I want to make a difference…I want to make an impact in peoples lives…
I have been thinking a lot lately of how quickly we as Christ followers can write people off!! As soon as people say something we don’t like, do something we disagree with, stumble, mess up, or fall flat on their faces we turn the other way, run from them, and treat them with anything but grace and mercy. I think of the women that was caught in adultery and brought before Jesus. He said to the religious leaders if any of you are sinless, throw the first stone…kill the women. One by one they walked away. Jesus, the only one that could have destroyed this lady, heaped grace and mercy upon her!
So why do I, why do we, so quickly, use our words, influence, or action to “throw the first stone”?? I long to live a gracious and merciful life like Jesus. I want to be a Person of the Second Chance!! I want to surround myself with People of the Second Chance.
People of the Second Chance gives voice to a scandalous movement of radical grace in life and leadership. We challenge the common misconceptions about failure and success and stand with those who have hit rock bottom in their personal and professional lives. We are a community that is committed to stretch ourselves in the areas of relational forgiveness, personal transparency, and advocate for mercy over judgment.
I have decided I don’t want the American Dream
I don’t care about working up the corporate ladder for my gain
Bigger and better are words that I hope never lead me in my consumption
I am reading a book called RADICAL by David Platt that is resonating so deep within me. My worldview in the past could be summed up in one word CONSUMERISM. It was all about me, my stuff, my way, my job, my fame, my whatever. Basically the “American Dream”. The tag line of RADICAL is “Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream”.
…in the American dream, where self reigns as king (or queen), we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our assumptions and our desires
Consider the cost when Christians ignore Jesus’ commands to sell their possessions and give to the poor and instead choose to spend their resources on better comforts, larger homes, nicer cars, and more stuff. Consider the cost when these Christians gather in churches and choose to spend millions of dollars on nice buildings to drive up to, cushioned chairs to sit in, and endless programs to enjoy for themselves. Consider the cost for the starving multitudes who sit outside the gate of contemporary affluence
I WANT TO LIVE DIFFERENTLY…What about you?? I want to see the church live, move, and strategically plan differently. I am just more and more convinced that the majority of decisions we make in our lives and in the church are not based on the leading of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God but on a consumerist “American Dream” worldview… WHAT ABOUT YOU? What do you think??
I met Benjamin for the first time in 2005 in Rwanda. I took this picture of him
Since then I have seen him on most occasions when I’ve gone back.
I have talked with him, laughed with him, played with him and have given him many hugs but, BENJAMIN’s HEART IS FAILING!!
A great organization named Ten Talents rescued Benjamin from the streets of Rwanda and have brought him into one of their homes. Benjamin wants to live a life of hope and value.
The doctor who examined him at the hospital found that Benjamin has a serious heart condition and it requires surgery immediately. Literally, his life is in danger. The surgery is a heart valve replacement and is not available in Rwanda. We are looking at other countries for surgery, possibly India or the US, or even Sudan since we may be able to get him there sooner. We have added an option to our giving page if you would like to give towards Benjamin’s heart surgery.
This is Benjamin in the hospital in Rwanda and Benjamin with his mother (Agnes)
Can a micro loan really change someones life forever.
I was confronted with this thought at a Catalyst Lab a few years ago. At that point, I began to look into the incredible world of microfinance. I was super skeptical but the more I researched the more I was intrigued, so I got involved and began lending $25 increments. I loved hearing about the people that I was helping and following their reports back to those that loaned to them. Here are the people we have helped as a family.
I am passionate about seeing the cycle of poverty broken in people lives. This is just one of many ways to do that. It started as an experiment and now it is part of my life. I enjoy sitting down with my kids, reading about someone that needs help and seeing my kids eyes light up when they realize that we can help them in a huge way for $25. It is important to me and my wife to raise our kids in a home that is about others in multiple ways!! So the reach of the Schwein’s is widening.
It messes me up inside to know that people all over the world are drinking water from the same mud holes that animals and people bathe and go to the bathroom.
It still messes me up to look at my daughter across our dinner table and to think that she carried up to 40lbs of water every day, multiple times a day, for the first 8 years of her life.
It also messes me up that this a totally solvable crisis. I believe it is possible to see all people have the opportunity to drink clean water. I also believe that when you give even a cup of water to someone you are doing that very thing to Jesus.
THAT IS WHY I LOVE LIVING WATER INTERNATIONAL
They believe the same things and it messes them up to know people are going to mud holes instead of a clean water well every day.
• 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in eight of the world’s population. (WHO-UNICEF)
• 1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 5000 deaths a day. (UNDP)
• LWI projects providing safe water and hygiene education at an average cost of twenty dollars per person, for a generation. (LWI)
• Water-related disease is the second biggest killer of children worldwide, after acute respiratory infections like tuberculosis. (UNDP) for more statistics go here
Take a few minutes and watch this video. You will realize that water is at the center of everything.
Over the next few weeks I want to introduce you to many of the organizations or things that make my heart beat. They get me excited…they motivate me …they make me cry and they make me dance.
They are what I think about when it’s dark in our house, I’m laying on my back in bed, trying to sleep, but my mind is spinning and I can’t. These are the things that I give my time to, give my money to and talk about.
Africa New Life is helping break the cycle of poverty in Rwanda by providing education, spiritual insight and basic necessities.
My daughter was an ANLM sponsored child before she was my daughter. Africa New Life Ministries holds a special place in my journey.
If it wasn’t for ANLM I wouldn’t have a passion for Africa
If it wasn’t for ANLM I wouldn’t have a passion for Rwanda
If it wasn’t for ANLM I wouldn’t have 3 sponsor children in Rwanda
If it wasn’t for ANLM our church wouldn’t have built a home for orphans
If it wasn’t for ANLM my wife and I wouldn’t have traveled to Rwanda in ‘05
If it wasn’t for ANLM we would’ve never adopted a 9 yr old named Uwangabe Josiane
If it wasn’t for ANLM there would be no song #2, #5, or #10 on my record
The work that Africa New Life is doing is amazing. On Sunday I had the opportunity to partner with them and give one of my CD’s to anyone who sponsored a child. 65 new kids were sponsored. Watch the following video to get an overview of ANLM
It was an amazing day Saturday to watch the community of Grace Chapel tackle all the schools in Wilsonville. People of all ages were spreading bark dust, trimming hedges, pulling weeds and enjoying every minute of it. By the end of the day the schools looked beautiful.
It was one of those days that I was proud to be part of the faith community. I think the ability to go into the community were we live and do something “with no stings attached” is something the greater Church should be known for.
My Haiti trip was incredible!! So many things to process, so many images burned into my mind. People always ask me what the “best” part was or “what was it like?” I still don’t know how to answer that question. A lot of joy and sorrow. A lot of laughter and crying. A lot of questions and no answers.
With that said the one of the “best” parts was walking into LSM’s Homes of Hope and seeing boys and girls that were rescued out of modern day slavery, rescued from death, rescued from abuse and now in a loving home with a mom and dad. The kind of hope that can only be seen in the eyes of an orphan who has realized the are no longer one, will take your breath away and make you want to be about something bigger than yourself.
That was the “BEST” part…realizing once again that God has called me to be about something bigger than myself, to speak for those that can’t, to stand up and help those that can’t. another good reminder about what I want to be about…DO JUSTLY | LOVE MERCY | WALK HUMBLY
I have a passion for seeing orphans find forever homes whether that is in their own country or being adopted into another culture. It is pretty clear that the heart of God breaks for the mother and fatherless. 3 years ago, my wife and I adopted a beautiful 9 yr old from Rwanda, Africa. This has played a huge role in our lives and it has forever enlarged my heart for those that don’t have a family.
In less than week, I will be jumping on a plane, traveling 9 hours to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where I will stay the night. The next morning I will get on another plane and fly only 750 miles off the coast of Florida to Haiti to love those that have been forgotten. For one week I will be loving on orphans and visiting Homes of Hope ran by a great organization called Loving Shepherd Ministries.
I am sure there will be some really high highs and some really low lows. My hope and prayer is that I will love beyond myself. That when I give a child with HIV+ a hug and run them around on my back that I wont be thinking about a disease but about the hope that is seen in their eyes and the connection that we share through love. As I walk past collapsed buildings that people are still trying to pull out dead bodies that I wont disconnect my emotions but I will feel deeply.
It isn’t always the easiest to selflessly love and to feel a depth of sorrow. I don’t always want to. It isn’t always fun. It isn’t comfortable.
