Randy’s May, 2011 Update:
Neil in Full-Time High School Ministry:
Neil Sternberg and I have been meeting for about ¾ of a year. During that time, Neil left a job in the financial world to take a church staff position in Student Impact, the high-school ministry at Willow Creek Community Church, a ministry he’d been volunteering in for many years.
Last month, Neil and his wife, Kaitlin (who I also meet with), led a trip to the Dominican Republic with seventeen high-school students.
It’s thrilling for me, seeing people go on trips like this, knowing the impact trips like this can have on the ones who go. Something life-changing happens when we get out of our comfort zones and interact in meaningful ways with the poor.
Mother Teresa said, “Christ is hidden under the suffering appearance of anyone who is hungry, naked, homeless, or dying.” In the poor, we see Jesus, in his distressing disguise.
When I’ve taken trips like this in the past, I not only experienced Jesus in new ways, I came back seeing material possessions in a new way. I often started out feeling sorry for the poor people we served, for what they lacked. I came back feeling sorry for us, for what we’ve lost by having so much.
It’s wonderful for high-school students to experience being with the poor at such an early age. Hopefully, it will change their perspective for a life-time. I’m so glad Neil and Kaitlin helped facilitate such a trip.
Neil Shares About His Dominican Republic Experience:
“It was an incredible experience being a part of another culture, seeing people in a different part of the world worshiping God, and getting the opportunity to create experiences with seventeen high school students, alongside two other leaders.
“God worked in powerful ways in all of our hearts and lives over the eight days we were there.
“My perspective has shifted towards the way I celebrate people, the way I worship, and my heart for those in poverty.
“One specific lesson God taught me while we were there is that it really isn’t about having more or less materially. What matters is that you build the foundation of your house on a rock.
“You will see in the video a woman named Felicia. We helped build her a house that is smaller than most of our bedrooms. It was tough to see people living that way.
“I’ve struggled with the questions my entire adult life: Is it okay for us to have nice things when so many people don’t? -or- Should we sell what we have and give more away to the poor?
“As we helped build Felicia’s house, we were gathering rocks and large stones to lay as the foundation within the walls of her house before the cement could be poured over them. We separated the rocks and stones from sand, dirt, and trash.
“As we were doing that, God gave me insight into the questions I had been asking. It was a different answer then I expected. The answer was to build my house on a rock, on the foudation of God at the center. The focus is not on what we have (or don’t have), but on what we put our trust and hope in, as our foundation. Out of the heart condition that a foundation with God at the center will produce, I can answer the questions of how I should live and how I should steward my resources with more clarity.
“This trip has marked our lives in a significant way and I believe God used us to make a significant impact in the Dominican Republic.” – Neil Sternberg
A Video About The Trip:
“Check out the footage from our trip” – Neil:
Mother Teresa Quotes:
“Get to know the poor in your country. Love them. Serve them.”
“If you have a sick or lonely person at home, be there. Maybe just to hold a hand, maybe just to give a smile, that is the greatest, the most beautiful work.”
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved.”
“There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives – the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them.” – Mother Teresa
Thank You:
Thank you for all the ways you serve the hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick, and imprisoned.
“I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” – Jesus (Matt 25:40)
I hope you encounter and experience Jesus through the ways you love and serve others.
In His Love,
Randy
Randy a few weeks back it was Compassion Sunday and Chris and I chose another Compassion Child. Now that we have a better idea of where we are at financially, it was so great for both of us to feel the Holy Spirit’s tug to choose another child to support and pray for. We are supporting a girl in India and now a boy in Africa. I am so thankful for the opportunity to write and to pray for these precious children who live in poverty. I thought that Neil’s comment,”…it really isn’t about having more or less materially. What matters is that you build the foundation of your house on a Rock.” was a great way to see the the truth about Jesus being that Rock.
Thanks for the update!
Amy