I don’t ever want to stop being amazed. Some people think that faith sets our expectations with such certainty that we should not be surprised when God does something incredible.  I’m not personally partial to that tack.  I like praying and following my heart as it looks through a darkened glass trying to sort out what’s God’s purpose and Wayne’s preferences.  And I enjoy being constantly amazed with wonder and visceral gratefulness every time he makes himself known through moments large and small.  This day has pushed me over the edge with such awe and thankfulness that I am completely undone!

I recorded a podcast this morning (for tomorrow) and during part of it I update people on what our friends in Kenya hoped to do for the people in West Pokot that have been dying because of drought and unsanitary conditions. We helped finance a team to take relief water and food to them last month for $62,000.   But they came back with a vision on their heart to build four classrooms and a dispensary (pharmacy) there to help those dear people.  The cost of doing so would be $41,000.00.  They also wanted to drill three wells, with solar-powered pumps to provide water for them at a cost of $93,000.   I thought the $62,000 was a big deal, I had no idea how God would find us $135,000 for these projects.  

Two days ago I returned a phone call to someone in Texas who had called while I was on the east coast.  He asked me what I needed for Kenya and I told him about the classrooms and dispensary for which I already had a budget.  He said he would send me the money for that.  He asked what else we needed and I told him about the wells they wanted to drill, but I did not yet have a plan of how to do that or the costs involved.  He said let me know when I did.  Today he called me to tell me he and his wife wanted to pay for all the wells and would be sending me $93,000.00  

Before I was even able to make that need known, God had already supplied for it!  As I type this I am exploding with gratefulness at God’s provision for the people in West Pokot. The amount was overwhelming and my heart hurt for those suffering.  This gift will change their lives forever, saving many from certain death and carving out a hopeful future for them.  This whole process has opened them to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus.  If you haven’t read about it, check out the blog here.  

Generosity is a conduit for the kingdom, whether it means being able to give $135,000 to provide education, needed drugs, or water to 120,000 forgotten people in the bush of Kenya, or simply buying a $5.00 meal for a homeless person and offering them your friendship or volunteering to watch a distressed mother’s children while she takes a break.  Freely you have received, freely give.  The size is never what matters, only a heart that will put someone else’s need above my own preferences.  

Finishing up in Virginia this weekend, and have had an awesome time. Today’s podcast reflects on some of the experiences of my first week here.  I’m really excited about the folks that will be coming together this weekend.  I’m staying in the home of some amazing people who have weathered a deep tragedy in their own lives and have come out on the other side more whole, alive, and free in Jesus.  Their only daughter was murdered in the Virginia Tech massacre a number of years ago.  Out of a despicable tragedy, God has worked great life and mercy.  Plus we have people coming in tonight and tomorrow from all over.  

Editing the first chapter of Finding Church this morning, I thought I’d lift these paragraphs to share with you.  What if your discouragement is not due to the failures of humanity around you, but God inviting you into a wider and more fulfilling space?

If you share that same frustration I do in the disparity between the church as Scripture talks about her and what we see reflected in our religious institutions, you’re not alone.  You’re standing in a long line that includes the likes of Francis of Assisi, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, John Wesley, and nameless others who dared to ask the difficult questions and struggled with the uncomfortable answers.    And just maybe your growing disillusionment is not the proof of his failing, but the evidence of his working. 

What if he is actually behind this move away from institutionalized Christianity as he invites people into a simpler and more effective way to express the reality of his family in the world?  What if that church has been growing in the world since the Day of Pentecost, and we’ve missed it not because it wasn’t there but because we were so distracted by human attempts to build our own version of church that we missed the more glorious church Jesus is building?  I know that may be difficult to consider if you’ve only known church as the sanctioned institutions that use the label.  But it may well be worth asking if you no longer feel at home in what you’ve believed to be the church.

The people I’ve met and the places I’ve been this past week only make me ever-more-certain this is so.

Last month we found out about 634 families who were starving to death in the northwest regions of Kenya, which is far beyond any government services or NGO outreach.  Through your generosity in prayer within two weeks we received almost $50,000 to share with them in this outreach to bring water, food, and a medical team into that region.  Below is the report I received from them and pictures (below) to accompany it.  It is a whale of a read!  It touched me very deeply, not only by what God did there, but by what God did here to bring the resources together to help them.  The challenges are great there, but the money we sent allowed some incredible volunteers to go up into that region and serve these people from a very primitive culture, not just to relieve their suffering, but help carve out a better future for them. Enjoy this!  It’s incredibly powerful and a wonderful insight into a very small corner of the world.  

I.G.E.M, Living Loved mission camping in Northern parts of Kenya
Mathew 25:31-40
April 14-23, 2014

We started our journey with, the convoy of vehicles, which was supported by the Kenyans volunteers. After hearing that the brothers and sisters from oversees have stretched dearly their hands towards the Kenyan families who were in need. These alerted them make them attention for what is taking place in Northern parts. We didn’t expect to be accompanied with huge number of volunteers but we didn’t expect to serve more than 12000 people.

We budgeted for 614 families and other more 231 were added walking from far different places, some of them reach in the night and some came when sick. These added to our budget and because of this we extended more days due to huge number of people.

Our doctors and nurses work tirelessly for seven days without resting; this are amazing grace. Other volunteers team were transporting maize to the villages using the bicycles. Our hiring truck for transporting food went ahead of us two days before we reach, leaded by brother Emmanuel Loriono and Brother Michael Wamukota, escorted by local security and we met when the local arrangement has been done, so it eased our work to serve them.
We depart on 14th at 03:00 a.m and we arrived on 15th in the morning, immediately we started the work for the first village and we took three days. Second we started at night and we took more three days and we went to another village again and took two days where we met other added families, in these last villages we served more and unexpected numbers of people,.

In the first trip, the road was bad and we decided to walk 15 km down the steep slope, after we reached their the local government received us in a high note.  They said that it is God who visited them because no one who has done these things for them especially in this remote and interior place.  No NGOs who has penetrated in these areas.  We got the people camped already because they saw food before we arrived, they jumped singing and rejoicing , interpretation of their language, they sing that we have you God through your people for visiting our village.  The old people were remaining in the village due to no strength and affected by hunger, we decided to send our volunteers team taking the food to the villages as you may seen in the pictures, the treatment were taking place, even during the night people are still coming. And even old people our nurses visited them in their village for treatment.

About the water we were told and we saw there is one NGO sponsored by drill water for more than 40 km from the place we were, the women can walk for that km to fetch water. We were also told, since the sun is hot in the region the women walked as a team as from 07:00p.m and return to the village 09:00 a.m in the morning, it means that two and fro they walk 80km. and they utilize the water for three days for 20L, remember one family is not having less than 15 people, it means that they cannot wash their hands using water, they cannot wash any utensil but for utensil they use animals urine, these is risks areas I never experienced in my life.

Because of these, many families died because of disease and more children affected by marasmus for the lack of food and nutrients. And when members of their family died they throw in the bushes, for three days or four wild animals e.g. hyena and wild dog eats the body. And for these reason, there is outbreak of various diseases. In those areas also there are no toilets, people just go anywhere and they don’t fear anybody or feel shame.

There is no hospital around, they rely on indigenous plants and roots, we tried to inquire if it cures but they told us, that sometimes it is risk because they can vomit and diarrhea for four days and those who succeed in that process get healed and those not they died, so we asked them how they feel about the treatment and the hospital, and they comment that they feel good. One young man who can spoke little Swahili told us that, they were counted among the animals because no one cares.

About food, we asked them how they survived in all these years.  This young man makes us to laugh and he said “he read somewhere in the book of Daniel, that meshack, shadrack and Abednego survived by eating little water and millet and he added and said that Jesus man cannot lived just for the bread but just through the word of God, which means they live by the ability of the grace of God. They said again, sometimes they can boil some roots mingling with the honey and they just count a day.

About the cattle, they said that their life is the cattle, they eat blood, milk and survived on meat , and during three years back there is persistent drought many cattle died and goats, so they are blaming the drought has contributed to their trouble but we ask them, “how do you understand about God” and they said that, “they have tired about their god who doesn’t hear them and bring the rain and they said again that every year they must bring goats and cattle for sacrificial but three backs their god has not answer them, so now their congratulating the God who is called Jesus Christ because they have seen food, water and medicine from other people who came from other region came and embrace them.

One old man told the team, that he will never believe that God till he sees the flowing water, from the drying ground pointed with his staff. And said again if we get the water we will get the life to our families, animals and it will be end of our suffering.  He added we will a shame their ancestors whom they have worship in Mount Kandam in all generation.  We asked him how many families do you have? And he said I have five wives with more than 37 children. Have you educated your children? And said for what benefit? And he makes us to laugh, what is the school? Is the school brought water, and then if it is that I will let my children to learn.

General long-term vision for these regions: 

We have more than 110 villages which have not been reached by anyone else, some they don’t want to be identify because of their external attack from the neighboring communities, because of this they suffer a lot. So if God’s open ways here’s what we hope to do:

 

• Wells.  If these villages can get one bore hole each can serve about three hundred families
• Dispensaries.  if five villages can get one dispensary it will can serve more 1500 families from one village to the other is approximately 15km away and for them these km are very near. We need to buy  the drilling machine and it’s truck, compressor and all facilities belong for drilling machine.   After the boreholes have been drilled, we will need to be accompanied with qualified volunteers, builders/mason. They will build the stream and fixing the pipes and water pumps in order even a small child can be able to access water easily. And after finishing one borehole we extend to another one, so the work of building the borehole will need wire mesh, pipes and iron bars, waterproof and cement. Buying the drilling it will be cheaper compared to hiring, because hiring for drilling one borehole is about 2.5m Kenyan shilling equivalent to $30,000 USD and this can be hired from NGOs and drilling company in Kenya.
• School.   We have large and huge number of children in every village and remember, even the people of age 14 have not gone to school, but below 12 years it will good for them to join nursery and class one and they are ready to study.
• Toilets.  We prefer if one family can get one toilet, it will be safer for them or we make for the community of three hundred families we dug 10 toilets with four doors each. And every school we dug three toilet, one for the teacher and two children.
• Development.   People in these areas are still behind like early 18 century, they don’t know about development and according to geographically some of the families, their children are being identified and being educated by family members who were more civilized and we can use them to interpret to their language hire them to wducate their children, because they understand the native language and their challenges, but the site of dispensaries we can do the same and have the volunteers from other region to go and assist them
• Polytechnic.  We can start the polytechnic and have sewing machine, carpentry tools, bakery items, and masonry.   They are very good for handcrafting and we can make the market for other region, so that they can sale their commodities.  Their young boys and girls, they are very brave to learn things, so the polytechnic can be good gift to them and this can change the old way of thinking and pursuing things to new generation.

About starting out pre-school in these regions.   The first community we visited, since the land was owned by the community Elders, it is under the observation and protected by the community, so the first village , they sit on April 22, 2014 with our team representative one day before we leave to Kitale and they called the local chief government representative and they have drafted officially the agreement between IGEM and the community, they have offered to us five acres of land freely in order for us and our partnering team to set up pre-school, dispensary, Drilling water and polytechnic if necessary and all three village has done so, they wrote the agreement in Swahili language. They took us as a sign of appreciation to God, and they gave me the tradition seat as the represent of the church, according to their culture and they said that my God will be their God and our people will be their people.

They have given us the full freedom to walk in these communities in liberty and confidence. Also they have given us 20 youths to come and build relationship as well as sharing the word of God for one month and a half as from July up to the middle of August, so we request if anybody wants to share with them, through teaching materials you are free to share. All of them they know Swahili and local language; we shall be able to interpret English for them.  I learned these through Brother Wayne, that it is good to build relationship with the small group and teach them, instead of huge group, I belief if we can able to stay with these young people for that moment, it will be more effective than sending the team to go and work there. Among them, six of them we gave bicycles and bibles. Our Kenyan volunteers were sympathetic after they saw, very big help you supported our brothers and sisters in these regions, the one who gave truck to carry our facilities pledged to donate sweater while other volunteers pledged to buy uniform for all pupils and they will bring these uniform in the first week of May.  The told us the name of the village is called Catalasia in English is tick, which bites animals and I ask them do you like the name?   they said no? They said choose the name of the village, and I renamed it Java, and they became happy about the name.  One of the volunteers bought ten iron sheets as the start of the school. This is how this school was born. So as God provide the school need to be open 1May 19, 2014. So we went with three volunteers who have volunteers to teach the school, they promise to teach till we prepare the native teachers, “I ask them will you manage to stay in desperate areas? Yes. Why not!  These love people and we need to feel and encouraged them that they are loved too. Apart from this three, one lady from the local area arises and says I will also assist as a teacher in this school; she is trained and qualified teacher.

We have approximated over 200 children who are ready to join the school, which will be launching officially with four teachers. Right now we need to have 100 iron sheet, 20,000 bricks, 150 bags of cements, before we drilled our borehole, we need to buy one motorbike for transport water for the school. 70 Desks and black board, textbook, exercise books, pens, pencils and other stationary, feeding program, breakfast and lunch in the evening they return back to their respective villages, and little support for the teachers and staff, dinging toilets and kitchen.  The local people have agreed to provide five acres of land, they will be clearing the thorny pushes and they will be involved in construction provided they eat till the school will be finished. For all the project, if we start with the school, dispensary and drilling water, then other will follow later it will be grateful.

 

Michael Wafula

I am moved by how much these Kenyans who know great need are giving freely to other Kenyans more desperate than they are.  I don’t know if God will provide enough resource through the people who read this page and listen to the podcast.  Maybe in a network of friends and friends of friends God will allow us to tap enough resource to get some wells there as well as dispensary and schools.  I have no idea what all that means yet, but I’m willing to put it before the Lord alongside my brothers and sisters and see what Father provides. 

Your prayers are most welcome for the people in need and the IGEM people who are in West Pokot right now.  If you can and want to help financially you can direct it through Lifestream as contributions are tax-deductible in the US.  As always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya.  We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees.  If you would like to be part of this to support these brothers and sisters and see the gospel grow in this part of Africa, please see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Here are some pictures from their outreach:

Medical station where doctors and nurses offered treatment

The joy of food reaching a distant village by bike and a woman who collapsed of dehydration and malnourishment before she could reach the staging area

The starging area for food and medical care

Some of the volunteers expressing their appreciation for those who gave money to help this happen.

Lined up for help and a woman’s gratefulness

Some of the children in need of a school

Thanks to all of you who by prayer or financial gift, helped this take place.  You have no idea of the lives you helped save and the joy you brought to some very desperate people.  

It’s time to catch another big bird out of Los Angeles.  Tomorrow I’m of to Maryland and Virginia for some conversations about this amazing life we have in Christ.  I haven’t done this in awhile and am looking forward to the people I’m going to meet and the life we’ll share together.  

Before I go, I thought I’d leave you with an excerpt from the book I’m working on, Finding Church:  What If There Really Is Something More.  One of my hopes with this book is that once again the idea of the church captures our heart, not as the source of pain and legalism, but as a spotless bride Jesus is assembling from around the world. We’ve been so focused on the church man builds, that many of us miss the one Jesus is building.  It is my hope that many of us will come to see that the longing in our heart for real community is the call of God to be part of that bride.  

I’m not advocating for an isolated, everyone-is-a-church-to-themselves idea.  The church takes her expression in relationships we have with others who are also following him—local friendships as well as international connections as he knits the wider body together.   We’ll first see it reflected in conversations where Jesus makes himself known.  Some of those conversations will grow into more enduring connections in friendships that become part of the fabric of our lives as we serve, encourage, and grow together.  These friendships will lead to others and out of that network of friends and friends of friends, God will have all the resource he needs to invite us to agreement in prayer and collaborative actions to fulfill his purposes around us.

Can it really be that simple?  This is perhaps the greatest stumbling block to people seeing the church for what she is.  It’s too simple, they think, or too easy.  So they put their trust in the vast array of discordant institutions instead of the work of Jesus.  As we’ll see connecting is difficult only because it is far easier than we dare to believe.  In fact, you probably have those growing connections with people, even in the congregation you attend.  I’m only suggesting that your interaction with them expresses more freely the life of the church than sitting in a pew watching the staged activity up front.

So we are going to have to make a distinction in our minds between the church that humanity has attempted to build for two thousand years, and the community of the new creation that Jesus is building. They are not the same, though they can gloriously overlap on occasion.  It’s just that our conformity-based structures cannot produce the internal transformation necessary for the church to take shape among us. 

Years ago a friend offered me a challenge.  “Why don’t we only use the term ‘church” the way Paul talks about her in the Scriptures?  Let’s call the church what he calls the church and not be distracted by the institutions that use the term for something less than the reality.”  It hasn’t been easy.  Common usage trips me up all the time, but I do think the word is worth preserving as a term of endearment so that as we read the Scriptures it will evoke the church Jesus had in mind.   I’m going to endeavor to do that here.  Rather than use the term for any collection of Christians that meet together in an established system, I’ll use the term church to describe the family of God, which Jesus is putting on display in the world.  When I talk about Sunday morning institutions, I’m going to use the word congregations or fellowships.  When, because of popular usage, I have no choice but to use the word ‘church’ (such as ‘church split’) for that which is not truly the church, I’ll set it off with quotes. 

For the past twenty years I have been privileged to be in a growing conversation with people all over the world who have lost confidence that an institution can provide the environment the church of Jesus Christ needs to flourish in our day.  Some of those have already left their congregations in search of a better home.  Many others who share the same concerns are still in them, either because they are trying to make the best of a situation for which they see no plausible alternative or because they don’t want to risk separation from family and friends.  Many of these are pastors and elders who know better than anyone else the constant struggle between institutional needs and living the priorities of Jesus’ kingdom. 

Those of us who’ve already left did so either because we were pushed out for asking the wrong questions or we left because we could no longer continue to serve the demands of an institution that seemed so at odds with the passion growing in our hearts.  None of us did so easily, having spent decades serving in local congregations and engaged in multiple efforts to reform them.  In the end we left not to abandon our faith, but to explore that faith on a more vibrant journey than our congregations would allow.

I am not writing this book for those who are comfortable in the institutions we’ve inherited in the 21st century, but for those who have the nagging feeling that what we call church today can’t possibly express what Jesus promised.  If it doesn’t, how can we recognize and engage the reality of Jesus’ church as she is already growing in the world?  

I have so apprecited the vantage point I’ve had over the past twenty years to watch this flock come together.  No, it isn’t all that visible for people looking for something splashy, but if you’re looking for the transformation that is going on as people are learning to live in his affection, and seeing the relationships he is connecting all over the world, his work is breathtaking.  Of course he wouldn’t do it like we would do it.  His ways are far better.  I hope this book will stir people’s hearts and open their eyes to a wonderful reality going on in the world.  

The book is finally coming together and I hope to be finished with it soon.  Right now I’m polishing some of the language, tieing up a few loose ends, and still trying to lose about twelve thousand words so there is less chaff and more wheat!  Or so I hope!  

I got a phone call a few weeks ago from an old friend asking if I’d be willing to speak at a conference for writers and film makers in Visalia, CA on June 20 and 21.  The Tellit Conference is a two-day conference where aspiring professionals who desire to use their media talents and passions to make a difference in the world can meet and learn from professionals with proven track records.  It will convene in Visalia, CA June 20-21 and is hosted by Fresno Pacific University. It’s not really my deal to speak at conferences like this, but I felt nudged to do it mostly to help people who want to tell their stories learn from the experiences I’ve had in these ever-changing industries.  

I thought I was going to be one of many speakers over the weekend, so imagine my surprise last week when I got the materials and found myself listed as the keynote speaker.  I had no idea that’s what I was being asked to do and I’m not really sure if they have any idea what they are in for.  I’ll be sharing from my own experiences in publishing as well as the challenge behind moving The Shack and So You Don’t Want to Go To Church Anymore toward feature film adaptations.  The conference is open to anyone wanting to find a way to tell their stories in contemporary media, though space is limited to the first 100 registrants to keep it a more intimiate dialog.  You’re welcome to come and participate if you like.  If you can’t make it, however, it will also be streamed live on their website during the conference and then remail online thereafter.  You can get details at the conference link above.  I’ll also be reminding people the week of the conference.

I’ll be making two presentations during the conference.  The first one will be The Fun Side of Creativity: Getting the Story Right.  How do you shape your story for the audience you wish to engage with an eye toward finding the audience that shares your passion and more importantly, how do you know your story is ready to share with others?  

The second is The Ugly Side of Creativity:  Cash, Credit, and Control. How do you interact with agents, publishers, and production companies whose only motive is to make as much money as they can?  Navigating those waters will determine whether you and your story can stay true to your passion.  We’ll also discuss the options of self-publication or indy productions, which can be great alternatives in this age of an increasingly de-centralized media.  

I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share what I’ve learned over 40 years of writing and dealing with the industries that make story available in our culture.  If you’re an aspiring storyteller, come join us.  

Our team in Kenya arrived in the West Pokot region earlier this week to take food, water, and medical assistance to the 615 starving families of that region who have been devastated by the prolonged drought in that area.   They had corn, beans, and water to distribute that would provide the sustenance they needed.  When they arrived, however, they found another 231 families had arrived from a more remote location.  They had heard that people were bringing food and water to help out.  These were mostly seniors and young children who had walked over six kilometers even though they were desperately weakened from a lack of food and water.  They camped nearby hoping they could get some of the help as well.  Our team there was overwhelmed by their courage and gentleness and wanted to help them too.  

So yesterday the team wrote and asked if we could come up with another $12,000 to ship in corn, beans, and water to help these families as well.  I’m sure few of us can imagine need of this scale.  They are now dealing with 846 families, over 120,000 people in that drought-stricken region.  Sara and I prayed and discussed the situation and since we didn’t have time to raise the money first, we wired the money in trust that God would have others stand with them in this need.  So, we’re asking yet again to see if there are others whom God is nudging to help in this time of need.  This still is about relief to hopefully get them to the next rainy season, but they are also wanting to help the people there drill some wells and learn some other ways to generate provision that is less dependent on the rain, so the work here is not done yet.  If you want to hear more about this situation I took a few moments on the current podcast, It Is a Journey, to fill in some details.  

They tried to send us some pictures of the outreach there, but for some reason they didn’t come through the email. I will include some of them in a subsequent posting when they come in.  We are grateful for so many people who have carried these brothers and sisters on their heart and have shared in ligthtening their load with your gifts.  

Your prayers are most welcome for the people in need and the IGEM people who are in West Pokot right now.  If you can and want to help financially you can direct it through Lifestream as contributions are tax-deductible in the US.  As always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya.  We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees.  If you would like to be part of this to support these brothers and sisters and see the gospel grow in this part of Africa, please see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Many of you have heard me speak of Jenny Rowbury before.  She’s a young woman in England, who in her first year at university became ill with a virus that caused severe M.E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: inflammation of the brain and spinal cord). She has been bed-bound ever since and unable to sit up because of strain on her cardiovascular system. This incredibly creative woman wrote a book of poetry called Rainbows In My Eyes, that we’ve made available through Lifestream.   You can read more and order her book of poetry here.  If you’ve not read them, you might want to. She is playful and poignant as she wrestles with the reality of her condition and her disappointment in her unanswered prayers for healing.  She offers a gut-wrenching, but ultimately hopeful portrayal of her journey inside the love of a Father that she gets to know better with each passing day.  

My heart has been touched by her poetry and her story.  I pray for her often and hear from her occasionally, mostly through her parents.  Yesterday they sent me her latest poem entitled Gethsemane.  This is the week a lot of believers celebrate the story of Jesus’ sacrifice and his resurrection and that time in the Garden is where Jesus turned the anguish in his soul into a confidence in Father’s hand that could take him through the trial and tortures that were to come.  Having just been in the garden myself a couple of months ago, I was touched by the poem an the thought that as we pray in our extremeties we are in him as well and his prayer counts for us all.  

You can read Gethsemane here and check out other parts of Jenny’s website.  She’s am amazing woman, enduring an excruciating illness and would be blessed by your love and prayers.  

“May God’s grace flood your being today, Jenny!  May the fullness of his love course through your veins with healing and hope until you experience the fullness of his salvation in the freedom of your heart and in the full redemption of your body!  You are dearly loved.  May you know joy, freedom, and delight in his wonder.   Always!”

*Artwork above courtesy of A Man LIke No Other.

I haven’t known him long, but I’ve treasured the opportunities we’ve had to crash hearts and minds on this incredible journey.  Tom is an older brother in every sense of the word, one who has traveled many miles on his spiritual journey through all kinds of twists and turns and has come to this season of his life with a passion for Jesus and his kingdom and demonstrates a life steeped in grace and transformation.  At the request of many, he has written a book detailing a very fascinating life.  I was asked the write the foreward a few months ago and the book has finally been published.  If you’re looking for a book that will encourage you to follow God as he draws you into greater freedom and truth, this book will do it for you.

I wrote the best stuff I have on this book in the Foreward, so I’ll include it here. Consider giving this a read.  You won’t regret it.  

A Foreword 

You hold in your hands a treasure, though you may not know that if you don’t know Tom Mohn.  As I writer, I know it is all but impossible to get someone to read a memoir written by a person they don’t know.  That’s why celebrities can get away with it, but real people rarely do.

So before you are tempted to put this book down let me introduce you to Tom, a man who over the last ten years has become a trusted and valued friend.   I’ve lived in his home, watched how he relates to his wife and children, and have had many rich conversations about the life of Jesus with him.  He is deeply loved and appreciated by friends and family, which says a lot.  He’s lived his life with wit and humor that disarms people with joy and blesses them with his wisdom.

I can easily say that Tom is one of the most genuine and authentic men I’ve ever known. And that’s no small compliment.   I’ve met many who talk about God but whose lives in no way reflect the truths they pretend to espouse.  One honestly admitted to me that he wasn’t even trying to live the things he wrote about, but was simply marketing a book to the Christian audience.   This book is an honest reflection of a life well lived from someone who has over the course of decades learned how to walk with God through the triumphs and tragedies of life.  Through it all a passionate and tender grace is shaped in him that exudes from his life to help others discover how they, too, can live in a growing fullness of God’s love.

Gently, through each season of his life, God keeps inviting Tom into a deeper journey, away from the artificiality of manmade religion and into a transforming relationship with an ever-present God. This is quite a journey from husband and father to reluctant pastor, civil rights supporter, radio personality, and Bible teacher.  One man called him the “Forrest Gump of Christianity” as his life intersects with the likes of Martin Luther King, Jr., Oral Roberts, Derek Prince, and Gene Edwards.

You will be enriched by the humorous and honest stories he tells and the lessons he has learned along the way.  Some are stunningly supernatural, while others rise out very normal experiences.  He’s refreshingly honest with his mistakes and failures and the persistent unanswered questions that have risen out of his journey.   

In the end it is a story of transformation and grace and how learning to follow Jesus is a bit of trial and error as you navigate whatever comes your way with an ear cocked in his direction.  Miles down the journey you’ll sense Tom’s contentment in God’s unfolding work and hopefully hunger for it as well.

And after you’ve finished his story, stay tuned for the appendix, where you’ll find even more treasure in the articles Tom has written about the most important life lessons that influenced his journey.  They alone are worth whatever you might pay for this book.

I enjoy Tom as a friend and older brother in the faith.  If you already know him, you won’t need this forward.  If you don’t know him yet, this book is a great place to start.

Good Morning Brother Pilgrim

(Softcover and e-book editions, 200 pages, $14.99)

Order it from Amazon      •     Order it from Tom’s Website

Tom has been on a few podcasts with me, and always brings a rich passion for the life of Jesus.  Here’s a list of those shows if you want to hear his voice. The last one is one of our most listened to podcasts year after year.  

• The Keeper and the Kept  (4/11/2013)
• The Gospel Jesus Preached (8/04/2005)
• The Things God Uses (4/21/2005)  

Honestly, I don’t know what to say.  This morning I asked Sara to check on how much we had received for hunger and medical relief in West Pokot where over 600 families are starving to death as their rural economy has come unraveled by severe and prolonged drought.  The estimated need was for $50,000 to get a team in their with water, food, and medical supplies and that is with all volunteer labor.  I hoped we could get half of that and try to make a dent in it.  Sara just gave me the total as of this morning:  $49,610.00.   (Yes, we’re rounding it up and sending the money off today!) 

Shocked?!?!?!  To say the least.  I was undone this morning in such an incredible way.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, for all who were able to respond and participate with us.  If you haven’t sent money in and still want to, please feel free.  The needs here are ongoing and I’m sure they can put it to good use.  But I am amazed that God would let us be a conduit for such incredible generosity to people none of you know.  I know they will be overwhelmed in Kenya as they can now put the rest of the supplies together.  Amazingly, I just received this from Michalel, our coordinator in Kenya this morning:

Dear Brother Wayne, we have worked out all areas of the missions, the exact number of families in those areas is 615.  We have also collected the information regarding the treatment and the doctors and nurses were now aware, they are just waiting to purchase the medicine concerning the geographical disease.

We have also worked out and plan the team, ready for mission, regarding transportation we have got the track which will be carrying the food, more than 4 times, although is a bit expensive due to the road and far but we will manage.
The work of repacking is still taking place and we have booked the rest of the maize and beans if God will provide toward our estimated budget we send to you, so now this week as God provides the funds we need to make sure that we have purchased all requirement as we prepared to depart next week 14th , we will give you more updates soon as we complete the mission, because those areas the internet connection is not available, last week we received the all parcels for the bibles and we shall be getting few to add for Pokot language.

May the Lord bless you so much as we look forward to hear from you, some of the pictures are from Living Loved care centre demonstrating the songs, poems and concert, Sammy and Thomas and youth group will be having entertainment for all surrounding fellowship for equipping youths to effective  

Here are some of the pictures he sent of the preparation as well as the children at the Living Loved Care Centre. 

Bagging the maize

Inspecting the maize

Packing Bibles 

Children dancing before the freshly painted buildings many of you helped with a few months ago.  

Your prayers are most welcome for the IGEM people who will be going to West Pokot.  The needs in there and at the orphanage are continuing.  It’s not too late to help out if anything is on your heart.  You can direct it through Lifestream as contributions are tax-deductible in the US.  As always, every dollar you send goes to the students themselves, we do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees.  If you would like to be part of this to support these brothers and sisters and see the gospel grow in this part of Africa, please see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Later this month I’ll be off to the east coast to spend a few days in Maryland and Virginia. I’ll be in Knoxville, MD the weekend of April 24-27 with Dan and Joyce,  You can contact them here if you’d like details for the weekend. On May 1 I’ll be moving down to Richmond and hang out there until the afternoon of May 3.  If you want more details there contact Richard or Allen.  Then, I’ll be heading up to Haymarket, VA for a special one-day discussion, I’ll discuss more below.  

My time in Knoxville and Richmond will be open conversations about learning to live loved and thinking through how God invites us into more authentic, community-based relationships as the expression of his church, rather than into meetings and structures that don’t often provide the depth of connection people are looking for.  You’re welcome to either of these locations, though space is limited since we’re meeting in homes, so please let the hosts know as soon as you know that you’ll want to attend.  The people hosting the event in Knoxville have recently come out of a oppressive congregational structure and will be similar to my November time in Ft. Worth, TX.

As for our Sunday, May 4 meeting in Haymarket, this is not an open-meeting, simply because we want to keep it small and keep it focused on those who have a desire to be catalysts to help others learn to live loved and facilitate connections in more authentic expressions of church life.  If you’d like to come, write me a brief email, explaining why you’d like to come and what your journey is like at the moments in terms of learning to live in a Father’s love and breaking free of religious ways of trying to accomplish God’s work.  If you’re new to this living loved journey, we will not be talking about things that will be the most helpful for you.  I am looking for people who have already spent a few years learning to live loved and are enjoying greater freedom and who also have the desire to help others on this journey.   I held one retreat like this (Seeding Community) in North Carolina this past summer, and hope to have more of them in the coming year so that those who have a passion to help others grow in Christ will have other options than resorting to the old institutional forms that had less to do with transformation in a new creation, but conformity in an old one.  If you’re interested in helping host something like this in your area in the future, please let me know.