Social Justice, Popular Media, Christian Duty?

Recently we were able to sneak in a short vacation to say goodbye to my parents, who were leaving Brazil, and to pick up the car they generously gave us. We had a wonderful time in Rio De Janeiro one of the world’s great cities that happens to sit on some the world’s great beaches. We felt guilty going, we have been blessed in the last year to have been to Rio once and to spend a few days in a city near here called Bonito. We have been able to have more vacation time then we ever did when we had a “normal job” in the States.

		Rio VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We realized though when we were there how much we needed it. Working an this area, desiring to see peoples lives transformed has a cost. It can be hard to have adequate time for our family. Proper time. Our home isn’t always a retreat as sometimes the neighbor kid Melissa is working with can be mean, jealous, constantly at the gate, disrespectful and hard. I am not complaining, the reality of their lives is something I can not imagine. Preparing to leave for Rio Yara, one of the girls who is 11 said “que legal, voces tem um cuxao pra todo mundo” How cool you guys all have a mattress. She lives in a small house with her parents and a lot of her 14 brothers and sisters, sometimes with kids of their own. So many people live in the two three shacks down there if they built a wall we could call it a compound. We want to help, we want to see these kids changed, not just to receive Christ but also to be discipled to live different and have kids that live different. To cease to be a part of the brokenness of this world but of the cure.

One mother rarely watches her kids home or not. She leaves it to the 12 year old boy to look out for his 2, 5, and 7 year old sisters. When he isn’t around they are on their own. Melissa has found the 2 year old, Alannah’s best buddy, down at the main road 2 blocks away alone. We don’t have to go anywhere or do anything to start a ministry. Just live here and begin to get to know the neighbors. To look for opportunity to disciple and share the gospel with them. It is nearly 24 hours a day. I can’t tell you how many times we are trying to make a late dinner, 8 at night and they are at the gate yelling for us to come out there, climbing over the gate, refusing to leave.

Not complaining, just trying to give you picture of what it can be like to live here and what we are up against as we pray and seek doors to disciple. I have begun talking to one neighbor about teaching him to fix old pieces of furniture to resell, currently though it is the fishing season and he can make a few dollars so he has lost interest.

This brings me to my thoughts on the recent hype on Joseph Kony. Doubtlessly some would get mad at my calling it hype but that is what it is and that was the goal of the videos maker. He wanted a hysteria on FB and twitter to get attention. That is great, it takes money and awareness to bring change. My question though would be do we allow this to change us? Do we give the $30 he is asking and feel good or do we let the condition of our world sink in, do we recognize this Kony is but a drop in the bucket of the worlds injustices? Do we feel anything when the homeless guy outside the store sits with his sign or simply assume he wants beer and is simply unwilling to go to a mission?

The problem is both sides of these issues are based on truth. We could be of the opinion that the Kony video is a bunch of hype to get money, we would be right. We could be of the opinion this guy is dedicating his life to bring awareness to an unthinkable travesty and we should give, we would be right. We can go into the market and buy the guy with a sign a sandwich and give it to him, we would be right. We could, in the US, coldly tell him that there is a shelter down at the other end of town that will feed him and we would be right.

The issue I see is that the Bible hasn’t told us to be right but Righteous. That is much harder, that requires heart change that leads to right action. Belief in Christ that allows him to come in, clean our hearts, make us a new creation in the image of the Father leading to a true response to what we see around us. Jesus when he was about his ministry healed people when he was moved by compassion. Touched the lives of those he came into contact with. That is why he would go alone into the wilderness to refresh. Why he would go to Marry and Martha to be taken care of. It takes a toll to truly be moved and give of ourselves to the needs around us.

As I have read through the prophets one of God’s big criticism of Israel was her lack of compassion. That she left God and did bad things yes, but more so that she didn’t feed the orphans or the widows. Not only was sin prevalent but compassion died. Perhaps love can cover a multitude of sins.

Now at the same time I am afraid for where the modern church and missions may be going. The Mennonites may have been an early example. No offense to anyone please but many of the Mennonites missions around the world became nothing more than social works in these last 50 years. Praise God for their heart for compassion, peace, love and the well being of fellow man. However Jesus as he touched social needs also filled the spiritual need. We must have both. One without the other is dead. All preaching without compassion is dead religion. All compassion without teaching feeds a person or rescues them from sex slavery and allows them to die eternally separated from the satisfaction of a relationship with creator God.

I would challenge you to give to Kony 2012 or whatever strikes your heart. To care, to write senators. Much more though I would challenge all of us to search our hearts. Does it really bother us that kids in Africa are kidnapped, rapped, mutilated, forced to murder, drugged or does it just bother us to read it. Are we disgusted by what sin has done to our world. Are we willing to become passionate ministers of the gospel in our homes, work, cities, churches, etc... to see Godly justice?

Please understand this is not a complaint or criticism but facts. We are dedicating our lives to living in the far corners of the world. All the exotic things you think of Brazil, the wonderful time we had in Rio is far from where we live. We do our best to share what we are learning and going through with people. We are limited in what we can accomplish to the response that generates back in the states. I personally have around 600 Facebook friends, Melissa has a few hundred not all the same. 300 people have liked our Facebook page, 100 people read our blog posts on average, when we get out a hard copy letter it goes to 150 or so. Less then 20 people give every month and about 10 more give on occasion. We are blessed beyond belief and excited by what God is doing. We were blessed last month to have unexpected unsolicited giving. We are not in need personally but want to grow funds to touch more hurting peoples lives. What I am trying to show is that on my small scale the breakdown from interest to response. I would estimate between friends, family and the churches that know we are here there are 3-4 thousand people aware we are here. Out of that 1000 have some generic idea we think we are missionaries. Out of those I would guess about 300 believe what we are doing is good. Out of those 10% contribute. I would guess the number who pray is thankfully better but I would only put that at 30%.

Again this isn’t a complaint but to try and show the nature of people. It is easy to care for a second. To click the like button on Kony, to click the like button on our page. A few more may repost things. A few give. What is hard is to have and then maintain a heart change. A kingdom mindset that will keep us sacrificing for a lifetime. I am not trying to manipulate more people into giving to us but challenge myself along with you to dedicate our lives to the rewards in heaven. We can give of our money time and energy to make a difference on this planet and see heaven filled with more God created beautiful souls. We can arrive in heaven like one of the good servants who invested the talents given. Let us not just be people who have a momentary response but people who think of how to use our talents for the kingdom of God. I don’t want to simply jump on a bandwagon only to fall off again but to commit to something and see it through.

Personally we are friends with another missionary working in Sudan as a midwife. I am amazed that a single girl would give her life to a hard, dusty lonely place that a few girls the world might consider insignificant might have a better chance at living through their pregnancy and seeing a healthy baby born. She must know she can’t save the country or change the world but she just keeps going, seeing death and sadness almost daily. Satisfied by the lives she touches. A long term goal of mine is to visit the Sudan and see first hand her work. The sacrifice of the normal American life she has made to touch some remote tribal people in a lonely nation.

We also want to have that kind of impact here and have set up Project Pantanal, a fund with our mission board. These funds are dedicated to ministry projects and tools. They will not be released to us personally but to a Brazilian non profit we are beginning to set up. Whatever is bought with them will go to reaching and touching the people of the Pantanal. People who are uneducated, malnourished and hard to get to.

Again I didn’t write this simply to try and get more money. It is God who will sustain us but to encourage all of us to keep going, to strive for heart change. Not to be content with normal but to fight for kingdom eyes, kingdom vision. What can you do with your life? Are you gifted to make money, use it for the kingdom. Are you gifted with touching people, touch them for the kingdom. There are many wonderful ways to touch the global world and your neighborhood. We are just one, so is Kony.

If you are interested I will be writing a letter laying out some more about Project Pantanal. Email me your physical address lblyon@yahoo.com to be sure and receive it.

Here again is the link for donating to us, you can donate to Project Pantanal , none of which will go directly to our pockets.

http://shepsstaff.org/lyon.aspx

Abandonment and Freedom

I woke up today not feeling right. I took the car to get the oil changed and had a good coffee and chat about our future with our friend Buster. By the time I got home I realized I was sick. Alannah had already thrown up the day before and had terrible diarrhea for a couple of days. As a parent a sick baby is always hard. By tonight I was really sick and getting grouchy.

We are supposed to leave Friday morning for Rio de Janeiro to see my parents before they return to brazil. They are giving us a car they had bought for their travels here and blessing us with a few days on the beach, they scored some very cheap airfare for us. The kids are excited, we feel a bit guilty but are excited about the beach and now we may not make it. There is no way we can travel, at least all of us if anyone is sick Friday morning.

I have been laying here not able to sleep because I had slept off and on this afternoon, fell asleep and woke up to get sick myself.

I am feeling a bit convicted as we had been getting a bit discouraged or lonely this week. We are expecting to be able to buy tickets soon with some tax money. We may be able to concentrate fundraising on ministry projects instead of asking people for help coming home. This is good. However as we started planning I think it has hit us how tired we are. We have been in Brazil for almost 2 years and had about 2 years of transition before that. We need to rest and be refreshed. We have moved multiple times and been homeless half the time the last two years, living in temporary locations and other peoples homes.

I think we, or at least I (Ben) began to put some hope in our visit home, hope in taxes, hope in things of the world. I began to loose sight of what matters and what is reality.

Jesus said “to gain ones life he must first loose it”. Interesting and strong words. I have come to realize though these last few years that the greatest feeling in the world is when you truly give up your life. You don’t have to be a missionary to do that. Many of you give us a sacrifice of your money regularly or semi regularly. Many of you serve in your church, a ministry or a charity giving of your time. This is all a part of it. When we no longer consider our own lives, our own comfort, our wealth or even our children and spouses to be something we would hold back from God we begin to experience true freedom.

I was worried about my kids missing seeing their grandparents and going to the beach. I was worried about my parents loosing money on tickets. I was worried about taxes not showing up. I have worried about support drying up. I have worried about many things. I am no hero of the faith. I lack faith daily.

Tonight, sick and unable to sleep because of worry I had to one more time verbally out God pray “I trust you with my kids, I trust you with my wife, I trust you with Corumba, I trust you with ministry” and so on.

I have no choice but to abandon my life to God. There is a dying sick world right outside our doors. I am not yet doing enough to show the love of God to them. I experience joy when I forget about our needs and begin with my family not apart from them to live my life, our life not for us but for the people who are dying.

The cost we might pay to obey God could be high. God said “to obey is better than sacrifice”. What does that mean, the law demanded so much sacrifice. Obedience is the ultimate sacrifice.

Have we completely turned over all aspects of our life to God. Our we willing to trust him with our health, finances, lives, lives of our children. Our we abandoning everything we hold dear into his care and willing to go wherever that may lead.

We just passed carnaval here. A very ungodly celebration of sin that makes mardi gras look no more wholesome but does make it look small. Churches all go to retreats here and tend to be fundamentally opposed to evangelism. I got very frustrated with the attitude of people the last two years. For me when people are sinning the most it should be when they are most aware it doesn’t satisfy.

I am realizing tonight that abandonment to God may mean loneliness, perhaps the church wont like you if you start having gays and prostitutes, drug addicts and prisoners over for dinner. You will probably here speeches about how Christians shouldn’t go there or you need to protect your kids. How can I worry about what others think or how comfortable I am when the eternal state of someone may hang in the balance. Even more what if I and my family can be used or you and your family to disciple someone to live a better life and disciple others to a better life, …… How many generations of how many families could be changed if we quit thinking of ourselves?

We may begin to feel tired. We may not want to go on. I feel that way now just waiting for the next trip to the toilet. I am realizing only the hope of heaven can cure me. If I am thinking of myself I don’t have what it takes to live here, to stand against the church, to return and love the church, to see my babies sick, to see them miss a vacation, etc...…..

I was encouraged last week by 1 Peter 1:13-17

13Therefore, preparing your minds for action,^a and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Please no the sacrifice you make to keep us here is equal abandonment to any we make. Please no that though I don’t always do a good job sharing stories of the lives you touch you are touching them. I am not looking to get people to pray prayers but to teach them to live like the scriptures above. It is happening. We seen some kids get saved and start showing desire to grow in Foz. We are seeing Melissa start to have even more of that impact here on our street. She is amazing.

Pray as I turn my focus back to ministry from establishing our family here that we can impact and disciple desperately lost people to a life of total abandonment and reckless obedience. To true holiness obeying what God has commanded not just avoiding some no nos like carnaval.

We love and miss you all. Hope to see many if not all of you in July and August. Let us know if you want us to try and come to your church or area.

 

Grace and peace to you all,

 

Ben

Coming together

It was at least 4 years ago we began to feel it was time to close the business and begin preparing to go into full time missions. It was something that had always been in our hearts but we had a bit of things to go through first. It seemed like it took us a long time to get where we are now.

There were times in Foz where it seemed like things were taking off. With the kids in the Favela I often thought it would lead to a church plant or a youth ministry but it never quite satisfied. It felt like it would have been settling and yet we knew it was what God had for the moment. There was much to do with Alannah being born, getting residency, attempting to learn a language que e' bem dificil.

When we arrived here in Corumba time began to stand still, in a good way. It often stood still in foz but in the what am I going to do today kind of way. Here we are busy, all the time, but it feels like we have been here forever when it has barely been three months. It is the kind of forever that is good, wonderful and peaceable.

Recently we have first been busy getting the kids going in school, our good friend Buster, another American crazy enough to live here, brought us. We are using a computer based homeschool program. It is easy to monitor and the kids enjoy it. We are trying to put a good priority on setting up the house. We bought a freezer, a cabinet for under the TV, bookshelves and I built a desk. I couldn’t find material to build a plywood desk so I bought two interior doors and they worked good.

School VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We also got another opportunity to go out to Porto Esperanca, but this time alone. It was exciting to see what our family would react like in that environment without a guide. We had been there before and there are some decent people there in the church but it is still a little intimidating.

I told them to do the service like they normally would if no one came out. I didn’t have a guitar with me and am not in practice, I can’t sing anyhow. I didn’t have a translator, we didn’t have a plan, we just wanted an idea where they are at. They asked me to preach, I had been prepared too, or so I thought. After a nice visit with them in the afternoon the service time arrived. They took turns leading a little music and reciting a scripture, often giving a bit of a fire and brimstone sermonette they had heard. It got a little chaotic and all over the place. By the time it was my turn I could no longer speak Portuguese much less preach. I think I did terrible, I couldn’t understand me how could they. Sadly it showed the lack of discipleship that has been done over the years. They do there best, I loved their hearts to lead worship and be together but they need better understanding of the story of God, the word of God. It was evident earlier in the day that they don’t have a great heart for evangelism but instead look at their neighbors as “sinners”.

The best part was seeing Melissa and the kids realize church would go forever and take all the kids back to do a Sunday school. I love seeing her get more confident and take charge of creating ministry opportunities. Tomorrow she is having all the neighborhood girls over again. After I shared we did have one boy come forward for prayer that I believe was wanting to give his life to the Lord. It really was a bit long and chaotic. Melissa did great keeping little kids busy while one of her own hung off her.

		Porto part 2 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Daniel and I got a chance to go on what thankfully wont be a once in a lifetime fishing trip even though it should be. What amazing beauty. As we went down river fishing I noticed remote Fazenda (ranch) after ranch. I believe we will be spending a lot of time out getting to know some simple people who need Jesus. When we got back we ate popcorn piranha and bbq cow. Next time he said he will buy a gun in Corumba so we can hunt an alligator at night.

Last night we had the chance to meet Walter and Carol Ponder. He is a retired pastor who has realy only changed jobs. He is building churches in Brazil. He is building them in remote locations, trying to raise a million dollars to build another 40 before he quits. He had the opportunity to build one for a semi local tribe. The chief had been saved as a kid and prayed 38 years for a church and a pastor to come to him.

They blessed us with a restaurant bought lunch, we didn’t have to cook today. Then I got to go look at a potential project site here in Ladario. In a very, very poor neighborhood. I got to meet the pastor of the church who has started the work there. I think both these men are good contacts.

Walter and his site VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Thank you all so much for being behind us keeping us here. Your prayers and finances really do reach far. We are planning a trip home in July to share more specific vision and what we need to have a greater impact here. Be praying and perhaps saving to see how you can touch more lives.