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Missionary Rick Lance is executive director of the Alabama Baptist State
Board of Missions. |
Other Recent Blog Entries:
The Caleb Spirit in 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
In my mind, Caleb is the Barnabas of the Old
Testament. When others seemed to lose hope, he offered encouragement to them.
A Year to Remember
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
This can be the most wonderful time of the year if we
allow the Christ of Christmas to guide us through the experience. Rather than
being caught up in the routined frenzy of long lines at stores shopping for
gifts and the endless social gatherings during the season, we can focus on what
is called the Advent.
The Most Wonderful Time
of the Year
Thursday, December 8, 2011
This can be the most wonderful time of the year if we
allow the Christ of Christmas to guide us through the experience. Rather than
being caught up in the routined frenzy of long lines at stores shopping for
gifts and the endless social gatherings during the season, we can focus on what
is called the Advent.
Finishing
Strong
Monday, November 21, 2011
I do not pretend to be a football coach, but I do
believe this "sports experience" translates into our everyday lives, most
notably in our Christian lives. There are times when we have seemingly given our
all and we feel spent, emotionally, physically and even spiritually.
Be
Encouraged!
Thursday, October 28, 2011
In periods of history like the one we now face,
Christians have often done some of their most effective service for Christ. But
in order to be an effective servant, we must find our source of encouragement in
the face of these discouraging situations.
SBC
Today: An Interview
Thursday, October 16, 2011
Managing ourselves means more than controlling the
calendar, staying morally and ethically pure, reading the latest books, keeping
family time balanced, and running things smoothly in one's ministry. I am
convinced this means staying in touch with Lord and with yourself in such a way
that you make the right decisions and lead in the right direction.
| |
March 2008
Children of the City Dump
Submitted: Thursday, March 20, 2008; 4:17 p.m.
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Children growing up near the city dump are being loved and cared
for by our brothers and sisters in Christ in Guatemala City.
During our recent visit to Guatemala, Reggie Quimby, Teman
Knight and I saw firsthand the ministry we have with our Baptist
partners in that major Central American city. Our primary reason
for the visit was to teach and train the pastors working in the
various 300 or more Baptist churches of Guatemala.
As our group shared in the excitement of what the Lord is doing
in these pastors' lives, we had an added treat. We made a visit
to the city dump to see the ongoing ministry with former
prostitutes and drug addicts, who also are mothers of the
children in the daycare, located across the street from the city
dump. We marveled at the way people's lives were being impacted
by those caring believers reaching out to them in the name of
Christ.
This fact reminded me that Jesus died on the cross near the city
dump, called Gehenna or the Valley of Hinnom. In ancient times,
Baal worshippers sacrificed children in this valley for their
pagan gods. Later, it became the city dump for the refuse of
Jerusalem and the makeshift burial grounds for dead animals and
criminals. Gehenna became synonymous for hades or hell. It was a
despised place known for terrible eyesores and awful smells.
People did not want to live near the city dump.
The death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection from the
dead gave hope to the most hopeless of the first century and
those of the twenty-first century as well. The women and
children living near the city dump have an outpost of hope where
they receive the message of God's saving love. The Lord and His
love are alive and well in the most deplorable of places: the
city dump.
All Christians everywhere can minister in the most unlikely of
places. It does not have to be a literal city dump to have this
kind of ministry. Actually, everywhere becomes destitute when
the love of Christ does not rule and reign. Sometimes the most
successful looking people feel like their lives are nothing more
than city dumps. You don't have to be poor and destitute to be
down and out and feeling hopeless.
I will never forget seeing the eager eyes of little children at
the daycare, near the city dump. I will always remember the
winsome smiles of women who have found hope for their lives
through the ministry of caring believers. They are learning to
cook and to sew. They are learning how to care for their
children. More important, they are learning that God loves them,
even though they live near a city dump.
C. T. Studd, a well-known English missionary to China, Africa
and India, once famously said "some wish to live within the
sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop
within the yard of hell." In the days of Jesus, the Valley of
Hinnom or Gehenna meant "hell." It was their city dump. The
believers in Guatemala City have taken the call to minister
"within the yard of hell" very seriously, and so should we. |
