Six Month Mission Trip Next Door

This week KB is asking its writers to choose a country we would work in as missionaries for six months.

I wouldn’t have to go very far.

We live in a quaint village along the historical Eire Canal. Three seasons a year, I can walk along the canal, soaking in nature, crew teams, pleasure boaters and lots of shops and restaurants. My teenage daughter can walk home from school and spend a Saturday afternoon at the local Starbucks or the library. It is idyllic.

But not nine miles from us is the crescent of Rochester, New York, a swath of geography across the city, east to west, throbbing with violence, drugs, and poverty. The high school drop out rate is the highest of the largest city school districts in the state: 45.5%. In our town, 98% of students graduate from high school, and most then attend college. Rochester is known as one of the ten smartest cities in the nation because of top colleges, yet its public schools are fraught with problems.

To live in the crescent would be out of my comfort zone. I like knowing my family can go to sleep without bullets flying through the walls, and not having to address the issue of a crack house next door. But the problems of our nation’s cities, like Chicago, Hartford and Rochester, require a radical mission.

There are many churches in the city, including Brighton Presbyterian where my husband and I work and minister. But the problems of neglect, drug abuse and poverty can’t be fixed just by Sunday church attendance or even a weekly Bible study. Something more radical is required: ongoing prayer, mentoring, dedicated outreach and perhaps a live-in situation.

Nearly two years ago, I met a couple who are not only living in the city, they have dedicated two decades to raising other people’s children in a Saturday program called Bethel Express, which they now base at our church. Its focus and mission is on what its leaders call the "S Factor: Spiritual Strength, Social Stability and Scholastic Success." Children can begin the program between the ages of 6 and 12 (but no later) and the volunteer leaders feed and mentor them every Saturday until they graduate from high school. The program has a nearly 100% graduation rate. The adult volunteers love, encourage, and pray for these children for years.

Another couple I know established an inner-city healthcare ministry called His Branches 35 years ago, choosing to live just two blocks from their medical practice. The neighborhood has drug dealers, robberies and the occasional shooting. Eighty percent of HBI clients are at or below the poverty line.

We also know of three families who have made the decision to live in a tough area to make a difference in the neighborhood, and to be part of their church’s efforts to “re-neighbor” broken communities: 441 Ministries.

I do have a dream missionary trip (Ireland; Bible studies in a pub). But for me, the radical mission next door causes me to tremble.

If I Could, I Would Leave Right Now!

This week, the faithful and varied Kingdom Bloggers will be writing again. I would add, that I have not written here for quite some time, so it's nice to pop in on one of my favorite subjects, missions! 

This week, we'll be answering a hypothetical question: If you went for 6 months, what country would you go on a mission to? Some of our answers may be based on dreams and hopes, and others, such as mine, will be based on previous experience.

I am choosing Brazil!

The classic version of missions has been to spread the church and the Kingdom of God in heathen nations; to go where Christianity wasn't and bring it there. Brazil still has Indians in the Amazon region, there are Aborigines in the Outback of Australia, and other, often tribal peoples, scattered at various places around the globe. And then there are those that live in entire nations which are closed to Americans.

I didn't always have a heart for missions. They sounded awful, and it seemed, people made so little progress when the money and time could be better spent at home. All of that changed one day. I was at a meeting and the minister said "I see planes flying here and flying there. I see that God has given you a heart for the nations." Although I didn't care for uncomfortable conditions in a country where I didn't speak the language, oddly; it resonated in my spirit.


Later that year I was leaving a church service at the Salvation Army. A friend of mine was preaching that evening. It was a very small group, less than 10. There was a drunk woman, a Brazilian. The pastor wanted to help her, so he sent one of the men at the meeting down the street to see if there was someone at the Brazilian church who could interpret.

As I was leaving, the man came back with a pastor from the Brazilian church. I decided to stick around to see what was going on. Before I left I spoke to Carlos, and we became great friends. Not only did we preach and teach in the US, but I traveled with him 3 times to Brazil.

Why do I like to be in Brazil? It is the very thing that God has made me for. When I am there, I am free to participate in meetings, do street evangelism, and most of all fellowship with a wonderful culture and people.

Most importantly, it is where I God and I connect as we partner to build the Kingdom of God.

Dancing All Over the World! by Jenna Vick Silliman

What would I do if I had a FREE day, with no restrictions? This theme for Kingdom Bloggers for the week got my imagination all fired up. I like the word FREEDOM. To me, the more FREE the better. One of my favorite things is to rejoice and worship the Lord Jesus in dance. If I had no restrictions, I would have awesome, joyful, rejoicing music playing at all times and I would start my day dancing without gravity. I would boogie my way right up into the heavenlies. Whoohoo! What a gorgeous view from up there because of my unrestricted eyesight. I would see right into the supernatural realm too and enjoy the company of beautiful, multi-colored, dancing angels all around me. From my cloud-cushioned dance floor I would gaze lovingly down on my hometown of Sequim, Washington and pray and dance in intercession and take the town by storm for Jesus.

Next, because I am not restricted by space, I would jet over to Chicago to see my daughter at the University of Chicago and take her dancing with me in the heavenlies to give her a little study break. I would zip down to California next to visit my son, Michael at Simpson University to give him and his sweet girlfriend a spin in the heavenlies too.

Around mid-day I would visit Niagra Falls. Wild and free I would dance around and rejoice in the beauty of this gigantic waterfall that I’ve always wanted to see. If I had unrestricted knowledge, I would know of other waterfalls around the globe that I could also visit to take a quick peek.

Then I would be transported to Europe. I’ve always wanted to go to Europe. I could just hop around like Tinkerbell and see a bit of each country. I might dance around in a green meadow in Ireland, a vineyard in Italy, a cottage flower garden in England, and a street market in France. As someone with a heart for missions, I would be praying as I go and interceding for each place I visit. Whenever I get a chance I would share glad tidings of great joy in the abundant life of Jesus. Oh, I almost forgot—no restrictions! The,n I would have thousands upon thousands gathered in my European Tour , ready to hear my testimony of free joy in Jesus for all!

My oldest son, Daniel, and his wife, Beth are in Germany so I would have to go to Tuebingen, Germany to see them and also to Heidelberg University where Daniel is getting his PhD to become a college professor. He’s promised to take me on a tour of a couple of castles when I visit, so I’d take him up on his offer. It would be such a surprise to just show up and be so free as to be able to take them dancing in the heavenlies above Germany with me and introduce them to a few scores of really cool angels. I can just hear him and his wife saying over dinner with friends, “We had such a refreshing visit from my mother this afternoon. She is such a care-free woman. We enjoyed taking her to some typical tourist spots and then she took us dancing—it was heavenly.”

My joyful, high-spirited worship music is still playing—don’t forget! For the evening I would go surfing in Hawaii. Every once in a while I might dance around or spin a few times on the surf board. Oh my, what beautiful balance and grace I would have if I was completely free of all restrictions. When my day was over I would enjoy being back home to tell my family and friends all about my free day of dancing and rejoicing in the Lord and proclaiming Good News about the abundant life of the Kingdom of God all over the world!

Sorry Tanya Tucker...Texas is definitely not as close as I've been to Heaven.

 One thing I made sure of during my time in the Marine Corps, I went to every available speciality school I could get an officer's slot to attend. With that being said, there aren't a lot of  'adventerous' type items on my personal bucket list.

Sure...I'd love to leave the back of a helicopter for a low-level jump just one more time or dive in deep, open waters alone to prove my mustard at underwater navigation, but I'm smart enough to realize those are the games of the young and a major part of the reason for the aches and pains I feel while getting out of bed each morning.

So, what's on my bucket list? The top five?

While my ambitions may be far less physical in nature this days, there are still no doubt a great deal of  challenges:


1.  Publish a novel. Note, I didn't say write a book. That's the easy part for some people. Being a published author is a peer group I've longed to join.

2.  Speak a foreign language effectively. Like a lot of folks, I know my fair share of phrases in Spanish, Italian and Russian. Could I go to a country where one of those is the primary language and effectively communicate? Don't think so. (No cracks about living in a country where Spanish is the primary language already either)

3.  Go to China on a missions trip...or two. Why China? I'm still asking God that question myself in a Jonah-like manner.

#2 and #3 probably go hand-in-hand too. Seeing that I work with a gentleman from China....yeah...I know. God's obviously doing His part to make these two happen. Good thing I don't live by a large body of water.

4.  Finish my graduate degree. Hearing Joyce address the challenges of finishing a doctorate, I'm not sure why this one is on my list, maybe I want a reason for my kids to address me as 'The Doc.'

5.  Take my whole family to Hawaii.  I've lived there. My wife and I honeymooned there. But, I'd like to take the whole crew for a two week stay in my second favorite place to live in the world and renew my wedding vows with my beautiful love.  Maybe that's what I'll do with the proceeds from my book sales...Lord willing.

God bless and have a great weekend everyone!!

Waiting for the call...but still currently in training.

I'm excited about my first missionary quest, but I have no idea when or where it will be...

That may sound like a strange statement for a person so adamant about sharing the Good News, and I'm a little disappointed, honestly, that my first travel abroad for Him is yet to happen. But, I have extremely been focused on what I believe is the ministry where God wants my energy and attention. Disappointed might be a strong word...maybe understanding is a better one. 

I'm convinced God has put on my heart where my work abroad (and in person) will be in His name. While a mission trip to Nicaragua will probably be my first opportunity in the next year, my plans are already being made for a much different destination. China.

Christianity is spreading at a rapid pace in the socialist state. While tolerated as a benign religion by the state, the Chinese people are starving for the Hope we have to share in the message of Jesus Christ. God put this on my heart about 8 years ago. I don't find it a bit coincidental that one of the first people I met in my current job 6 years ago was a Chinese immigrant who runs the company IT Department. He was only a few years in this country then. Over the past 6 years, we have had extensive conversations about faith and the role of religion in his country. Educational conversation.

While my co-worker and friend remains a devout atheist, I find it a blessing to have the opportunity to minister to him 5 days a week. Just this week we had a funny exchange that is typical of the dynamic of our relationship. I had prepared a PowerPoint presentation for a series I'm speaking in at church on the historical reliability of the Bible. I had printed the slides with my notes at home, but I initially failed to change my printer settings from our work copier/printer.

The next day when I got to work and plugged into the work network, the queued slides started printing on the office machine. I was in the bathroom at the time (takes a minute for things to boot up), but when I emerged, I see my friend standing there looking at the printing slides...

Co-Worker (in his broken English): You print Bible stuff?

TonyC: I did at home last night. My computer should still be booting up. If that's printing, you'd better cancel it or you'll get 25 pages.

Co-Worker: You not printing this?

TonyC: No, I used those last night. I have no idea why they're printing (which was true at the time).

Co-Worker: That very weird (looking at one of the pages).

TonyC: Maybe that's intended for you. God works in mysterious ways brother.

Co-Worker: So does our network!

TonyC: (laughing)You'll need to take the network issue up with the IT Department, and that's a long wait from what I hear.

Co-Worker: (repeatedly pushing buttons to cancel print job) Stop. Please stop!

I'm paying attention Father and should be well prepared when I get Your call...

Flying Here and Flying There...

There are lots of ways to view Christian Missions. I left a church a few weeks ago and there was a sign on the way out of the parking lot "Entering the Mission Field!"

In November it will have been 12 years since I went on my first mission trip to Brazil.

In April of 1999 I met a Brazilian pastor in Hyannis, MA. He is now my good friend Carlos. You can read some of that story HERE. Through him many doors were opened for me to minister in his community both here and abroad. He was my faithful interpreter and has seen me through the good times and the bad times.

The real story of Brazil starts in January 1997. I received this prophecy from a gentleman named Denny Cramer.

"I will give you a heart for nations as well, says the Lord. And you will travel from coast to coast. And you will learn what I am doing upon the earth. You’ll pick up this truth and that truth. I see you going to several major conferences. I see several airline tickets being purchased. I see you getting on a plane-- flying here, flying there, flying here, flying there."

Regardless of how you feel about spiritual gifts, let me tell this was all very exciting; yet bewildering. After all, I am afraid of heights, I don't like flying and had a fear of being in a country where I don't speak the language. It rocked my complacent, little, religious world.

Not long after I met Carlos, he introduced me to a couple of other Brazilians, in particular; one named named Lessak. Pastor Lessak did not speak English at all; therefore, all of our conversations were translated. He was convinced that the power of God was not something you could actually experience - just something to have faith in. He told me me, God was not going to knock him down, and no minister was going to push him either. Though falling in the spirit is not an essential Christian experience, I had seen it happen one quite a few occasions over the years. He stood there and challenged God like Gary Sinise atop the mast of the shrimp boat, in the movie Forrest Gump.

He readied himself like a linebacker before the call to "set." So I gently touched two fingers to his forehead and simply asked Holy Spirit to come. The power of God came like a shotgun to challenge his beliefs.

As he lay on the floor across the room he began to prophesy in English-- "Dav- i - G (the sound of my name in with a heavy accent) will be a minister on our team in Brazil. He will come with us to Brazil."

Wow! Ummm I mean, thanks but no thanks. I like it right here in the good ole' US of A. Carlos was trying to make sure that I knew what he was saying. I heard him loud and clear in English. Carlos assured me that he did not know any English.

The word of God is like fire in your bones. PS Lessak's words resonated in my spirit, but I was scared, Brazil was really unknown - well except for all that bad things on the news. What was going to happen to me in a foreign land? What if it was too hard, or something happened to me? What if I was imprisoned or got sick? How would I pay for it? What if I couldn't get the time off from work? What if...

The wheels of the Kingdom began turning. Not too long after, I decided I would go to Brazil, though I had some real concerns. Making the decision was hard - it was way, way, way out of my comfort zone.

After I had a chance to minister in a couple of dozen Brazilian churches here in the states, I started to become comfortable with the culture and the language. I had a few friends - and well, it didn't seem so unbelievable after all. I thought: "If I am with Carlos, and Lessak, I can trust them." The what-ifs seemed to lessen a little...

Carlos set up an itinerary for me in three cities in southern Brazil.

Funding the trip was going to be a problem - and I sort of felt that if God would pay for it, then I should really go (that was my out). The two Brazilians and I went to the beach and prayed for about an hour. We prayed about it on a number of other occasions too.

In the midst of all this, I was asked to participate on the ministry team of a Refresh conference, through a friend. In the process, one of my teammates wrote me check for $1000. That was enough to buy tickets for me, and help the others.

One obstacle down.

I also needed to get time off from work, so I went to the owner of my company. He needed me there, so 21 days was going to be significant. But he gave me the time off with pay!

Two down!

The next step was to get a passport. I thought this would be easy, but it wasn't. Check out Part II.

Yesterday I had coffee with the neighbor across the street. He is a Brazilian and we had a wonderful talk about his country. You know, maybe I will get a new passport.

My Serve is Not So Good, and My Norwegian is Worse

When Mary Anne and I were dating, we used to enjoy playing tennis with my older girls who were 12 and 15 at the time. I suppose that we might have called it "chase the ball," but we had fun. Let's just say we were bad at it. Even so, my oldest didn't really like the ball coming at her too fast. When I was serving, as soon as she heard the twang of racket strings meeting the rubber ball, she would just lay down on the court as the lime green ball zipped somewhere overhead. We still laugh about it today.

This week your Kingdom Bloggers are going to talk about a time they had the privileged to serving God. In the midst of doing something for the Kingdom, God often increases our compassion, our faith and brings us closer to Him. You can be certain that serving is not about thanks, or getting your name in the bulletin, it is an extension of who God has made you.

In the fall of 2001, Mary Anne and I had just returned from a conference in Connecticut. During the service it was announced that they were taking a short-term mission team to Norway. It sounded nice and we talked to the pastor in the hallway about it. He made a personal invitation to both of us.

Early that year, I had met a woman with a prophetic gift at a conference in Florida. We kept in touch via an occasional email. In 2002 she sent me a message about a dream which she felt was for me. She had seen a map and began to list the names of countries that she felt I was supposed to visit. The dream was intriguing and I had a "witness" to it. The list was not totally unfamiliar, as I had already Davi. I had also spoken to a couple of pastors about going to a number of other locations. The email read:

David, I saw a map of the world, and on it there were certain countries that were highlighted. South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, a couple of countries in the British Isles and one way up near the Arctic Circle, I think Norway, the one that reaches farthest North.

A word like that will get you thinking - especially if you have another one that says "I see you flying here and there." I decided to look into the Norway trip. I was pretty expensive, and the training classes 170 miles away. It would have to be God.

What I love about the Kingdom is that when we work to hear God's voice, and we listen to Him, things do happen. It is a process that is filled with faith, doubt and some real excitement. Hearing from God requires obedience, and I personally don't find that easy when whatever it is, seems too far out of reach.

As a Christian I find two things a little unnerving: 1) hearing God, and 2) not hearing God. If you are like me, you want to know what God would like for you to do. However; when I get the message, and the confirmations, I still doubt it.

I went through the checklist for the trip. Desire to Go; check, Passport; check, Money, no check, Ability to figure this out on my own; no check. I started t pray. I even talked it over with a pastor and he said that I probably should not go. He sort of made is sound like he thought that is what God was saying.

I had to weigh my desire to go against the counsel of a friend who cared about me. Maybe it wasn't time. I had a pretty tough couple of years with the divorce, losing my mother and things like that. But in my heart, I still felt like I should go. An unexpected check showed up for enough to make the 1/3 deposit on the trip. I prayed over it for about 7 seconds and sent in my deposit. The rest of the money came in from the offerings of friends and family - some not even Christians!

I arrived in Oslo May 22, 2002. Norway was wonderful and the Lord moved powerfully. It would be hard to report every experience because there were so many God-moments. (Some of those will be in my book.) Basically we spent a day on the street inviting people to the conference, Friends of The Bridegroom; which ran four sessions over 2 days. We attended Sunday services in various locations, had a bunch of team meetings, a trip or 2 to Oslo along with a day of prayer walking various sites throughout the region. Then there was the traveling, flights, airports and buses. Oh yes, we even got some sleep.

Eight years later, I still savor the things that God did: chasing a demon out of my room, multiplying paper invitations in my pocket, and the opportunity to work with a team of about 50 Americans and Norwegians. (Joyce Lighari was one of them.) We prayed where the Nazi's had murdered Norwegian Jews, walked where the kings walked, and took communion in the oldest church in Norway.

I think that serving God is fascinating, how about you?

Eating Ladoos to the Beat of a Tabla: Lifting Up Jesus

Sharing my faith in the typical ways is not easy for me anymore. Once upon a long time ago I was involved in a “Summer of Witnessing” as a teen in NYC. Teens from mostly the Midwest came to Brooklyn to use the Roman Road and tell people about Jesus. I liked the silent prayer partner role the best. However, I would also take my turn, going through down the Roman Road and hope for a prayer. We reported every day of our numbers and have services every night. I don’t remember every seeing any one we witnessed to during the day show up at that meetings.

I remember street meetings in Brooklyn that I have already mentioned in this blog. In one of them, with a group from Nyack College, I remember leading someone to the Lord. I never knew what happened to him. I got involved with a group that had a plan for winning Brooklyn for Jesus. We took blocks and targeted them with prayer and door knocking, all very strategic.  All of this was before I finished the tenth grade. To say I was a bit zealous is an understatement.

However, over the years my personal experience is that I have rarely seen this method of evangelism have long-term results. I have found that simple living the life is probably the most effect. Just hanging out as David said in his blog yesterday.

The most unusual time I shared my faith was in Pakistan. No, I wasn’t on a mission trip to Pakistan, I was on a family trip. It was 22 years ago last week. My husband’s brother was getting married. My husband, four of our children and I flew from NYC to Kuwait and on to Pakistan.

When we landed in Kuwait, I knew everything was different. At that time, you never saw police armed with machine guns in the US. In Kuwait, they walked around the airport, scanning all of us. I had a headscarf ready and hid under it. It was not because of modesty or religious conviction. I wanted to hide my light skin and light hair. I also insisted on wearing my cross. I wanted it clear, no matter what, I am a Christian and not ashamed.

I used the public toilet only to find it didn’t have a toilet. There was a hole in the floor to squat over. I was not that coordinated. We boarded the next plane to Karachi, Pakistan.

We arrived in the wee hours of the morning. As we went through customs, my fear increased. There was an old high desk in the middle of the room. The man sitting on the stool was quite intimidating. When he approved someone to go further, the sound of his stamp on the paper reverberated throughout the room. 

As the days went on, I slept a lot trying to adjust to the time change. I had never met my husband’s family other than one of his brother. There were so many people, most spoke no English. I had no idea of Pakistani wedding customs.  The woman would gather for hours and hours with a tabla, a drum and sing traditional wedding songs. The most popular one was about a mother singing to her son about how he was as beautiful as a peacock.

There were days and days of singing.  Three preliminary ceremonies leading up to the actually wedding.  I put mehndi (henna) on the bride-to-be’s hands and fed her ladoos to help with her fertility. It evidently worked she has five children.

One day I was sitting with the woman, all related, only one spoke any English. They were singing and beating the tabla. I was attempting to clap my hands with them. However, I am Norwegian. Norwegian usually have a serious lack of rhythm. Usually I have to watch careful in order to clap hands to music. This beat was different; it was odd. I was lost.

The sister-in-law who knew English looked at me and said, “You sing?” Sing? Me? I don’t know any Pakistani songs.  They all got excited as she translated that she was asking me to sing a song. They said you sing English – you sing one of your songs.

I probably know 100’s of songs. Nevertheless, at that moment, I couldn’t think of one I knew. I looked at our daughters. I asked them if they wanted to sing. They were young and of course, they thought this was a great idea!  So I asked them, “what do you want to sing?”

They looked at me with a big smile and said, “How about Jesus Loves Me?”  We were in a Muslim country and the only Christians in the house. I thought, dare I? I sent the children into the room with the men to ask their dad what he thought.  They came back and said, “Dad said sure, why not? They won’t understand it anyway.”

We started to sing:

Jesus loves me this I know,

For the Bible tells me so

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak but He is strong

                Yes, Jesus loves me, Yes, Jesus loves me

                Yes, Jesus loves me, The Bible tells me so

They played the tabla and clapped to their beat. It wasn’t the beat of the song, it just have sounded terrible. We sang. They smiled. We smiled. 

Ok, now maybe this isn’t what you had in mind for sharing my faith. I’d love to tell you that all these woman received Christ. They didn’t. However, I believe the scripture:

But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." John 12:32