Together... WE CAN!

Memorial Day Weekend, 2008... siempre fiel... always faithful. Enjoy the video.

siempre,

Eric

a few "raw" reflections

I took the little video at the start of this blog, Friday morning, May 23, 2008 - as they prepared to unload materials for our Memorial Day Weekend build at Siempre Para Los Ninos in Tijuana, Mexico. The photo was taken Monday morning, May 26, 2008 -shortly after we dedicated the building... 2 days, 3500 square feet, months in the planning, tens of thousands of dollars in fundraising... today, not completely finished but pretty darn close... not furnished or painted... but ready for the pioneering groups who'll be the first to lead mission's trips to Samaritan House at Siempre... it's hard to imagine another Memorial Day Weekend is behind us.

When we built our first church it took months to actually have a congregation- today -that little church has been torn down and rebuilt as Pastor Israel leads a thriving, growing congregation... they're planting a new church on their own in a new community. It took months after we built our children's home, Siempre Para Los Ninos, before we had our first children- today, our directors, Alejandro and Aracelys have their hands full with over 30 children, a full staff and face the challenges of who can get into Siempre... Don't know how long it'll take us to find a new bridge building missionary to live in the apartment we built atop the new building... or how long until each week is filled with work groups... but I know it will happen... God is faithful... even when we're faithless... but we're doing our best to remain faithful.

Watching the faithfulness of the workers- listening to the witness of their faith in a hammer's fall, the swoosh of a paintbrush, the constant cry of our generators producing electricity for the worksite... I was blessed just to partner with so many fantastic people... people with a heart for God, a heart for children at risk, a heart for people living in poverty... we had such fun... we shared a miracle... hope you can catch just a bit of it in the video and photos.

many blessings... many thanks...

siempre,

Eric

you should read John's blog

Our son John- at his college graduation last December, with our daughter Julia

You should read John's Blog. Today he wrote about a funeral we shared... Julia ran the office, John ran the media, I buried Mary... a woman ready to meet her maker at the end of a full life. John speaks his heart, my heart as well, in today's posting. Check it out here. I'm not going to write about it... not much anyway... my mother's dying... doing the funeral for another mother, so close in age to my own, took it's toll.

John tells the best part. My father's great aunt Laura... guess that would be my great, great aunt Laura, died in the early 1900's and is buried near the graves of my grandparents in Princeton, Indiana. Her final words are engraved in the black granite tombstone she rest beneath: "Tell the church I love Her..."

Visiting Mary, the woman I buried today, while she was in intensive care, some of her final words were spoken as she reached her hand to grasp mine, eyes closed... tears trying to work their way up into the dehydrated lids... same words as my great, great aunt Laura... you could have pushed me over with a feather... it was like I was standing in the spring grass on that little plot outside of Princeton again: "Tell the church I love her."

Today she's at Home with The Lord. Hope she gets to hang out with Aunt Laura in Heaven.

I've been doing my best to guard my heart against the days to come... sitting with dad, now 93, I told him the sweet story of Mary's passing, her final words to me. Reaching out, dad looked me in the eye and said: "Eric, when you know I'm near the end, remind me to say something really good. To 'tell the church I love her.'" Processing the words I'd share today, I realized again that there are no worries for dad, for mom... they've told the church they love her everyday, in all they do. She's been our life... and I'm glad, no regrets, only humbled that God would use us.

Those are our children- my parent's grandchildren, the great, great, great niece and nephew of Aunt Laura and they love the church. Today they told Her with their lives... and made their old man proud... more importantly, made their Heavenly Father proud. Hopefully, however eternity works, aunt Laura and maybe even Mary, were able to share the joy.

In the midst of the sadness, it was a good day. Thanks for reminding me John.

Tell the church I love Her.

Eric

money

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A Firm Foundation

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. Jesus Luke 6:48

We built a house once that was hit by a flood. I drive by the house and the foundation weekly... they're about a mile a part. The house sat in a newly developed ravine where the poor of Tijuana were buying lots from the Mexican government. Central Community spent $15,000- in materials and a weekend in labor building a beautiful home to shelter a family. Several years later the 100 year rains hit- washed down the ravine - filled the house with mud in the middle of the night. The family escaped in the darkness, moving with the mud flow out the highest window. They spent weeks cleaning out the mud and eventually a truck came and lifted their home and planted it on higher ground.

The foundation, built firmly on the rock, still remains.

For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Jesus Luke 14:29,30

I took that photo yesterday at our children's home in Tijuana, Mexico. Lucio and his employees are midway through completing the foundation for our new building. They've laid every foundation we've built on for the last 6 or 7 years. Their work is strong and secure to work on... Me? I'm at the spot I always get to in the final days before our Memorial Day Building trips... I know it's going to happen, we've got over 9,000 sq ft of building on our campus as evidence to God's faithfulness- after this weekend we'll be well over 12,000 sq ft of building to serve our little community, to house the children of Siempre, to invite people with heart and passion to come share The Lord in serving the poor. Even still, must be my personal insecurity, I dread the thought that someone might look and say: "This fellow began to build and was not able to finish."

And so we labor on.

Pastor Ken's in Mexico today, putting the final touches on every last detail. He and John Juhl have gone over every possible plan, ordered lumber, nails, counted windows... Ken and I spent part of our morning yesterday doing one more run down on the finances- "if we have to build with just the money we have... if we raise x more dollars... if we meet all our goals..." We're giving it our best shot. Our workers will give 100%. Workers from the community will come along side us for the weekend and give it all they've got. God will under gird and in miraculous fashion- Monday morning of Memorial Day weekend we'll dedicate the new building. I'm sure of it.

That doesn't mean my mind doesn't ponder all the "What if's...?" A list too long to continue.

I was there Wednesday afternoon- I saw it with my own two eyes, stood on it with my own two feet: we have a firm foundation. It's almost complete. That can't be taken away. Property's paid for, foundation's paid for and almost ready, God's opened the door... now we're ready for builders.

Floods will come. Challenges and trials are part of life. The foundation remains and Siempre sits on high ground- The Highest -God's Firm Foundation.

I'm more excited than ever to be a part of all God's using us to do in service to lost, abandoned and impoverished children in TJ. Our new building's an open invitation- beds for 64 workers, a dining hall and kitchen, showers, and an apartment for a new missionary... we're praying that you'll come and fill it up with people who long to share a new work, bring a new hope, reach out in new ways... but build on a firm foundation.

Siempre. It means always. I can't wait for Memorial Day Weekend! You're invited to share the miracle. It's a James 1:27 kind of thing. We're building on The Rock - what we do in the lives of these children for God will never be undone. I can't believe God's invited me. Hope you'll join us.

siempre,

Eric

Golfing for God... well almost

Saturday morning, April 26th and I'm getting ready to head out to fundraising golf tournement for our children's home in Tijuana, Mexico - Siempre Para Los Ninos.

Siempre's 2nd Annual Golf Classic - dozens of people have been working for months to make sure it all comes together just right. 100 or more golfers will play and hopefully many more people share in the silent auction and dinner afterward. It's a GORGEOUS DAY - sunny, clear, desert like heat... everything's in place for an incredible success.

Now it's in The Hand's of God.

The money for this year's golf classic will help pay for- or even better, completely pay for, our new building at Siempre on our newly acquired property. Thought I'd write about it for awhile, thought better of it and decided to post this little video I shot last week instead. Hoping you'll join us in our work someday. Hear people talk about working together... covenants... Siempre is the result of what happens when people stop talking... and really work... promising to give the results in service to God. Churches from as far away as Florida, Ohio and Washington have spent days or weeks at Siempre. Pastor's and churches from all across Mexico have visited and held meetings at Siempre. Children, Siempre's Kid's, are the better for it all.

Check it out. If you'd ever like to get down to some really good work for God- James 1:27 kind of work - the kind worth giving your life to, contact me. We're hiring a missionary.

blessings,

Eric

it use to be neck ties and dancing

"I do believe that we must come to terms with the sin of autonomy that dominates our practice."

autonomy
au·ton·o·my
Pronunciation: \-mē\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural au·ton·o·mies
Date: circa 1623
1: the quality or state of being self-governing; especially : the right of self-government
2: self-directing freedom and especially moral independence
3: a self-governing state

I think it dangerous to even use the term autonomy in relation to the church because it is quite the opposite of New Testament teaching.
Dr. Ron Duncan, A Needed Conversation paper (page 4, paragraph 1)

The first quote is from a church of God blogger I enjoy following. So extreme that the image of all those mormons pulled out of Texas in hopes of rescuing their childeren- big hair, glassy eyes, lock step, came to mind.

The second quote, sadly, was apparently given much thought, read over by a number of instructors at the church of God's school of theology- put in my time there -and even vetted through leaders nation wide before it was sent out in desire to begin "A Needed Conversation" supposedly among peers. It didn't bring to mind images of cult like behavior... it reminded me of a book from the '90's... 1990's... think it was titled "When Managers Become Leaders." It may have been an essay.

Desperate times.

I've never sat down and talked with Dr. Duncan- but giving him the benefit of the doubt -guessing he's just like the rest of us, doing his best day in and day out. Just can't stand it when someone decides they're opposed to a certain way of doing something, then they suddenly have a collection of Bible verses to back them up. Mind you, generations went before them with their very own stack of Bible verses on why something was The Only Way God wanted it done.

It's a tough way to begin "a needed discussion." "I think we should talk about this practice in the church- it's a sin -it's dangerous -it's quite the opposite of New Testament teaching... let's talk about it."

Sound's like someone's fishing for a fight. I'm not in it. They can fight on someone else's time. I've got work to do.

"Free moral agents" I always liked the term... made me feel a little like a ball player. "Free will," pretty well accepted theology- plenty of Bible verses to back it up. Autonomy... wonder why we'd want to be anything but autonomous? Just imagine the churches in Ephesus, Corinth, any of the New Testament churches... without the letters of Paul we have almost no idea how they governed themselves... and Paul's letters didn't exactly get there by fax, phone or email... they were probably years apart. What happened in between?

We don't know.
God watched over things.
Godly people did their best.

At the heart of this "needed discussion" hope that's still what's happening. Hope people still remember that's how God's always built His church. I hope.

Both of my grandfather's were buried without neckties. They were early leaders in the church of God reformation movement and they considered all "outward adornment" a sin. Kind of like those mormons in Texas... without the extra wives. Their zeal and early enthusiasm for The Kingdom has always been an inner motivation... and one more good excuse not to wear a tie... even if I'm pretty sure their idea of New Testament "TRUTH," like that of those pushing the current discussion, might have been a bit misplaced.

There are so many more important battles to wage. Loving, serving, sharing... this is where I plan to spend the rest of my life, the rest of my ministry. I've got a clear Biblical mandate- like the old song says: "from Genesis to Revelation... I believe it all." If Dr. Duncan wants to spend his time on the "sin" of autonomy... you go brother. No worries from me. In fact, this might be my final word on the subject... but I doubt it!

sorry for the late night wandering thoughts... believe it or not, started my morning on the same subject. I've given it a day- good enough.

blessings,

Eric