, that we most need to be reminded of our foundation in Christ.

This scripture is indeed an exclamation point to Paul’s argument in this section of Romans.  It is the climax to what he has been talking about for the last four chapters.  Although the words of this scripture are powerful in and of themselves, they are even more powerful if you know the whole story that leads up to them.  The argument of Romans 5-8 can be summed up in three terms, so let’s take a moment to look at them, break them down, so we all can understand what Paul is talking about when he speaks of justification, sanctification, and adoption.

First, justification.  Chapter 5 begins by simply naming the reality of sin, that we are all sinful people who make mistakes and follow our own way rather than the way of God.  Paul traces this all the way back to the beginning of humanity, Adam was sinful and so too we are sinful.  However, if humanity receives sin from Adam, the good news is that we receive grace (forgiveness, justification) from God in Jesus Christ.   Romans 5:18-19 – “Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.  For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

Next Paul moves on to sanctification.  He says we are saved by grace through faith and that this grace we have received calls us to a new way of life.  In our baptism, we join with Christ, we die to our old sinful self and are raised to new life in Christ.  So we are no longer slaves to sin, but are now joined to God. We are sanctified, or being made Holy, set apart in service for God.

Paul reminds us that sanctification, being set apart, is a process, it is not something that happens overnight for us.  He points out a reality that we know all too well.  That a sinful nature dwells within us, that we are captive to it.  There is a constant battle within us between what we want to do and what we actually do.  Paul describes this internal struggle that occurs even within himself in Romans 7:19 – (the Message) “For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes.  I can will it, but I can’t do it.  I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway.”  Paul knows and we know that we can’t handle this struggle on our own.  We need help, and we receive it in Jesus Christ.  Jesus does what we could not do ourselves and sets us free.

This brings us finally to Adoption.  Paul argues that we are no longer slaves to sin or people of the flesh, but that we are now people of the Spirit.  We have been claimed, we now belong to God.  Romans 8:14 says that “All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”  We have received the spirit of adoption, “When we cry Abba! Father! It is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”  Through Jesus Christ, God has forgiven us and made us righteous, is setting us apart, making us Holy, molding us into who God created us to be, and claims us, embraces us, loves us as children of God.  This is who we are.  This is our identity, this is our foundation.

I am confident that there were those in the Roman church who needed to be reminded of that foundation, and I am confident that there are those of us here today that also need to hear these words.  Because we know that just as in Jesus’ parable, the storms of life come. They have come, they are coming, and they will come.  We all experience stress, hardship, struggle, and suffering of all shapes and sizes.  We all have times when we feel exhausted and stranded just like that logger head turtle lost on the beach.

Into those times, these words of scripture speak: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”  This list is not a theoretical one for Paul, just as it is not for some of you and for others around the world.  He has experienced these things, you have experienced these things.  The world is no stranger to suffering.

Those last two lines that Paul quotes are from Psalm 44, and it describes people who are enduring hardship, not because of something they are doing wrong, but because they were indeed being faithful in following their calling from God.  And so they cry out to God and ask how long?

It is precisely into this kind of situation, at this intersection of hardship and hope that Paul speaks these words that we cling to in our greatest time of need.  Can anything separate us from the love of God?  “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Sometimes in life, we need some convincing, that our foundation is sure, that our faith is not in vain, that God is still with us.  When those times come, may we lean on the faith of others, may we cling to these words of scripture, and may we trust that the foundation of Jesus Christ will carry us through.

Be The Twist

(This is a brief adaptation of a sermon I delivered at FPC Wilmington, NC on Aug. 17th, 2014. A link to the video of the full sermon can be found at the bottom of this post)

Over the summer our church has been going through a sermon series called “Graceful Christianity.”  Each of the sermons in this series has dealt the negative opinions and perceptions that some individuals believe about Christians or the Church in general.  The research that guided this series came from the book, “Unchristian: What a new generation really things about Christianity…and why it matters,”  by David Kinnaman.  In it, Kinnaman describes how many outside the church have the perception that Christians are hypocritical, not genuine, anti-everything, too involved in politics, too judgmental, and only concerned with recruiting the next church member.

I know many of us might be quick to dismiss these perceptions altogether, thinking that the people who hold these opinions just don’t know about Christianity yet, or don’t know any real Christians.  You might think if only they spent some time in the church then they would see how genuine and caring Christians really are.  Unfortunately, the research shows that the reason that individuals held this belief about Christians was not because of lack of exposure or experience.  Of the people surveyed in Kinnaman’s book, 82% had been to a Christian church and 65% had significant faith conversations with their Christian friends within the last year.

The hard truth for us to swallow is that the unflattering perceptions these outsiders held of Christianity were not adopted because they didn’t know the Christian story, but quite the opposite.  They knew it all too well.  They each had negative experiences in their lives with Christians or in a congregation that shaped their perceptions.  Through these experiences they had learned how the story goes.  Their experience with Christians had become formulaic.  After they had been hurt or disappointed over and over again, they began to lose interest in this particular story.

So the question for us today as Christians is how do we flip that formula?  How can we change that story?  How do we show those around us that we care, that Christ cares, and that the Christian faith is indeed genuine and filled with grace?  Perhaps we can find our answer if we continue to examine the aspects that make a good story.  One that people want to hear.  One that they are engaged with.  One that touches them in the depths of their being.

It is true that we all get bored when we experience a story that is formulaic.  We’ve all seen or heard them whether in the movies, in a novel, or in real life.  A story where we know what is going to happen before it does, one where we know from the very beginning how the story will end.  If we feel like we have seen this story before, then we tend to check out.

I was reminded of this recently at my daughter’s birthday party.  We had a few of her friends over to our house and decided to show them the movie Frozen.  I remember watching this movie for the first time in the theaters.  I wasn’t surprised to see that it followed the regular Disney Princess formula.  Princess Anna, after experiencing tragedy, meets a wonderful prince Hans, and immediately falls in love, and is engaged on the first night they meet.  Then she has an adventure to help save her kingdom and her sister, she gets hurt, and needs the prince to save her.

Doesn’t that story sound familiar?  Doesn’t that sound like 100 other princess movies you have seen before?  I thought so too, so as I watched that movie for the first time I enjoyed the music and was entertained, but I was also a bit checked out because I had seen this story before.  That was of course until there was a twist!

I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it; but if you have seen the movie, then you know what happens when the princess makes it back to the prince and expects him to save her.  When this happens in the story, suddenly the audience, including myself isn’t checked out; they wake up; they are reengaged.  Something has just happened that threw the formula of what we expected out the window.  Everyone watching is now interested again in the story, they are reengaged, they are enveloped in the story and want to know what is going to happen.  All because of the twist!

All good stories have a twist, don’t they?  Whether it’s a movie, a book, even the parables from our scriptures all have a twist.  It is what draws us in, it shocks us, it leaves our jaws hanging on the floor because we can’t believe what just happened. Think about how you felt the first time you saw Shawshank Redemption and the warden puts his hand through that poster, or while watching an amazing light saber battle you heard Darth Vader utter those famous words, “I am your father.”  Those were amazing moments in those stories that make those movies what they are, because often it is the twist that makes the whole story worthwhile.

So how can we use this information in our Christian walk in order to flip the formula; to help change those perceptions that others might believe about what it means to follow Christ?  How can we be the twist in the story that draws others toward Jesus rather than pushing them away?

We can choose to be different.  We can refuse to live into those perceptions placed on us by others.  We can refuse to fit into the formula that says that Christians don’t care or aren’t genuine.  We can flip the script, we can change the story, we can be the twist by listening to the words of our scripture today as they challenge us to live out our faith.

There is so much packed into these few verses from the first chapter of James.  It contains many themes that are echoed again and again throughout all of scripture, but perhaps the command that is most important, that sums up all the rest most simply and most powerfully is James 1:22.  It says that we are to “be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.”   In this simple expression the author expresses his overarching theme that our faith and our actions must be linked, we must talk the talk and walk the walk, we must live out the Gospel story with our lives.

He goes on to explain this further in chapter 2:14-18, from Message:

^14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?  ¹⁸ I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”  Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.

 That my friends is the twist! That is a faith that is genuine.  That is a faith that is sincere.  A faith that believes in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and lives out that faith in the real world as an expression of gratitude for God’s love, grace, and mercy that has been extended to sinners like us.

If we can lay claim to that kind of faith, then we can be the twist.  We can be the twist that surprises those whom we encounter, who expect us to fit into the story of the uncaring Christian.  We can be the twist that changes the perceptions of those who think Christians don’t genuinely care. We can be the twist that proves to be the exception to the world’s perceptions.

After all, that is what we have dealt with this summer in this sermon series – perceptions.  Although there is some truth behind those perceptions, we must not forget that perceptions aren’t truth.  We can change them, God can change them, and God can be at work in and through us to show the world that Christianity is indeed filled with grace.  Because grace is the twist in the greatest story ever told.  That God might step into this world in the person of Jesus Christ, to free us from sin and show us how to live and love. What a twist it is!  It makes the story.  It makes our story what it is.

Link to the sermon video

My Visit to the Backpack Program

Last week I had the chance to visit some of our church members at Forest Hills Elementary school.  I came in just before school was letting out for the day.  I enjoyed seeing all the bright colors of the children’s artwork hanging on the walls and bulletin boards explaining the important things they were learning.  I am always struck whenever I walk through an elementary school how different they feel as an adult than as a student.  I can remember walking through my elementary school as a child and thinking that the ceilings were massive and the hallways seemed to go on forever.  However, the first time I ever went back as an adult everything seemed so tiny in comparison.

The purpose for my visit to Forest Hills Elementary school wasn’t just to experience some nostalgia about my childhood.  I was there to visit a wonderful group of parents and church members who organize a much needed ministry called the “Backpack Program.”  The goal of this program is simple, it is to help feed those students who are in need so that they might succeed and excel as students at Forest Hills.  It is an unfortunate reality that there are students who walk these halls with backpacks full of books, hearts full of dreams, yet bellies that are empty because their families are struggling financially.

Stephanie David, who is a member of our church and a key leader of this program, explained to me just how the program works.  Parents, teachers, neighbors, and friends donate food to the Backpack program.  Approximately every six weeks volunteers organize that food in the cafeteria and begin to pack bags that will go to the students.  Currently, they serve 36 students at Forest Hills Elementary, and there are similar programs in place at other elementary schools in Wilmington.

As I visited the packing operation, I was impressed by the excitement of the volunteers, the sheer volume of food, and the attention to detail that is placed into packing just the right kinds of food into each bag.  Some of the elementary school students quickly put me to work and showed me the ropes of how to pack a food bag.  I then delivered a check on behalf of First Presbyterian Church for $1,000 to help support the efforts of this worthwhile cause.  Stephanie shared with me that this donation from the church would enable them to completely pay for larger boxes of food that they deliver to the children over the summer.  She was also quick to share with me how she has seen God at work through this program, always providing just what was needed at just the right time.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Forest Hills Elementary Backpack program.  All those involved including the administration of Forest Hills, the PTA, the program leaders, and volunteers are to be commended for the work that is taking place serving the young people in our community.  Our support of the program is just a small example of how First Presbyterian is seeking to be a missional church, looking outside the walls of our building to the places where God is already at work and joining in with resources and volunteers.

If you would like to help serve this important program you can find more information by visiting the Forest Hills PTA website here, or by contacting the community service ministry of First Presbyterian Church.

Focus On Fellowship

My family and I just moved into a new home!  If you have ever purchased and moved into a new home, then you well know that it is both an exciting and stressful process for everyone involved.  From the moment you place your home on the market, you ride a roller coaster of emotion as potential buyers come to look at your home and you go out to look at other homes.  It has been almost a decade since my family and I had sold a home and purchased a new home.  There were many things that I remembered about the process and others I had forgotten all about.

One of the things that I had forgotten about, is just how many people are involved at every single level of buying and selling a home.  We began the process by talking to a real estate agent.  He had two other people on his staff whom spoke with us often.  Then there was the lender who told us just how much house we could afford.  He and his staff of at least three other people worked on getting a loan approved so we could purchase the home.  Next, there were inspectors who looked over the home with a fine tooth comb, followed by surveyors and exterminators.  Don’t forget about the lawyers who prepare the contracts and register the deed with the county.  If you count them all up, there were over 20 people who were involved in the buying and selling of our home.  I guess it does indeed take a village!

During the process, I was very thankful for this community of people who were all working to help my family and I.  We felt supported each of them as they worked together to accomplish a common goal.  Since we have moved in, this feeling of support has only continued as we have been welcomed to the neighborhood by our friends and new neighbors.  Our kitchen pantry is filled with some mouth-watering chocolate chip cookies, our freezer has homemade casseroles just waiting to be popped in the oven, and our garden has some nice new plants that are starting to take root.  In much the same way, my family and I have begun to set our roots in the fresh soil of this new neighborhood, and we are thankful to have been watered with an outpouring of support and care from those around us.

I am thankful to be in a new home.  I am thankful for our new neighbors.  I am thankful for the community of which I am a part.  In my congregation, we try and have a theme each year to focus our efforts, and this year we feel God has led us to “Focus on Fellowship.”  We have done that in many ways already this year.  Just last Sunday the youth group held “Class Dinners” in small groups at homes around town.  This Sunday, we are inviting the whole congregation to meet at a local farm for a meal and celebration.  All these events are meant to work together to draw us closer together as the body of Christ.  My recent experience in moving from one neighborhood to another has reminded me the importance of community and fellowship.  If you are a part of the First Presbyterian community in Wilmington, I hope you will join us at “First @ the Farm” this weekend May 4^th.  If you live elsewhere, my prayer is that you might find community in whatever form that may look like for you.  Finally, if you do live elsewhere and plan on moving to Wilmington anytime soon, I know some good people who can help!

Task of Translation…

It has been a week now since the mission team from First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington has returned from their trip to Haiti.  It has been wonderful to share some stories and some pictures with members of my congregation whether it was in an official meeting or just an informal chance to brew them a pot of fresh Haitian coffee.  While the trip itself was exciting and meaningful, now that we have all returned home, the real work begins.  What lies ahead for our mission team is the task of translation.

Some of you who have read this blog closely over the last couple of weeks have made an astute observation when it comes to my spelling.  Several people pointed out that in my first blog post before we left for Haiti I shared that our mission partner in the country was a group called CODEP.  However, the next several posts that I uploaded while I was in Haiti list the organizations name as KODEP.  Bonus points go to all who may have caught that subtle change in spelling, and even more points to those who know the reason for it.  No, it was not simply the effects of jetlag on a tired blogger.  CODEP is actually an acronym for “Cooperative Development Project.”  In english, cooperative begins with a “C” but in Creole, which is the commonly spoken language in Haiti, it begins with a “K.”  Therefore, it seemed only fitting to adjust my spelling while we were on our trip.

I tried my best to learn a few words of Creole while in Haiti, however without a background in French I’m afraid I was not very successful.  There are a few words that I did pick up and would love to share with you.  A “pepinye” is a nursery for growing seedlings.  We visited a pepinye on our trip and learned that they are crucially important to the CODEP project.  Not only do they provide seedlings that the project members will plant in their own communities, but they also produce enough of these seedlings to sell them to outside groups and create income.  I also learned that each community, or “la’kou” has a team leader, which they refer to as a, “chef ekip.”  There are 30 chef ekip’s in CODEP 1 and 39 in CODEP 2.  The CODEP project has more than doubled in scope over the last year, welcoming those 39 new groups.  All of the new communities in what they are calling CODEP 2 wanted to join the program because they had witnessed the long-term success of the project.

Now that our mission team has returned, the real work begins.  What lies before us is the same task that greets any mission team when they return from their travels, the task of translation.  We must not only translate words we have learned from a foreign tongue.  We must also share our experiences and relationships with the people in Haiti with the members of our congregation in Wilmington.  This can be an incredibly difficult task because pictures, stories, and power point presentations can only communicate so much.  That is why we must rely on the work of the Holy Spirit to communicate the passion and urgency we feel to all those in our faith community who truly wish to be inspired and involved.  Therefore, we pray, “Holy Spirit come, may our good intentions translate in to good actions that support the work of your Kingdom.”  Amen.

Thanks To KODEP…

Today we once again traveled into the mountains of Haiti to see the KODEP project.  It is amazing just how vast the area of the project is and how many communities participate.  We traveled through two massive gardens today where individuals were growing black beans, corn, and yams.  We even saw a smaller garden where two of the leaders of the project had started to grow peppers as a side business.  The great thing about our travels today is that we did a bit more hiking up and down the mountains to get into the heart of the project and see these lush areas of growth up close, rather than just from the roadside overlooking the valley.  One of the places we visited today was the source of two mountain springs that KODEP hopes to capture and bring down to their depot to provide water for their business needs and also the future guest house they hope to build soon.  The reason for our visit today was to collect water samples that can be analyzed to determine the water quality.  It was truly a beautiful hike, and several people from our group commented later that they could indeed feel the presence of God in that place.

Our mission team of Fred Butler, Joel Van Pelt, Mark Westendorff, John Wessell, and our hosts Clement and John Winnings.

As we have visited the various KODEP sites, our guide has been one of the animators or leaders of the project named Clement. Over the past two days as we have heard him proudly explain all the wonderful things that have been happening in the mountains of Haiti, I noticed a refrain that he kept coming back to again and again.  He would say, “Thanks to KODEP”, and then describe some wonderful thing that had become a reality due to the existence of this project.  Here are just a few of the things he shared with us:

Thanks to KODEP – the 30 communities in the original project now have good soil and lush forests that can sustain the people who live there.

Thanks to KODEP – there are now 39 new communities who have joined the project because they saw the good results of the original group.

Thanks to KODEP – the people who left these mountain communities because they were barren and traveled to Port Au Prince are now coming back home because they can make a better life to home than they could in the overcrowded cities.

Thanks to KODEP – the erosion of the mountains has been halted or reversed in some places.  Before KODEP, when it rained, all the water and soil would flow down the mountains into the nearby cities, but now the soil stays put and over 85% of the water stays in the mountains rather than overwhelming the city below.

Thanks to KODEP – Clement can send 25 of the children in his family and his extended family to school

Thanks to KODEP – schools and housing are being constructed throughout the project

Thanks to KODEP – the lives of between 40,000-50,000 people are made better.  Of course these people are not all directly involved in the project, however their lives are effected in a positive way due to the work of the project.

After all we have seen over the past few days, all I can say is “Thanks be to KODEP for all of their great work and thanks be to God!”

Growing…

It has been a full and wonderful day in Haiti!  We had several goals to accomplish today and much to discuss with our host, John Winnings, however the main overarching goal for today was to travel around the mountains that make up the KODEP project to see for ourselves the scope and the success of the project.  The operation of KODEP is multifaceted and perhaps the easiest way to sum up what it is they do here is to say that KODEP is in the business of “growing” things.  Growing forests, growing communities, & growing lives.

Vetiver Grass

“Growing Forests” – As I said in one of my previous posts, the largest part of the KODEP project over the last 20 years has been reforestation.  When the founders of this organization came to the mountains of Haiti, they saw barren hillsides that had been devastated by erosion.  Without good soil, local communities were unable to grow food to feed themselves and were seemingly locked into a situation of poverty with no hope in site.  However, through important partnerships with the local community and quite a bit of trial and error, the KODEP organization was able to create a process that would reclaim the land and make it fertile once again.  This step-by-step process begins as they plant Vetiver grass in rows along the mountainside.  This grass grows quickly and can prevent further erosion.  Next, trees are planted that can grow very quickly and provide much needed nutrients in the soil.  These trees, such as Eucalyptus trees, also provide shade for the next step in the process.  Once there is sufficient cover, fruit trees and gardens can be planted which provide food and income for the families in the KODEP project.

KODEP Depot

“Growing Communities” – The organization of KODEP is quite impressive.  There are 30 communities, or “La’Kou’s” in the current KODEP project area and 39 communities in a new project area called KODEP 2.  Each community might have 20-30 people living within it and working together on this project.  There is a Chef e kip, or “team leader” in each of these communities who helps direct the work and keeps everyone organized.  Then there are 12 “Animators” who function as the leadership team for the entire project.  Some attend to a group of specific communities and others attend to the needs of the over all project.  Due to the success of the project, most KODEP communities have an abundance of resources that far exceed what they need to simply sustain themselves.  Therefore, KODEP has organized a brand to sell their products to others.  They will sell many of these products, like fruit, vegetables, compost, seedlings, & coffee, out of a central depot.  We visited that depot today and were very impressed.

Diclo School

“Growing Lives” – The good things that KODEP produces are not limited to things that can grow on trees and in gardens.  Due to the success of the project, KODEP has been able to build schools and help provide teachers to educate the children in and around their project areas.  We visited the Diclo school today and met with the headmaster, Napoleon Valdez.  This is a school for 6, 7, & 8 grade students who looked very sharp in their uniforms.  This was the same school our mission team visited two years ago when it was still being constructed.  It was a nice thing for me to be able to come back to this same place and see the school in full swing.  As we have been talking with John Winnings about his future plans for KODEP, he explained to us that he hopes to offer a Leadership School at the newly constructed depot that will teach classes in computers, business planning, & bookkeeping.

Our mission team came away from our experience today impressed by the scope of this project.  I believe all of us can affirm that God is indeed at work in Haiti through KODEP growing forests, growing communities, and growing lives.  Glory be to God!

Safe & Excited…

We have arrived in Haiti safe and sound. Please excuse the brevity of this post, as I am typing it on my phone using a limited WiFi signal. I hope to post a more substantial update tomorrow evening. I also hope to include a picture or two, but as I said the connection here is weak. 

Older KODEP logo

We arrived here at the KODEP compound just after 5:00. That was after a drive in from Port Au Prince that only took about an hour and 15 minutes.  I have traveled to Haiti on two other occasions over the last four years and I was struck on this trip just how much as changed, and changed for the better! The roads were in much better condition,  which shaved almost 45 off our expected drive time. Even the airport terminal had been updated and looked very modern a far cry from even two years ago when I last came with a mission team from First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington. 

Our team took a short stroll on the beach this evening and then sat down to a wonderful meal with John Winnings who is the director of the Haiti Fund, which is the group that provides funding, among other things, for KODEP. He answered many of our questions and gave us an outline of our schedule tomorrow when we will go up into the mountains to see the KODEP project.

I will report back more tomorrow,  however if there is one take away I have from our brief time here so far it would simply be “hope”. God is indeed at work in this place. I am excited for tomorrow,  when our team might be able to see where FPC might join in with that work!

Off We Go

Haiti, here we come! I am traveling with a small group from our congregation to visit one of our mission partners in Haiti. There will be five of us in our group heading out this weekend to spend some time in the poorest country in our hemisphere. There are many organizations doing lots of good things in that country. The organization that we have been led to partner with is called CODEP.

The work of CODEP is located in the mountains along the southern peninsula of the country. The first thing one will learn by talking with the people who lead this organization is that there are several different types of mission projects that are present in Haiti. There are simple relief efforts that strive to provide the basic necessities of life to those in need like food, water, and shelter. There are investment projects whose goal is to provide long-term medical care or education. Then, there are mission projects like CODEP. They describe themselves as a “development” organization. This means that while meeting immediate relief needs are crucially important, their work is focused on empowering the Haitian people to create the means for long term economic growth and self-sufficiency in their local communities.

CODEP has found many different ways to do this over the last 20 years, and I hope to share many of them with you through this blog over the next several days of our trip. One of their earliest projects, and perhaps their most impressive has been their work with reforestation in the mountain communities of Haiti. This is the main focus of their development work and it makes all the other aspects of their mission possible. A quarter of a century ago there was rampant deforestation in these mountainous areas which led to catastrophic erosion. Without good soil, communities had no way of growing crops to sustain their populations. Through good planning, the Haitian people working as a part of CODEP have developed a system that reverses this erosion and has enabled the CODEP communities to thrive.

The success of the reforestation project has allowed CODEP to make significant strides in community and leadership development. They are able to help those in their communities gain access to housing and a good education. The scope of their projects continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The purpose of our trip is to visit the CODEP communities and meet with their leadership so that our congregation might be able to partner with them on a specific project that can further their mission.

Playing on the mountainside during our last trip to Haiti in 2012

I am excited to return to Haiti along with an outstanding mission team. I hope to post updates throughout our trip as long as I have access to a WiFi signal. Please check back often, or follow this blog to get email updates whenever I post. You can learn more about CODEP by visiting their website www.haitifundinc.org

Where Two or More…

I have been reminded in the last two days that good things can happen when good people come together.

If you live in Wilmington, NC then you may have heard the news that the Child Advocacy & Parenting Place closed its’ doors this week. This was an organization that provided many services to the children in this community for a number of years and it will certainly be missed. My congregation has partnered with C.A.P.P. for the last seven or so years on something called the Grandparents Support Network. It began with a simple mission; to support families in which the grandparent was the primary care giver for their grandchildren. Over the years this support network grew from just a few to a large community with over 40 grandparents and 75 grandchildren! I intentionally use the word community when I describe this group, because that is indeed what they have become. A community that spends time together, laughs together, cries together, and works together to support each other.

This being the case, you can imagine just how devastated they were when they received word early this week; “C.A.P.P. is closing, the Grandparents Support Network is no more.” However, this was not an acceptable option for many members of our congregation who have worked with this group for years now. So yesterday, some good people gathered around a small table at a local restaurant downtown and made a good thing happen. They decided to take steps that would ensure that this community of grandparents and grandchildren might be able to continue on with the support of our church.

This morning, I was lucky enough to begin my day at our local Habitat for Humanity office. They were hosting the groups that will participate in their annual Ecumenical Build, which is an opportunity for different faith traditions and denominations to work together to build a Habitat house for a family in need. Pastors, lay leaders, volunteers, and the family that would receive the house all joined together around a table and shared a meal. We heard from the project leaders, the soon-to-be homeowners, and we even sang a song together. As I sat there nibbling on a breakfast pastry and sipping my coffee I was impressed by the words of the family that shared what it would mean to them to receive this new home. It was yet another reminder for me that good things can happen when good people come together.

Whenever I think about what it means to live as a part of a community I am reminded of the passages of scripture that describe the early church in Acts 2.

“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:44-47

This passage describes a group of good people who gave of themselves, who were connected and committed to each other, and whom God used to do some amazing things. I am thankful whenever I get the chance to be a part of a group like this whether it is in a church, the community, or elsewhere. I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by some good people over the last two days and see some good things happen. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.