Sometimes it is necessary to be in hell to fully appreciate the bliss and wonders of heaven.
Such was the experience of this author and his companion as they, with nineteen other dedicated professionals, most of whom were Christians, recently spent eight days in the devastated city of Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti.
The invitation to participate in the mission had come through Hope International Ministries (HOPE) of Florida after encouragement had been received from a government official in the neighboring Dominican Republic. This official was well-acquainted with the medical mission emphasis of HOPE, and he had deep concern for his neighbors on the Island of Hispaniola.
The team eventually arrived in Santo Domingo, normally 7 hours drive from Port-au-Prince. However, road conditions, patrols, and confusion at the border, extended the trip to eighteen hours in the equivalent of an open cattle truck through mountains replete with brigands and bandits.
Upon the fortune of securing an armed United Nations’ escort for part of the journey from the Haitian border to the capital, we arrived weary and exhausted near curfew, bone tired, in Delmas, a section of Port au Prince.
Excited and at the same time dismayed at the carnage and desolation all around us, we were thrilled by the prospects of being able to demonstrate the love of Christ to so many in need.
And this we did, working together as a team for eight days, in sweltering heat, lying on the hard ground, living on granola bars and warm, bottled water…all the time being personally energized by the Spirit, in the milieu of Christian fellowship.
We were overwhelmed and awed at the words of appreciation and thanksgiving expressed by patients who survived the disaster but who were abandoned with absolutely nothing except their faith.
There has been much reported in the national and local media as well as on the Christian Courier website on this dimension of our experience, but it pales to adequately render a full picture of this nation which had so little before the earthquake, and now suffers with even less.
It was a humbling experience to hear songs rising from a group of raggedly clothed Christians, living in the squalor of the remains of a filthy street, as they praised God and thanked Him for all the blessings that He had bestowed on them. The effect on the team members was to produce self-examination and personal scrutiny as to how often one might have complained about the inconsequential and relatively unimportant things of a privileged life in the US, when all the while, we should been full of thankfulness for the overwhelming abundance of our Father through His provisions.
Everywhere we cast our eyes we observed the rubble and remains of a forlorn and desperate city, beholding apocalyptic scenes on a magnitude rarely witnessed since the blitzkriegs of World War II.
Buildings were flattened like cardboard with ponderous concrete roofs lying on the ground like giant concrete sandwiches. Unfortunately these broken structures still entombed thousands of unfortunate Haitians.
The smell of death and dust permeated the air as rats as big as cats prowled the rubble to gnaw on decaying flesh. Daily survivors and corpses were extricated from the piles of stones, bricks, walls, twisted steel, and timbers.
Tenderly prepared graves were not observed but pits and mounds had been filled to capacity in the days following the quake. Bodies lay in the streets, intermingled with an accumulation of garbage until other depositories or outdoor crematoria could be arranged.
The total experience in some of us evoked a vision of just how the world might appear after the rapture of Christ’ church, but differed now from then in the Haitians’ dependence on faith.
Catatonic-esque frozen faces stared at us with unseeing eyes. Emotionally paralyzed responses were the norm for most Haitians. Many patients had not eaten nor drank water for two or three days. Children were terrified to sleep in case worse things happened and greater losses incurred, like loved ones suddenly gone.
Palpable despair filled the air and yet patient after patient attempted to lift their hands in the air and proclaim Jesus as Lord.
One patient had been found alive after spending four days in a makeshift morgue in which he had been consigned, considered dead from all appearances.
Another terrified child, having lost every living relative, clung tenaciously to team members, refusing to let go.
Everyone was requesting pastoral members of the team to pray for and with them.
A pastor who had lost his wife, his three children his church, his job and his home, left only with was his personal injuries and an infant, offered a heart-wrenching scene. One can hear the pathos of the experience in the agony of this man as he asked me if he could give the baby to me because he had no way to support himself or the child and no place to go when he left the tent hospital facility.
Another pastor asked for counseling and prayer as he struggled with overwhelming grief. One minute he had a church of 2500 members and the next he had 200 members, losing his associate pastor and indeed a close friend.
The magnitude of the stress and grief with which we on the mission team struggled every day was immeasurable. Team members were not exempt from traumatic stress. They became exhausted through lack of sleep, lack of nutrition, and the ambience of emotionally-charged agony, pain and suffering which surrounded them.
It became increasingly difficult to sleep on the hard ground and even the night hours suffered from persistent intrusion of the horrendous experiences of the day. Cognitive slowing and affective freezing as well as physical fatigue became the order of the day. The use of hastily dug and not very hygienic latrines added to the discomfort.
Yet, as we gathered to begin the weary journey home, one and all of the team members reported an increased appreciation for the plight of others, more careful self-examination, and an increased thankfulness for the blessings we all receive from our bountiful Lord. He has persistently and continuously deluged us with such a plethora of evidence for His love and care that we often take it and Him for granted.
At the end of the mission trip, as we all wended our way homeward, we were in agreement that we will never be the same again, gaining a renewed sensitivity for the less fortunate and for those who are hurting. We have a personal testimony of bottomless need and increased dependence on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who loves us as none other. We are grateful for the safe travel, the opportunity of service, and the joy of being available and used in His plans.
I have been asked “What is God’s purpose in Haiti?” and I am compelled to answer, “His purposes are as numerable as the lives affected by the earthquake, and just as diverse.”
Visions of heaven penetrated the Stygian darkness of physical and emotional hell in Haiti, and eventually won the day, erupting into an exhilarating and brilliant glorious praise and worship.
LANCASTER CA - The mayor of Lancaster has urged its residents to approve Christian-specific prayers at public meetings in an effort to “grow” the sixth-largest city in Los Angeles County into a “Christian community.”
Lancaster residents were urged by Mayor R. Rex Parris in a state-of-the-city speech to support a city ballot measure that would authorize daily prayers at city council meetings.
“We are growing a Christian community, and don’t let anybody shy away from that,” he said in his speech, according to the Antelope Valley Press.
In a later interview with the Daily News, Parris expressed surprise that some religious leaders object to prayers to Jesus at city meetings, and blamed opposition on activists who “want a fight,” the newspaper reported. “They want their 15 minutes of fame.”
The Lancaster mayor is running for re-election and supports the prayer ordinance, the newspaper reported. The city council has already placed a large “In God We Trust” motto across the wall in the city council chambers.
"The real message of this film is to try and offer help to people that are in trouble," says Josh Weigel, who plays a youth pastor. (New Song Productions / January 20, 2010)
Jake (Randy Wayne) and Jonny (Sean Michael Afabel) share an easy laugh in the quad.
LA – On the surface, “To Save a Life” doesn’t sound that different from a host of indie films — a drama involving a teen coping with the aftermath of a student’s suicide who finds solace in a group of outsiders.
The film, which opened last Friday (Jan 22, 2010), deals with myriad real-life issues facing teens such as drugs, sex and social acceptance. The plot focuses on star athlete Jake Taylor, who seemingly has it all; he has a basketball scholarship, good looks, a cheerleader girlfriend and hangs with the in-crowd. But when a loner, an old friend from his past, shoots himself at school, his world is turned upside down and he seeks answers on how he could have made a difference.
“To Save a Life” is meant to be uplifting and appeal to a wide audience. Which is part of the reason that the filmmakers don’t want to make too much of the fact that this is a faith-based film.
“The real message of this film is to try and offer help to people that are in trouble,” said Josh Weigel, who plays the role of a youth pastor in the film. “I don’t know what that kind of movie is called, movie with a purpose, a positive film, inspirational or redemptive film. It doesn’t really matter.”
The film is being distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films, which had a breakout hit in 2008 with the Christian film “Fireproof.” With a budget well under $1 million, the film, which starred Kirk Cameron, grossed $33 million thanks in large part to grass-roots marketing to church audiences.
Like “Fireproof,” “To Save a Life” is produced by a church-based production company, in this case New Song Pictures, a division of New Song Ministries in Oceanside California. But that’s where the similarities with the more overtly Christian “Fireproof” end. In fact, the new film may have more in common with Fox’s “Glee” than it does with previous Christian films, including a rainbow-colored cast of misfits and a good-looking mentor who guides them through the chaos of high school life.
According to LA Times reporter, Liesl Bradner, screenwriter and producer, Jim Britts, wrote the screenplay after learning that the top influence on teen behavior is not parents, school or even church, but movies.
“I work with troubled teens every day and see the severity of the poor choices they make,” said Britts of his 10 years as a youth pastor at New Hope Church. “Movies are a powerful way to illustrate the consequences of making the wrong choice while reinforcing positive actions. “Not a day goes by without talking to a kid going through some kind of pain.”
Many of those associated with “To Save a Life” are understandably nervous about being typecast as “Christian” filmmakers. It’s not that they are embarrassed by their beliefs, but the track record of faith-based films has been spotty. “To Save a Life” used Hollywood professionals to upgrade the quality of the film, but that was not always an easy task.
“It’s hard to commit to being in a film with any kind of Christian undertones, as most actors don’t want to be pigeonholed,” said casting director Liz Lang. “Christian films can be risky. You can believe in all sorts of things, but when you start talking about God and Jesus, people turn away.”
Initially, Randy Wayne, who plays Jake, passed on auditioning for the role because it was a faith-based movie with a low budget.
“I was afraid it would look really cheesy and I would too,” said Wayne, who changed his mind after reading the script. Jake’s struggles are the heart of the film but the guiding light is Youth Pastor Chris Vaughn, played by actor Weigel. Casting the role of a spiritual leader is crucial especially in faith-based films. “Pastors are depicted as being really preachy,” said Britts. “I knew Chris had been a youth pastor and he came in and nailed it.”
“To Save a Life” is co-produced by Outreach Films, which handled the marketing campaigns for “Fireproof.”
“The grass-roots marketing, especially on the Internet, is a significant part of reaching our teen audience,” said Meyer Gottlieb, president and chief operating officer of Samuel Goldwyn Films, which plans to distribute two faith-based films a year. “We want entertaining films that resonant with people, make them feel good and change their life for the better.” Among the marketing strategies is a Facebook page that also offers tools for at-risk kids, such as suicide hotlines, art contests and other creative outlets.
“We want to empower teens to be a messenger of hope by reaching out and befriending someone in trouble,” said Britts.
Synopsis…
Ever since Jake Taylor was a kid, he was the type of guy you couldn’t help but like. For Jake, life is good. He has friends, fame, a basketball scholarship, a future and the hottest girl in the school. Not much to get down about, right? Enter Roger Dawson. He’s Jake’s childhood best friend before Jake’s popularity goes into high gear. Miserable and mad over being on the outside of Jake’s, or anybody’s inner circle, he’s tired of being pushed aside by everyone. He walks onto campus with a gun in his pocket and pain in his heart, and makes a tragic move. Jake is devastated at what Roger has done. And something in him changes. In seeking answers in his own life, one question plagues him the most: Could I have saved him? He is now deeply compelled to reach out to the students who are on the fringe of acceptability by the school’s upper crust. But he finds reaching out to the undesirable threatens his world. He may lose his own friends, his scholarship, his dreams and even his reputation to do it.
Cast and Crew
Produced by Jim Britts, Steve Foster, Nicole Franco Written by Jim Britts Directed by Brian Baugh Starring: Randy Wayne, Robert Bailey Jr., Kim Hidalgo, Deja Kreutzberg, Joshua Weigel
(Source: LA Times, New Song Productions, Internet)
NY – Pro-God ads have begun to appear on some 1,000 subway cars throughout New York City since last week Friday (1/15/2010), announced the New York church sponsoring the campaign.
Times Square Church, located in the heart of Times Square in New York City, will launch its ad campaign in hundreds of subway cars and on 50 platform posters in Manhattan stations at the end of this week.
Ads will boldly feature the words “God is” in the center,surrounded by words describing God’s qualities in colorful fonts. Among the “God is” attributes are: with you, willing to help, able to protect, a father, a husband to the widow, your friend, aware of your struggle, a good listener, the one who loves you, power to change, incredible, ready to forgive, there when no one else is, looking at you, Jesus.
“We want to encourage people to seek God and prove that indeed He is,” explains Carter Conlon, senior pastor of Times Square Church. “The ads describe God in just a few of the infinite ways He proves His presence to us every day.”
Bringing God into the public square is nothing new to Times Square Church. In September, the church hosted “Prayer in the Square” that attracted as many as 60,000 people representing over 300 churches and 65 youth organizations for an hour of prayer in Times Square.
In its latest attempt to get people talking about God and religion, the church hopes to not just draw unbelievers, but also former believers.
“We are praying that people who don’t know God and would like to know Him, would be moved by these ads to visit Times Square Church or any Bible believing church in New York City and find God through the forgiveness freely offered through His Son, Jesus Christ,” Conlon said. “And to those who once knew God and need to get back to God, we want to say simply this: His arms are open wide always ready to welcome you home.”
Times Square Church is an inter-denominational,multinational congregation founded by best-selling author, the Rev. David Wilkerson, who wrote The Cross and the Switchblade. More than 8,000 people, representing more than 100 different nationalities, gather to worship each week at Times Square Church.
NEW YORK – Brit Hume had some evangelistic advice for Tiger Woods on Fox New Sunday, in a segment in which panelists predicted the future of the golf sensation after his notable “transgressions.”
Hume forecasted Woods would recover as a golfer but
“…Whether he can recover as a person depends on “his faith. He’s said to be a Buddhist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, “Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”
This fits with the interview he had with The Hollywood Reporter (Nov 4, 2008) when Hume retired from Fox News in 2008. Asked what he’d like to do in his free time, Hume said enjoying his family came first but then, he said:
Brit Hume
“I certainly want to pursue my faith more ardently than I have done. I’m not claiming it’s impossible to do when you work in this business. I was kind of a nominal Christian for the longest time. When my son died (by suicide in 1998), I came to Christ in a way that was very meaningful to me. If a person is a Christian and tries to face up to the implications of what you say you believe, it’s a pretty big thing. If you do it part time, you’re not really living it.”
Other unsolicited advisors for Woods? A. Larry Ross, a spokesperson for Billy Graham and Rick Warren, penned a column at the Huffington Post on grace and the God of “second chances.” Rabbi Irwin Kula is quoted in the Jewish Journal that the Nike spokesman — and the rest of us — should learn from the patriarchs that you can’t “just do it” when “it” is wrong. Kula suggests that this is a teaching moment, illustating the point ”because someone is great in one area in their life does not mean they are great in every area.”
(Source: Fox News, USAToday/Faith & Reason, JerusalemJournal.com, The Hollywood Reporter)
MT - A Yellowstone County District Court judge has been asked to decide whether a Butte High School student’s civil rights were violated when she was banned from speaking at graduation ceremonies last year because she refused to remove religious references from her speech.
Judge Gregory Todd heard arguments Monday in the case of Renee Griffith, who filed a lawsuit against Butte School District No. 1 alleging that Superintendent Charles Uggetti and Principal John Metz refused to let her speak at the 2008 graduation ceremony. Uggetti and Metz are also named as defendants in the case, which was filed April 16 in Yellowstone County.
According to the lawsuit, Griffith was one of 10 valedictorians in her class who were offered an opportunity to speak at graduation. But after reviewing her proposed speech, school officials said Griffith could not address the crowd unless she removed references to “God” and “Christ” in her speech.
Specifically, the officials said, Griffith had to change a sentence that read, “I didn’t let fear keep me from sharing Christ and His joy with those around me.”
School officials said he had to replace the words “Christ and His joy” with the words “my faith.”
In another disputed section of her proposed speech, Griffith wrote, “I learned not to be known for my grades or for what I did during school, but for being committed to my faith and morals and being someone who lived with a purpose from God with a passionate love for Him.”
School officials said Griffith had to replace the last eight words of the sentence with the words “derived from my faith and based on a love of mankind.”
(Source: Billings Gazette)
Griffith refused to rewrite her speech and was not allowed to speak at the ceremony, according to her lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges six violations of Griffith’s state and federal constitutional rights, including her right to free speech, and violations of the state Human Rights Act and the state Government Code of Fair Practices.
CANADA - The power of prayer has long been controversial, but a new study in a leading psychological journal finds some of the first scientific evidence that it truly works – at least on the person doing the praying.
While previous studies have looked largely at the people being prayed for, investigators flipped the research model to examine those who personally engage in the religious practice. They found that even a single prayer for a loved one led to increased self-reported willingness to be forgiving of that person.
Though the research leaves open the possibility of divine intervention, investigators don’t claim any “miraculous event.” They instead focus on scientifically quantifiable factors, such as prayer’s ability to prime a more selfless state of mind. “This is not an attempt to proselytize; our position is one of absolute neutrality,” says study co-author Frank Fincham, a world expert on relationship science. “What seems to be operative here is that people experience a selfless love when they pray; they appear to be connecting more with humanity and feeling more positively toward humanity as a whole. That’s what leads them to be more willing to forgive.”
The new study, published in the journal Psychological Science, draws data from 119 people over two experiments.
In the first, participants assigned to say a single prayer for their romantic partner reported a greater willingness to be forgiving of that person than did participants who were asked to describe their partner to a recording device “as if they were (talking) to a parent.”
The second study was more revealing, with participants – all of whom were comfortable with prayer – split into three groups: those asked to pray for a friend, those asked to pray about any topic, and those asked to think positive thoughts about a friend every day for four weeks.
People in the first group were much more likely to be forgiving of that friend than those in either of the latter two groups, which notably showed no significant differences between them. The first group also expressed more “selfless concern” during the testing period.
Fincham, director of the Family Institute at Florida State University, says the findings suggest focused prayer can act as insulation, protecting both platonic and romantic relationships from drawn-out conflict by helping regulate emotion.
While Fincham says religious communities are “overjoyed” at the findings, critics such as Richard P. Sloan – author of Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine – are skeptical that prayer can, or even should, be subjected to scientific scrutiny.
“There’s been this tendency to try to justify religious ritual and spiritual practices based on their effectiveness … It’s a ridiculous trivialization,” says Sloan, a professor of behavioural medicine in psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. “They’re making prayer into some sort of spiritual vending machine, where you deposit something in it and you get a desired outcome.”
has launched Project Daniel 5:25 — a reference to scripture dealing with handwriting on the wall.
Operation Rescue has done extensive research to determine how many abortion clinics have closed in the last two decades. Spokesman Troy Newman believes the days of legal abortion in America are numbered.
“[We] come up with a number of nearly 1,500 of these abortion clinics that have closed and not reopened,” he explains. “And so just like the biblical story of Daniel, [who] reads the handwriting on the wall that says that this wicked kingdom will soon come to an end, it is absolutely true that the abortion cartel is coming to an end.”
According to Newman, just 713 abortion clinics are open for business now, down from almost 2,200 in 1991. Newman tells OneNewsNow that his organization has yet to find an abortion mill that has complied with the law.
“And I know that’s a sweeping statement, but I’ve been in this movement for almost 20 years,” says the pro-life activist, “and I’ve seen abortion clinics close again and again and again — and the major contributing factor is that they do not comply with federal [or] with state and local municipal ordinances.”
Through Project Daniel 5:25, Operation Rescue is raising up an army of new volunteers to pray at abortion clinics and monitor clinics’ activities, and to lodge reports with the pro-life group to challenge the remaining 713 clinics.
CHICAGO— Sharing God’s Word with the sick in a nursing home, or with a co-worker in a state building, could soon mean trouble for Russian Christians. The government is drafting legislation that could impact how Christians share the Gospel.
“If this legislation is approved our ministry will still be able to function, but it will put limitations on how Christians work to advance God’s kingdom,” says a Bible League International ministry contact.
Russian officials plan to make amendments to an already existing religious law that was passed in 1997. The new amendments will clearly define missionary work and set parameters for missionary activity. Some of the proposed revisions would include some of the following guidelines: only religious organizations registered in Russia for at least 15 years can apply for permission to engage in missionary activity; persons convicted of a religious hate crime can not be founders, members or participants of a registered religious organization; and missionary activity in health care facilities, hospitals, orphanages, homes for the elderly and disabled without permission from the institutions and people in the institutions would be prohibited.
“Our ministry programs are often used in hospitals, orphanages, and nursing homes. This will restrict our efforts and ultimately reduce the number of people graduating from Bible studies,” says our ministry contact. “Our communication and support of local churches using our ministry programs, plus rules on financial aid from abroad already threaten us.”
While the proposed legislation is in the draft stages, many believers fear the proposed restrictions indicate that the door to the Gospel is closing. “The very nature of Christian ministry is to share with those the world has rejected,” says our ministry contact. “We need to bombard heaven with prayers that this legislation does not pass.”
Bible League International has had active ministry in Russia since 1993, working through Russian nationals who know the language, culture, and customs of their communities. Despite the impending changes, Russian nationals will continue partnering with Bible League International to help transform Russia for Christ.
Since 1993, Christians trained by Bible League International have led more than 570,000 people through Bible study; helped establish more than 40,000 new Bible study groups; and led more than 75,000 people into baptism or church membership.
For more information on Bible League International’s ministry, call toll-free at 866-825-4636, or go online to www.BibleLeague.org.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – The former Dutch minister who successfully promoted the legalization of euthanasia has now admitted that the government’s move was a mistake, and says that they should have first focused on palliative care.
Els Borst, who served as Health Minister for the Netherlands from 1994 to 2002, proposed the country’s infamous euthanasia bill. When it passed in 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia. In 2008 alone, Dutch doctors reported 2,331 cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Borst drew criticism from some Christian political parties shortly after the passage of her bill for comments she made in an interview. Echoing the Christ’s final words on the Cross, Borst exclaimed: “It is finished!”
Now, however, she thinks the government acted too soon, as she told Dr. Anne-Mei The in interviews for the latter’s new book on the history of euthanasia, entitled Verlossers naast God (“Redeemer under God”).
The legalization of euthanasia came “far too early,” Borst said, admitting that the government did not give enough attention to palliative care and support for the dying. “In the Netherlands, we first listened to the political and societal demand in favour of euthanasia,” she said. “Obviously, this was not in the proper order.”
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, agrees with Borst that the Netherlands has been ineffective in providing proper palliative care. “Even today they still do not have effective palliative care in place in the Netherlands,” he told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN).
“It’s all good to say that,” he said, referring to Borst’s comments, “but what are they doing now to protect the vulnerable?”
“Now [euthanasia's] become socially accepted,” he continued. “So how are you going to fix your mistake now, thank you? And how many thousands of people died because you didn’t properly care for them? How many thousands killed?”
Dr. The, who has studied euthanasia for fifteen years, affirmed that the foreign perception of inadequate palliative care in the Netherlands is not unfounded. Further, she explained that in all her years, nearly
all the doctors she has met struggle with euthanasia due to moral issues or emotional reactions.
Borst’s regret over the situation in the Netherlands is particularly important given that that country has served as a model for euthanasia advocates in other countries. Schadenberg noted, for example, that Canadian MP Francine Lalonde, who currently has a bill before Parliament to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, has “imported” the Netherlands’ approach into Canada.
As in the Netherlands, Schadenberg explained, Canada “lack[s] the proper care for those either a) at the end of life, or b) experiencing disability or chronic disabling conditions.”
“Without the proper care in place, is [legalizing euthanasia] not the wrong thing to be doing?” he asked. “Really what the debate in Canada needs to be about is how we care for all Canadians.”
Schadenberg went on to point out the “slippery slope” occurring in the Netherlands, which the country’s politicians deny, he says, through “a systematic cover-up.” “How can you say there is no slippery slope in the Netherlands – knowing that you now allow euthanasia for newborns, and you went from originally just the terminally ill, [and] now it’s also for those who are mentally ill?” he asked. “You have allowed your definitions to wander so wide that you haven’t even noticed it.”
Borst’s comments, Schadenberg says, are “simply telling us: do not make the same error as the Netherlands.”
