Thirsty???

Here's a note that we sent out to the CNX community about our upcoming Easter Clean Water Project.  If you are interested we'd love to have you partner with us.

Dear Friends,

Hope this finds you well in the middle of the week and looking forward to spring.  (It is coming soon, right?)

I just wanted to take a couple of minutes to fill you in on a special project our church community will be tackling over the next month and a half.  As you know, Connections Church has always had a desire to make a difference in the name of Jesus.  We trying to learn to love our neighbors- both locally and globally- as we love ourselves.  With that in mind, we've decided to partner with BLOOD WATER MISSION for their 40 Days of Water Challenge.

You can check out the links above for yourself, but here's the short version:  Over a 40 Day period (March 1- April 9), we're challenging ourselves to drink only water and keep track of what we would have spent on our usual beverages of choice.  At the end of 40 days, we'll pool the money we've saved by forgoing coffee, tea, soda, etc. and send it to Blood Water Mission to help provide clean water for people in Africa.

What will this do for them?

Every $1 we donate will provide clean drinking water for 1 African for an entire year.  (Yes, you read that right.)  Why is this important?

    * About 45% of Africans lack clean drinking water. That's approx. 311 million people.  The total current population of the US?  About 306 million. 

    * Every day in Africa, millions of parents are faced with this choice- Do I give my children tainted water and make them sick- or allow them to die of dehydration?

    * African women and children walk as many as 6 miles each day to fetch drinking water- which is often unsanitary. 

    * Sub-Saharan Africa has 10% of the world's population, but is home to 60% of the people on the planet living with HIV.

    * 15 million children are orphaned by HIV/AIDS each year.

    * Clean drinking water greatly improves the quality of life for everyone and extends the life expectancy for those living with HIV.

It's pretty easy to see why people who love Jesus would want to be involved with this kind of thing, huh?

What will this project do for us?

Or to put it another way, you might be thinking the same thing I did when I first heard about this: "I'm all for helping folks get clean water, but why should I forgo other beverages for 40 days to make it happen?  Can't I just drink what I want and still donate some cash?"  Yes- we absolutely can.  But I think we'll miss out on some real blessings and opportunities for God to stretch and change us.  Here are a few:

    * Self-Discipline.  Is that something you could use a bit more of?  I know I can.  Here's a chance for us to do some work in this area that has a direct impact on our spiritual lives. (Check out Luke 9:23-25.)

    * We are moving towards Easter.  For centuries, Christians have chosen to sacrifice things during this season (some call it Lent) to help them identify with their suffering Savior.  Maybe choosing to deny ourselves the daily pleasures of juice, coffee, soda, etc. will put us in a position to more fully appreciate Jesus' sacrifices for us and His victory over the grave.

    * Because He loves us, Jesus came to walk in our shoes.  He tells all who would follow Him to love each other, to weep with those who weep, and to carry each others' burdens.  By choosing to drink only water, we empathize in some small way with our neighbors in Africa who don't have the choices available to us.  Instead of just sending cash and continuing on with our day, we give ourselves opportunities to think of and pray for them.

Do we have to embrace a water-only beverage fast to be a part of this project?  Nope.  We can donate money and change others' lives regardless of what we choose to drink.  But if we want God to use the next 40 days to change US- we might want to give this a go.

OK, that's probably enough info for now.  We'll be talking more about the 40 Days of Water Challenge at this Sunday's (3/1) gathering.  Please join us if you are in town.

Until then, think and pray about being a part of this important project that will change lives- including ours.  And don't hesitate to holler if you've got questions.

Blessings,

Fred Turner

Lead Pastor

Connections Church

fred.turner@connectionschurch.ws

An Update From Love Wins

We're honored to partner with Love Wins- a ministry that works with the poor and homeless in downtown Raleigh.  They are doing some great work in the name of Jesus.  Check our their latest newsletter update below:

Dear Friends,

Just before Christmas, I was at a meeting of Social Justice oriented pastors. During a break, I was talking with a pastor who works for [Really Huge Denomination] at the Regional level. She is 'over' many churches, and was really interested in what we are doing. She mentioned she would like us to talk about me talking to various small groups and pastors in those churches. Then she asks me "Where is your office?". The conversation lasted about 12 seconds after I told her I work from home, but not before she said "Oh, I had no idea you were so small…".

I have to tell you, that was a little disheartening. In fact, it was downright depressing. Partly because, of course I would like to have an entry to so many churches, with the endorsements of their higher-ups. We have goals we want to accomplish that would be much easier with the support and financial backing a Really Huge Church could give us.

But the most depressing thing was that I had somehow failed to communicate that we see small as a blessing. Small, to quote the title of a book well worth reading, is beautiful.

You see, because we are small, we know the names of the people we buy shoes for. Because we are small, I can blow off the whole afternoon of appointments to go sit in a hospital room with a friend who tried to kill herself. Because we are small, I am welcome in the soup kitchens and the shelters, even if I am not so welcome in the board rooms and the churches. Because we are small, there is no need to make up metrics that justify what we are doing out here. We are free to love people and pray for peace and work for justice and have confidence that God, when all is said and done, bends that way.

That being said, all living things must either grow or decay, and Love Wins Ministries is no different. The last six weeks have found us in conversations about how we can help build more relationships between folks with houses and folks that live on the streets without becoming 'institutional' and stagnant. Or how we can capture the freedom of smallness I just described and yet be acceptable (or at least accessible) to people and organizations like that pastor lady, who values size over substance. 

Over the next few weeks and months, lots of changes will be happening. We will be discussing some things on our blog we have not before, like our boots and shoes ministry, and you will be hearing from other voices over there as well.

In the meantime, keep praying for us as we build, grow and seek the will of God while we, in our small way, keep loving folks most people would rather just went away.

 

Love Wins. Always.

 

Hugh Hollowell

http://lovewins.info