One Life Compassion: Global/Local | The latest One Life news in Local and Global communities

Local/Global: Training Leaders

May 13, 2012 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

At One Life we talk a lot about the Global Leadership Summit as we get closer to the annual event on August 9th and 10th. It is broadcast live from Chicago to sites all over the country. By the end of 2012, their will be GLS events in more than 450 cities, 82 countries and 150,000 leaders will participate. But it’s an incredible opportunity that we get to be a part of it in our own community at the Henderson One Life campus.

As usual, the Willow Creek Association has a assembled a world class faculty for this year’s event including names like Bill Hybels, Condolezza Rice, Jim Collins, John Ortberg, Craig Groeschel, Geoffrey Canada, Patrick Lencioni and the list goes on.

But who should sign up?

1. One Lifer’s need to get signed up. Since our launch on 10/10/10, One Life Church has experienced unprecedented opportunities to influence our local community by bringing people far from God into life changing experiences with Jesus. We also have seen connections in community development that are growing in scope as we serve local neighborhoods. And now from our launch in Henderson, we are repeating this entire journey on the west side of Evansville with an 8/19/2012 launch of One Life West. If we are going to step into the role that is shaping for this movement called One Life, we must raise up leaders. One Lifer’s have to take on the challenge. As a host church we get a special rate to attend and you can find the password and sign up information on the sheet inside the pocket of every seat in our auditorium.

2. Local community leaders need to sign up. Partnering and collaborating with local leaders in the community is the only way we are going to see the prosperity of the city that we pray for at One Life. Government, Education, business and community leaders need to raise their leadership capacity if tomorrow is going to look any different from today. And we take it very seriously at One Life to make sure the GLS on our campus is a mobilization tool in the community and not just a seminar or event. Again this year, we will have a luncheon panel to discuss Engage Henderson and progress and future opportunities to grow in our collaboration efforts. Local leaders can get a special Chamber of Commerce rate by calling the One Life office at 270-212-0374.

3. Global Leaders need to be given the resources to sign up. Several of us at One Life were involved with the launch of the Global Leadership Summit in Myanmar 4 years ago. From 300 leaders that first year to over 1100 leaders in 2011, we found a genuine hunger by pastors and Christian leaders in Myanmar to receive the kind of training that we get through the GLS in the states. In 2012, we are expanding the event to two cities in Myanmar and anticipating 2000 leaders. And while these leaders have very little to give financially, they come from near and far for the opportunity to attend. It cost us about $20 a leader to provide the GLS in Myanmar. There is more information on how to serve these leaders at Uncharted International, you can read our blog about training an under resourced leader here and you can give through any of our One Life offerings or online and smart app giving options.

For us at One Life, the Global Leadership Summit is not just a seminar or an event. It is a mobilization tool for local communities and global cities where God has given us a presence.

Step up, sign up and throw in.

Local: A new Engage partner-Community One

May 11, 2012 in Engage, Henderson East End with 0 Comments

As we do neighborhood development in the East End of Henderson and in Evansville’s Jacobsville neighborhood, we consistently see a need to create collaboration between various resources in the community and the specific needs of the neighbors. Community One is a new organization formed out of Evansville to serve the Tri-State with the following mission:

Community One: Our mission is to create and maintain sustainable, low-income housing in our community by focusing resources on repair, weatherization and rehab projects that restore decent, affordable housing in under-served neighborhoods.

Our good friend and Outreach Pastor from Crossroads Christian Church, Eric Cummings is serving as the Executive Director of Community One. Eric has been extensively involved in the Glenwood Project and brings a diverse background of community development to the leadership of this local team.

The most important contribution that Community One brings to the work of Engage, community volunteers and local churches in Henderson and Evansville is a web based, database of specific projects in neighborhoods that have been identified as needs. Once the projects are identified and posted, coaches will validate the needs and resources and provide leadership to deploy teams to serve.

As stated on the Community One web site:

This website is the project coordination hub of our work. We invite homeowners in genuine need to seek assistance with housing repairs from their neighbors, and we invite community residents and organizations to join volunteer project teams to provide assistance to neighbors with these needs.

Stay tuned for the opportunity to start the process of coach training and posting of local opportunities.

For more information go to Community1.org

Global: Six Life Lessons from a Modern Day Martyr

May 10, 2012 in 10/40 Window with 0 Comments

I’m writing while on a visit to Afghanistan.

This trip unexpectedly became a beautifully painful time of remembering a dear friend. Her name was Cheryl Beckett. She was a servant to the people of Afghanistan. And, she was truly one of the highest quality people I have ever known. She is also a modern day martyr. I think there’s a lot to learn from her life. But, first, a little background for context.

I mentioned in a previous post that a young woman who served over here for several years was killed, along with her entire team, back in August of 2010. It was called at the time, “the worst attack on humanitarian workers in 30 years”. [click here for the original news story]

The young woman was Cheryl.

I met Cheryl in a class at my church. We easily hit it off because I had recently travelled to Afghanistan and was using the class to deepen my understanding of global work. She was there while preparing to go live long-term in Afghanistan. In the years to follow each time we did trips to Kabul, we made it a point to connect with Cheryl. When she was back in the states she would sometimes get to drop by our home in Evansville.

In 2006 my family lived in Kabul for a month. During that time, we were able to hook up with her many times and in various settings. My wife and I came to love her like a daughter and my girls came to love and admire her as the heroic older sister. She always brought a time of fun and refreshing for our family as we were wrestling with the challenge that comes with living in the harsh and intensely cross-cultural world of Afghanistan.

I remember where I was and what I was doing when a friend called to tell me she had been killed.

Between that moment and a memorial service for her I remember experiencing a unique brand of grief. Cheryl was a truly special person we can all learn from. . . which sounds so cliché to say I almost hate to write it. But, I mean it by conviction not obligation to honor someone who has died. Death can create an unrealistic mystique around someone. But, no, in this case, I’m confident that’s not it. . . not at all. I’m confident, because I clearly remember thinking these things about her when she was still alive.

Here’s some things I think we can all learn:

1. Live as Children of Light.

“You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)” Ephesians 5:8-9

A major bible theme is our behavior can make things brighter or darker.

I remember the unique sense of grief I had when she died was tied to knowing somehow the world had just become a little darker, especially in Afghanistan. To that place, with all of its faults, she radiated desperately needed hope and grace. The ache that she was going to be missing from there filled me with a sense of loneliness wrapped up in the fear that darkness had somehow “won”. Her murderers have no concept of what they took away from their own country.

2. Be biblically “spiritual” not fake spiritual.

Cheryl was not “spiritual” in the way that many people (mistakenly) perceive it. The radical, risky and sacrificial nature of her life could lead people to imagine an overly spiritualized, churchy personality. No. She talked like a “normal” person. Her language was not peppered with “amen’s” and “praise the Lord’s” or any other of our typical churchisms, as if she were trying to be something she was not.

Her Christ-like authenticity was demonstrated in what she did and how she carried herself. She was very quick to laugh without being flippant or crass. She was obviously intelligent without being even the slightest bit aloof or proud. She was easy to talk to-–a very active listener. She was outgoing but she didn’t express it by being overbearing or one of those people who talks so much you feel like you’re waiting in line to make a point.

Her maturity in Christ showed up where it should: in how she interacted with people. She had an energizing kind graciousness. And, all of us know we enjoy being around people like that.

3. Remember a real walk with Jesus is marked with beauty and pain…so be real.

While Cheryl loved Afghanistan and the Afghan people, at times, she struggled with her mission. In her writings she sometimes wrote words like “despair”. She was honest. She wasn’t immune to or silent about the struggles of the very difficult service the Lord had called her to.

On the other hand, I never heard the slightest hint of self-pity or complaining…only searching and the wrestling of the soul.

I know what its like to spend simple short stints in Afghanistan and, trust me, it is wearying physically, emotionally and spiritually. The fact that she lived there for 6 years with very few breaks blows me away.

4. Be humble.

Cheryl had intelligence and achievement in her life carried with an endearing humility. I’ve heard true humility described as the willful laying down of one’s position for the sake of others. That’s a great description of how she lived.

She was a class valedictorian and president; an actively recruited honors student. She became a very knowledgeable professional missionary offering expertise in gardening and medicine. She was more than qualified to be on the ill-fated last team of high caliber people who hiked through the Afghan mountains delivering medical help. But, someone asked her what she would do on the team, she answered, “I can make balloon animals.”

One of my favorite moments on my current trip was getting to meet the Afghan Doctor who would have worked with her nearly everyday. He still had a picture of her on his shelf. He brought her up and exclaimed in his very limited English, “I thought her, very high, very high.” Then he said it again. Through an interpreter he went on to describe how he watched her treat all the children in the medical clinic with the same refreshing kindness. He told us, no matter how poor or dirty or diseased any child was, Cheryl would give them her trademark beaming smile and a full love-radiating hug. He said with each child she was with, she would make that child feel like the most important person in the world.

That’s biblical humility.

5. Do something to actively improve the world.

Too often we limit ourselves to avoiding doing bad things. But, we are called to “overcome evil with good”. We are called to be proactive. (See Romans 12:20)

The highlight of my trip was the unplanned and unexpected pleasure of getting to see the garden Cheryl planted. Cheryl’s area of true expertise and love, on the work side, was advanced gardening. The project she worked as her daily job during a significant stint of her time, and the contribution she made to the very poor community she worked in was showing the poor women of the village how to grow things in the desert.

This is one of her beautiful legacies. As we walked up, one of the Doctors giving us the tour said, “you should have seen this place before Cheryl was here. It was bleached dry dirt and rocks.”

Admittedly, what I thought I was going to see was a nice little green house or small room size patch of ground. What I saw was far more. Surrounding a medical clinic building was about a quarter acre of thriving plant life: fruit trees, grape vines overhead, evergreens, vegetables, even roses.

I was genuinely awed. I could see the area around the garden and know what the Doctor was talking about–it was harsh, trampled down and sun-beaten. Then, all you had to do was step through a gate and the contrast swallowed you up, calmed you down and gave its own kind of soul therapy.

I am so thankful for that place. It speaks of a principle in life we all could use more of. What are we doing that is proactively improving things around us? How are we overcoming evil with good? When I think of the horrible evil that killed my friend and I set it next to the beautiful work she did, it’s not hard at all to know what matters, and what is going to win in the end.

6. Remember where the beauty of great people comes from.

I confidently label Cheryl “great”. I’m with the Doctor, unashamedly saying along with him, “I hold her very high, very high.”

But, here’s what I always have to remember–and Cheryl knew it most of all: everything that made her the kind of person she all who knew her came to adore was rooted in her walking, living, breathing relationship with Jesus.

Cheryl loved the Lord. She had received his offer of free grace to guilty sinners. She sought his direction and counsel. She prayed. She worshiped with others. She knew the Bible. She agonized over decisions. She tried to keep her life pure. She repented of sins. In other words, she did the things the Lord calls us to do where He, in turn, makes us to be more like Himself.

I have to remember, whatever good I saw in Cheryl was seeing Jesus work through her. Her intelligence, grace, humor, depth, humility and kindness were who Jesus IS. He’s the ultimate hero of the story who has the humility and grace to allow someone like Cheryl to be a hero with him.

Pastor Bret Nicholson

Note: As we were posting this we just received word that Cheryl’s alma mater, Indiana Wesleyan is naming buildings in her honor. Here is the story: http://bit.ly/IJFqc8

Local: New friends from Joplin

April 25, 2012 in Engage, Local Photos, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Some very special guests came to Henderson to visit our local model school South Heights today. Some of our One Life groups provided dinner this evening and we all enjoyed presentations from South Heights, Engage Henderson and a similar community initiative from Joplin called Bright Futures Joplin. Listening to the stories of rebuilding after tornados destroyed significant portions of school facilities was inspiring and challenged all of us to appreciate our Joplin friends.

One Life was honored by the presence of some amazing educators that serve students with extraordinary results.

Local: Chronic or Crisis, Perspectives on Poverty

April 18, 2012 in Engage with 2 Comments

Chronic or Crisis

From Bob Lupton, FCS Urban Ministries and author of Toxic Charity

A crisis requires emergency intervention;

A chronic problem requires development.

Address a crisis need with a crisis intervention,

And lives are saved.

Address a chronic need with a crisis intervention,

And people are harmed.

Have you noticed that many of the same people return week after week for free food from our food pantries? Ever wondered whether our handouts were really helping or merely perpetuating a dependent lifestyle? Admitting and verbalizing these observations, at the risk of appearing heartless, is the essential first step toward truly effective service.

The key to effective service is accurately matching the need with the appropriate intervention.

The universal need for food is a good place to begin. Starvation is a crisis issue; hunger is a chronic issue. When famine sweeps a land, or a tsunami devastates coastal cities, starvation becomes an urgent, life-and-death situation. Emergency food supplies must be rushed in without delay. But in a stable nation with abundant supplies of food and adequate government food subsidies, occasional hunger – not starvation – is the reality that faces the less advantaged. Food insecurity is a chronic, not crisis, poverty issue.

Food security is what free-food advocates talk about these days. That means access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. The poor in our country, roughly 15% of our population, are food-insecure at least some time during the year. Even though four out of five of these households receive food from the government, there are times when their cupboards are bare.

But food-insecurity is not a crisis issue. It is a function of chronic poverty. Unlike during the great depression of the 1930’s when one in four of our workers stood in bread lines with no government safety net to rescue them, today more than 90% of our workforce is employed and our public subsidies are ample. Hunger is not our problem. Poor nutrition perhaps, but not hunger. Food insecurity is a chronic poverty issue and chronic problems require altogether different strategies from crisis problems.

Starvation is a crisis need; Hunger is a chronic issue.

Address hunger (chronic) with a free feeding program (crisis); And unhealthy dependency occurs.

As our hearts constrain us to intervene on behalf of our needy neighbors, we certainly want our responses to be effective. And to be truly effective we must match the need with the appropriate response. Distributing free food (an emergency response) is seldom an appropriate response to those facing chronic food-insecurity. It may seem compassionate at the moment but in all likelihood it will prove to be more hurtful than helpful.

But isn’t it a crisis when a family does not know where their next meal is coming from? Admittedly, this is a crisis of a sort, the type of crisis that spurs one to action. Hunger is a powerful motivator. It stretches budgets. It drives creativity. It forces choices. It accepts peanut butter sandwiches over McDonald’s big-meals, cool-aide over coke, beans and rice over potato chips and dip. Food insecurity may not be all bad.

Lest we become hard-hearted and err on the judgmental side, however, let’s proactively pursue some helpful responses to chronic hunger. Of course, one of the best antidotes to food insecurity is decent employment. Adequate income provides adequate food. And, as ancient Talmudic wisdom contends, the highest form of charity is to provide a man a job. Employment training and job creation is obviously a major shift from the food pantry paradigm but it is certainly one that should be considered. Another alternative more directly related to food is the food cooperative – a “buying club” model that gives members legitimate access to surplus food through non-profit or church structures. Another is a bartering system that exchanges food (and other commodities) for work performed in the community. Rather than dependency-fostering emergency responses, these and other development strategies strengthen the capacity of people in need to assume greater measure of control and self-sufficiency over their own lives.

Compassion is essential but not sufficient – the mind as well as the heart must be engaged.

The Golden Rule of empowering service:

Never do for others what they have the capacity to do for themselves.

Bob Lupton, April 2012

Global: MyHeart4Myanmar by Nick Morgan

April 13, 2012 in Myanmar with 0 Comments

There are over seven billion people on this planet, seven billion different minds, seven billion different interests, and seven billion different passions. Although we may be divided by a few states, a whole continent, or maybe a whole ocean, there’s one thing every human being has, and that is a heart. Some, have a heart for global exploration. Some may have a heart for saving the Giant Panda, or getting rich quick. My heart is a little different. My heart, is for Myanmar. Ninety percent of people in the US probably have never heard of “Myanmar”, much less have known that it was a country. Why would anyone have a heart for this? Because every child, every mother, every father, every son, daughter, aunt and uncle, should see the beautiful things in life. We have it pretty amazing. The most we worry about when waking up is which shirt to match with which pair of pants. They worry about if they will have a next meal, or if the bugs will be bad that night. They worry about the unknown dangers that constantly surround them, and even if they’ll get a bed that night. That’s unacceptable for any human being to go through, whether in Myanmar, China, Afghanistan, the US, or any corner of the globe. As followers of Christ, we are called to be radical, care for other nations, and passionately help the poor, homeless, and widowed. We need to see change in these kids’ lives, spreading hope for them, their parents and guardians, and every soul there. We need to allow Christ to work through us, be his hands and feet, and show them the unconditional love we have to offer. We aren’t going to accomplish this by worrying about our pants matching our shirt every morning. The one thing we need is compassion. Through Christ we can move mountains, see a difference in Myanmar and every country on this planet. I’m wanting to go there for weeks or even months, knowing that Christ will have a plan for me. The smallest impact on these kids can be miraculous. We can all take part in some shape or form to help this cause, become radical Christians, and do what we are called on this Earth to do. I know my heart is for Myanmar, what’s yours for?

Nick Morgan, Senior, Henderson County High

Kentucky Congressman Ed Whitfield visits South Heights and hears Engage Story

April 10, 2012 in Engage, Henderson East End, Local Photos with 0 Comments

Congressman Whitfield came to see and meet the faculty and students behind South Heights Elementary’s blue ribbon success. The kids formed a “press corp” and ask questions, the Congressman gave Rob Carroll a flag from Washington and we all sat down to discuss Engage Henderson.

Local: South Heights Vision Day-3/28/2012

March 28, 2012 in Engage, Henderson East End, Local Photos with 0 Comments

Local: Engage Henderson- Working on South Heights Campus

March 24, 2012 in Engage, Henderson East End, Local Photos with 3 Comments

Engage Henderson: Are we making progress?

March 23, 2012 in Engage, Henderson East End with 0 Comments

There are 6 teams in the Engage Henderson process that are tackling the 6 big priorities that were identified by the community.

Are we making progress?

Here are some updates:

East End Survey - The neighborhood has been divided into 31 grids, to identify where there are abandoned or dilapidated homes, vacant lots, broken sidewalks, homes that need new or repaired roofs, lots where there is trash that needs to be picked up,etc. This survey data is being dropped into a mapping database, so that we can identify specific areas that need the most attention and where volunteer labor can have the greatest impact….by simply looking at a map. We would like to have this done by the end of April.
Summer Block Party - The volunteer survey will give us an inventory of the condition of the neighborhood, but progress won’t happen without involvement of the very people we are trying to help. A summer block party is being planned to provide food and fun,but more importantly ENGAGE neighbors in the East End vision. Survey results, a drawing/renderiong of a possible ‘future’ East End ‘look’ with bike paths, a Community Center, an Historic/Arts District, and other ‘possibilities’ will be showcased to get reactions from East End residents. A Leadership team has been recruited for this event and planning on where and when is underway.
WiFi - an application for a grant money to fund one WiFi node in the Arts/Historic District has been submitted to the State of Kentucky. This technology would provide one more ‘draw’ for people to visit the ‘East End Arts/Historic District’.
Community Garden - the City of Henderson is looking at a piece of property in the middle of the East End to establish a Community Garden that would be available for planting next Spring. A native Hendersonian ‘Master Gardner’ has volunteered to lead this effort….so that East-enders who want to be ENGAGED in gardening make this happen….not outsiders.
Crime Prevention - East End has experienced higher rates of both violent and property crime than the City of Henderson and state of Kentucky…..by significant margins. The City of Henderson Police Department is providing crime reporting data to the Engage Henderson mapping databse, so that a few pocket areas of the highest crime can be identified and new strategies for prevention and law enforcement can be tested. This information is intended to be shared at the Summer Block Party.
Increasing Home Ownership - When a neighborhood loses a high rate of owner occupancy, it often leads to decline. To explore innovative ways to boost homeownership in selected areas of the East End, an initiative is underway with a consortium of Communtiy/Regional banks to offer mortage loans for rehabilitated properties. It is the expectation that these properties would often be purchased in poor condition and then upgraded/repaired to like new condition.

Teams are evaluating kids programs, opportunities at South Heights to build on the school’s success and there is a team planning a trip to Paducah to look at their success in developing an arts district in an older neighborhood.

We also are working with USI to deploy facilitators for the teams and to help us with project management. Stay tuned.

Want to be on a team. Email engagehenderson@gmail.com.

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