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#FiveForFriday

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My favorite five missions or charitable organizations (in no particular order)…

Great_CommissionI can’t narrow it down to five total so I picked five which operate nationally or internationally (which I’ll blog about today) and five which are more local in nature (next Friday). Each is unique in who they help – from women and children in Uganda, to women and children in Cedar Rapids, Iowa…I love missions, spreading the love of Jesus and helping those in need.

#1 – Amazima Ministries

One of my favorite books is “Kisses from Katie,” the story of an 18-year-old girl who gives up her comfortable life in the United States to become the adoptive mother to thirteen girls in Uganda. katies-story-buttonIt was a life-altering book for me and I’ve been challenged while following Katie Davis’s story of radical love. Katie started Amazima (“truth” in native Luganda language) Ministries, with a mission to help educate and empower the people of Uganda with God’s love. They operate The Amazima School, a scholarship program, the Masese Women’s Beading Circle, medical care outreach and a farming outreach. One year for Christmas I gave some special friends earrings formed from beads made in the women’s beading circle. They were beautiful and I loved knowing I was helping, in a small way, to give these women a purpose and an income.

#2 – Youth With A Mission

In a nutshell, Youth With a Mission (or YWAM) is a global movement of Christians who have dedicated themselves to serving Jesus, no matter where He calls them to go. Originally intended just to get young people involved in missions, YWAM now involves people of all ages, in more than 1,100 locations in over 180 countries, with a staff of over 18,000.  I did my own two-week YWAM intensive when I was 15 years old. It was terrifying to think about spending two weeks with total strangers going door-to-door telling people about Jesus. By the end of that time, I was bolding stopping people on the street and inviting hitchhikers to receive Jesus as their Savior. If you are looking to invest in missions around the world, YWAM has done it well for over 50 years.

#3 – JDRF

I’m sure I don’t need to say much about juvenile diabetes. We all have friends and family who suffer from this life-threatening autoimmune disease. The JDRF organization, through volunteers who either have the disease or parent children who suffer with it, works tirelessly through various events to raise money for research to find a cure. My best friend in college recently passed away from the effects of a life-long battle with type 1 diabetes. Improvements in treatment have been made since her diagnosis back in the early 70s, but so much more needs to be done. I love walking with my friend Sandi and her daughter Celia as we inundate the NewBo area of Cedar Rapids for the One Walk event each May. It is inspiring to be even a small part of this movement to find a cure.

#4 – Samaritan’s Purse

“Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God,” famous words from founder Bob Pierce. Samaritan’s Purse’s mission is to follow Christ’s example by helping those in need and proclaiming the hope of the Gospel. They do this in so many different ways: medical missions, feeding programs, clean water & hygiene education, construction projects, human trafficking prevention and discipleship training. Sam_PurseThey are on the front lines of any disaster relief efforts both in the U.S. and internationally, especially in the current refugee crisis, earthquake and flood recovery and in war torn regions of Iraq. As a family, we first started working with Samaritan’s Purse through their Operation Christmas Child program, where we bought small age-appropriate gifts, packed them in shoeboxes and sent them off to the Samaritan’s Purse center in Minneapolis. From there, hundreds and thousands of shoeboxes are sent each year to children all over the world.

#5  – Child Hope

We have sponsored a number of little girls through Latin American Child Care, or as it is now known, Child Hope. We started way back when our youngest son started asking for a baby sister. Not happening. But he seems satisfied with the little girl we “adopted” through LACC. For $36 a month, Child Hope provides a safe environment where a child receives a Christian education alochild hopeng with preventative medical and dental information. More times than not, that monthly stipend provides a school uniform, hot meals and needed medical attention. At
Christmas and birthday time, we send a little extra so our little girl receives a special present just from us. We have welcomed each picture and personal letter throughout the years. We are on our third child since they grow up and move out of the program eventually, but each one is special and we are blessed to be able to assist a small child hear and learn about the love of Jesus.

Jesus said that we were to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Though we can’t all go away from home, we can pray and use our resources to see the good news of Jesus spread all over the globe. I hope you have a favorite charity or missions organization you give to regularly. It is one our greatest joys to give so others can hear and know about Jesus.

Be a Barnabas

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Be_A_Barnabas

There is a man in the book of Acts who has fascinated me for years. If you’ve never read Acts, you won’t get it, but this guy’s life is very compelling. Acts is the book written by Dr. Luke, detailing the lives of the disciples (now apostles) following the ascension of Jesus. Full of adventure and intrigue, good guys and bad guys, shipwrecks, beatings, miracles, signs & wonders, court room drama, and more protesters than at any Donald Trump rally. The story begins with Jesus telling his followers that He needs to go away for awhile but He’s going to send Someone to help them. So, in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit shows up…pretty dramatically…and the world has never been the same.

In chapter 4, a certain man is mentioned for the first time…Joseph, from Cyprus. He is a believer and I assume, because of evidence in his life, the apostles call him Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement.” At that time the believers were meeting together, living together and sharing in everything. Barnabas owned a field, sold it and gave all the money to the apostles…and this begins the story of the man responsible for the spread of Christianity around the world.

You thought that was Paul, didn’t you? Well, Paul usually gets the credit. We talk about Paul’s missionary journeys and Paul’s letters to the churches (which make up most of the New Testament) but in reality, this little known man called Barnabas is the real hero. And here’s why:

If it wasn’t for Barnabas, the world would never have known Paul. Before Paul (then known as Saul) had his roadside conversion, he was a very nasty guy. He was the original persecutor of anyone who followed the teachings of Jesus. Just the name “Saul” would strike terror in the hearts of believers in Jerusalem. But after his conversion, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and started preaching about Jesus being the Son of God. Needless to say, some were a little skeptical. It would be like a high-ranking ISIS official trying to join your church, claiming to be a Christian. But Barnabas shows up, takes Saul to the apostles in Jerusalem, and vouches for him…puts his own “son of encouragement” reputation on the line for Saul.

Not only is Barnabas known for being an encourager…and a man who champions those who are looked down on, but he was also satisfied with stepping out of the limelight to allow God’s plan for the world to move forward. When the church in Antioch sends out their first missionaries, it’s Barnabas who is the senior member of the team. But it soon becomes apparent that God is moving powerfully through Saul (now known as Paul), and Barnabas is the “other guy.” But he seems fine with it…he continues to travel, preaching and teaching about Jesus, working as a team with Paul to spread the gospel to Jews and Gentiles.

Our last real encounter with Barnabas may seem as though he has fallen out of favor, but I look at it differently. In the end of Acts chapter 15, Paul and Barnabas have a strong disagreement over the future involvement in their ministry of Barnabas’ cousin John Mark. Young J.M. had travelled with them in their first journey, but had quit for some unknown reason. Maybe the journey was tougher than he thought, maybe he was ill, maybe he was just homesick or immature in his faith – but for whatever reason, he went home. Now, in preparing for their second trip, Paul doesn’t want John Mark to join them, and Barnabas, once again, stands up for the little guy. (Remember, Paul? When he did this for you?) So Paul and Barnabas part ways and we really don’t know what happened to Mr. Encouragement after this. What we do know, from some of Paul’s letters, is that John Mark ends up back with Paul at some point. Barnabas has once again brought an immature young man to maturity and future ministry. And not just any future ministry, but a companion to both the Apostle Paul and Peter, as well as the author of the book of Mark, the second gospel. Pretty good mentoring job, Barnabas.

So, now you see why I find Barnabas to be one of the crucial men in the New Testament? If he hadn’t stood up for both Paul and later, John Mark, we may not have had the gospel preached, or the New Testament written. Obviously God would have found another way, but He used a little known Levite from Cyprus. Barnabas was an encourager to everyone, he stood up for the little guy, and he was willing to put his pride away and allow others to get the spotlight. I want to be a Barnabas.