WESTERNIZED CHRISTIANS & LOST PEOPLE

It has been about a year ago that I posted this, yet it is worth posting again. Read through this content and ask yourself what is really important. Sadly, I see Americans so engrosed in themselves; their fears, pains and stresses. What is really important, and who really MOST needs to hear the Truth? What are you (I) going to do about it?? Read on. --Pete

What do you have? What do you do with it? The following information came from a video shown at Urbana 2000; I just saw it last night. I hope this little section may make many American Christians re-consider what they are doing with what they have. It has for me.

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WESTERNIZED CHRISTIANS & LOST PEOPLE

“Jesus said to them, ‘Friends, have you caught any fish?’”

Despite the amazing progress made in world evangelization in the last quarter century, TWO BILLION people in the world still live without the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ.

“He said to them, ‘cast the net to the other side of the boat, and you will find some’.”

An estimated Ten Thousand people groups have no indigenous Christian witness. Yet Christians are allocating only a tiny fraction of their resources to these un-reached peoples.

Worldwide, Christians earn a total of $12.3 trillion a year.

Only 1.7% is given to Christian causes of any kind.

Of this 1.7%, only 5.4% is given to foreign missions.

Of this 5.4%, only 1% goes to efforts directly focused on the people without an opportunity to hear about Jesus.

“Jesus said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’.” —Luke 10:2

95% of all people who have never heard the news of Jesus live outside of the western hemisphere; yet few western Christians will go with the gospel beyond their own borders.

(FOR INFORMATION ON THE 10/40 WINDOW,

LOOK BELOW AND CLICK HERE.)

Most, 74% of all Protestant missionaries, work among groups that are already at least nominally Christian.

Put another way, only 1 of every 20,000 Christians goes to tell the Good News to the people who actually have not heard.

“Jesus said to them; ‘Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do’.” —Mark 1:38

In the United States of America alone, there are over Thirty Thousand different Bible study guides, and over 20 different English Bible translations.

At the same time, more than three thousand languages don’t have a single printed verse of scripture.

“Jesus said to them; ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners’.” —Mark 2:17

Furthermore, over 90% of major Christian resources and media tools benefit majority Christian countries.

In short, most of our offerings to God go to meet our own needs.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?’” —Luke 15:4

Scripture quotations taken from:
New Revised Standard Version Bible Copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches in the United States of America.

Video resources courtesy of
International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
(IFES Media)

James Ewing Media Services
Jeffrey Pohorski

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19–21).

The Neighbor's Kids

I have the privelage of being neighbor to three of the best kids in town. Every once in a while their mother needs something fixed at the house, and I can usually help out. Even though I am officially not their uncle, they've tagged me as "Uncle Pete" ...which is fine since I have 19 other nieces and nephews. I've always loved kids, and it seems that the affection is mutual. I have a lot of their art on my fridge...and here's a poem that my 12 year old neighbor girl wrote about me today...



‘PETE’

We have a neighbor named Pete,
He comes down for supper to eat.
He knows how to work most cheerfully,
And he knows how to tickle my brothers and me.

He knows how to get in the attic most high,
He knows how to work as the time flies by.
He’s also strong and tall indeed,
And where low ceilings are, he always takes heed.

He likes playing tag in the yard,
He puts together fans, for him it isn’t hard.
And then when our day is through,
He comes to the kitchen, for eating he loves to do.

And then when we’re done eating together,
We tell silly jokes to one another.
Then we play till there’s no more light,
Then we sleep only half the night!

-M V
Age 12
July 2007

Mom's house...

It has been so long since I've posted anything on this blog. There's been a lot going on in my life, to say the least. I finally finished a long term goal of mine and graduated with my bachelor's degree. Even before I had the certificate, I took my official transcript to mom (who was really sick at the time) and showed them to her. She was so glad for me. February 19th, mom took her last big earthly step and walked into our Father's eternal presence. The whole family, all my five siblings and their spouses and kids were around her bed singing, reading scripture and praying as she took her last breath and slipped away. We all watched. In fact, we were singing the song that we sang at Dad's funeral back in 1980 "This World is not My Home". It was as if she were waiting for us to finish, because right after we sang the last line of the last verse ("and I can't feel at home in this world any more..."), mom let out her breath, turned a couple different colors in a matter of seconds, and is now permanently with both of her husbands. Ever since our dad passed away in 1980, mom has always said that she depends on her heavenly husband. And that is exactly what she did. She had so many stories.



Tomorrow is closing on mom's house. It's hard to believe that mom is gone, and now so is her house. She sure leaves a big hole. I walked in her house this morning like I had hundreds of times and called out really loud, "Hey mom, it's just me. Where are you?" Of course I knew she wouldn't answer, but I walked through the now completely empty house and almost expected her to be there, to have her say "I'm in here, Pete. Come on in. Sit by the bed and talk to me. How are you doing?" There are times when I really miss her; it's hard to just write this without crying. She always said that the parents are supposed to leave an inheritance for the children, and she did, but I'd rather have her. I know that the thing I miss most is the fact that I always knew that she was praying for each of us children at least every day. She was so faithful at doing that, and she let us know it too...in her own un-selfish way. Such a simple woman. Such a simple faith. Yet this woman changed this world in so many ways not just for the good, but for God. not only has she left six children that love Jesus and actively demonstrate that to others, but she has ninteen grandchildren who are all pretty much doing the same thing. If you didn't know mom, and you had ten minutes sitting in the doctor's office with her...or anywhere, at the end of that ten minutes you would be asking yourself about where you would spend eternity. Simply put, she loved Jesus, she loved people, and she wanted to make sure that everyone she came into contact with understood what really matters in life; loving Jesus. He was her Husband, her provider, her everything.

I have finally moved back "home" and have internet again. I do hope to be posting a little more regularly. I am searching for a teaching job, though, and will be concentrating on that. If anyone knows of a need for a Social Studies teacher at either the Jr. High or High School level, let me know! I'm certified in Government, Psychology and all History. I would like to be local here in NE Indiana, but many doors have closed already. God has the place for me without question. I need to be patient and let him open the right door in His timing. Speak to father that I have patience on that one!

Tomorrow I leave for New Orleans with a group of teenagers from a local church to help with recovery work. I will be gone for a week, so don't expect me to do any posting during that time.

Thanks for your patience with me on this whole thing...

God Bless You!!

Pete




ps... here's a picture of mom and dad on their honeymoon up in Canada! You can bet that I'll have more pics in the coming days and weeks...

My mom's battle with cancer

Dear family and friends,

Thank you so much for pr*yng for my mother, and I also want to update you on what has been going on with her lately.

I did tell you about the good news a few weeks ago; that her doctor said the cancer was 99% gone from all he could tell. The cancer had been responding very well to the chemo, and it had retreated to almost being unable to detect.

Almost two weeks ago, mom started getting a fever. She had, just the day before, spent about 20 minutes outside (she loves being outside-but hasn't been able to-and it has been driving her crazy!) and picked up a cough. The doctor later thought her persistent fever was due to that, and also had found a urinary tract infection (UTI) which would also cause the fever. When I took her to the doctor about a week ago, he thought it was possibly a slight case of pneumonia. Since mom has been allergic to penicillin and sulfa drugs, they did have a hard time finding an antibiotic, and then finally gave her several IV antibiotic treatments. She had one more chemo treatment to undergo before being re-examined, but was not able to take it because of her being too sick. The cough has continued, as has the fever, consistent with both fighting an infection and/or an aggressive cancer growth.

We were optimistic that the UTI and even possible phenomena were causing the consistent fever, but we weren’t completely right. Last Thursday (two days ago) we found out that they have found a spot growing very quickly on her lung, which is what has caused the cough. This is a very serious development.

Instead of taking a treatment Friday, mom has decided to allow her doctor to consult with some others over the weekend and she will make a decision Monday about what to do. She may go ahead and take a chemo treatment Monday, regardless of how she may be feeling, or she may make another decision.

During the last few weeks, things with mom have been like a yo-yo ride. Even though I do put my f*th in G*d, I have to admit I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed at times lately. As do I, my whole family (Dan, Steve, Jon, Dave, Mary Ann and their spouses and families) need your pr* ers. On top of mom’s health, this time of crisis comes at a time when my family is dealing with some other tough issues, and we all need G*d/s special gr*ce as we go through all of this.

I am confident that he who “knit me together in my mothers womb” (Ps. 139) cares enough about me (and the rest of the fam), and has the power to allow us to not just survive this, but to thrive through it all. I have endless optimism when I think of eternity! Even though things may not be headed to what I want, my father knows best, and he will bring about the best as we trust him. I'm confident of that.

Thanks again for your expressions of care and your pr*yrs.

Pete

SOME CHINA PICS

I haven't posted any China pics here, but I do have a few of them on my photosite. Go there to see the people I bought my guitar from, my counter-part eating Mongolian Noodles (yummie yummie!) and a lot of other friends that I met on the other side of the world. You can also see me at the Great Wall!

My stuff...your stuff... Anyone lending a hand??

It has been a LOOOOOONG time since I've been on this blog. Many moons and miles have passed... :)

China is the place of most note that I've been to since I've last blogged. I spent six weeks there in the capitol of Inner Mongolia teaching English and American culture to some students at Inner Mongolia Normal University. My counter-part was Moss--a real gentleman. I got to learn so much about Chinese history, culture and of course the people I spent time with. They were the real reason I went! I'll have to put some pics up soon.

We Americans are so in-grown, thinking that we are the only important place in the world. We studiously keep from learning about other places (most of us) so that we don't have to worry about too much. We have our own problems in the USA that need to be taken care of first, right? We need to take care of us before we help others.... .....I hear that so often. It is such a sad frame of mind.

In America, we have so much. If you go home at the end of the day and put a couple coins in a jar or anything similar to that, you are among the 95% of the wealthiest people in the world. Most of the population of the world are concerned with where they will get their next meal and drink of fresh water on a constant basis, we only need to think about such things typically after disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

So, what's important to you?

For just a little fun with the Chinese language and your name, check out this site... (I found it on another friends blog).