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Chanje Lakay Bellanton Response

By Involve

chanje_lakay_bellanton_trans

We are re-printing the update we posted on Facebook last night on behalf of the Chanje Movement, our humanitarian outreach in Haiti.  You may know the backstory on Chanje, but may not have heard the recent and troubling news:

Some of our key partners were robbed this week (December 12, 2014) by a group of men who invaded Chanje Lakay Bellanton with force.  No one was physically harmed, though our partners were threatened.  This pastor and his wife (who rescued and now care for more than 20 children) lost everything of value, including the funds to buy daily food for the staff and kids.  They had also been planning to buy a parcel of land for church planting, and now that money is gone as well.

Our partners need our support. They need encouragement, they need prayer, and they need funds for simple things like food, replacing their mobile phones, and to put some security in place for themselves, their staff and the children who call our shelter home.

If you would like to be part of that support, here are some simple ways you can do that:

  • Encouragement: email 1response@chanje.org with a note and we will send your message to our partners via email and include your name. If you know them personally, please include their names. If you don’t, that’s okay too. They’ll be encouraged by the love and compassion of the brothers and sisters who they’ve never met. Send your Christmas and New Years greetings as well.
  • Prayer: however you wish, but here are three specific requests:
    • Ask God to keep the staff and children safe (for example, pray according to Psalm 59, particularly verses 1-4, 16-17.)
    • Pray for our partners’ spiritual and emotional comfort and for them to know God’s peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:4-9.)
    • Pray for their provision and God’s favor upon them (see Luke 2:52; Proverbs 3:34; 9:10; Genesis 6:8; Exodus 33:17)
  • Finances: we developed a list of needs that people can contribute toward. The goals cover immediate needs and coming needs for the 1st quarter of next year, and the budget for 2015. We welcome your involvement however you are led. Visit bit.ly/1response to donate.
  • Share this with others (for instance, on Facebook, don’t just “like” it, choose share on your timeline)

Thank you for all the ways your love is helping bring change!

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The Chanje Movement is the humanitarian outreach of The Global Mission, a registered 501c3 nonprofit.  Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.  Contact us if you wish to donate stock, mutual funds, bonds or other securities.  Contributions can be mailed to PO Box 80222 Rancho Santa Margarita CA 92688.

What Love Can Do

By Blog, Envision, Media

Having recently met worship leader Aaron Blanton at Crossline Church, and having heard him perform the song he wrote What Love Can Do as an acoustic piece, it was a joy to discover that our Creative Director, Jacob Hart, asked him for and received permission to use his song in the soundtrack to our most recent mission team’s video.  Aaron was a founding member of the band Sonicflood, and you might recognize this song from the call-to-action movie Not Today, in which recording artist Kari Jobe sings the arrangement that he and James Tealy put together.  The lead-in song is Audio Adrenaline‘s Kings & Queens.

The team we sent this month was part of The Chanje Movement, the humanitarian outreach of The Global Mission.

Enjoy and share!

httpvh://www.vimeo.com/73106653

Video recorded and produced by Jacob Hart on behalf of The Global Mission

Bringing Chanje

By Envision, Headfirst, Involve, Media

Chanje is the Haitian Creole word for change – for transformation.  We’ve seen the Lord move so dramatically in Haiti this past year, that we’ve begun calling what we do there a “Chanje Movement.”  Being a part of the transformation means being available to the Lord to change myself, my community and my world, however He directs.  This month, we had an amazing team of people participating in that movement.  Some of those highlights are in the video below, and as things progress we will continue to post the stories, photos and videos of transformation in Haiti.

Chanje Movement team in Haiti, August 2012

Guest column: A safe mission

By Envision, Involve

By Brianna Alexander

It was supposed to be a “safe” missions trip. All I had to do was drive 20 minutes to church, hammer in a few nails, help carry some heavy wood pieces, and voila! I would have helped build a loft house for a family in Mexico and spread the love of Christ without putting a stamp in my passport. I had done this last year and I thought I was prepared.

The thing is though, I didn’t use a hammer. I used a spatula. I don’t use spatulas, or any cooking utensils for that matter. Seriously, I’m a terrible cook. I’m infamous for burning canned re-fried beans and just the other night I ruined crock-pot chicken! So imagine my dismay when I somehow found myself behind the giant church BBQ cooking cheeseburgers for 80 very hungry house builders. Funny, God, real funny.

Yet, as I stood there with smoke blowing directly into my eyes, I realized something. In the parking lot was a whole group of imperfect vessels. People were bending nails, hammering boards in the wrong place, getting bruised up. But no one was complaining, or yelling, or crying in a corner feeling sorry for themselves. They would all just laugh it off, bandage up and get right back in the action.

Getting Instructions

Volunteers gathered for morning instructions

That day was an amazing testament as to what the body of Christ can do when we set aside our own insecurities, annoyances and weaknesses and just focus on completing the mission God has set before us. Everyone one in the parking lot had a different story. They came from different churches, were different ages and were in a different part of their journey with Christ. What they shared was the desire to serve God by working together to bless a family they didn’t know, in a country many of them had never been to. That desire transcended all differences and weaknesses.

Imagine if we made that our goal all the time? Imagine if we stopped getting hung up on religious technicalities, cultural barriers and personality clashes? What if we stopped comparing ourselves to other people, stopped feeling inadequate, stopped focusing on our weaknesses and instead trusted God to equip us for the mission he has called us to? What if every day, whether it was at church, at work, at home or in a foreign country, we made a conscious effort to focus on the big picture, the God picture, and work with our fellow humans to bring that picture to life? Hmm, I wonder what life would look like then.

For that one morning, I set aside my own insecurities and cooked those burgers as best as I could. And while I did get asked “what’s this green thing in my burger?” (it was just an herb from the herb salt) the burgers turned out fairly decent. I actually didn’t have anything to worry about because the church’s resident chef was there cooking tri-tip that was to die for. Even if the burgers had been terrible, no one would have noticed. And while I appreciated and learned from that experience, I’m glad to be back behind my computer, using one of my actual talents to further the kingdom of God.

Couple receiving the house

Heriberto and Ruth now have a home to share with their one month old son, Jared

Did You Know…?

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  • Hands of Mercy (HōM) helps churches build loft houses for families in Mexico. They have created a system that allows people to build walls, a roof and steps here in the United States. Then the pieces get taken to Mexico and the house is assembled and ready in a day so that the family can move in.
  • Many people in Mexico have never lived in a house with a lock. Someone always has to stay in the house in order to guard the family’s meager possessions. The HōM loft houses are equipped with locks and keys so families and their possessions are much safer.  Sometimes they have to explain how to use a lock & key set.
  • Some people have never lived in a house with a window. Because their homes are often pieced together with mismatched materials, including rented wood and sheet metal, it’s usually not logical or possible to add a window. But HōM loft houses are very sturdy and protect against the elements. Therefore, it’s nice that there are a few windows to open to let in fresh air.
  • You can host your own HōM loft house build! Gather a core group of people together to organize the event and raise $4,000. That money covers all costs including the cost of bringing the house down to Mexico. Then get the word out and gather a group of builders to help with the U.S. pre-fab and the assembly of the house in Mexico. For more information, visit HōM online or contact The Global Mission to learn how you can create your own event.
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BriannaBrianna Alexander is an avid blogger who writes about social media marketing, real estate, Orange County, CA and the ridiculous price of mascara. She’s excited to use her talent to support missions and further God’s kingdom. When she isn’t blogging she’s usually doing things she will later blog about like cheering for the Angels, discovering new parks with her little dog and eating delicious food her husband cooks for her.  To see a video of the prefab she wrote about, watch How to Build a Home.

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Haiti Video Recap

By Envision, Involve

Here is a moving video which is an excellent wrap-up and moving video of last month’s recent mission trip to Haiti.  Thank you to Jake Hart for his work producing the video.  To answer the inevitable question about how to get a hold of the soundtrack, you can purchase ‘ “Hold On” by Rapture Ruckus from iTunes, Amazon or your favorite media store.

We’re grateful for your partnership with The Global Mission!

Headfirst in Haiti

By Headfirst

Rick shares how Jesus changed his life

The classic headfirst apostle is Peter – with little regard for how things could be done or should be done, he went for it.  Long before Texas Hold ’em, Peter went “All In.”  On one of our final nights in Haiti, I had the privilege of preaching to a crowd from the community who had come to join us for a free meal at the Center for Hope.  About 200 adults and youth ate, listened to my friend Rick’s story of salvation, and learned about Peter’s courageous decision to step out of the boat (while ~80 children learned about Jesus and played a short distance away.)

All preconceptions are wiped clean when you Read More

Suppressive Fire

By Envision, Headfirst, Involve
24's Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer

Kiefer Sutherland as 24's Jack Bauer (courtesy of Kelsey McNeal/FOX)

Tracing back over several hundred years, the battlefield technique of suppressive fire was enhanced in World War II by the introduction of hand-held automatic weapons.  The thrust of the tactic is to respond to a threat with a barrage so powerful that the enemy is forced to temporarily stand down or withdraw from a battle, allowing safer maneuver of troops.  In modern media, a protagonist such as 24‘s Jack Bauer will request suppressive fire with a phrase as simple as “cover me.”

In Afghanistan, Master Gunnery Sergeant Peter Proietto of the U.S. Marine Corps was on a patrol ambushed by Taliban fighters.  His story and more

An Invitation

By Headfirst, Involve

This is an invitation to be a part of the Body of Christ at work in Haiti.  We are collaborating to work as one – hopefully networking as many churches and ministries in the U.S. and the world as we can to support indigenous ministries in Haiti, and building on a long-term plan that incorporates the physical, spiritual, economic and social needs of the people.

Right now a core group from Southern California churches and ministries are working together and making as many connections here and in-country as possible.  Leaders in Haiti and the Dominican Republic are coordinating an effort that will establish lasting engagement from followers of Christ.  I will be joining a team on the ground in-country next week.  This is not a “service team” per se, though we will deliver aid & supplies.  Service and outreach teams will be needed in the near future, but right now we are only sending crisis response teams, such as medical teams, and a handful of ministry leaders.

Please recognize that by the time you read this, many things will have changed.  We are working in a highly fluid period of crisis and transition with a goal of moving from urgent relief towards long-term recovery.

I will highlight one current opportunity before us  – one of many… Read More