.Real.Greg.Lee.

The answer is: A lot more people would find the help they need.

Now let me tell you the story:  Charlie Talley is an all around good guy who’s life has changed at Suncrest.  He puts in a ton of volunteer hours with us as our chief handyman.  And on Sunday, got up to introduce communion at our St. John Campus.

Totally honest here…I know Charlie has the most sincere heart, but I wasn’t anticipating anything eloquent as a public speaker.  What we got was 100 times better than eloquent.  It was honest.  Raw.  Authentic.

He acknowledged to everyone that he only can read well enough to get by and that trying to read the Bible has been an impossible experience for him.  And then he asked if there was anyone who could help him learn to read better so that he could understand the Bible.

Multiple people responded through email and the connection card that they would love to help him with his reading.  I love that.  We never get the help we need until we are honest about our struggles.

You know what else happens?  Your honesty lends others the strength to be honest too.  Charlie told me last night that while we had multiple people offer to help, he had even more people come up to him and tell him they struggle with the same thing…but they would have never acknowledged it without his authenticity opening the door.

A new group might be forming connecting those who struggle to read with Christ-followers who want to help.  If you are interested, send me an email – greg.lee@suncrest.org

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Everyone I know who has had a real faith experience wants to share it.  Still, for a variety of reasons the conversations can seem awkward.  They don’t have to.

Author Garry Poole has given his life to these types of conversations and is coming to Suncrest in a couple of weeks to help anyone who is looking for some guidance with these conversations.  Check out all the info by clicking on the info here:  Journey Conversations

See you there.

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I’ve asked David and Gordon to help me do quick reflections from our trip that are interesting…and also caused us some meaningful reflection.

David Sent me this picture and a note…

“Had to have a picture of this sign as we drove from Monrovia to Buchanan.  The clinic was not as nice as anything in St. John, Indiana.  Among the needs in Liberia is the need for better medical facilities.  Perhaps another mission trip project????”

The sign reminds me of a couple things too:

1.  It takes partnerships to make a real difference. This one is Local  Government (Bassa County), along with International Support (Irish Aid), and a Corporate Sponsor (Merlin).

2.  Our focus is planting churches, but the reason for planting churches is to carry out the ministry of Jesus most effectively. His words in Matthew 25:37-40…

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ ⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

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So by now you know Suncrest is committed to starting new churches in Liberia in a way that brings some development to the country and helps a church planting movement in Liberia see how it can stand on it’s own long-term without being dependent on US financial support.  It’s a huge task, but we are already seeing progress.

Right alongside of our efforts, I’m a raving fan of “Hope 2 Liberia“.  This is an effort to specifically provide clean water in the country of Liberia.  Their leadership is from a sister church in Muncie – the very church that inspired us to personally go to Liberia — and it’s pretty awesome to me how some Suncrest folks have become invested in their initiatives.

All that to say…I think you should play golf with me on Saturday, October 9 at White Hawk Country Club to help bring clean water to Liberia.  Great Golf.  Great Fun.  Great Cause.  (And since it’s a scramble, you don’t even have to be good!)

Download the Info by clicking here or on the image below…and start building your team!

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David, Danny Buegar, and Leaders from Liberia International Christian College

Clean Water Well in Roadside Village - Supply and Education Remain Crisitcal Issues

Gordon with Liberian Leaders...Communion in Worship Service

David Teaching Sunday School...On Acts 1:8!

Eddie Williams showing Gordon and David the medical clinic they built and a farm that will sustain church planting

You'll have to look closely to see the freshly planted shoot of a Rubber Tree!

David at the Liberian Version of "7/11"

After a long drive through the city...

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I just learned a team of 19 people from Suncrest went to Indy last Saturday to serve an under-resourced neighborhood. Obviously, I love it and it reminded me of one power of the Jesus Mission in Acts 1:8:  It clarifies where people who follow Jesus should serve. In our own communities?  Yes.  On the other side of the world?  Yes.  Everywhere in between?  Yes.  Local.  Regional. Global.

I’ll hear arguments from time to time that want to separate it.

Some say, “Why go to the other side of the world when there are so many needs here?”

Others say, “Why serve Americans when the needs of third world countries are so much more dramatic?”

Jesus says, “Serve them all.  It’s what we do!”

And it’s something I love about Suncrest…We get back from a trip to Liberia and I get news about the team in Indy. And then I have a conversation with a friend who is serving his elderly neighbor.

Serving here…Serving there…serving everywhere.  It’s what we do.

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I’m trying to decompress a bit now that we are home, so I’ll just upload some pictures (finally…decent internet speed!) here and let them speak for themselves.  Will write more next week.  You should be able to click on the pictures if you want a larger image.

Children Laughing with me...the future of Liberia

Gordon Stopping for Gas

Perils of Rainy Season Driving

Buegar's, Gordon, and Leaders from Wayzohn Christian Church

Church Building in the "Interior" of Liberia - Nice pews!

David & Leaders from Wayzohn Christian Church

Church in Monrovia - a full house!

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We are checked in and in the airport in Liberia so our journey home has begun.  We all miss our families dearly, so as hard as it is to leave the people here, we are all ready to go.  Our schedule gives us a 5 hour layover in Brussels, Belgium so we are going to try our best to get into the city and soak up as much as we can…one last adventure.

My posts have been long so I’ll keep this one short.  It will take a few days to recover when we return, but I’ll be writing about Africa for days to come.  And, I’m going to have David and Gordon write some things for my blog as well.

These two guys have been everything I expected and more.  Now they (along with 4 others on the Jesus Mission Liberia team) will chart out our next steps to serve the people here and plant churches.

I promise I will post pictures as soon as I can find a broadband internet connection.  Liberia still lives in a dial-up speed world!

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If you have been reading about our trip here you might think I’m the leader of our three-man team here in Liberia. You would be wrong. I might be the spokesperson. David Vineyard is the leader.

David has been on our staff at Suncrest for 8 years and is a huge asset to our leadership.  He thrives when he is connecting people and coordinating projects and is responsible for an enormous amount of ministries at our church. When it came to this trip, he has made it happen every step of the way. He makes all of the arrangements with our Liberian contacts. He makes sure we get all of our questions asked. He keeps us out of trouble. He engages Liberians about economic development and agricultural development with ease. He makes sure we are all set for the next day. He has been on the phone here in Liberia as much as he is at the office!

Best of all, he is a servant-leader. He tries to avoid the spotlight and make things happen behind the scenes. He is never concerned with accolades (which will make him uncomfortable reading this) and is laser-focused on the Jesus Mission in Liberia. He has committed to take future trips back to Liberia to monitor our progress and encourage the leaders here.

You don’t spend 10 days with someone in these conditions and not get to know them a lot better. I got everything I expected. More of the David I already knew. Integrity. Hard Work. Inquisitive. Ultra-coordinator. And more hilarious one-liners than I could ever imagine!

I’m grateful to him…as I know we all are.

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I guess you can’t travel half way around the globe into a third world country for 10 days and not have unique experiences. Here are some of our fun ones so far.

1. David, Gordon, and I have all got to drive here part of the time. Maybe it’s a guy thing, but we all thought it was super cool to drive in a country that is totally different from ours. (Side note: I did stop the car while I was driving today when I saw a United Nations check point ahead. Then it was time to let Danny drive.)

2. Yesterday, Gordon and I were walking along the main road here when a Presidential Motorcade was coming by…so I got out my camera. Seems a natural thing to do, right? Apparently not here. One policeman wagged his finger at me and then another police car pulled off the road to talk to us. He was nice enough…but was very clear no pictures were allowed.

3. I’ve written about the roads, but David told me tonight just how much ground we have covered on our trip — about 800 miles! Much of it at 20 miles per hour. BTW, David is our human calculator and bank. He is always figuring out the exchange rate, our gas mileage, how to get a better deal, and everything else.

4. We got stopped at an immigration checkpoint today (there are lots of checkpoints!) and for a few minutes they took the three of our passports into their office. In the end, they just asked some questions about our visit and let us continue on our way.

5. No hot water all week. You get used to it. But yesterday, it turned into no running water. The whole city is out of commission (no one knows why). So now…they have brought water into the house from area wells. We have two 5 gallon jugs in our bathroom for all of our needs.

6. We were having dinner one night on the Buegar’s porch. It is enclosed and connected to the living room. Then…a live chicken (they roam many places) walked through the living room, and joined us on the porch (the kids caught it and took it back to their neighbor’s).

7. A Satellite dish on a bamboo pole on top of a grass hut.

8. People transported in every way. Packed in vans and taxies. Riding on top of commercial trucks. Have seen them in the trunks of cars and on top of SUV’s. Motorcycle taxies are everywhere. Today one was taking a mom, her toddler, and her infant (along with her bag of supplies) down the highway.

9. Today, we traveled from the southern border (here in Monrovia) to the northern border of the country. On the way back, our rented vehicle started leaking gas and we had to fill up twice at one of the roadside “gas stations” that sells gas out of jars!

10. The most unique…when we got back in our vehicle tonight in Monrovia, the battery was dead (yes, it’s the last time we are using that vehicle). We were near a filling station and went looking for a set of jumper cables. A guy said he could help, but didn’t have jumper cables. What happened next I witnessed this with my own eyes and have on video. He carried out a new battery, used NO wrenches and hooked it up to our car and held both terminals with his hands. He asked Gordon to start the car while he was holding the terminals. Gordon started it right up and with the car running he moved the terminals back from the new battery to our old one, hand tightened them and put down our hood. We were on our way.

Two more days. These are unique experiences, but not our important ones. I’ll begin telling those soon.

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