..because the world's 36 million blind are not an endless pool of need,
but a vast reservoir of potential disciplemakers.
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Descending into PDX for Mission ConneXion Northwest, the mountains protrude through a solid blanket of cloud. They are symbols of one of my favorite cities -- blasted and scarred like St. Helens, yet still beautiful like Hood. A dozen years ago, this city had a somewhat benign, quirky feel. Now, even though the political protests have abated, it is grittier and more adrift.
As with many urban areas, some combination of factors, including a temperate climate, permissive drug laws, dialed down policing (don’t bother reporting a car break-in), and expansive social policies has led to an explosion of homelessness. Encampments are everywhere amidst mounds of trash – even on downtown medians. Think of how desperate someone has to be to live in a cold tent between freeway noise and headlights.
To be a Christian here is also hard. There is a real cost, both in social interactions and job prospects, mostly unfamiliar to us in the Bible Belt.
Yet Portland still punches above its weight in the Church, from a legacy of the likes of Jim Elliott, Multnomah, and Palau, and from a whole crop of vibrant newer ministries. One leader told me this may partly be rooted in Lewis and Clark's long-ago expedition. On their return, a delegation of native American leaders journeyed to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis (none other than Clark) to seek the "black book" they had seen some explorers using. Sadly, Clark offered them no Gospel, and the entire delegation died along the way home. God, however, used this to awaken others and jumpstart missions (of various types and efficacies) to the Pacific Northwest.
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Regardless, faith here felt very tangible to me – whether in the workplace, or by a friend's inviting a homeless couple out of their car and (with their untrained dog and constant TV habit) into her living room for a month. Worship seemed genuine, fellowship was close and warm, and I was blown away by the servant hearts and joy of the volunteers hosting the conference at a local church.
Many of you answered a specific call to pray for this event. We (Beth and myself, my sister and brother-in-law, and our faithful Oregon volunteer, David) went in with a mix of things on our hearts – discipling the blind, deploying SeedPlayers, and yearning for better discovery and licensing of needed Gospel content.
The Lord answered prayer in so many ways. We were able to:
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Deliver 100 SeedPlayers with a series of Ukrainian testimonies, songs, and Scripture readings – a labor of love by an older Ukrainian couple with a burden for their homeland.
- Speak with many who were earnestly seeking to find their place in God's Kingdom work.
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Catch up with co-laborers, including Trevor, the diligent Christ-follower mentioned in our last letter’s Maasai/Swahili adventure. That project actually began six years and two mission trips ago with the discovery of an audio player of still unknown origin, and had even more God-ordained “coincidences” than we realized.
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Find several ministries eager to “franchise” SeedPlayer production in India, South Sudan, and Kenya.
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Brainstorm with a Nigerian “polio wheelchair” ministry about partnering to help employ the blind to mass-produce more affordable canes.
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Begin to explore some great work already underway to ease content licensing for Scripture.
After the conference, my phone, struggling for several weeks, died. Stripping off the case, I found the back shattered, yet had no remembrance of any trauma. My sister referred me to a shop in the Vietnamese district. I debated waiting to get it fixed, but finally decided to make the longish trip. The quiet, somber young man behind the counter clearly wasn’t Asian. He was, in fact, Ukrainian and graciously accepted a SeedPlayer with Ukrainian content. Suddenly, my phone saga made sense. As you pray for his country, pray for Alex.
It’s always about the individual, isn’t it?
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Blessings in Christ,
Joel
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