My friends know that I am a huge admirer of pastor and author Robert Morgan, even since stumbling upon his work 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart. He recently released a new book on meditating on Scripture entitled Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation: Finding Peace in Jesus.
Psalm 119:148 states “My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.”
Morgan adds,
“Meditation is not new, and it is not new age. God, not the gurus, devised it, and it’s based on the Bible, not on Buddha. Biblical meditation is an antidote to the unprecedented stress of our age. In a world where everyone is overwhelmed and undervalued, our survival, sanity, and saintliness depend on reclaiming the lost art of biblical meditation…Meditation is staying our minds on the Lord, loving Him with every thought, fearing Him, and delighting in His commands.”
He then adds a wonderful anecdote to accentuate his point.
When Harry Truman became president, he worried about losing touch with common, everyday Americans, so he would often go out and be among them. Those were in simpler days, when the president could take a walk like everyone else. One evening, Truman decided to take a walk down to the Memorial Bridge on the Potomac River. When he grew curious about the mechanism that raised and lowered the bridge, he made his way across the catwalks and came upon the bridge tender, who was eating his evening supper out of a tin bucket. The man showed absolutely no surprise when he looked up and saw the best-known and most powerful man in the world. He just swallowed his food, wiped his mouth, smiled, and said, “You know, Mr. President, I was just thinking of you.” According to Truman’s biographer, David McCullough, it was a greeting that Truman adored and never forgot.
The Lord adores it when He finds us just thinking about Him. As we read God’s Word each day and deliberately think about it—focusing our minds on His person and claiming His promises—we’re built up, and we come to understand our world and ourselves more clearly.
This should be our personal aspiration: to be daily in the Word, meditating on it, claiming its promises, gleaning its wisdom, being sanctified and accordingly comprehending more clearly the world and ourselves.
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Romans 1:10-11)
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak for the first time to the board of directors of a ministry with which we have a close partnership. Similar to the verse above, I wanted it to be a time of mutual encouragement, as I heartened them with my perception of the development and impact that I had seen God graciously provide their organization, as well as updated them on our ministries continued maturity.
Four and a half years into Empowering Action, I communicated three things that I was grateful for the Lord’s provision: Clarity, Competency and Capacity.
CLARITY – God has brought into focus our mission, vision, targeted clients and strategy
Mission: To combat physical and spiritual poverty by mobilizing expertise and resources in partnership with the local church
Vision: Church-facilitated sustainable transformation of impoverished communities
Clients: We serve the Church…who serves individuals.
EA serves the shepherds…who serve their sheep.
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)
Strategy: Church Network Development
There are 3 Drawers in our “Toolbox:” Character, Theological Competency, Ministry Capability
Our methodology is dictated by our theology
We believe in the unique calling and qualifications of the Church
“There is one institution on earth with the capacity, the presence, the credibility, the endurance, and the passion to perform the ultimate act of caring for the poor. It is the Church, the body of Christ.”- Scott Todd
Poverty is the effect of the 4 Broken Relationships in Genesis 3: God, Self, Others, Creation
“It is simply impossible to alleviate poverty – in its fullest sense – apart from the local church.” – Church in Hard Places by 9 Marks
COMPETENCY – We are pleased with the Lord’s provision of a team that, like David (Psalm 78:70-72), will shepherd with integrity of heart (character) and skillful hands (competency), particularly these most recent additions:
– Raydel Riquelme – to oversee Church Network Development
– Madeline Riquelme – to facilitate a new Church Children’s Ministry Initiative (amoprogram.com)
– Ken and Mary Anne O’Malley – to coordinate our Construction and Special Needs Ministry efforts
CAPACITY – As the chart below indicates in 2017 we are projecting that we will serve 3,025 church leaders representing 33,375 community members. This year we anticipate ministry not only within the Dominican Republic and Cuba, but also Haiti, Kenya and Costa Rica.
ESTIMATED INDIVIDUALS SERVED
INITIATIVE
INDIVIDUALS SERVED ANNUALLY
NOTES
Church Network Development
2,500 leaders representing 22,500 church members
Through various yearly initiatives EA is training 2,500 pastors and church leaders, representative of 150 churches, averaging 150 members in attendance. (Total: 150 x 150 = 22,500 people)
AMO Program (year one)
75 leaders representing 1,875 children
In year one of the AMO program we look to train 25 churches with 3 trainers per church for a total of 75. We anticipate that they will launch Amo programs with an average attendance of 25 children. (Total: 75 x 25 = 1,875)
Abundant Life Program
450 leaders representing 9,000 community members
EA will train 6 leaders at 50 churches in 2017. Additionally, through follow-up with leaders of previous Abundant Life programs, we estimate we will train an additional 150 people (30 churches of 5 people). Each of the 50 programs impacts 36 individuals representing an average 5-member family. (Total: 50 x 36 x 5 = 9,000)
TOTAL
3,025 leaders representing 33,375 community members served annually
Traveling abroad always involves determining if there’s a need for an adapter for the power outlets. However, the truths of Scripture differ in that their application is universal.
I recently began reading Thomas Watson’s wonderful book entitled The Beatitudes notes, where he provides a valuable commentary on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.
The influence of the passage throughout history is well documented. Augustine described the Sermon on the Mount as a perfect standard of the Christian life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic work The Cost of Discipleship was inspired by an exposition of the Sermon on the Mount. Even unbelievers, such as Gandhi, were deeply impressed and influenced by the Sermon on the Mount.
One might wonder why Christ began with Poverty of Spirit in His list of eight beatitudes. Watson provides insightful thoughts:
“Poor in spirit signifies those who are brought to the sense of their sins, and seeing no goodness in themselves, despair in themselves and sue wholly to the mercy of God in Christ…Why does Christ here begin with poverty of spirit? Why is this put in the forefront? I answer, Christ does it to show that poverty of spirit is the very basis and foundation of all the other graces which follow. You may as well expect fruit to grow without a root, as the other graces without poverty of spirit. Until a man is poor in spirit, he cannot mourn. Poverty of spirit is like the fire under the still, which makes the water drop from the eyes. When a man sees his own defects and deformities, and looks upon himself as undone—then he mourns after Christ. Until a man is poor in spirit, he cannot ‘hunger and thirst after righteousness’. He must first be sensible of need, before he can hunger. Therefore Christ begins with poverty of spirit—because this ushers in all the rest.”
So while the need for power adapters differs from nation to nation, poverty of spirit is the required, universal prerequisite for ushering in other qualities that bring God’s blessing.
In his book The Secret of Guidance F.B. Meyer writes,
“Happy is the man within reach of a library, the shelves of which are well lined with books of holy biography! He will never, never be in want of additional stimulus as he reads the story of McCheyne and W. C. Burns, of Brainerd and Martyn, of Jonathan Edwards and others. He will not envy or repine; but he will constantly lift eye and heart to Heaven, asking that as much may be done through himself.”
I believe, overall, there is not enough encouragement from the pulpit nowadays to parishioners to glean from the godly men and women of yesteryear.
Years ago I began reading a portion of George Muller’s journal each morning. Hidden amongst inventories of donated items are spiritual gems, providing insights into the heart of a man who exemplified a phenomenal trust in God and His ability to provide. During Muller’s lifetime he started orphanages and cared for over 10,000 orphans, while also establishing 117 Christian schools to provide a Christian education for over 120,000 children.
Below is one such spiritual jewel from George Muller:
“I cannot help remarking here, that the Lord has used some of the most unlikely persons during the past twenty-two years, in providing me with means for His service. So it was particularly in the case of this brother in the Lord, from whom I received the last-mentioned donation. I had not the least natural expectation of receiving this sum, when this brother, sitting before me at the New Orphan-House, took out of his pocket a packet of Bank Notes, and gave to me this amount…I delight in dwelling upon such an instance, because:
1. It shows that there is grace, much grace, to be found among the saints even now;
2. It shows the variety of instrumentality which the Lord is pleased to employ, in supplying me with means for His service;
3. It so manifestly proves that we do not wait upon Him in vain, when we make known our requests to Him for means.”
“I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” (Romans 1:11-12)
One of the benefits afforded to short-term mission participants, who come to serve alongside our in-country partner churches, is the opportunity to both encourage and be encouraged by Dominican church members. One area that always seems to impact visitors is the hospitality of the Dominican people with their desire to welcome visitors into their home and quickly find a place for them to sit.
When visiting the home of a believer and experiencing such warmth, I try to make a point of affirming this practice, which was a hallmark of the early church.
-In fact, pursuing hospitality was so important to the early church that Paul made it a requirement for leadership:
Hebrews 13:2 – “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
-1 Timothy 3: 2 – “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.”
The often blunt and insightful Apostle Peter was being realistic when he wrote, “Offer hospitality to one another without complaint” (1 Pet 4:9).
It’s interesting to note that the degree to which the hospitality of the early church was transformational to society:
-Christian hospitality extended Jewish hospitality beyond those who shared one’s culture and social standing.
-Christian guests and hosts could be of different nationalities, languages, and social classes.
-Christian hospitality transformed Greco-Roman hospitality in its service to the needy rather than the rich.
-It was primarily the poor, widows, and traveling missionaries who received hospitality.
Distinctively Christian hospitality focused on those who would be unable to reciprocate – strangers who were in need.
The above descriptive terms of the early church should also be characteristic of churches today, throughout the world:
-“different”
-“beyond”
-“service”
-“focused”
The result will be the Gospel-centered and Gospel-serving churches being transformational agents within society.
Much of EA’s efforts are in the midst of brokenness, which can be traced back to the fall of man in Genesis chapter 3. When seeking to find personal as well as ministerial encouragement, the answer is always to look to the Word of God.
Recently, I ran across the following verse:
“When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” (Psalm 94:19)
19th century theologian Albert Barnes made the following comments regarding the passage:
“However much the psalmist might be disturbed by other thoughts, yet here he found rest and peace. In God – in his character, in his law, in his government – he had an unfailing source of consolation; and whatever trouble he might have from the cares of life, and from the evil imaginings in his own mind, yet here his soul found repose.”
It is also interesting to note that the term “consolations” is also used in Isaiah 66:11-13 to describe the comfort a nursing infant finds in its mother’s arms. What a powerful image of the comfort we should find in our Creator!
Robert Louis Stevenson tells the story of a storm that caught a vessel off a rocky coast and threatened to drive it and its passengers to destruction. In the midst of the terror, one daring man, contrary to orders, went to the deck, made a dangerous passage to the pilot house and saw the steerman, lashed fast at his post of holding the wheel unwaveringly, and inch by inch, turning the ship out, once more, to sea. The pilot saw the watcher and smiled. Then, the daring passenger went below and gave out a note of cheer: “I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well.”
We can find consolation that “All is well” when we remember our pilot, our heavenly Father, holds firmly the steering wheel of our life’s ship in His grasp. As a result, we can echo the lyrics of the hymn “It is well with my soul:”
“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.”
“They who have passed through honest doubt without making shipwreck of their faith attain to a confidence and assurance regarding the truth of Christianity which nothing can shake or weaken. Their faith before was a sapling which had never felt a breeze, whereas now it is an oak which has been nursed into strength amid furious storms. They will feel that it was worth all the disquiet they suffered to attain to the firm peace which they now enjoy.” – The Bible Illustrator
That’s the number of times I’ve almost fallen (plus 1 actual spill) recently at the end of runs, as a result of shuffling my feet. As I was nearing the finish line, instead of lengthening my strides and finishing strong, I found myself almost tumbling to the ground from my foot catching a curb, root, rock or sidewalk edge.
I’d become complacent and careless and have scar on my hand, even now, to remind me of the need to be vigilant to avoid obstacles on my path.
The Apostle Paul notes how the Lord kept him from stumbling on complacency, carelessness and conceitedness in 2 Corinthians 12 when he describes a “thorn in the flesh” that God used to keep him humble:
“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:7-10)
No one knows for certain whether Paul was referring to a physical, spiritual, emotional or relational affliction; however, we do know the thorn’s purpose: “To keep him from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations.” God’s goal in allowing the thorn in the flesh was to keep Paul humble.
The above example of the Apostle Paul as well as this quote below should remind us of “God’s Gift of Unanswered Prayer.”
“If God answered all the prayers we put up to heaven, we should need no other scourge. Blessed it is that we have One who is too loving to grant what we too often so rashly ask.”—F. Whitfield.
My name is Hunter Lied. I am 18 years old, from Millsboro, Delaware, and am currently a senior at Delmarva Christian High School. I am attending Delmarva Christian High School for the sole purpose of a solid Christian education. Lord willing, I will attend Lancaster Bible College this upcoming fall to major in Business and Intercultural Studies. Intercultural Studies will educate me for better potential missions work after school. I also love to do video editing on the side whenever I can. I was able to intern with Empowering Action through an opportunity offered by my school. Every year following the Christmas break, we are offered a two-week period off for J-Term. This is an opportunity for the students to take extra curricular classes or attend trips that our school doesn’t normally offer such as, mission trips, aviation classes, home construction with Habitat for Humanity, participate in the annual short film, internships, and much more. I chose to do an internship again as I had done for the past 3 years. This year, I decided I wanted to do it with Empowering Action.
I have had a burning passion to do missions work since I was about 14 years old. God had provided opportunities for me to do local missions through my church, Bay Shore Community Church. The local missions I did were both out of state. The very first one to Campbellsville, Kentucky and the second to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. God had more planned for me. My first encounter with Empowering Action was when I went on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic in August 2016. Bay Shore Community Church, as well as Homes of Hope, went to the outskirts of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic to fabricate their first container home. This is when the Empowering Action encounter came about. They were asked to choose a local church in the area that would then choose the family that needed this home the most. It was a life changing experience for sure. I was the youngest member to go on this trip, and at the age of 17, it was pretty cool being able to get out of the country for the first time. After this trip to the Dominican Republic, I felt a call to go back. God provided and this second time back happened to be my internship with Empowering Action.
I chose to go back with Empowering Action because I saw the impact they were making through the local churches in the Dominican Republic. Kent Husted, the Executive Director of Empowering Action, previously attended my church and I do not know anyone who is more devoted to changing lives than him. The most important piece of Empowering Action is how they work through the local church. This is the most effective way to serve for short-term trip participants who aren’t able to be present for all 365 days of the year. The local church is always there, so therefore it is the most effective tool for impacting lives for God’s kingdom. That is why I chose Empowering Action to intern with. I wanted to see how they do this firsthand. Arriving on Sunday, January 8, and staying there for a week, couldn’t have been a better timing. Escaping the 8°F weather, a foot of snow that Delaware got hammered with, and being able to land into 82° sunshine was amazing. That isn’t why I was there though. I was there to see how God is using Empowering Action, and how I may be able to serve for just the small amount of time I would be there.
Carlos, another member of the Empowering Action staff, was there to pick me up from Las Américas International Airport and take me to where I would be staying for the duration of the week. “We are headed to Quisqueya”, Carlos told me. I had been to Quisqueya before on the previous trip, and couldn’t have been more excited to be going back. Upon my arrival to Quisqueya, I saw kids playing baseball in the streets, people riding horses, and motorcycles weaving in and out of every obstacle. The car stopped, and we parked in front of Iglesia Arca de Salvación. This is the church that Jose Lorenzo pastors. Jose is on staff with Empowering Action as well. That is whom I stayed with for the rest of the week, Jose and his family. Helping out in his church most of the week, as well as doing home visits throughout the community to make sure people were doing well, were only a couple of the things I got to do.
Tuesday was the day that the Empowering Action staff returned back to work from the holidays and the New Year. Waking up at 5 am to ride a couple buses and taxi’s to get to Santo Domingo at a reasonable time was quite fun. Being crammed in a tiny bus, meanwhile being the only American, was very fun. Jose and I ventured out to attend the planning meeting at the Empowering Action office in the capital, Santo Domingo. Getting to meet all of the staff was incredible. That in itself was enough to just reflect on how God has blessed this organization. In order to have that many staff, there must be a lot going on. With Empowering Action, I can promise you there is always something great going on! This was my only day in the office, but that did not mean I wasn’t interning.
The most amazing part of my internship was being able to see how Jose gathers his information he needs from the planning meetings, and takes them back to Quisqueya (which is over an hour outside of the city), and applying the new information throughout his community. He didn’t just show up because he was there to do his job. He showed up to gain more knowledge on how he can serve his community in a better way. The next day, Jose, Henry (EA Staff), and I went around the community to film testimony videos for the Abundant Life program. Henry translated for me and it is just amazing to see another successful way that Empowering Action is being able to advance God’s kingdom through the local church. Pastor Domingo said in his testimony that, “the Abundant Life Program helped to motivate and mobilize the church to use the resources they have to grow and serve the community.”
For the remainder of the week, I got to play with Jose’s children as well as other friends from the community, and experienced multiple times of laughter and fun. Teaching them the game of dodge ball had to be the most entertaining event I may have ever seen in my life. Using my translator app on my phone, I was able to instruct them on how to play. Even though it was with a flat soccer ball and a very small foam ball, they made it work. They couldn’t have been happier. The thrill of them being able to fire a ball at an opponent and call them out of the game, left them with smiles from ear to ear. With baseball being their most popular sport, Dominicans can hurl a ball quicker than I’ve ever seen. After the games, Jose, his children, and I set up for an outside service of worship. We constructed a small stage and moved all of the pews to the outside just so the community could be openly invited. Unfortunately, a rainstorm came through and we had to relocate everything back into the church. The worship continued inside of the church, because honestly, rain will never be able to stop God from moving no matter what country you are in! I remember hearing Jose saying, “Gloria a Dios” multiple times that night because he wanted to certainly give glory to God for the high attendance that night. The night of worship was my last night there, and God couldn’t have sent me home with a better memory.
Empowering Action is doing amazing things in the Dominican Republic and I couldn’t have chosen a better organization to intern with. I pray that you may be inspired by this and hopefully God will provide for you an encounter with Empowering Action to see all of the great things they are doing for His kingdom.
The Lord promised the nation of Israel in Isaiah 43:2,
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
It’s been rightly noted, “God’s presence in the trial is much better than exemption from the trial.” The reason for this is that God is at work, and, while we see things in part and imperfectly (1 Cor. 13:12), His plan is grander and greater than we could imagine.
DL Moody in The Overcoming Life reminds us of how this concept is clearly and powerfully evident in the life of the Apostle Paul,
Think of Paul up yonder. People are going home to be with the Lord every day and every hour, men and women who have been brought to Christ through his writings. He set streams in motion that have flowed on for more than a thousand years.
I can imagine men going up there and saying,
“Paul, thank you for writing that letter to the Ephesians. I found Christ in that.”
“Paul, I thank you for writing that epistle to the Corinthians.” “Paul, I found Christ in that epistle to the Philippians.” “I thank you, Paul, for that epistle to the Galatians. I found Christ in that.”
I suppose they go up to Paul all the time and thank him for what he did. When Paul was put in prison he didn’t fold his hands and sit in idleness. No, he wrote. And his epistles have come down through the ages of time. They have brought thousands upon thousands to a knowledge of Christ crucified. Yes, Christ said to Paul, “I will make you a fisher of men if you will follow Me.” And he has been fishing for souls ever since. The Devil thought he had done a very smart thing when he maneuvered Paul into prison. He was very much mistaken. He overdid it for once. I have no doubt that Paul has thanked God ever since for that Philippian jail, his stripes, and imprisonment there. We will only know when we get to heaven what an impact Paul had on the world.
Yesterday’s photos of our most recent class of Abundant Life Program graduates and this reading from last night combined to remind me of two things:
God’s presence with those church leaders in the midst of their trials
God’s graciousness in permitting them and us to “set streams in motion that may flow on for years.”
The gospel of John contains the story of Jesus healing the blind man, in which Jesus states,
“We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4)
In keeping with that calling and urgency, Scottish 18th century minister William Arnot said,
“The very fact of a Christian being here, and not in heaven, is a proof that some work awaits him.”
However, the good works, which God prepared in advance for each Christian to do (Eph. 2:10), are as unique as we are individuals, often varying with the seasons of life.
Enter Ken and Mary Anne O’Malley, who arrived yesterday in Santo Domingo to serve as full-time missionaries with our team, with Ken focusing on construction initiatives, utilizing his 35-years of project management experience with Exxon Mobil, and Mary Anne, leveraging 8-years of teaching experience, to serve the special needs community within our ministry network.
Please keep both of them in prayer in the days to come, as they transition to a new culture and ministry setting and follow, in obedience, the Lord’s leading.
The late missionary Amy Carmichael wisely noted, in distinguishing between the Israelites’ Red Sea and Jordan River crossings,
“You and I may be called again and again to walk right into our own ‘rivers,’ whatever they may be-to wet our feet in them. We may be called to do what nobody understands except those to whom the word of guidance is given-and with it, His promise too.
But understand this: The word must come first, and also His promise. You and I must be sure of what we are called to do, with an inward conviction that absolutely nothing can shake.
In my own case, again and again, I have had to wet my feet in the water. Only God and those who have to walk in that path know how hard this kind of faith-life can be. But He does know. And when the people around us don’t hear the words and the voice we have heard, and only say, ‘It thunders…’ then He comes near, and we know Him as we never knew Him before….
If only the next step is clear, then the one thing to do is take it!”
Welcome, Ken and Mary Anne! We are grateful to the Lord for including EA in this next step in your walk with the Lord, and are anxious to see what He does both within you and through you, as a result of your obedience to His call.
Ken O’Malley – komalley@empoweringaction.org
Mary Anne O’Malley – momalley@empoweringaction.org
