Why Missionaries to America?

by Joseph Parker

It has been a crazy past week celebrating Christmas with family, friends and various church events…phew!

We will be back posting as usual later in the week…but in the meantime wanted to take a quick moment to say:

Happy New Year!

May God bless and enrich your life in 2008.

by Joseph Parker

What’s your favorite Christmas story?

Yes, it may be obvious, but my favorite Christmas story ever is…

God the Father, realizing I could never measure up to His standards…

sent His only son Jesus to be born a man…

for the ultimate purpose of substituting himself on my behalf for the penalty (i.e., death) due my sins…

thereby making me legally right before God…and making it now possible for Him to adopt me into His family…

God being the hero of the story…

and I had to do nothing to earn it!

Despite the fact I deserve a heinous and terrible death for my grievous rebellion against God, His grace and mercy shown me through Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice, is the best Christmas story of all!!!

I can’t wait for kids all across America to grasp the reality of this Truth!

Tell me, what is your favorite Christmas story?

by Joseph Parker

Today is a crazy busy day for me so I will keep this short by asking a question…

Are Christian, church-based, after school programs in America doing all they can to change kids lives (KidTrek included)?

That is, are we just helping keep them off the streets and improve their grades in school…or are we applying the Great Commission to this very important ministry to kids as well?

How are we discipling them and walking with them through very important aspects of their lives?

Let me know what you think.

by Joseph Parker

I recently received an email from a KidTrek-trained adult (secondary nurturer) passing along this child’s prayer request.

You see, this child’s daddy left the family five years ago and has not been heard from since; it is believed he returned to Mexico.

I was told that whenever a conversation regarding “dads” comes up, the child becomes very sad and depressed.

Not surprising.

Yet, this child has an adult willing to make sacrifices; walking through this tragic circumstance in the child’s life.

Granted, this adult will never replace “daddy,” but God is working through this adult to introduce the child to Himself.

This side of heaven there is NO perfect father; we all sin against our children, regardless if a father sticks around or not.

But to have adults outside of the home willing to sacrifice his/her time and resources to introduce them to our Heavenly Father is imperative.

In addition, for those fathers who are trying so hard to do everything they can to provide for their children (leading to their inability to be there in ways their kids need)…

…the church needs to step up and walk alongside them.

These parents, and their kids, need adults equipped and committed to walking through the development of their children WITH them, not for them.

Please pray for this child and the thousands like “him” in America who will be celebrating this Christmas without a Father in their home.

by Joseph Parker

Critical thinking is important; not just for our kids, but for us as well.

We should be considering every angle of every decision we make, or it may affect our kids in unintended ways!

I came across a front page article in the Los Angeles Times yesterday; an investigation into the Gates Foundation inadvertent affects of Africans due to their emphasis on victims of Aids and Malaria.

Here are a few short excerpts from the article dated December 16, 2007 by Charles Piller and Doug Smith:

…The Gates Foundation has targeted AIDS, TB and malaria because of their devastating health and economic effects in sub-Saharan Africa. But a Times investigation has found that programs the foundation has funded, including those of the Global Fund and the GAVI Alliance, which finances vaccines, have had mixed influences on key measures of societal health:

* By pouring most contributions into the fight against such high-profile killers as AIDS, Gates grantees have increased the demand for specially trained, higher-paid clinicians, diverting staff from basic care. The resulting staff shortages have abandoned many children of AIDS survivors to more common killers: birth sepsis, diarrhea and asphyxia.

* The focus on a few diseases has shortchanged basic needs such as nutrition and transportation, undermining the effectiveness of the foundation’s grants. Many AIDS patients have so little food that they vomit their free AIDS pills. For lack of bus fare, others cannot get to clinics that offer lifesaving treatment….

…By 2005, health expenditures per capita in Botswana, boosted by the Gates donations, were six times the average for Africa and 21 times the amount spent in Rwanda.

Deaths from AIDS fell sharply.

But AIDS prevention largely failed. HIV continued to spread at an alarming pace. A quarter of all adults were infected in 2003, and the rate was still that high in 2005, according to the U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS. In a 2005 survey, just one in 10 adults could say how to prevent sexual transmission of HIV, despite education programs.

Meanwhile, the rate of pregnancy-related maternal deaths nearly quadrupled and the child mortality rate rose dramatically. Despite improvements in AIDS treatment, life expectancy in Botswana rose just marginally, from 41.1 years in 2000 to 41.5 years in 2005.

Dean Jamison, a health economist who was editor of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, a Gates Foundation-funded reference book, blamed the pressing needs of Botswana’s AIDS patients. But he added that the Gates Foundation effort, with its tight focus on the epidemic, may have contributed to the broader health crisis by drawing the nation’s top clinicians away from primary care and child health.

“They have an opportunity to double or triple their salaries by working on AIDS,” Jamison said. “Maybe the health ministry replaces them, maybe not.

“But if so, it is usually with less competent people.”…

…Eyes brimming with tears of frustration, Majubilee Mathibeli, the nurse at Queen II hospital who gives Moleko her pills, said four out of five of her patients ate fewer than three meals a day.

“Most of them,” she said, “are dying of hunger.”

In recent interviews in Lesotho and Rwanda, many patients described hunger so brutal that nausea prevented them from keeping their anti-AIDS pills down…

…Bill Gates told CNBC earlier this year that GAVI vaccinations had “saved several million lives.”

But experts in global vaccination programs said such claims were hard to validate because so many children in developing nations die of conditions for which no vaccine exists.

Click here to read the full article.

When working with the “widow, the orphan, and the poor,” we must consider the unintended consequences…the collateral damage…caused by our lack of thinking, lack of research, and lack of willingness to do what it will take.

Granted, some will argue the Gates cannot help everyone (which I would agree)…that they are focusing on a specific need…but if even a small portion (a few million) of that money donated (in the billions) could go toward basic health needs, they could help a lot more people than they already are.

In the context of after school programs, mentoring, walking with kids and their families through life…

What are we doing…or not doing…that could be creating inadvertent, unintentional, victims in our desire to do good?

How could our desire to do the right thing be inadvertently be causing more problems?

Are we doing everything we possibly can for the Invisible Children in America?

Let me know what you think.

by Wanda Parker

Building on Joseph’s earlier post I would like to ask: is Oprah truly the caring person she wants people to think she is?

New York, Jan 1 (ANI): Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has hit out at people who have criticised her decision to build a 40 million dollar school complex in South Africa, saying that unlike kids in America, children in the African nation yearn to learn.

In an interview with Newsweek, Winfrey revealed that she had been “frustrated” by the way American inner-circle kids did not appreciate the value of a free education, and thought the money would be better spent on kids who had a burning desire to learn, but did not have the means.

“I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn’t there,” the New York Daily News quoted her, as telling the publication.

“If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers. In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school,” she added.

She is frustrated!?

It is all about her - not what the children really need.  Because the children of America frustrate her she doesn’t want to help them.  It is like a whiney child, “You don’t make me feel good so I won’t play with you.”

I have no problem with her giving the money to the children in Africa, I have a problem with her explanation of why she won’t give to children in America.

It isn’t the children’s fault that they have wrong values - it is the fault of the adults who are raising them. It is your fault and my fault because we haven’t done enough.  We keep looking for easy fixes and there are none. 

Oprah is suppose to be this guru who knows everything!  Why can’t she see what the problem is with the children in our inner cities?  It isn’t poverty - it is poverty of the soul.  They don’t have adults in their lives who can critically think through what their real needs are.

 Oh how I would love to sit down with Oprah and talk through what American children really need.

At a KidTrek Associate ministry recently a Secondary-Nurturer was taking home a van load of teenagers when two of the girls got into a fight.  When they got to their apartments the mothers came out and started yelling at each other and cursing each other.  The police had to be called.  How are kids who are being raised by adults like this ever going to be able to become productive adults?

What if this Secondary Nurturer just gave up and said, “These kids terrified me so I’m not working with them anymore.”  (Being terrified is a lot worse than being frutrated) NO!  She isn’t going to give up.  She is willing to be terrified, to work long hard hours with little reward, to fight for these kids. Because this Secondary Nurturer cares more for the children than for herself.

This Secondary-Nurturer doesn’t have millions of dollars to give she has something worth much more - she has herself.

This is what the children of our inner cities need.  They need adults who will walk-through-life with them. 

Oprah, would you sit with me - not on television - and listen to someone who has worked with America’s children for more than 40 years and talk about what they truly need?  What do they need below the surface?  What do they need even if it makes me and you uncomfortable?  What do they need even if it means you and I have to sacrifice?

by Joseph Parker

Last year Condoleezza Rice wrote an article in Times Magazine honoring Oprah Winfrey. The article begins,

I believe influence is the union of power and purpose. As a TV star, magazine founder, businesswoman and celebrity, Oprah Winfrey certainly has power. But most important, she has purpose—an abiding commitment to the principles of goodness and generosity that transcend any one individual. I have sat with Oprah in interviews and in my home. I have felt her warmth, and I am always moved by her deep love for others. She makes you want to invite her into your life—and she invites you into hers.

Click here to read the rest of the article if you have not yet done so.

In addition to many periodicals I read, I receive Chuck Colson’s daily BreakPoint newsletter.

I wonder what the very generous, often giving, ever so popular Oprah Winfrey would say about a very powerful article Chuck Colson wrote earlier this week, entitled, The Drought.

My understanding of Oprah is that she considers herself “spiritual,” and therefore draws a large following as a result (among other reasons).

And technically, she is not wrong; being all humans were created by God and in His image…therefore making everyone “spiritual.”

But what makes us different, as Christians, from other people who claim to be “spiritual”, and why is that important?

Would Oprah see a difference between herself and a Christian? Why or why not?

As Christians who are also desiring to walk through life with the widow the orphan and the poor, how are we different?

Even the Non-believer does this!

As Christians we must critically think through not just WHAT we are doing, but WHY we are doing it…what is behind our motives?

My favorite part of Colson’s article says,

Now, I hesitate to say that God has said this or that, for fear of being presumptuous—or maybe even being dismissed as a crank. But I cannot get the thought out of my head. Sunday’s newspaper and our assigned Bible study, I suppose, could have been a coincidence, but I do not think so. I think God is speaking to the Church—notice I did not say America—today.

So what is He saying? That we have been disregarding His Word. That we have been going to church to make ourselves feel good and have our ears tickled. That therapy has replaced truth. There is more than a drought; there is a famine of reading and living by the Word of God.

I think God is telling His people to repent, to get serious about what we believe, to hunger for the Word of God, to seek holy living, and to ask God’s forgiveness…

… Everybody is worried today about climate change. Well, the first step in fixing it is to get on our knees.

What would Oprah, being “Spiritual,” say about that?

For someone that has “an abiding commitment to the principles of goodness and generosity that transcend any one individual” as Ms. Rice puts it, I would think her first response would be, “Repent? For what?”

Would the “inclusive” “loving” “generous” Oprah Winfrey (accepting of virtually any and all ways of getting to God/heaven) agree with Christian’s views?

What should we, as Christians, say? Rather…how should we respond to Colson’s challenge?

Would Oprah read this and understand this is not a politically based statement, or a general call for ALL Americans to repent or change?

This is a challenge to God’s church…to God’s chosen people to repent of their sins and cry out to Him for mercy for our arrogance, laziness and complacency.

If we truly believe in the living LORD God Almighty, and desire to see and make change we must not do as the world does…by taking immediate action…for a follower of Jesus, The Christ, action comes second…maybe third.

I am not saying activism is not important…it is…but as Christians, as the Church, we MUST begin with repenting our sins (see Nehemiah 1 and Daniel 9), and devoting quality time to seeking our God in prayer on behalf of our people if we want to see and make change happen.

by Joseph Parker

Have you heard of Edutopia?

Edutopia is The George Lucas Educational Foundation’s magazine. Although it focuses primarily on educational topics, it has for the most part, some really good stuff for us to think about in the area of academics.

The reason I bring it up now is they have just posted a survey question on their website that I think is a good one for us to ask:

Should students be graded on their social and emotional learning?

Personally, I believe this is an excellent question, one that we at KidTrek are continually working on; that is, we are continually working on how we can better develop kids’ social and emotional learning.

But should it be graded on?

The survey’s author, Sara Ring, says,

“Reading, writing, and . . . relating to others? Recently, educators have been paying a lot of attention to social and emotional learning, which includes skills such as problem solving and working well in teams. Teachers who have implemented SEL programs in their classrooms report increased productivity and fewer disruptions. The importance of SEL extends into the working world as well, where even highly intelligent employees may not succeed if they lack essential socials skills. Many agree that SEL can give students important communication tools, but it is less clear how to measure SEL achievement in academic terms. Should report cards simply notify parents of their children’s SEL strengths and weaknesses? Or should students actually be graded on their social and emotional learning?”

Visit the website by clicking here to take the actual survey (takes about two minutes), and then come back here and let us know what you think.

Should we turn children’s social and emotional learning into an academic grading system…what would be the pros and cons of tracking such a thing in children?

by Joseph Parker

I apologize if you don’t like country music, but I LOVE this song!

This song brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it.

Kids NEED adults in their lives who will model what it means to be a Christ-changed, hope-filled, productive adult.

Our kids are watching us…what message are we communicating to them?

What message do you think you SHOULD BE communicating?

Listen carefully to the lyrics…when our kids are big, will they still know what to do?

by Joseph Parker

Have you not yet thought about who the heroes in your life have been? Though many people have read my posts this week, only a couple have dared to write about it.

Please, let me know who your heroes are and why.

You see, both Matthew 18:1-10 and Isaiah 58:6-12 gives some insight into who my heroes are.

These are men and women who do not take short cuts. These are men and women who do not look for the easy or quick fix answer.

In no matter what situation, no matter what context, the Church needs men and women who are willing to accept the cost.

In Matthew 18 Jesus tells his disciples to not forget the children, to not do anything that may cause them to stumble in their belief in him; that it is better for a heavy “millstone” to be hung around their neck and be dropped in the deepest part of the ocean, than to to do this.

He goes on (at first this seems to be an apparent tangent) to talk about temptation and the result thereof. But I do not believe this was a tangent.

NO, I believe this fits perfectly with the context of this whole message…in the church what is the least desirable ministry people want to serve?

CHILDREN!

It is behind the scenes, it does not receive much accolades, it is hard and often requires sacrifice. Jesus is telling us to not forget the children…do not be tempted to forget them.

Think about how many people, now adults, who were probably NOT discipled, or truly shown who God is when they were children.

How many kids have grown to be adults who hate God today because we did not follow Matthew 18, Isaiah 58, Deuteronomy 6, Mark 10:13-16, Proverbs 22:6?

In fact, he ends this little message with a strong emphasis: I even have my angels reporting back to me about this.

WHY would the ALL knowing, ALL powerful God need an angel to report back to Him!?

He doesn’t!

I believe he says this to emphasize to us the importance of discipling and walking through life (Deuteronomy 6:7) with our kids…SO THAT they will know Him and continue to walk with him in faith throughout their life.

This passage is NOT condoning us to enable or “worship” children in some perverse way.

It is a reminder to the church: DO NOT forget the children, but most of all…do it the right way.

That is, be intentional and make the sacrifices it will take to raise a child!

Isaiah 58:6-12 is referring to God’s desire for us to live this life of sacrifice. We think fasting is the withholding of food and water, but to God it is so much more.

Are we cutting corners by simply offering after school programs?

Or…are we willing to make the needed sacrifice?

Do we think if all we do is pray and fast that will be enough?

Those of you who have been working with kids for 10, 15, 30 plus years: how many of those kids you have been working with are still walking with Jesus today?

How many of them are living “productive” lives today?

Why…why not?

And yes, God is my “superhero,” but whether you are a pastor, a missionary, a lawyer, a school teacher, or in some other “profession,” if you are an adult committed to make the sacrifices needed to walk with kids through life in an intentional, long term manner, you are being a reflection of who God IS, and YOU are my hero!

I posted another Paul Washer sermon clip below; though the emphasis of this sermon is a challenge to pastors, I believe this is a message we all need to hear…especially when it comes to walking through life with kids.

Why? Because it is easy for us to pat ourselves on the back and say, “Hey, look at what I am doing!”

We must always remember, God is the TRUE hero of this story!

This is a message I believe we all, me included, need to hear.