Reed Mueller

John the Baptist is an interesting guy (and not because he lived in the desert, dressed in itchy garb, and ate locusts). He was interesting for other, more important, reasons. In one sense, he was the very first witness to the coming of the Messiah, leaping in his mother’s womb when Mary, Jesus’ mother, entered into his midst (Luke 1:41). But he was not only special from the beginning because he recognized something remarkable about Jesus very early on, he was special because God had a specific, and very important, role for him to play in God’s unfolding story of redemption.

Since before his conception, the plan of God for John’s life had been set. He was to be born into a family that had been childless for so long that it should not have been possible for his mother and father to conceive (Luke 1:7,13). Not only that, but an angel informed his parents that John was to be a great prophet who prepare the way for the coming of the long awaited Christ. He was to be the one who would call his people to repent in advance of the coming of the Lord (Luke 1:14-17). What a life of promise laid out before his parents since before the day he was born.

What it must have been like to grow up in the shadow of such a promise! Imagine being told, as John probably was, that God had a special role for him in his life. Imagine being John, knowing that you would be used by God to bring a nation back to God, and not only that, but to do this in order to reveal to them their long awaited Messiah. Imagine all this and then read these words:

And John the Baptist grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. Luke 1:80 (ESV)

As it implies in that verse, John, having already waited three decades to fulfill his role… waited some more. He went into the wilderness, knowing all that he knew about his role, and waited until the day of his public appearance. In other words, he waited until he was prompted by God at just the right time to begin his ministry. John spent his whole life preparing for the moment God would use him most. This is not to say that God was not with him when he wasn’t “using him most” but rather that God was with him in the quiet and lonely times preparing him – as John would let him – for the moment he would be needed most in the kingdom.

How are we at waiting?

Sometimes in life we wonder where the heck God is and what the heck God is doing. We wonder why we’re not playing a larger role in the kingdom. In light of John’s life, could it be that God knows what he’s doing and will in time set his plan for our lives in motion? Could it be that God has us in a less public role precisely so we can prepare for the moment we’re needed in the game? We practice, we grow, we become faithful in the wilderness in order to be ready to launch into action at just the moment God needs us to. These times could occur when we’re called to share our faith, to parent a difficult teen, to serve our neighbor in a remarkably giving way, to lead a group or mission trip, to lead a church or a movement, or in a myriad of other ways.
Whatever our role is we must faithfully wait on the Lord in wilderness in order to be ready for the tasks he will call us to in public. Just like John, who was faithful in the desert before he was active in public, we should wait upon the Lord. This is easy to say, but so difficult to apply (at least for me). Yet, even though it’s difficult and we often feel like we’re spinning our wheels, our desert times can prepare us for the moments God calls us to appear publically for him.

Lord, sometimes we are frustrated by the degree of influence you have granted us. We know that this is not your fault, but rather a reflection of your plan. Prepare us for our roles by helping us to seek you in our ‘desert times.’ Shape us, as your people; help us to grow in the knowledge and love of you and your Son. Help us to do this so that when the time comes we can be ready to serve you.

Traveling with you,
Reed

Today, the power of personal publishing is working full force to educate more than 12.4 million readers (as of this moment) about what they can do to make a dent in poverty. It’s been interesting seeing this pop up on some of the blogs that I follow (like this one). Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see one of the church leadership blogs I read post anything on the subject. This is regrettable as we – the church – should be in the lead on such things (e.g., Matthew 25:32-46; James 1:27; Micah 6:8). But this is beside the point. The real question is “What can we do?” So let’s ask it…

What can you do to make a difference in a world so full of poverty? Let me suggest three things:

1. Educate yourself on what others are doing for just over a dollar a day. Read just one or two of the posts on Michael Thelander’s A Song of Africa blog and you’ll see how much of a difference can be made in a life halfway across the globe through the simple gift of child sponsorship.
2. Then, if you’ve not yet chosen to sponsor a child in Mhlosheni, Swaziland, consider it. About $36.00 per month will sustain them, their household (if they’re fortunate enough to have parents), and their community even in the midst of severe drought and an overwhelming HIV/AIDS infection rate. If on the other hand you’re already sponsoring a child from Mhlosheni, pray for them, write them, and consider a “gift notification” which could supply even more for your child. For help on either of these options, email erin [at] teammueller [dot] com.
3. Finally, get your hands dirty locally. This quarter our community ministries team is hosting a work day at SnowCAP, a local community food pantry, on the morning of November 8th. Email rickberry [at] columbiaridge [dot] org for details and to sign up. If that’s not your idea of fun, there are many other volunteer opportunities in the area – email me and I can help find some for you!

There is no doubt that you can alleviate a little suffering…and that together we can alleviate much suffering! The question is, will we?

Just like Phil, I went to bed hungry last night. This morning is better, but I know once I eat my allotted portion of Cream of Wheat (15 cents/serving) that I’ll launch my stomach into hunger mode again. But it’s not all bad – my hunger has made me think.

I’m thinking about how true the comments of Cindy and Michael are. We are approximating the pain of hunger and then only for a few days. We are approximating the pain of severely limited resources and this again is only for a few days.

Why do this?

Because it opens my eyes – our eyes. It opens our eyes to the gap between the developed and the developing world, between our nation and others, between our families and families across the globe. Spin that globe you’ve got in your house or at school. C’mon, spin it. Close your eyes. Then put your finger down and if it ends up on land, it’s about a 50/50 chance that the people of that region eat like we’ve been eating for a couple of days now (that is, if they are at the top end of the bottom 50% of the world’s population – many eat more poorly than we’ve been eating).

It just isn’t right in a world with so many resources. We don’t have a resource problem, we’ve got a distribution problem. Charity won’t cut it given a problem this big, we need to work toward justice. Not only will the move from charity to justice fill the stomachs of the hungry, it will fill us as well (Matthew 5:6 NLT).

So let our offering this weekend at church mark not only our effort to alleviate the hunger of many across the world; let it be more! Let it also mark our continued commitment to work for justice here and abroad, in our nation and others, in our community, in Mhlosheni, and in more communities to come.

Our very own Phil Pearson is blogging about his challenge experience. He has a wonderful narrative about his pre-challenge shopping experience at his blog. Check it out because it’ll be worth it.

Incidentally, his blog is one I’ve been following as he works his way through Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Again, worth tracking.

My Experience:
Well, I think I’ve discovered that I don’t get along very well with UNIMIX (or at least as much as I ate last night). I had a full serving of UNIMIX before heading off to bed and experienced what to me seemed like hyperemesis. (Feel free to laugh at this point :^)  Needless to I’ll be moving away from the UNIMIX diet to the more well-rounded sustenance diet. Rice and beans will never have tasted so good… and I can hardly wait for my plain cream of wheat this morning!

So take it easy on the UNIMIX. Maybe try a little instead of a whole “serving.” I was fine in the morning when I had little bits at a time, but having a whole “meal” of it for dinner was just too much for me, I guess.

My Reflection:
I’m actually looking forward to rice and beans, so Proverbs 27:7 (NIV) comes to mind first off.

But after that, I can honestly say that my eyes are opened and that I’m glad I had a rough go of it. I’m a fairly healthy guy for the most part and my body couldn’t handle the food I was given to eat. Not only that, but a little throwing up isn’t life-threatening for me. Now if I put myself in the sandals of someone famished, throwing up could really compromise me. The point: Being hungry, being under-nourished, is a huge risk. I can’t imagine seeing my children hungry or wasting away. Nor can I imagine being so compromised myself that I couldn’t take care of them.

All of this makes me want to do more to ease the suffering of at least a few of the hungry in our world. I hope your experience is doing the same.

Join the conversation…comment here with your own experiences!

My Experience:
Well I can honestly say that I just had my best batch yet of UNIMIX (but it’s still not all that great). For any of you going with UNIMIX for the challenge, here are a few hints: 

• cold water is better than hot
• more water is better than less
• Pinto beans are better than Soy 

My Reflection:
Just day one of three and I can honestly say that my eyes are opened. I can’t imagine eating this for a substantial number of days – yet I would be so thankful for the calories if I (or my family) was starving. It’s a real perspective-bender. Makes me realize how pampered and blessed we are to eat for taste rather than just to stay alive. It also makes me sad to think that we live in a world with so much inequality of resource distribution…

On that topic, someone pointed me to this WSJ article: Four ways to Ease a Global Food Crisis Over the Next Year. It’s an interesting read about what may be coming just around the corner and some things that can be done to ease the potential crisis.

I love that I’m part of a church that will take challenges like this! Keep at it folks and let’s bring a great offering to church this coming weekend!

Let us know how you’re doing by commenting on this entry.

On the evening before our church’s 72-challenge, I thought that I would provide a one-serving conversion the UNIMIX emergency food recipe that we mined from WorldVision’s 30-hour Famine site. For one serving you need:

• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk powder
• Heaping 1/2 cup cornmeal (9 Tablespoons to be exact)
• 3/4 cup ground [Pinto] beans (or softened, then mashed)
• 3 Tablespoons oil

To make mine, I’m grinding my pinto beans after measuring them. Then I’m mixing all the dry ingredients together. Finally, I’m adding the oil (which in our pantry is soybean oil). Once this is all thoroughly mixed together, add water until you have an oatmeal or porridge like consistency. Then eat away. But I promise you, it won’t taste like what we’re used to!

A few notes about the recipe. First, the totals are a little funky because the recipe came to me in percentages and I wanted to scale it to one serving more or less; this is the best I can do. Second, this is a much smaller batch than I made at church, which would have sustained a hungry child for more than a day, possibly two. Third, when used in emergency situations, the mix is also fortified with additional vitamins and minerals.

As for the nutritional information of this recipe, here’s what I have for the recipe above (one serving):

*Percent Daily Values are based upon a 2,400 calorie diet.

ADDITIONAL RECIPE CONVERSION -
One Day’s Worth of Unimix (2400 Calorie Diet)

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk powder
• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 2 cups ground [Pinto] beans (or softened, then mashed)
• 1/2 cup oil

Not sure what to make of these statistics yet, but I thought I’d post them. Comment if you want!

80% of all modern church plants close their doors within their first five years. Of those that remain, only 20% (4 of the original 100) will ever have a weekend where attendance exceeds 200. (Source: a recent sermon by Mark Beeson).

The rest of the statistics come from a recent report church attendance distributions (source). In that report, data from six denominations (some mainline, some not) were compared and yielded the following:

• 40% of all churches in the US average 50 or less in weekend attendance
• 10% of all churches in the US average 350 or more in weekend attendance

Siting these and other statistics the author goes on to suggest:

As groups are able to increase in numerical size they still face relational obstacles to continued expansion… Malcolm Gladwell, drawing on the research of british Anthropologist Robin Dunbar, makes a case for the “Rule of 150.” The channel capacity of human beings, and its extension to social channel capacity, limits the number of social relationship that are a practical possibility to 147.8—or roughly 150. The Rule of 150 has been recognized as useful to a variety of groups including religious sects, businesses, and the military. 150 appears to be the practical size limit of relational based groups/churches. Beyond this point, people simply are unable to maintain expected and satisfying relational connection…

Yet, it is apparent that there are many churches that average attendance beyond the 150 mark. What is different in these cases? The author suggests:

In order for organizations, including churches, to grow larger certain realities must be faced. Sociologist Georg Simmel’s discussion of the impact of size, in terms of absolute numbers, on groups, is based on the fundamental problem of complexity. He states, “A very large number of people can constitute a unit only if there is a complex division of labor.” This is a key insight into the determination of church size, especially growth to a larger size. It basically states that in order for a small group to increase its size, the people must change the nature of their affiliation from small, informal group relationships to a complex division of labor type of organizational connectedness.

One last piece of information from yet another source:

The 200 Barrier is the “Grand daddy of them all.” It is the best known barrier and has received by far the most attention during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Nine out of ten churches average less than 350 per week in attendance. Two reasons seem to be primary: first, people enjoy being with people they know and are comfortable with and, second it becomes increasingly difficult to manage a congregation as it increases in size. In order for a congregation to break the 200 barrier the people must accept, and participate in, a fundamental change in the nature of the congregation. They must permit and support the change from a fellowship to an organization. Of course, this is a simplification of the task but it identifies the primary task.

So what do you think? Should churches grow past 150, our natural “channel capacity” for relationships? If so, why and how? If not, why not?

To add your thoughts or questions, follow this link.

I was just on World Vision’s web page looking up some information on the latest HIV/AIDS statistics and I ran across this page…where you’ll see pictures of our sponsored child, Siphesihle, among other things…

Click this link and then scroll down to the Columbia Ridge Community Church (et al) trip pictures!

Sorry this post is late in getting on the blog, we ran into some technical problems at the hotel and only now got to a hotspot in the Jo’burg airport (which means we’re just hours from heading back home, can’t hardly wait!). The story of our last day in Mhlosheni follows…

On our final day in Mhlosheni we had the privilege of meeting our sponsored child, Siphesihle (sip-a-see-la), and her family. It was a day filled with expectation and excitement as we were to be part of making her smile on a cold, rainy morning. Below you’ll see this wonderful little girl standing with us at the conclusion of our visit. More pictures will follow at the end of the post.

Before I talk about how we met and how it went, let me explain a little bit about World Vision and child sponsorship. On the way to her home I asked one of the staff about Siphesihle and how she was chosen to be one of the children who would be sponsored in the Mhlosheni ADP. The reply came quickly: “She was chosen by her own community; we don’t choose the children for the community, the community chooses those who are poorest and most at risk.” As has been the case throughout the entire trip, I was again impressed by World Vision’s model and how they seek to empower the community to make the changes the community sees a need for. They are truly teaching the community to care for the vulnerable, build up their own infrastructure, and progress to the point where they are self-sustaining. We are such a fortunate group to be partnering with both Mhlosheni and World Vision.

Still in the truck, we drove past places where Erin and I had already been. We moved past the World Vision office, past one school and then another, past the “unsafe teacher’s” house, past a bare dirt football field, and finally past the community of people living with HIV/AIDS. We were in new territory. Yet, we continued driving slowly down the rough two-lane road. After some time we turned from that onto a rough one lane road.

“She is so far out,” I thought, “how in the world does a barely seven-year-old girl make it to school and back over such a great distance?” But the distance was not yet even fully traveled. Eventually, we turned off the one-lane dirt road and into a field. It was then that our driver said that we were almost there. After driving very slowly for a minute or two (so as to avoid getting stuck) we eventually could go no further, the field was too wet and too rough for the truck. So we walked the final distance to her home.

Our meeting with Siphesihle was probably an hour long, though I don’t know for sure because watching the time was the last thing on my mind. Through our interpreter, we met with Siphesihle and her family. They were, as might be expected, shocked by the appearance of a few World Vision staff and two whites showing up at their home. The shock was not that World Vision was there, because they knew them. The shock was that we were there (in fact, we were there unannounced as there was a mix-up at the office and Siphesihle’s family wasn’t notified that she now had sponsors and that they were going to visit).

After brief introductions Erin broke the ice by giving lollypops to every child. From that point on we spent our time getting to know each child – there were seven of them altogether, Siphesihle, her four siblings, and two orphans the family had taken in. We met both mother and father, and Siphesihle’s paternal grandmother; they were all so grateful we were there.

Over the course of our time there we learned many things. We learned that Siphesihle loves her new teddy bear! We learned that the family works very hard but still can’t put enough maize away; their field simply doesn’t produce enough and so they run the risk of starvation each and every year. We learned that here is no work for the father. We learned that through all of this, they have the perspective of faith that God is near even in hunger and even in want.

When we were invited into the mud and rock built home, which was no more than 200 square feet in size, the faith that gets them through became apparent. On the wall beside a clock that no longer worked, was a chalk-drawn picture of a flower with the words: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” In this small dwelling mom had drawn a reminder of the faith and trust that would see God seeing them through.

“The Lord is my Shepherd…” The home was arrogant in its barrenness; it stood in opposition to the simple statement of faith drawn by hand on the wall. On one half there was a table and on the other half was a single bed and a few mats. The parents sleep together in the bed while the children lie on thin mats on the floor. There was no heat. That describes the entirety of their home. Yet, faith triumphs: “…I shall not want.”

In the moments we shared with Siphesihle and her family we learned so much about faith and trust. We learned that their faith was strong and that God does indeed answer prayers to provide, if even through strangers suddenly showing up on their “doorstep” to bring smiles and gifts and the commitment to see them through, month after month, through sponsorship. We also learned that God answers prayers, for we know they prayed for God’s help, and that we – you and me and our whole church – are that answer. We must be, for Siphesihle and her family, and others like her.

We will be arriving home soon and are so very excited to share more with you all at church this Saturday! Please make it a point of coming; you won’t want to miss what is shared! Not only that, but in the coming weeks, you’ll have opportunity to be for another child and family what we have become for Siphesihle and hers: the proof of a God who hears and the evidence of a God who has not forgotten.

Pastor Reed

The first picture you see is of Siphesihle and the two orphans (Nokulunga, 8 years old, and Sithembiso, his birthday is unknown, but he is likely five) that the family has taken in. In the second shot, you’ll see Siphesihle smiling brightly with one of her little sisters (Simphiwe, age five; one brother is in the background, his name is Sibonginkosi, age 18 months) – they were looking at some video I had taken. Next you’ll see Nokuthula with her two-month-old boy (Phiwayinkhosi) standing by her drawing. The penultimate picture is of the family maize drying crib. You’ll see the home in the background. Finally, you’ll see us all praying together for the family and their needs. Included in this picture is the whole family. The father’s Christian name is Solomon but we do not know his given name. One three year old sister, Nokwazi, is pictured nearest to the camera in the final picture. You will also see the grandmother standing beside her.