harrismith's bravest

Last week, when we had the fire, I called the Fire Brigade in our town. It took me a while to track down the phone number, as the one listed in the phone book was no longer in service. I called the local police station to get the number, and was left on hold while they tried to locate it. I finally got the right number and got through to someone -- but they didn't speak English. At all. Thankfully, a neighboring farmer who speaks fluent Sesotho was here to help, and he got on the phone. He talked to them for about 10 minutes because he had to provide them detailed directions on how to find us. I was really missing our trusty "911" service in America where they not only speak English, but automatically know where you are calling from.

When the Fire Brigade finally arrived, we began pulling our guys off the roof. We figured the firemen would rush right up there, and our guys would only be in the way. Boy, were we wrong! The firemen saw the ladder we had set up, which all our people were using to go up and down, and cringed. They were afraid of heights!

Very slowly, three of them made it up the ladder to the first (lowest) portion of the roof. Then they were faced with the dilemma of getting the hose up there. They were too scared to carry it up with them, so our guys ended up getting it and dragging it all the way up.

Still, the firemen wouldn't budge. The three of them sat in a row on the peak of the low portion of roof, holding onto each other's shoulders. They refused to go up any further or actually do anything to fight the fire. Thankfully, our guys were far braver -- they took that hose all the way up to the highest point where the fire was, and fought it till it went out. Literally, the firemen just sat there and watched.

After we had the fire completely extinguished, the firemen very cautiously shimmied down the roof to the ladder, where they proceeded to, very slowly and carefully, climb down. Pausing on each rung and literally trembling with fear, they took an extremely long time to get all the way down. As they were loading their equipment back onto their truck, the fire chief approached Niel. "We'll be sending you a bill for our services," he told him. Niel just laughed and told them that we'd definitely be disputing it when we got it, seeing as they did nothing at all to fight the fire.

The incompetency and cowardice of these firemen was unbelievable. They are, sadly, nothing like "New York's Bravest"... Good thing our trust was in God and not in them!

beauty for ashes

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper." This verse holds hope. Promise. It also holds an undeniable fact. If weapons formed against me shall not prosper, it means there will be weapons formed against me. Saturday night, the roof of our dining hall caught on fire. Somehow, sparks from the fire in the fireplace made it all the way up the chimney and set the thatch roof ablaze. After six hours of prayer, hard work, and brave efforts, the fire was completely out.

While the entire building suffered extensive damage, things could've been much worse. We were experiencing strong winds up until just minutes before the fire broke out. Had they not suddenly stopped, the fire would have spread much quicker (and affected other buildings). The temperature was only 40 degrees, and we were soaked from all our efforts to douse the fire with water. Although we were all exhausted and freezing, no one was seriously hurt.

We had a mission team with us from a Spirit-filled church in Michigan. We were so strengthened by their prayers and faith, and their eagerness to jump in and help however they could. Our staff and interns were also all involved; everyone really pulled together as a team. It was a blessing to see unity at work.

While facing the possibility of losing the entire building, Niel and I felt our resolve strengthening. The enemy could take our "stuff", but he could not take our vision. We were determined that we'd find a way to continue reaching people and raising leaders, with or without a dining hall. We knew that there was more at stake than just a building. The enemy's aim was to discourage us, to distract us from the vision, to cause us to lose heart. He did not win.

We are now faced with the challenge of figuring out how to feed our interns and host mission teams without our industrial kitchen and eating hall. We are faced with the uncertainty of how to rebuild and where the money will come from. It's hard. But the decision to not give up isn't.

We will move forward. We will continue doing what we've always done. We will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and on the vision He's given us. We will not give up. We will not slow down. We will not wallow in our losses.

Yes, a weapon was formed against us. But it did not prosper.

times they are a-changin'

It was 1993. I was on my first mission trip -- one month in Managua, Nicaragua. I quickly made a dear friend in Andrew Parker. He was quirky. Eccentric. Funny. And passionate about the Lord. Andrew wore his watch upside down, which perplexed me. When I asked him about it, he said, "It's easy to read it this way. Try it for a day!" So I did.

And I kept it that way for 14 years.

Yep, for 14 years I wore my watch upside down. I, too, was often met with confused looks and puzzling questions of, "Why?" And although I'd recant this story as my explanation, I can't say that I inspired anyone else to ever do the same.

For the first time since I was 14 years old, I am wearing my watch "normal". Right-side up. The way they were intended to be worn.

I lost my watch last year and finally got a new one when I was in the States. Since it has no numbers on it whatsoever, it just seemed like it would be best to wear it in the conventional manner. And so I have.. But it's almost like the sad end of an era. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it...

fuel for passion

The tragedy at Virginia Tech has loomed over our week, even here in Africa. Yet I saw a glimmer of hope this morning. This is certainly the best thing I've read/heard all week on the subject:

I AM PO’d

The Virginia Tech thing has me FLOORED! ...It didn’t take long for political “experts” from both sides to jump all over this tragedy and try to use it for their gain. The gun control people are screaming…the anti gun control people are screaming back…finger pointing is going on all over the place…it’s a mess and people are trying to figure out what in the heck happened.

I have a theory…it’s a simple one…but I believe it is true. This is WHAT happens when people do not know Jesus! Maybe the problem isn’t political or social at all…maybe this is exactly what happens when sin manifests itself inside a person and expresses itself through the most horrid act of violence one could ever imagine.

I have seen in society AND Scripture that the potential for evil inside a human being is pretty much limitless…and what happened at Virginia Tech proves my point.

What does do to me personally? Well…it didn’t make me want to jump on the gun control bandwagon. It didn’t make me want to try to make our society a safer place. NO–it STOKED MY FIRE for evangelism, this tragedy screams a fact that Scripture has been screaming for centuries–PEOPLE NEED JESUS!!!

It makes me mad…AND it convicts me…when I look at the church and then this tragedy. I believe we live in a fallen world–sin happens, and when it does it is always gross. HOWEVER, I believe less and less of these things will take place in the future IF the church will freakin’ wake up and begin to do what we were commissioned to do in the first place–take Jesus to the world!!!

I am through fighting!!! THROUGH! I will not engage in the emergent vs. emerging debate any longer. I will not entertain the traditional versus contemporary…nor will I involve myself in the missional verses attractional debate. I can’t–PEOPLE ARE DYING AND GOING TO HELL ALL AROUND US…and to engage in meaningless arguments that are NOT going to matter this side of eternity–OR the other side, well, that is playing right into the hands of satan. If we are passionate about anything other than Christ and reaching people for him…he is not threatened.

NewSpring…we are called to reach people for Christ!!! We will ALWAYS be a church where you know you can bring your friends and family members who do not know Christ…and they WILL hear the Gospel in a way they can understand. We are going to do church the way God has called us to do church…and people who do not like it can scream all they want…and we will keep ignoring them and reaching people for Christ!!! We will no longer cater to the naysayers and the critics–there is WAY too much at stake.

We WILL preach Jesus…we will honor His word…we will worship with passion…we will do church in an excellent and creative manner…and I am praying that one day God will allow us to see over 3,000 people saved in one day…just like in Acts 2!!!

People need Jesus!!! PEOPLE NEED JESUS! If the church does not get serious about reaching the world for Christ–we are going to see WAY MORE of what happened at Virginia Tech happen all around our country!

Question–who comes to your mind when you read this? Who in your life needs Christ? Pray for them right NOW!!!

...One more thing…God is using our church in ways that I never imagined. On Tuesday morning I received an e-mail from a student who attends NewSpring during the summer…but goes to school at Virginia Tech. After reading it I called him because his story was incredible. He said that the night before the shooting he was watching a NewSpring service on the internet…and when the invitation time came around he received Christ. He said he just knew it was the right thing to do. And so when the shooting happened the next day he told me that he was not in the building where it had taken place–but if he would have been there then he would have been ready!

It’s our COMMISSION to get people READY!

We live in a fallen world–sin IS real and nasty–but we serve a RISEN KING…HE REIGNS…HE IS GOD…and HE HAS CALLED US TO REACH PEOPLE FOR HIM. WOW…while this tragedy has broken my heart and I have grieved–and it has awakened me to what is important…and this church will NOT stop until we IMPACT the entire Southeast…and then the WORLD for Christ!

(from www.perrynoble.com)

you've (probably) got (no) mail

One of my biggest personal challenges in light of my current predicament, is insufficient time to stay in touch with loved ones. My days are long and even more jam-packed than they used to be (something I didn't think was even possible just weeks ago). As a result, I have become much slower at answering emails than I want to be. With growing to-do lists, piles on my desk, and an overflowing email inbox, I'm just not able to get to everything I need to in a day.

Unfortunately, with pressing needs, personal emails are bumped to the back of the list. Not because I want to, but because I need to do the most urgent things first. Sadly, this has put me out of personal touch with friends and family...

I wrote 119 emails today. Most likely, you, my friend, didn't receive one. It's not because I didn't think of you. In fact, you crossed my mind often. I want to write you the reply you deserve, but I can't seem to find the time. Despite my silence, I appreciate your email, your encouragement, your strengthening prayers.

So while you didn't get an email from me today, others did -- putting me one step closer to being able to write you the email I've been wanting to write...