The message I heard Francis Chan speak at the Catalyst Conference in 2007 had a huge impact on me.  One statement he made has stuck with me – “If Jesus had a church in my town, my church would be bigger”.

He was not bragging, but his rationale was that he realized (as most churches should) that we do not call people to the same type of commitment of discipleship and sacrifice that Jesus called people to.

He talked about how the more he read the Bible and considered what it was saying, the more he realized that there is a huge chasm between what true Biblical Christianity is (as in the Church of Acts) and what most of us in America experience with church. 

How can we read the words of of the gospel and see the way Jesus and the disciples lived, and then think that those are just a bunch of stories about how the radical Christians of 2000 years ago lived?  No, in fact the way they lived was a model for how we should live, what we should do and be concerned/consumed with.

If you have not read the book “Crazy Love”, take this opportunity to download the audio version of the book for free while it lasts.

Go to    http://christianaudio.com/free_download.php

and follow the directions for the free audio download. Add the download format of Crazy Love to your cart and enter the coupon code JUL2009 when prompted during checkout.

Julie and I first met Mary in Ethiopia in December and I got to see her briefly again in March.  Read Julie’s story below about how she humbled us both and brought tears to our eyes as she showed true kindness, humility, thankfulness and the heart of a servant.

As a writer, there are few experiences in life that leave me at a true loss for words. But that is the place I have found myself in since a day last December when an encounter with a beautiful Ethiopian girl touched my heart.

We were in Ethiopia to pick up our kids, but arrived a week early so that we could spend some time seeing the ministry of Hope for the Hopeless which was founded by an Ethiopian pastor in Phoenix.

Our first encounter was at their Drop In Center in the heart of Addis Ababa. Their staff rescues kids off the streets and brings them in, feeds and cares for them and then tries to either reunite them with their family, find foster homes for them or, as room allows, place them in their boys and girls home.

That first day as we entered the gates of their little compound our van was surrounded by about 14 kids, most of them were boys. We got lots of hugs and handshakes and smiles. Later as we sat in the director’s office he began to tell us the stories of some of the kids. He told us about Mary. She was found on the streets, having been beaten and raped by 4 boys. She hovered near death for several days before being healed and brought into Hope’s place. Fekadu cried as he told us about how Jesus changed her life.

An hour later we stood once again in the courtyard and listened as the children gathered and sang us a song. Though we could not understand the words, we could sense the pure joy in their hearts and knew they were speaking of our Jesus. Tears streamed down my face and I could not take my eyes off of Mary, her face lifted to the heavens, eyes closed, singing to her Savior with a beautiful smile on her face.

Two days later we found ourselves at the Drop In Center again. We did not plan to stay long – we were just picking up Fekadu before traveling to one of their other sites. I had brought with me a pair of black boots that one of the other adoptive moms at the guesthouse had given me. She was leaving that afternoon and as she was packing she decided that those shoes could be put to much better use by one of Hope’s kids.

Mary was the only child there that afternoon. The others were in school. (They have had trouble finding Mary’s school records and so she hadn’t been able to start school yet.)

I handed Fekadu the black ankle boots and told him I wasn’t sure who they would fit, maybe one of the older girls. I’ll never forget the look on Mary’s face as she rushed over to Fekadu and put out her hands. He laughed and told her she could try them on. As she zipped up the boots she had the biggest smile on her face and she was literally bursting with excitement. Done putting them on, she began to bounce up and down and spin around like a girl who had just put on a beautiful ball gown. It was obvious to us that the boots were a little too big for her, but she didn’t care.

Then she saw my shoes and rushed over to me, for I was wearing very similar black ankle boots. She stood next to me, her foot pressed up against mine and smiled at me. She pointed to her shoes, then pointed to mine and smiled from ear to ear.

I was half watching her and half talking to Fekadu as she found a small rag or piece of paper and got it wet underneath the water spigot. Then she kneeled in front of me and began to clean the dust of Addis off of my boots.

A million emotions swirled over me. I was taken aback at first. Part of me wanted to bend down and make her stop. It was unsettling to have this beautiful girl, who had been through so much in her short life, washing MY shoes. After all, WE were the ones who had come to Ethiopia to serve these kids, to love them, to help them see how much they were loved by Jesus.

But in one moment our trip became not about what I could do for these “needy” kids but what those beautiful, hope-filled kids could teach me about gratitude, contentment and a true servants heart. For this girl, who had nothing, gave everything she had out of a heart of love and joy.

I knew that to try and stop her would seem ungrateful, and so I let sweet Mary continue to wash my boots, tears streaming down my face the entire time. We left a few moments later, my heart forever touched by a simple act of a beautiful orphan named Mary.

John 13: 8-17
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Today on Mother’s Day, Beza prayed at bedtime, “Dear Jesus, thank you for mom & dad being my mom & dad. Please help all the boys and girls in the world that don’t have moms & dads to get new mom and dads. And help them not to be sad and cry. Amen”.

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Got a voicemail message from the principal… when I heard his voice I was expecting to hear that there might be a problem…

Instead he proceeded to share the good news – Beza came into his office after lunch to ask him if he would pray with her to accept Jesus into her heart and that she wanted Jesus to be with her forever and ever.

I broke down in tears praising and thanking God for His goodness.  That a child he has given to be through adoption has now been adopted by God into his family for eternity.

Ephesians 1:3-6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love  he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Yesterday natalie came home from school and gave me her customary big hug then grabbed me by the hand, “daddy do you want to come read a Bible story with me”?

It just doesn’t get much better than this.

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It still amazes me that the King of the universe would humble himself to come to earth and die a brutal death for those, just like me, who through our sin put Him on the cross.

I have watched the movie the Passion of the Christ, yet I still can’t fathom all that he went through for us. But I praise God that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. (Romans 5:8)

Isaiah 53:4-6

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

Take a minute to watch this video and reflect on Christ’s love and sacrifice for you…

I’ve been home several weeks from our journey, and have caught up on my sleep and some of the things that I fell behind on while gone, but I have to be honest that my heart is still in Africa a lot of the time. My thoughts and prayers with many of those that I met (I know I planned to post their stories and just didn’t have the words to do justice.)

I was moved to tears several times this week (I know that doesn’t surprise most of you), while sharing with my small group, and with a couple good friends and while putting this recap together. There is so much that we as Christians should be doing to help those in need and to share the love of Christ at home and abroad, and I pray that God would continue to guide me in doing my part personally and in being an advocate for those that need so much, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I will hopefully get around to sharing some other thoughts and encouragement along these lines with you soon.

I hope you catch a glimpse of the true, authentic love, joy, peace and contentment that I saw on this trip. Pictures don’t do justice, but I’d love to share the stories with you.

Email me at mark@worldorphans.org if you or your church would like more information on partnership opportunities or short-term trips with World Orphans.

Note: Click on the arrows to the left of Vimeo for full screen video.

It is so awesome to be in a place where baboons walk on the shoulder of the highway as we pass by at 100 km / hour! The journey to the safari park was almost as beautiful as the main event.
 
The safari yesterday was a wonderful way to unwind after a jam-packed 9 days, especially on the heels of our previous days HIV/AIDS home visits in Nairobi slum.
 What a creative and majestic God we serve! The contrasting beauty of the lakes and mountains, trees & cactus, filled with some of the most beautiful animals on the planet was such an awesome experience. We saw zebra, baboons, exotic monkeys, endless numbers of pink flamingos, storks, and other waterfowl, water buffalo, wart hogs, rhinos, and more.
 
Can’t wait to look at all the pics. Check back next week for a link to view all the pics from my trip. We spent today packing and one last trip to pray over the future site of the Fountain of Life Church and homes for the boys. Our flight leaves at 11pm here. I may have some more to post next week.
 
We praise God for an awesome trip. Julie and kiddos I’ll see you soon :)

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Yesterday was a moving day of ministry in the Nairobi slums. We went in groups of 6 with members of Fountain of Life Church and armed security escorts, to do home visitation for people suffering with HIV/AIDS.
It was a scene that is indescribable, with mounds of trash and raw sewage flowing through the gutters and narrow passage-ways. Pretty intense, but a blessing to share the gospel with some people and pray and encourage some that know Christ, and to see contentment and the true joy and peace of Christ in a whole new way.

My most memorable visit was with 30 year old Ennis and her 2 year old son Morgan, both HIV positive. She used to wash clothes for less than 1 per day – around 20 a month. She pays 8 a month to rent her 6×6 home with black plastic bags sagging as her roof – filled with holes that leak water into her home when it rains. This meager space that she shares with her 3 kids was barely standing room for our group of 7.
 

Today Ennis sat on the floor with her Bible next to her and 2 year old Morgan crawling from the floor onto her lap. She sits with her back against the twin bed – the only bed for her and her 3 children. She is too weak to stand up to greet us, with injury and infection/ sores on her legs. She smiles and praises God, her eyes filled with tears of joy that brothers and sisters in Christ would come to visit her. I will never forgot the contentment, just her son and her Bible and yet she was so filled with joy and hope despite her physical illness and her desperate situation.

I wish I could bring her and her story to every church in America as an example of what Paul wrote when he said I have learned to be content no matter what the circumstances. Earlier in Phillipians 4 Paul starts that chpt by saying “rejoice in the Lord always”. Ennis was a living example to me and I praise God for her. More stories to come from this day.

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We spent today at Fountain of Hope Church doing medical outreach. We had over 250 people from the community come for treatment and testing. What a priviledge to share the gospel and pray with people before and after they saw the doctors.
 
After lunch we went into the slum near the church to pass out fliers and invite people to come for medical care. A family of 5 orphans that I met at church on sunday grabbed me by the hand and took me to see where they live. I met their “great-grandma” and got to pray with them all in their cardboard-lined shanty, and they all came back to the church to see the doctors.
 
We praise God that the nearly completed orphan home at the church could be used to shine the light of the gospel and the love of God to so many people today, and we pray for the continuing minstry of our partner, Fountain of Hope Church.

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We had a wonderful time with nearly 100 kids at the sports outreach yesterday at Fountain of Life Church in Juja, Kenya. We spent several hours with pastor James and his wife and the 10 children they have living in the home that World Orphans has partnered in with them. The joy, hope and love in these orphans is so evident – and is truly an outpouring of God’s love and life change.
 
Pray for the team today as we help with medical outreach to an estimated 500 people at Fountain of Hope Church in Nairobi.

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Our Ethiopia team spent the last 2 days visiting Woliso Kale Heywet Church. The church of 1500, located 2 hours outside the capitol of Addis, is doing amazing things in their community to care for the physical and spiritual needs of the people surrounding them. In addition to their span of church ministries, including sending and supporting 8 missionaries and 5 church plants, they also sponsor 18 children through Compassion Intl, and another 29 children/families in their community that are either double orphans, or have parents terminally ill with HIV/AIDS, in order to delay the onset of orphaning these children so they can spend as much time as possible with their parents before they pass away.

We had a wonderful time on Friday playing with the kids through our sports outreach program, and spent time with the pastors and leaders of the church today, hearing their vision and speaking about the future partnership with World Orphans. We are excited to pray and think about what God will do in the future, not only in the lives of the people at Woliso church and their community, but also the impact they will have on short term missions teams that may have a chance to serve alongside them in the future.

We have had a great stay in Ethiopia – our team leaves for Kenya in the morning.

This is Mark’s wife, Julie, just signing in to give a quick report. I’ve talked with Mark very briefly a couple of times. They are having a great time.

They arrived Wednesday night in Addis Ababa. On Thursday they visited Asko church and talked with church leadership. Then they had a great time doing a sports outreach event for the kids.

Today they traveled several hours outside the city to a church in Woliso. They will stay overnight in that area and head back into Addis sometime tomorrow.

He said the team is having a great time getting to know each other and severing alongside each other.

The team has safely arrived in Addis Ababa and hopefully will get a good nights sleep tonight.

No Fear! I’ve seen it on bumper stickers and ad slogans.

Then there’s the old saying, there’s nothing to fear but fear itself.

I had someone ask me if it was safe to go to Kenya right now, and does it scare me?
I chuckled under my breath as I remembered the words of a pastor from Dominican Republic chuckle when he was asked the same thing about coming to his country… “I don’t know, was it safe for the Apostle Paul to go back to Jerusalem??”

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not the Mr Macho type. But really, is there anywhere safer than in the center of God’s care as you seek to do something for His kingdom?

As I was sitting in church today, the words of the apostle Paul came to my mind -Phil 1:20-22 “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”.

If we truly believe this, then we should go in confidence and there should be no fear in anything that we encounter, whether in America or Africa, or to the uttermost parts of the earth. I am excited to be going and I know God will grow me on this trip and bring opportunities to share Christ’s love with others.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Is there anything in your life that God is asking you to step out in faith and trust Him for, putting aside your fears??

I am so excited to be heading back to Africa on Tuesday. I will be traveling to Ethiopia and Kenya with World Orphans, as we take 15 individuals from around the U.S. to see what God is doing among communities and churches across the globe to care for the physical and spiritual needs of orphans so in need of hope and healing.

We will be visiting some churches in Ethiopia that we have recently partnered with to build homes for the children, to spend time with them and encourage them and to love on the kids. Then we will head to Kenya to see and visit with existing church homes to cast vision for what a completed and supported church based home can really do to changed the lives of each child, and each community.

Please be praying for each of the individuals on this trip, that God would draw us closer to him and teach each of us what He desires to on this trip, and that we all would return to cast the vision to their own churches in order to raise up more church to church partnerships to care for more of God’s children.

I am praying for unity in the team and for hearts that are open to ministering to those we come into contact with. Also for our health and protection as we travel. Pray for our families as we are away from them, specifically for Julie and the kids as dad is gone from Wedemagegn and Beza for the 1^st time.

I hope to keep you updated on the blog when we have internet access.

For those that hadn’t noticed, I renamed my blog.  The past couple years God has really been impressing on me over and over and trying to teach me what compassion really is.   I was reading Mt 9 again this week – Jesus says ¹³“But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’   The chapter continues as Jesus was traveling through all the towns and villages, teaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and he had compassion on them – not just pity- but what must have been a gut-wrenching feeling of angst for their condition, both spiritually and physically hurting people- and it says that he was actively doing something – going to them and healing all their diseases and sicknesses and  casting out demons.

Oh the depth of compassion that God has on us as His children and that Jesus showed as he walked the earth.  So, to kick off the new site (in addition to a redesign that will be rolled out soon – just don’t hold your breath), I am reposting some thoughts on compassion from this year.

“You tell me the depth of a Christian’s compassion, and I will tell you the measure of his usefulness.” Alexander McLaren

I love reading Alexander McLaren’s Expositions of Holy Scriptures. McLaren was a baptist preacher in the 1800s for 45 years at Union Chapel in Manchester England. Charles Spurgeon referred to him as “one of the foremost preachers of the day”.

As I have been studying recently, it has really struck me that besides love and possibly humility, compassion is one of the most active, visible benchmarks of our faith. I don’t think it any coincidence that James, the brother of Jesus, after saying in verse 22 “prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves”, concludes James chapter 1 with verse 27, one of the most referred to passages on compassion and mercy – “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Too often, I think we view compassion as a feeling, instead of an action.  But we are instructed to put on compassion – to clothe ourselves with it.  Colossians 3:12 tells us how Christians who have been changed by Christ’s love and God’s forgiveness should now act, and the things we should be growing in. “Therefore, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness (meekness) and patience.”

We must put our faith into action to show the world the love of Christ.

Our New Year has kicked off with a lot of changes.  In addition to adding 2 new Gumms to the family, which was a wonderful and exciting thing, I have also stepped into a new vocational adventure in the journey of my life.

As many of you already know, I have joined World Orphans.  I will be serving as Regional Director of Orphan Advocacy and Church Partnerships for the West Coast, connecting individuals, churches and businesses in the U.S. with churches in some of the poorest and neediest places around the world in order to help rescue and care for orphaned children, strengthen churches, and impact communities around the world.

I was in Colorado this week meeting with the staff and they are a wonderful group of people with awesome hearts for God, for the church, and for the 143 million orphans around the world.  I am excited to be serving with such a passionate and gifted group of people who are all committed to a common purpose.  I look forward to the year ahead and all that God has in store.

If you would like more information on how you can partner with us personally through prayer or as we raise our personal financial support, or if you would like information about how you or your church or business can be a project partner with World Orphans to provide care for orphans, please feel free to contact me at    mark@worldorphans.org or you can also check out the awesome World Orphans website  www.worldorphans.org

They say that it is much easier for kids to learn a language than it is for adults.  The kids seem to do really well communicating while playing together, and just about everything else for that matter – Noah was the foreman of the work project in the back yard yesterday, directing all the trench digging, dirt and rock  moving etc.  Then they took the old satellite dish and tried to mount it to the playhouse.  They loved riding scooters and Beza caught on quickly and caught up to the others.  Soccer was fun – mom & dad beat Noah and Wendemagegn, although they won’t admit it.  They love watching movies together and playing on the trampoline and with hotwheels.  We have a 2 week moratorium on Wii and other video games to allow the kids to play and bond.

Dad, however is possibly not quite as skilled in language issues… (just ask Julie about our adventure with getting a taxi in Berlin – that was a hoot!)- So,  trying to explain I’m sorry and I forgive you and it was an accident to Wendemagegn and Beza took about 5 minutes… possibly because they were in a sibling rivalry and didn’t want to make up with each other moreso than my language and intervention skills are bad.  But in the end I think I taught them I’m sorry and I forgive you and it was an accident in english, and we hugged and smiled and made nice, so score 1 for the adults.  I do think that maybe the english word for accident doesn’t translate well for what the Amharic equivalent… I got the feeling that Wend was defensive that he really didn’t do it, and accident was not acceptable to him.  Sure wish I had the gift of speaking in Amharic tongue :)

Some sad news from the Gumm Family, but we know that Grandpa Gumm is rejoicing with His savior as he went home to heaven today.  Grandpa, (known to so many at Phoenix Christian over the years as “Dad Gumm”) was such a Godly man and great influence on so many lives that he touched in his nearly 90 years on this earth.  I miss him today and can’t wait to see him again.  He truly had a great impact in my life, and I praise God for him.  I hope to share more with you about Grandpa soon.

Pray for the Gumm & Haak families as we remember Grandpa’s life and legacy. Dad just left for England visiting my sister Jenny and is flying home early to be here soon.