C-mail: Germination

Howdy All!

Well, I know I'm late with the update, but I've got a good excuse: I'm getting married! Which brings me to my first point....

1. I'm getting married!! You might have noticed the status change on Facebook, but just to confirm, yes I am getting married to a wonderful young woman named Zulay (pronounced sue-lie). Zulay is originally from Colombia and has lived in Venezuela for the past six years.  We first met when . . . actually, it's better if you read our stories on our wedding site.  You can read about how we met, find details about the wedding, see a few photos and learn how you can bless us if you feel so led.  The wedding will be held here in Venezuela on December 10th.  Lord willing we can procure a visa for Zulay to visit the states for late 2012 so you can have a chance to meet her. 

2. A quick update on the hillside.  Reconstruction has thankfully been going well.  Our main road has been rebuilt and is holding up like a charm.  Retention walls are being constructed and life in general is back to normal.  There has not been any more settling of the hillside even with recent heavy rains.  Thank God for his protection!  Some of the families around the country that lost their homes have now received new apartments or houses. However many families continue waiting.  Please pray for a quick and efficient end to the massive construction of new residences destined for occupation by those still holed up in refugee shelters.

3. This June we hosted the first ever, Spanish speaking InnerCHANGE apprenticeship orientation.  That's a mouthful and what it means is a big step for InnerCHANGE as we begin to see more Latins and international ministers join our ranks.  We officially inducted our three team members, Arturo, Lay Yen, and Noretys as part of InnerCHANGE.  Also present were two guests from Guatemala City who serve as principle leaders in a wonderful ministry in the barrio of La Limonada.  A beautiful recent documentary called Reparando (Repairing) showcases their ministry as well as the difficulties facing the people of Guatemala.  Overall, the event was a blessing to all participants and hosts. Our team was glad to be able to pioneer the first among many hoped for orientations for future Latin InnerCHANGE missionaries. 

4. At the end of August we hosted a Vacation Bible School focused on the theme of the parable of the sower.  At the beginning of the week 47 kids showed up and by the end of the week we had to close door after 85 had entered since we weren't sure if the house would structurally support any more weight. We were seriously blessed by wonderful volunteers from the community and two local churches.  We have since continued to meet with the children weekly where we're doing interactive drama based bible studies. 

5. This June I returned to the states for a month to spend some time with my parents and attend a conference.  CRM sponsored a workshop led by David Watson on Church Planting Movements.  I explain a bit about what Church Planting Movements are below.  Our team has just started seriously working towards one of these movements and suffice it to say I'm excited and encouraged by what we have seen so far.  None the less, the needs are great and the workers are few. Jesus instructed His disciples to pray for more workers.  If you would like to be a regular intercessor for Caracas and Venezuela, please email me and I'll put you on a regular prayer update. 

That's going to be it for this time.  I miss you all and I would love to hear from you.   If you would like to financially support InnerCHANGE's ministry in Caracas, you can do so here.  If you'd like to pray, write me back and I'll get you praying!  If you'd like a hug, ask a nearby friend or family member. Thank you for your prayers and gifts even amidst difficult times. May God abundantly supply all of your needs. Until next time, stay strong, seek the Lord and

Press on for Joy!
Cameron




It was a miracle he was alive. The only direct evidence of the trauma was a silver dollar sized bald spot in the middle of the back of his head where the bullet had entered. The indirect evidence was the wheelchair, a left arm that could feel but not move, and a similar prognosis of the left foot. Three of us were visiting him today: Carlos, Zulema and myself. 

Carlos and Zulema are a middle aged couple from the community of San Pablito.  Our team met them last March when we did a Bible study in their home.  They invited us back and we've been studying the Bible with them for the past six months.  

However, today we're in the house of Señor Martin.  In early July he was doing some work on top of his house when a stray bullet nailed him square in the back of the head.  His brother-in-law was close by and was able to get him into a car to take him to the closest hospital.  The closest hospital didn't want to attend to him since all the doctors were on strike.  Thankfully, the next closest hospital did attend to him where they managed to save his life.  Even so, the doctors were sure he would never walk again. Now six weeks later, he's back home recuperating.  We're able to read the story of Jesus healing the paralytic brought to Him by his friends.  He likes the story and Carlos points out the miracle sitting right in front of us, and encourages Martin to starting reading the Bible.  Martin seems open and receives a prayer for continued healing and restoration of his arm and leg. The next week when we return he tells us that he has started walking a little in therapy and has had some movement in his left arm.

This June, I had the blessing of being able to attend a workshop run by David Watson explaining the basics of CPM's: Church Planting Movements. I guess the best way to explain the methodology is by telling a bit about how David started a movement.

David was the star church planter for the IMB (International Mission Board) of the Southern Baptists.  He planted churches in the states and all over Asia until one day the board sent him to plant churches among the bhojpuri people of India.  The bhojpuri had been very resistant to the gospel and that region in India had earned the nickname of "the graveyard of missionaries." He began discipling six men in church planting and at the end of 18 months the six had been martyred.  David was destroyed and due to various factors had to leave India. He wanted to give up missions, however God kept calling him back.  Like a good Baptist, David told God that he would only go back if God showed him the how of planting churches directly from the Bible.  Like the good God that He is, He was faithful to do so. After intensive study and preparation based on Matthew 28 and Luke 10, David soon returned to India and began to work anew among the bhojpuri people.  

The vision was simple: reach all the bhojpuri with the gospel. Anything less wouldn't be acceptable.  After two years of work, there were eight churches. The year after there were 48. The year after 148, then 327, then 526, then 1026, and so on. Now, more than fifteen years later, there are approximately 4 million bhojpuri baptisted believers meeting in well over 40,000 churches and the growth doesn't seem to be slowing. 

What exactly is a CPM? A Church Planting Movement according to one author is "a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment." The central idea is that of indigenous churches planting churches. That means that the missionary isn't planting churches, but rather groups of baptized believers creating more groups of baptized believers. The growth is exponential because every group is multiplying itself among those that are open to the message.

There are a number of key elements necessary in order to see movements like this take off, and I want to highlight just a few of them:

Person of Peace: When Jesus sent out his disciples ahead of Him during His ministry He gave them very clear instructions.  Two of these are rather odd.  The first is that they were not to greet anyone along the road.  The second was that they were to find a person of peace (son of peace or a worthy person depending on your translation) and they were to stay with that person and not move around from house to house. It seems like Jesus had the idea that the message was not meant to be shared with just anyone, nor were the disciples to participate in public evangelism except as an act of protest.  Rather, they were to focus on the person in the town that God had already prepared ahead of time.  This person of peace is the person that opens their house to the disciples in order for them to receive the good news of the Kingdom.

In practice today, this implies that before anything else, the first step is to pray and look for a person of peace. After finding them, it means focusing on them and their household.  They are the key to starting the process and once the process has begun, it means a commitment to that person and their household.

Jeff is a person of peace.  I had met him a few times, and I got the feeling that he might be open to starting a bible study.  I saw him one day in Zulay's church and we got to talking.  He had just recently truly converted and was very open to the prospect of studying the Bible.  I met with him on a Thursday one-on-one.  The next time we met, he brought four friends.  That following Sunday he brought two different friends to his church.  He's started reaching out in his network of friends (his household) which has opened up many more people to God than I could ever hope to reach individually. 

Obedience:  As Jesus left this world, he gave a few final instructions to His disciples.  One of those was to go making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything that He had commanded them, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For most of my life, I figured what Jesus meant here was to go and teach; that's all I had ever seen modeled in my Christian walk.  However, that is not what He said.  He told is disciples to go making disciples, teaching them to observe all of His commandments.  Teaching is simply information transfer.  Teaching to obey is something radically different. 

When I started discipling Jeff, we started with Genesis 1.  After understanding what it said, we asked ourselves the question, "What can we do to live in accordance with this passage?" Jeff, after some very general statements, suggested that we not throw trash on the street, in fact we should pick it up off the ground if we see it.  Sounds like a plan. Right then and there we started walking around and picking up bits of trash as we went.  The next time we met up, Jeff, without any coaxing on my part, went around picking up bags and other bits of rubbish as we walked.  His friends noticed and started doing the same. 

Chains of Discipleship:  During the conference David made a repeated point: A disciple makes more disciples, otherwise, they aren't a disciple. According to that definition, I have spent very little of my Christian life being a disciple. None the less, the point is valid. The chain starts with the Father. Jesus obeyed the Father, and He commanded His disciples to obey Him (Jesus). Paul lived a life imitating Jesus, and asked the Corinthian church to imitate him. During the Bible studies we ask the question: "Who needs to hear this story?" This has led us to three previously non-visited, yet open households in the community of San Pablito.

Discovery Process: The Bible studies in these movements are simple and easily reproducible. The person of peace or the leader in a household is asked to start leading the Bible study after two or three weeks. You might wonder how do you avoid heresy or takeover from someone that's a bit off theologically. One of the fundamental elements of the study is the importance of group discovery. As the group learns, they tend to self correct and see the passage for what it really says. Additionally, one simple question asked at the right time keeps everything on track. While reading Genesis 1 with Jeff, when we got to the part where God gave plants and trees to humans, he protested. "This is what all my rastafari friends use to justify smoking weed. They say that God gave them all the herbs for them to use." I asked him if that was what the passage actually said. He returned to the passage and found that God gave all the seed bearing plants and fruit producing trees for use as food. That's an important part of the story and Jeff was the one to discover it. He won't soon forget it because he himself found it in the passage.

The neat thing about a group discovery process is that the group can learn elements within the story that a single person would otherwise miss.  One great example is from our friend Carlos.  While studying the story of Abram, he asked a very simple question.  "So why did Abram take his nephew with him when God told him to leave his family and his father's house behind?"  Excellent question Carlos.  It would seem that most of Abram's problems came as a result of bringing Lot with him. I, a college educated professional missionary, had never seen that before, but Carlos, an uneducated country boy that moved to the big city at nine years old who has a hard time reading, caught it.

While these are just a few of the key elements necessary to see churches take off and multiply, there is sadly one element which greatly impedes, if not kills the process: the established church. I've heard this from missionaries all over the globe and here I'm just now beginning to see why as well.

In Venezuela, there is the typical religious guilt that applies to all things related to God. Aka, to be good with God means going to something on Sunday morning. That applies even more so among those that have rotated through the evangelical world. Yet even beyond that, in this culture, there is a felt need for a priest. In the Catholic end of things, it takes the form of the father. In the Pentecostal, it takes the form of the pastor. In the animistic, it takes the form of the witch or witch doctor. In Santeria, it takes the form of the babalawo. In all these cases, there is the one person with spiritual and organizational authority running the show. By being in good with this person, you can be sure they will put a good word in for you with God. Of course I generalize, but the mentality is subtly present. Thus the organic nature of these church planting movements doesn't really provide the formal nature of a catholic or even pentecostal type of structure.

Thus it seems like these types of movements take off like wild fire in unreached people groups that have a marginal or nonexistent Christian presence, but not so much in people groups that already have some sort of cultural Christianity. The outcome in Caracas is yet to be determined. Are these groups that we're starting only going to become a reinforcement for the existing church, or will it develop to occupy a different space in the culture? My guess is that we will begin to see both develop as things progress. In the case of Jeff, his friends are starting to attend to Zulay's youth group. In the case of Carlos, he gets drug along to church with his wife, but he prefers meeting in his or a nearby house.

One interesting constituent which might become the deciding factor are the "apartados" or the separated ones. Evangelicals use this word for those that at one point were part of a church but later drifted away. I believe that these "lost ones" represent a significant chunk of the population. Many people in Caracas that have stopped attending church; not because they're through with God, but rather because they've been burned by the church. A leader that fell into sin, continued insistence on giving to an already rich pastor, internal fighting, incessant gossip, spiritual abuse, and hypocrisy mixed with legalism are elements that drive people away from established congregations. When talking to "apartados" I get the feeling that they still want to be with God, but due to serious wounding, they simply can't or won't bring themselves to return to the church.

One example is Jenifer. She lives just behind and above the house of Carlos and Zulema. Jenifer has been involved in just about every group you can imagine. She first dabbled with the Jehovah's Witnesses. Then she was a long skirt wearing, head covering, make-up shunning pentecostal. Then she got involved with the G12 (think Shepherding Movement mixed with multilevel marketing Latin style) and even lead two groups of 12. She's also left all of these groups. So when one day she came into Carlos and Zulema's house while we were there, she decided to join in on the study.  She seemed to like it even though she was a bit perplexed as to why we weren't preaching, but instead simply reading the passage and trying to understand it.  A couple weeks later she invited us all to her house and we got to meet her husband.  Zulema led the study and Jenifer's husband, who isn't Christian, seemed to be impacted by it, but hasn't come to any more. Soon after that, he was tragically involved in a major traffic accident and has just returned home after spending a couple of months in the hospital. He received a major hit to the head, not to mention two broken legs, and it's unclear as to what point he will recover. Jenifer has completely isolated herself in the tragedy, yet we are praying for them both.

More than anything, the idea is simply to bring people into contact with the word such that they might hear from The Word and fall in love with Him as He reaches out to them. In the beginning studies with Carlos and Zulema, while we were part way through the story of Noah, Carlos blurted in: "Noah got drunk, didn't he." I smiled and told him "Yes he did, and you've been reading ahead!" He confirmed that he had.  He said that many nights he would wait up until twelve at night when everyone else had gone to bed so that he could have some time alone to read the Bible. He's falling in love with this God of creation, of floods and of Abraham, and soon we'll be reading about this God that took on flesh and lived among us and even gave His life, yet God raised Him up.

This has encouraged me to keep praying for more workers. This is a process with a slow start but the exponential nature creates rapid growth with time. Even so numbers aren't important. What is important is the people receive God's love through His grace, and that they respond to Him in love as well. We're just now starting to see the first few seeds of this love germinate. I know better than to kid myself into thinking that all seeds make mature plants. But in the right soil, so I've been told, they'll multiply themselves quite well. Until the harvest,

Press on for Joy!
Cameron