How I'm Trying To Help

Hi -

Every Saturday I get together with a dozen or so Venezuelan immigrant street vendors/musicians to eat lunch and study the Bible. In the midst of their day to day struggle to survive, it's nice for them to get out of the sun and eat a nice meal in an air-conditioned room where they can find support and camaraderie. Teaching them Biblical principles about work, and occasionally investing in small entrepreneurial projects is a good way to help my friends out, without creating a long-term dependency. We also pray and ask God to guide us and open doors, recognizing that ultimately, every good gift comes from above (James 1:17).

Saturday support lunch

It's tough sometimes to know how to help, and I've made a lot of mistakes, but with each mistake I want to learn how to do better. I really like 1 Thessalonians 5:14 which says, "And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all."

Devotional before lunch

There isn't any one formula to help all people who are struggling economically, and it takes a lot of wisdom to discern what is the right way and what isn't... Some people need to get kicked in the butt, others need to be encouraged, and still others need immediate solutions to very precarious situations. Sometimes I'm haunted by the thought of not having helped someone or a whole family enough, and it can be tempting to just throw in the towel altogether and try to ignore people's tragic reality, or detach myself from it. 

Friends Hugo and Lili praying with a struggling Venezuelan family

On the flip side, it's scary to think that I could have some kind of savior complex where I can start to believe that I'm the solution to everyone's problems. In fact, in a lot of cases, what I really need to do is just learn from my Venezuelan friends, and tell them about my own struggles. Sometimes, people don't even want me to give them money or things like that, rather, what they really want is to be heard and dignified and honored with my friendship.      

Friends

Even though my priority is to preach the gospel and establish a Bible believing church, there is an element to that that must be tangible (Isaiah 61:1-2a), and I certainly can't come up with some kind of quid pro quo where I'm only going to help others if they are Christian or they come to our Sunday morning gatherings... Nevertheless, I especially need to be sensitive to those of the household of faith, and never grow weary of doing good (Galatians 6:9-11). 

The Refuge Church in Cucuta, Colombia consisting primarily of Venezuelan immigrants

One of my friends that I'm helping out came once to our Saturday lunch and then came to our Sunday gathering a couple weeks later. I asked him why he didn't come back to the Saturday lunch, and he told me that he didn't think it was right if he didn't put God first. Wow! ...He gets around in a wheel chair and sells candy on the streets, and his wife has a little store in the entrance to their house. I told them that all the money they save up to invest in the products they sell in the store, I'll match. They are grateful, and I'm grateful to them, because they wanted to host a Bible Study in their shop, and so every Monday I meet with them there, along with their neighbors, who have also started coming to our church.      

Bible Study in George's house

Other friends I've helped out by buying portable speakers that they use to sing on the street with, and I've bought perfume if they sell that, or guitars, or a bike, or rat poison in one case - for a guy who wanted to start a rat and pest eradication business. I've bought other people food and medications, especially if they're heading back to Venezuela to provide for their families; and I've also replenished water supplies or bread if that's what they sell. I've given my friends hats and shirts and tennis shoes, and suitcases as well as just straight up cash. I'll often invite them out for a bite to eat, or let them rest in my apartment, or take them to the mall to eat ice cream. 

The most important thing I can give my friends though is my love, because without it I have nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). 

That, as well as tell them about how God demonstrated His own love towards us: in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).   

-Sam
Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/node/817

Tuk-tuk Motorized Tricycle

Jesus needed a donkey. A brand new one. And instead of buying one, he just borrowed one (Luke 19:30-34).

Recently I bought a vehicle that reminds me of a donkey, and I bought it not because I needed it, but because I think the Lord needs it, and because I think it can be fairly useful for the work that a friend and I are doing for Him in Colombia's border town with Venezuela known as Puerto Carreño.

My brand new vehicle

...Essentially it's like a motorized tricycle, and its main function is to pick up passengers as if it were a taxi, and take those passengers wherever they need to go.

And so why does the Lord need a motorized tricycle? ...Well, mainly because it provides a steady income for my friend Harry who's the one driving it (and who is the number one guy helping me start a church in Puerto Carreño); but also because it helps in taking us wherever we need to go and share the gospel, and likewise, it helps us in getting to know passengers.

Chauffeur Harry

...I basically used all my savings to buy the contraption, and, as I'll be traveling to Scotland here in a few days, I told Harry to use the 'mototaxi' and make some money in the process, and share the gospel to everyone he can until the end of December. Then, in January I'll be back so that we can both either keep planting a church in Puerto Carreño, or another solid Christian friend can join him in that effort, as I keep consolidating the church that God has entrusted me with in Cucuta (Colombia's largest border city with Venezuela).

...In both places there are lots of immigrants, Colombian locals, and indigenous people who all need to hear the gospel, and Harry and I are definitely getting after it - no pussyfooting allowed.

And by the way - one of the main places where I've gotten to share the gospel on various occasions is in a cashew plant, where I have a good relationship with the owners who let me share from the Scriptures while the cashew employees plug away at their work, taking the cashews out of their shell, and then scraping away the coating of the kernel as they meditate on God's Word... It's a pretty sweet set-up actually, and I've even become a frequent consumer of the delicious product they sell ...I mean who doesn't like cashews?

Sharing the gospel at the Cashew plant

...Anyway, if you could pray for my friends from this cashew business - that they would believe the gospel - as well as for my friend Harry and his 'mototaxi' business and his own spiritual walk with God, I would really appreciate it.

The last day that Harry and I were hanging out after I had shared a gospel message at the cashew plant and I was driving my tuk-tuk to the airport - I told Harry that the vehicle sort of reminded me of a modern day donkey. I told Harry that as he would be using the thing to transport people around for the next month or so - to always do it with the same excellence and care that he would as if he was transporting Jesus himself.

And so far, it seems like his customers have been very well pleased.

-Sam

Plant, Lead, Repeat

Hi -

A couple weeks ago I was discouraged when the leaders of the church I helped plant and lead for the past 4 years in Bogota decided to veto my proposition to commend Alejandra as a missionary to a small border town in Colombia.

Iglesia Parkway Leadership Team

The decision surprised me, because we had previously sent Alejandra to Puerto Carreño on an exploratory trip, and she loved it ...She made a lot of valuable contacts, and the town seemed safe (even though I don't think safety should be a main factor in determining where someone should serve), and yeah, I don't know... I guess I just thought that a lot of things about the location made it a great set-up in which she could thrive, and the gospel could keep going forth among many displaced Venezuelans... We even had the financial backing of a women's Bible study group, but... "no deal" was Iglesia Parkway's leadership team's final response.

...I didn't like the decision, but the underlying thing which I did like, was that the decision was official ...I like what that represents, because it shows that my opinion isn't the only one that matters, and that our church has correctly evolved into a plural leadership structure in which I am just a voice. I'm a valid voice, yes, but not the only voice... Christ Himself is the Head, and the rest of us work together in love.

In fact, I'm not even living in Bogota anymore, and instead, I'm based out of Cucuta (Colombia's largest border city with Venezuela), leading a church that is finally in motion, after having gone through 3 different stages of 3 different groups that each came together fast, and then dissolved just as quickly, as my sojourner friends went off to other cities looking for more opportunities.     

...This church has been a long time coming, but God has brought together a good group of us to worship Him and know Him more, and we're off to a good start.

Cucuta Church Bible Study

And by the way - besides this new church plant, there are two other groups that have emerged from Iglesia Parkway: one in the Center of Bogota, and the other up in the mountains. Would you please pray for each of these?

Some members from Iglesia Parkway, Family Church, and Iglesia Central Park

...Even though my main priority right now is to consolidate the church God has entrusted me with in Cucuta - Puerto Carreño remains on my heart as well, and in the beginning of November I'm going to take a friend down there with me, both to keep discipling him, and be able to work together with him, as we try to lay the ground work for a new church that may ensue (click here to see a recap video from my first visit to this town, and be sure to click the English subtitle option if you don't know Spanish!)...    

Big man Harry and I

My friend's name is Harry, and I first met him in the mall where he sold smoothies. We then went to play basketball a couple times, and since then we've become good friends... He believes in Jesus, and he's absorbing just about everything I teach him, and you can see him progressing a lot in his faith, in both our mid-week Bible studies and our Sunday services... He's a solid guy and consistent, and wants to get more involved in ministry... I honestly think he'll do very well, and I'm also just looking forward to hanging out with him some more, and playing a bit of basketball every once in a while.

...Right now the plan is for Harry and I to leave at the beginning of November and give it our best shot there in Puerto Carreño, while the other believers from our church in Cucuta will keep studying the Scriptures together and praising God in our weekly meetings... Then, in December Lord willing, Harry will make it back here to Cucuta, as I'll fly out to the States and then Scotland, where I'm looking forward to spending some time with a church there, that is looking into commending me as a missionary...

Pastor Jim Crooks and I outside Tanside Christian Fellowship

It would be so awesome if that actually came through, because I'll take all the prayer and help I can get.

...Knowing how meaningful it would be for me to receive a commendation like this, I'm just sad that for now, Alejandra won't get the same experience... I think she has tons of potential, and for the past 4 years I've seen God use her in so many ways - especially in my own life. The world needs more people like her, and particularly in places like the border cities of Colombia with Venezuela - Alejandra would be invaluable. 

It's risky business though, because once you get that church planting bug inside of you - you never want to stop.

Alejandra planting plants, which is the same as planting churches, but different, and yet I think she is capable of both.

-Sam

Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/node/817
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Overview of Church Planting Effort Among Venezuelan Immigrants in Cucuta

Street preaching in Cucuta

Hi from Cucuta - Colombia's border city with the fragile country of Venezuela.

After travelling back and forth from Bogota to this frontier city for about a year now, and trying anything I can think of to plant a church, I finally feel like I’m pretty close.

...While there were previously always glimmers of hope, for various reasons, the multiple initial church groups that would sporadically spring to life, in just a matter of months, would always end up dissolving... The gospel is being preached, and people are responding favorably, but the main challenge has always been that many of my immigrant friends are super transitory, and very unstable both economically and emotionally. That, and how my time in Cucuta is so limited, has made it tough to get a real church off the ground...

Cucuta ministry throughout this past year

Meal sharing, food and clothing distribution, sporting events, informal job accompaniment, as well as evangelistic gatherings and Bible studies are attractive (and more effective here than what I've seen in other places), but having that continuity of the same people coming to the same meetings day in and day out has been what’s lacking. 

Therefore, a while back I invited 3 immigrant friends from Cucuta to stay in my apartment in Bogota, hoping that one day they could go back and help lead the group we were trying to form in Cucuta... The idea was sound, and since I was going to be traveling to Scotland and the Faroes a bit later, I was happy to have my friends stay in my apartment in the meantime and get acquainted with our church in Bogota.    

My 3 friends I invited to stay in my apartment in Bogota

The idea backfired on me, and instead of growing in maturity and love, the 3 fellows didn’t want to work or relate well with our church, and much less go back to serve the group in Cucuta... 2 of them got baptized, which was great, but sadly it was the very one who had the strongest Christian background who ended up being the most divisive.  

...I got back from an incredible trip in Scotland and the Faroe Islands, and I was back to the drawing board to see what else I could do.

While in Cucuta again I saw some good qualities in another Venezuelan street musician (Gabriel), and I took the risk of inviting him and his wife and baby daughter back to Bogota with me to give it another shot, knowing that it’s indispensable to have at least one go-to guy to help in leading the potential church.

    

My girlfriend Alejandra with Gabriel, Yurbey, Gabrielita, and I

For about a month before Holy Week, Gabriel and his family got involved in our church community while absorbing everything I was teaching them. Gabriel was thankful and had a good attitude, while taking advantage of his time in Bogota to save some money and start to envision what a church back in Cucuta could look like. After a good 4 weeks of holistic discipleship, we then returned to Cucuta along with my girlfriend Alejandra and a team of about 20 students and teachers from the Christian school I attended when I was a kid. When we arrived, the missions team and I stayed in a hotel where approximately 80 Venezuelan military or police dissidents were staying, whom we got to share life and the gospel with... It was so awesome! 

El Camino Academy Cucuta Missions Team

After an intense week of ministry (click here to watch a video recap), Alejandra and my street musician friend Gabriel and his family stayed in Cucuta while I returned to Bogota again with the high school missions team... Preaching in my own stomping grounds of Parkway Church and having the privilege of speaking in a few other churches and gatherings elsewhere in Bogota was great - but I couldn't wait to get back to Cucuta to see my lovely girlfriend, as well as reunite with some of the defector Venezuelan military friends I got to meet while in Cucuta previously.

Half of the Wednesday night Bible study group

Alejandra did a great job for 3 weeks keeping the group alive, and here I am again with her and another friend from Bogota (Alex), as well as Gabriel and his family and a handful of other Venezuelan immigrants (among them about 5 military dissident families) and I feel like we're on the right track... On Sundays we have a 2-hour church service with around 30 in attendance, and on Wednesdays we have an interactive Bible study with about 15... The difference with this group as opposed to others is that it's a bit more stable, even though that word "stable" I use very loosely, because even if my present friends are somewhat more situated than other immigrants - they're still in a very delicate position when you consider everything they're going through.

I know homesickness and cabin fever aren't real sicknesses, but they're definitely super real symptoms of my Venezuelan military dissident friends who are confined to living inside a crowded hotel with the perpetual uncertainty of not knowing what Juan Guaido's de facto administration will do with them. 

At the illegal Venezuelan-Colombia crossing with awesome friends Robbie and Paul

Meanwhile, I can't think of anything better for someone in a situation like this, than to have their eyes opened to the wonderful truths of the Word where they can know that they're loved by a good God who gave them his only Son to free them of all sin... I know of no better place where frightened and frustrated people can be valued and dignified than within a vibrant Christ-centered community of loving people who care about others even above themselves... I believe that instead of living in fear and despair, God can provide anyone who dares to believe, a real hope and peace and purpose through faith in Jesus, irrespective of all the calamities taking place around... I also believe that the way that others can know this salvation is through the proclamation of the gospel, from the lips of broken but emboldened believers like you and I.  

So that's what I'm going for.

ECA teacher Paul Kwon with hodgepodge group of military dissidents, Venezuelan immigrants, and I

-Sam Killlins  

Missionary Profile: www.cmml.us/node/817 

  

The Birth of a True Leader

About 1300 years before Christ there was famine in the land of Judah, and so a man with his wife and two sons left their home town of Bethlehem, and immigrated to the land of Moab. There this family's sons each married a Moabite, thus separating themselves even more from their home country... Later on, the father and his two sons died, leaving their widowed and childless mother alone, both destitute and depressed, to fend for herself in a land not her own.

In the midst of this woman's anguish she heard news that the Lord had visited his people, and given them food... After not being able to convince one of her daughter's in law to stay in Moab, the two of them sojourned to Bethlehem where the Lord provided a kinsman redeemer.

In a major turn of events, this widowed daughter in law remarried and gave birth to a son, thus bringing tremendous joy to herself and her mother in law... It's this tragic yet redemptive story of immigrants and foreigners that serves as the backdrop for the ultimate redemptive story of Christmas.

3 generations later, a shepherd boy from that same town of Bethlehem was God's unlikely choice as the future king of Israel. He was improbable in age and stature, but dead on in integrity and courage... A true shepherd who knew how to look out for his flock, and a courageous warrior who stood up to the scariest of foes. He was a man after God's own heart, who sought God's approval and presence more than anything else.

This king united Israel, conquered Jerusalem, and brought the Ark of the Covenant to it's final resting place. God promised him that his house and his kingdom would endure, and his throne would be established forever - and so it is. To this day this unlikely shepherd boy's kingdom endures because it is through his offspring that the ultimate Shepherd and King was born. 

1000 years later, both kings and shepherds in the town of Bethlehem gathered to behold the ultimate newborn King and Shepherd there before them. He, like his great grandmother from Moab, at a very young age became an immigrant, along with his parents, to find refuge from an insecure and ruthless king. Ironically, this immigrant boy spent part of his years growing up in the "sanctuary country" of Egypt that had formerly enslaved the very people he specifically came to save. The fact that he had been born in Bethlehem was the qualification for his death threat as a baby, and the misunderstanding of thinking that he was from Nazareth, became another qualification for his death threat as an adult. And yet this man's real home was neither Bethlehem, nor Egypt, nor Nazareth but Heaven itself, from which he had immigrated to this Earth to become all that which his ancestors had foreshadowed and foretold. 

Especially one of his great grandfathers from Ur of the Chaldees, the patriarch of patriarchs, who also immigrated all over the place - this man once received a promise from God that he would bless him and his offspring so that his offspring would in turn bless the whole world... That promise was given about 1500 years before its fulfillment, but when it arrived it effectively became valid for everyone who has lived and is living 2000 years since.

And it all came about through this one man: the ultimate foreshadowed and foretold Redeemer, Shepherd, and King born in Bethlehem 2019 years ago.

His name is Jesus.    

Finally in his 30's, this wonderful Jesus called out a terrible ruler who had beheaded his cousin. This ruler was the son of the former tyrant who had tried to kill Jesus as a baby, and was everything a sick and depraved and terrible ruler should be, and therefore, the exact opposite of the true and loving sacrificial leader Jesus is. 

Immediately after making reference to this wretched oppressor as a fox, Jesus then expressed his profound longing to gather and protect everyone linked to his own lineage like the way a hen would gather her chicks, but they were not willing... The irony of the situation is that many of those who were most closely related to Jesus by blood and who lived there in the holiest city of the world where Jesus was standing at the time, failed to accept him as the true leader that he was... 

Much like a hen who sacrifices herself to save the life of her chicks, Jesus sacrificed himself to save all those who would come to him as the ultimate Redeemer, Shepherd, King, and... I suppose we could also say "Hen" of the world.

Condemning Vs. Commending Missionaries

In the ongoing debate of immigration policy there is an anti-immigrant senator from Australia who commends the assassination of missionary John Allen Chau by the isolated indigenous people living on North Sentinel Island as though it were a good thing.

Australian Senator Pauline Hanson argues that Chau had no business "invading" the remote island, and thus justifies her own disregard towards immigrants, or missionaries even, as if they were all a menace to society.   

The illustration is full of contradictions and irony (like the fact that Hanson is Anglo Saxon which under her philosophy would exclude her from the right to even live in and much less govern Australia - a country technically of the Aborigines - who would be most comparable to the Sentinelese, not her)... But despite the political, racial, and religious issues involved, the point that Hanson tries to make of it being proper to kill other human beings entirely because those human beings are different, is extremely preposterous.

Hanson commends savage and ferocious behavior under the guise of "protection of culture", and by doing so exalts sin as if it were a virtue.

There are all sorts of things I wish I could say about the situation, but what I'm most interested in is this idea of "commendation."   

When you evaluate everything that went down in North Sentinel Island on November 17, 2018 when John Chau was killed, everyone who hears this story is ultimately forced to decide who to commend within the aftermath. Do you commend the Sentinelese like Pauline Hanson for defending their culture? or do you commend John Chau for sacrificing everything he had out of love for God and the Sentinelese?

What's discouragingly noticeable to me in my research of Chau's story, is that before the incident, apparently he was never officially commended by any local church in the States or elsewhere before embarking on this daring mission. Why, I wonder? Was it because Chau had no interest in churches? ...or was it because no church had any interest in him? I don't know the answer to that question, but my guess is that it's the latter as opposed to the former... Sure, churches like to talk about evangelism and missions and their love for the lost, but how many leaders of churches are truly willing to send out their qualified youth so they can share the gospel to the ends of the earth, and to even financially support these young people as they adapt to a different culture, master a foreign language, and lovingly share Christ with anyone they can?

My awesome elders who daringly sent me out in the care of the Holy Spirit to the Colombian mission field in 2009

...I know a few leaders of churches who would, and who even put their money where there mouth is by supporting my own life and ministry specifically (and those of you reading this know exactly who you are - and I can't even tell you how grateful I am to God for each one of you), but sadly I also know of a few other church leaders or even Christians in general who don't care very much about Christ's great commission, maybe because the subject is too complicated, as we can see from the example of John Chau... "Commend a guy like John? No way josé," church elders would think, "we would rather the young men in our congregation save up to buy fancy cars and houses and marry pretty wives so they can live comfortable suburban lifestyles and show up to our Sunday morning services and faithfully deposit their juicy checks in our tithing baskets so we can buy nicer church buildings and occasionally send our youth groups to exciting amusement parks."

...Okay, maybe I went a little too far with that, but I still think it's sad how comparably small the percentage of resources invested in world missions is by the evangelical church at large, compared to other causes... Or then again, who even cares about the money? what if we just talked about empowering our church members, both guys and girls equally, to serve Christ without any reservations, in any capacity we can think of, no matter what the cost?... What are we so scared of? That someone might get killed like John Chau and have the whole situation turn into a worldwide spectacle? ...I can see how that is something worth avoiding, but I just wish there were more people out there willing to count the cost and go for it, and serve Christ unreservedly, because the reward in Him is far greater than any material, emotional, or even physical loss we can imagine.                 

John Allen Chau's recent martyrdom has re-awaken in me that single minded drive to preach Christ crucified, cost it what it may, to anyone I can, even to the ends of the Earth...

After preparing myself in every way I could, back in July of 2009, there were two church elders who took the chance in commending me to the mission field, and since then I've started a few churches and am helping start a few more. The missionary service organization I'm affiliated with has recently asked me to get a new commendation for 2019, and I honestly don't know what's going to happen. Does anyone care?

I know there are plenty of people who criticize John for recklessly "losing his life" for Christ to the Sentinelese, but if he were a part of one of the churches that I've started in Colombia, I think I would have laid my hands on him in commending him to the mission field with seriousness and an understanding of what is at stake.

There are some who look upon this polarizing situation as a terrible mistake; I see it as an example of someone who was living for Jesus more than himself, and who carefully counted the cost of what he was doing, knowing full well that the worst that could happen was something far better than anything imaginable (Philippians 2:11). The best thing that could have happened would have been that the Sentinelese would have started to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior while they, along with John, would have awaited Christ's return...

John beat me to Jesus's presence, and I doubt he really cares about what everyone else is saying about him here on Earth. I'm sure the only words that mattered to him back on November 17th were the ones that Jesus pronounced when he stood up to tell him "Well done my good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:23) as he welcomed him into Heaven's glory.

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Articles Referenced:

1st Picture

Article by the Gospel Coalition

Article by the Washington Post

Article by New York Times

Wikipedia

Yahoo news

Thanksgiving Without Walls

While the first wave of Central American immigrants from the caravan that Trump fears so much has arrived at the American border; simultaneously there are thousands of Venezuelan immigrants arriving at Colombia's border as well, and crossing it, both legally and illegally. 

Thousands of Venezuelans and I waiting to cross into Colombia

American President Donald Trump considers the immigrant caravan in Mexico a "national emergency" and has deployed thousands of troops to the American Southern border to secure it's wall.

But instead of fearing what immigrants may or may not do in either Colombia or the States, I think the church needs to urgently mobilize itself to receive foreigners in love, and share the gospel with every newcomer as best as we can.      

In Ephesians 2 Paul talks about Christ breaking down the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles, thereby reconciling us both to God in one body through the cross (v. 14-16).

While many like to build walls to separate us from those who are different - Jesus came to give eternal citizenship to those who are near and those who are far off (v. 17-19).

Thanksgiving was invented to remind us of how indigenous locals helped our immigrant ancestors survive the winter, and give God thanks.

So instead of building bigger walls, our nation should be setting bigger tables to bring near through love and the proclamation of Christ, those who have been alienated and separated from God (v. 12- 13). Irregardless of race, economic level, or legal status.