.Real.Greg.Lee.

Along with a lot of other people and groups at Suncrest, our community group is fasting together today.  Most of us are going to do 12 hours., but whether is one meal or multiple days, the spirit of fasting is the same:

I’m asking God to help me remember my dependence on him.  I’m asking that he pain of being hungry remind me how much God does provide.  And I’m asking him to provide for our church as we try to follow where we sense he is leading us.

We have months ahead of us to fast and pray as we prepare to launch campuses, but there is no doubt that the most immediate next step is this Sunday.  Our church will come together to make financial commitments to The Jesus Mission.

All I am asking God is what I’ve asked our church family:  That each person who calls Suncrest home would simply ask God about what their commitment should be and then trust Him enough to follow what they are led to.  I hope that it will take some level of faith to make the commitment we are making. 

And I pray God uses all of them to change lives in Highland, South Bend, and Liberia.  I love doing this together as a church!!

Click here to download a guide we put together for fasting:  Jesus Mission Fasting

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I was wiped out at the end of our services today, but also thrilled.  Felt like it was the right day to focus in on the work of the Holy Spirit.  Great conversations afterward.  Great worship in response to God’s Word too.

Out of all of it, though I have to say I was moved as much by the crew that came over from South bend as anything.  I knew they were coming and I still could hardly believe how many of them there were when they got up on the stage.

I had someone leave this comment on my Facebook page: It was a great service- I was overwhelmed (and excited) to see all of the South Bend members on the stage- God is working on something BIG!!!!!!

I couldn’t agree more!

Andy Kaser is a quality leader and a man seeking after God and trusting the Holy Spirit.  I was thrilled for him today as much as anything…to get to share all the relationships he has building toward something in South Bend with our two existing campuses.

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Shortly after I got back from MY trip to Liberia last year, I wrote a blog post I titled “An Unanswerable Question”.  You can read it by clicking here.  The simple concept…Everyone was asking “How was Africa?” and I found it impossible to describe.  I know a lot of our team that went this year is feeling the same way.

Still, the story needs to be told.  So the team is going to take their best shot at answering this question next Sunday afternoon.  They will have pictures and stories and video.  They will give you the best window they can to look into the Liberian experience…the struggles, the joys, the potential, the children, and the beauty of their people.

Make sure you come to see and hear…

Sunday, March 14

4:00pm

At the St. John Campus

Posted in Suncrest

My day on Wednesday started with conversations about the LIBERIA, AFRICA.  I guess that’s what happens when you wake up next to one of the trip’s team members!  It only ramped up as I walked through Suncrest and saw Denise Tribble and Beth Bevan.  Beth’s mantra has become “I have seen…now I am responsible.” 

Later in the morning, Jared poked his head in my office to celebrate.  After the first Sunday of talking about it, he already has 70 people interested in being part of his launch team for the HIGHLAND campus.  Wow.

In the Afternoon, I met with Doug Gamble in HOBART.  Too early to say anything substantial, but it looks like there might be a neat opportunity for this campus there.  It’s always fun to dream.  It’s wild to see the momentum in that campus.  Many of the original launch team have migrated back to the St. John Campus, but their attendance there was 195 on Sunday.

In the Evening, I went over to SOUTH BEND.  I got to have dinner with Andy and Rachel Kaser and 4 friends that we think will be part of his launch team.  Then, we went over to talk with the leaders of North Liberty Church of Christ, just outside of South Bend.  This Church has shaped Andy’s life from the beginning and they have an incredible impact on their community.  It was cool to hear them talk about how they want to be partners in this project.

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Our Liberia Team got back on Monday Afternoon and FaceBook is buzzing with their experiences (and photos).  I’ll let them tell their own stories, but I did get some pictures for you here.  You can click on any of these pictures for a larger photo.

I totally remember all the babies being carried like this!

Kids crammed in for VBS…The leaders were doing something right.  These guys are paying attention!

Angela and a new friend.  Everyone says Angela was a champ!

Diane on the Drums…you should see the video jenny took of this.

Most all of the boys are happy to pose.  Then they want to look at your camera to see themselves.

Our Partners in Liberia…The Buegar Family…

Danny & Bea; Danny Jr., Linnell, Keziah, and Dwayne

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You’ve had them.  Those “Aha” moments when you realize a new insight or understanding and it changes your whole approach to an area of life.  It might be super-simple or ultra profound.  It doesn’t really matter.  It just really helped you when you needed it…and likely would help others too.

That’s the concept behind an online conference happening tomorrow…and it is FREE.  It’s put on by the best resource I have found in the ministry/leadership world — Leadership Network.  In this conference, they have gathered 40 “Fresh voices” from ministry circles around the country and each submitted a talk that was 6 minutes or less of our “Aha” moment. 

Full Disclosure…I’m one of the talks.  My Aha moments was a pretty simple one that happened about 9 months ago.  I’ll let you listen to it yourself, along with 39 others that will be even more powerful.

As of Monday morning, they told me they have a little over 3,500 people who have pre-registered for the conference, which has already exceeded their expectations! It is shaping up to be a really exciting time.  It starts at 11am Central time.  Click here for details and to register.  YES…It’s free, but you need to register!

Posted in Suncrest

We talk about our mission around Suncrest…A LOT.  God wants each of us to be: Used by God to Change Lives.

Sometimes that’s dramatic.  That’s very cool.

Sometimes that’s very simple.  And that’s cool too.

Last week, we had a lady in our church contact my wife and basically say she wanted to throw a party for the families of those “left behind” while our spouses are in Africa.  It also happens that she and her husband have the Dino-Jump Inflatables business in St. John.  

So last night…they brought the Dino Jump to the church, our kids jumped their hearts out, and it was great for us as spouses to hang out and talk about our experiences at home and what we have heard from Africa.

The Hausier’s were thoughtful and finding their own way to be used by God to encourage others.  So generous.  Such a simple way to carry out our mission.  I love it!

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I’m getting a few text message updates form Liberia.  That’s it.  (The picture is from last year’s trip).  I wish it was more and I’m more addicted to that text notification on my phone than usual.  Anything that happens with our team is personal to me, but it is accelerated another level because Jenny is there.

So far…here is what I’ve been able to discern:

-They essentially had a two day delay in arriving (read those stories in previous posts), but when they landed they were not missing a single bag.  (I can’t even get that done flying around here!).

-They got to ELWA (essentially an old retreat center where the team is staying/sleeping).  But ELWA was without electricity.  Very common in Liberia.  They expected it to be solved within a day.  That just means no AC from their window units (It’s 91 degrees there today) and showers in the dark.  They also had one of their 3 vehicles breakdown, but none of those details apparently mattered in comparison to the incredible welcome service the Liberians put on for them.  With all the struggles they have faced, Jenny said, “All worth it after the welcome tonight!”

-The shortened schedule means things are more intense.  The first sessions of their leadership development training went very well (46 leaders from 7 churches across Liberia came for this!) and they did Vacation Bible School with hundreds of kids in a make-shift setting.  The Water System work is challenging because of some communication mix-ups, but the result is always the same…more people with disease-free water available to them…gotta love that.

-I mentioned in one service Sunday a team member essentially invented a “Solar refrigerator” and is installing it on this trip.  Our Missionary in Liberia has diabetes and the unreliable electricity has made it a huge struggle to keep him healthy because the insulin we supply has to stay cool to be useful.  It just reminds me how basic stuff here is a big deal there.  //Update:  Just learned that Scott and Jeff successfully installed this today!

-Thanks for all of you who contributed things to go in the container last Summer.  They are being used today for the good of the Liberian people on the other side of the world.

Stop and pray for the team and the Liberian people when you have a chance.  They are 6 hours ahead of us if you want to envision/pray for what they are doing.  Mornings and afternoons there is Leadership Development.  Afternoons are VBS.  Meals are a chance to interact with Liberians.  Water System install is happening constantly.  Evenings are prep for the next day and some time for the team to reflect on their experience together.

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A heads up…the post today is just me thinking out loud:

I’m a pragmatic guy.  Make it practical and I’ll listen.  Add value and I’m in.  Help me see how it will actually work and you have my attention.  Thoughtfully challenge my thinking and I can’t wait to talk about it, learn something, and figure out how to leverage this new understanding.

Please don’t waste my time with fanciful visions and ideas that aren’t reasonable to implement.  You lose credibility fast with me if you didn’t put some effort into prudence…thinking something through yourself before you ask me to embrace it.  Not every detail has to be in place (in fact…I don’t really even like details), but it does have to be reasonable.  Lots of times, I think people in church use faith as an excuse not to think.  It’s not a good excuse.

That’s me.  That’s my world.  No one who knows me well is surprised by any of that, even though they might be frustrated by it (sometimes with good reason)! 

Which creates an interesting place in my world for the Holy Spirit and dreaming about anything significant.  I still have a streak in me that is a sucker for imagination…especially wondering what God could do through us when we do our part.  Being a pragmatist doesn’t mean we have to think small.  In fact, to me the most beautiful things in the world are when we see things coming together that are accomplished with both wisdom and faith as essential ingredients.

A couple things that have me thinking about this.

Take last Sunday night.  We had our first meeting for the Highland Campus Leadership Team.  It was a surreal experience for me because I know that meeting will be the “genesis” of lives changed in the future.  I know that 18 months from now I’ll shake someone’s hand who found faith because of what began Sunday night with 8 of us crammed in my office listening to Jared Mehrle describe the plans coming together. 

Take today.  14 people from Suncrest will land in Liberia at about 9am our time.  Lots of planning and preparation go into sending a a team like this to the other side of planet earth, where some of life’s basics are in short supply.  There have been a couple travel hiccups already, but ultimately I can’t wait to see how God is going to re-shape hearts through this.

Tackling big things for God takes both faith and wisdom.  And they aren’t in conflict (or even tension) with each other…they actually reveal the beauty of God when they are in sync with each other.  At least that’s how this pragmatic pastor sees it…

Posted in Suncrest

Our Liberia Team had a change of plans in London last night.  It may just give you a picture of the challenges in Liberia.  A flight got delayed meaning they would be late to Brussels, Belgium.  The flight from Brussels to Monrovia Liberia is the only flight we know of out of Europe to Liberia (there are none directly from the USA).  Unfortunately, the flight only goes every 3 days or so.  So if you miss it…you get the picture.

That means our team didn’t even go to Brussels.  They are now re-booked on a flight from London tomorrow evening that will go to Nairobi Kenya and then another flight to from there to Liberia.  This is the same route we took last year and means it takes 2 days to travel instead of one – the reason we booked the Brussels flight in the first place.  (I never realized how big Africa was until I found out last year that our flight from Kenya to Liberia was LONGER than either the Chicago to London or the London to Kenya flights!)

The Good?  Our team gets an unexpected tourist day in London before they fly out tomorrow.  And it just reminds us that our plans are nothing more than that…our plans. 

The Challenge?  Since the whole point of the trip is to serve the Liberian people, they will just have less time to do that.  Once the team is on the ground, their efforts will be even more intense than originally planned…and that was already pretty intense. 

From the Liberian perspective, the most important part of the trip is the Leadership Development we are doing.  So they are adjusting the schedule to still do every session, but do it over 2 days instead of 4. 

Since they will need the church property for leadership development, the team is going to move the VBS into the community, possibly utilizing a soccer field.  Who knows…maybe it will be even better there?

The Water Systems…Denise Tribble has been calling London and Liberia this afternoon coordinating this one!  I’m confident it will come together one way or another.

This much I know…there are 14 people from Suncrest, 3 from Harvest Fellowship in Muncie and one of East 91st Street Christian Church who have prepared for this for a year.  They will make adjustments, serve the people, and ultimately trust God for the outcomes.

Makes me wish I was there with them!

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