A Spirit of Generosity

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.  Rather, be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.  Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing.  He may them appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.  Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.  There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. 

- Deut. 15:7-11 

Living in consumerism America, it can be so easy to get caught up in the things of this world.  Everyday, we are attacked with messages from the media that encourage us to spend more and focus more on ourselves.  We feed our addictions, holding on to what's "rightfully ours" with a clenched fist.  All the while, we seem to forget that what's "rightfully ours," is not even ours to begin with.  "For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it" (1 Tim. 6:7).  Jesus Christ is the Father of all good things.  It is Jesus that gives us any good that we experience on this earth.  And it is Jesus that chooses to bless us, under a certain stipulation: we are to be a generous people.

An article recently came through my inbox titled "Generosity is the New Evangelism."  Written by Chris Willard and Jim Sheppard, the article talks about creating a culture of giving in your church.  I believe that what they said transcends the church.  Here's a snippet:

The truth is that God doesn't need our money, but He knows that our orientation toward money reflects our obedience to the Lordship of Christ and how well we grasp that he is the source of all we have.  As followers of Christ, our goal in life is not gaining power, possession, or prestige for ourselves.  We exist, along with the entire body of Christ, to fulfill the Great Commission until Christ's return.  Generosity offers one of the most powerful ways for us to leverage the blessings of God for the advancement of the Kingdom.  Best of all, when the church acts with generosity to serve others, it is a clear picture of Christ, who generously gave his life and all He had on the cross that we might find life forever. 

I would encourage you to read the rest of the article, which can be found here.  If the book this article is based from interests you, head over here.  Fall is the perfect season to start planning ahead for next year's mission trip.  If it's been awhile since your group has participated with Christ For the City, let me remind you of some of our offerings.

Urban Plunge: Urban Plunge trips happen year-round in Omaha and Lincoln, NE, Sioux Falls, SD, Des Moines, IA, Kansas City, MO, and Dallas, TX.  We offer customized trips from one-day to week long.  While Urban Plunge is for youth and adults of all ages, it is a great introduction to missions for the younger generation.  We still have openings for this fall and winter, so contact julie@cfci.org for more information.

Mission Teams:  CFCI offers 7-10 day mission trips that are perfect for your church or group.  We'd love to have you serve in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia,  or Peru.  What grabs your attention?  Contact shawn@cfci.org to get details.

Short-term Missionary:  Perhaps, you are an individual with a call to serve.  We can meet your needs, too!  Go to Argentina, Bolivia, Columbia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Mali, Spain, or the U.S.  We coordinate trips for one-month to a year.  To discuss your options for ministering, contact dick@cfci.org.

Be blessed,

Julie      

Simply Go.... And Receive Much

Christ For the City is extremely blessed to have some awesome Short-term Individuals that give of themselves to serve with us on the mission field.  One such person is Sabrina Slater, who just recently arrived to Brazil.  The following is an excerpt from a post of hers titled "Lessons from the Amazon... Day 2".

In the silence of not yet fully understanding and having command of Portuguese, all I can do is talk with GOD, all I can do is meditate on His word, all I can do is pray.  Ah, may I seek Him at all times, but may the lessons of the silence permeate the rhythm of my life.  Behold... "See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up, do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland" (Isaiah 43:19).  

If you would like to follow Sabrina's blog, head on over to: sabrinaslater.tumblr.com.  I'm sure she'd love to have you!


Sabrina's not the only one being impacted.  Pam Tullman, who's serving over in Peru, is, too.  A couple days ago, she shared the following story:

On Saturday, I worked with about 40 kids, ages 9-12.  I showed a short video, and shared on the topic of dreams, and trusting God with our lives.  I did a symbolic activity with the kids.  Jamie, a new friend from the church, made a big tree.  I had each kid put their hand (with paint) on the tree like leaves as a way to give God their lives.  They all made the decision to hand over their dreams and futures to the Lord, trusting that no matter what they go through in life, God's plan is best.  Sometimes, life will be hard and we won't understand why things are happening the way they are, but we have to truly know and believe with all of our heart that the Lord is in control, and is worthy to be trusted.  It was beautiful to see 40 kids placing their lives and futures in God's hands.

 Such a cool story, Pam!  Check out what else she has on her blog: followingavision.wordpress.com.

Does being a Short-term Individual with CFCI interest you?  If so, find out more information on our website.   We can't wait to serve with you!

Testimony from Tyler

We always love to hear testimonies from our individuals on the field.  Tyler Champagne, one of our Short-term Individuals, is serving with us in Bolivia until April 5th.  Last week, we received the following email from him and wanted to share it with you all.  He wrote about how his life will change upon returning to the states.  Enjoy, and be inspired by what Tyler is taking away from his experience in Bolivia!

Lifestyle changes.  Where to begin....  I think the biggest thing will be putting God number one in my life, all the time.  This is very hard to do as a 26 year old in the states.  There are many distractions and temptations.  This experience has really put my focus into place.  How this will transcend into back in the states?  I'm not sure if I told you about the International Outreach my church does at a local university.  I plan on getting deep into this when I return.  I want to really get after the Spanish speaking students and get them to come to church with me and form great friendships.   

One thing I love about Cochabamba and my friends here, we all hang out together all weekend.  This hanging out mainly includes church related activities.  This keeps us focused on God and away from weekend temptations.  I have a great group of about 7 or 8 friends that are all near my age.  On Saturday nights, we have service together.  Many of them play the music for service on Sunday mornings, so they rehearse both Saturday night and Sunday morning.  For Saturday, everything goes from around 4:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.  Then, we all get dinner together before calling it a night.  We meet back up at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning, rehearse, have prayer time, service time, then go out to eat as a church.  We're done at 2:00 usually.  But then, we meet back up at 4:00 to play sports together and get dinner after.  I return home around 9:00 on this evening. 

I absolutely love my Sundays!  I hope to bring part of this back to the states.  As Americans, we are content with just giving one hour per week to God and thinking that's good.  I have learned this is far from enough!  I hope to have success with the International Outreach back home.  We do an open house thing on Sunday afternoons from 12:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.  My goal is to eventually get many people to show and to have a great outreach.   

To summarize, I am more focused on keeping God as my top priority at all times when I return home.  This was not the case before my trip.  It most certainly will be after.

 Thanks for sharing, Tyler!  We're so happy God is working in your life!