…random thoughts and experiences of a wounded healer.

Alan and Luanne leading a workshop on healthy relationships.

Friends,

It’s been almost 2 years since I’ve written a prayer update for Haven. Many of you have journeyed with us for a long time: have prayed for us, sent in unsolicited checks, asked about how we were doing and cared for more than just how the church is doing. Many thanks and praise God for you. Really.

It’s been a full 2 years since an update. We’ve been to India… twice. We’ve launched two house communities. Have seen breakthrough in people’s lives. Have learned to love in deeper ways. Have tried stuff that succeeded. And have tried stuff that failed.

So let me ask you to pray through the following and when you get a chance, read through the rest:

1. Movement of Jesus – Way over and above the progress of “Haven” as an entity, we long to see a movement of Jesus and his Gospel in the Bay Area. That we’d begin to see our desperate need for Jesus and stop being so damn afraid of stuff: finances, being hurt, lack of control and failure. That we’d stop filling our time and heart with things that don’t matter. And come and rest in the embrace of a loving Father. Pray specifically that God would prepare hearts and that we would find our way to them.
2. House Leaders by NAME – Pray for our house leaders by name… they both need it and will be encouraged that an army of people all over the world are upholding them in prayer. Here goes: Dave, Rachel, Sergio, Lisa, Warren, Lisa, Billy, Alan, Luanne, Sarah… and me. That we would grow in our love for God and lead with a keen ear towards the Holy Spirit.
3. Movement of Missionaries – Not so much that we’d all become “professional” missionaries. But that we’d recognize our identity as “sent ones” to our world, carrying with us the seed of power in the message of Jesus. Our goal: train everyone to be missionaries: people on mission to love God, love people and help others do the same.
4. Yourself – Pray that you would no longer delegate the work of the kingdom to the professionals and start getting in the game. It’s way more fun and God gets big real fast. Just start listening to God and just do what he tells you to do. Go.

UPDATE

A few stories that capture what’s been going on this past 2 years:

India

Over four years ago, we prayed and God pointed us to India. We didn’t know why or how. And for 2 years we kept looking for ways to learn about and find viable partnerships in India. And for 2 years, we couldn’t find it. We then had the privilege to go to Japan and Africa to see what God’s doing there – it was amazing. And yet God was still pointing his divine finger towards India. About 2 years ago, I met an Indian pastor here in San Jose and told him about our situation. He then pointed us to Bible Faith Mission… and so began our journey with India and BFM.

A run-down of some of the things we discovered from two – 2 week trips to India in 2009 and 2010.

• Though democratic, India maintains systemic injustice over Dalits [untouchable] and especially Dalit Christians.
• Higher caste people including Christians are threatened by Dalits becoming Christians.
• Culturally, there is no motivation for higher caste people to stand up for the rights of the low caste.
• Extremist groups are allowed to attack Dalit Christians with little consequence. Very few in the world know what’s going on.
• There are 2 great movements of Jesus in the world today: China and India. In India the movement is among Dalit and Tribal people. NOT the high caste.
• There are courageous people in India who love Jesus and are fighting for the rights of Dalits. They are modern-day Martin Luther King’s.

Some things we learned along the way:

• Some of the most heinous stories of persecution of Christians are happening in India.
• The persecuted see Jesus more than we do.
• We’re not the experts – we’re just a part of a bigger family just doing what the Father tells us to do.
• Loving can be just showing up. Listening is loving too.
• We need to stand up for our brothers.
• We can make a difference.

There are tons of stories from our journeys in India. We’ve built relationships with people of vision and valor. We now have Indian brothers and sisters whom we love dearly. We’re looking to start social entrepreneurial endeavors that pour into the Dalit people. And we are now contributing to a church planting movement among the Dalits and Tribal people. And we’re realizing that we’re in India at this time in history for a reason. If we continue to do whatever God asks, we may actually see within our generation a great change in the social and spiritual landscape in India. It’s exciting and invigorating.

I highly encourage you to read some of the more personal stories of our India journeys HERE > TRIP SUMMARY. You can read about how Dave went on his first missions trip and was changed forever. You can read about how God gave dreams to two different people on other sides of the world and brought them together serendipitously [or holyspiritously]. You can read about how we stopped trying to figure out stuff and just listened to God and did what he said. Check out the following links:

India Trip Diaries
India Photos
Video Overview of Bible Faith Mission

One of the significant ministries of Bible Faith Mission is the BFM School. It provides the highest standard of education with a majority of the seats saved for Dalit students who can not afford to attend this kind of school. It’s a crucial part of the vision to empower the next generation of Dalits. We hosted a camp for the sponsored kids in the school – take a look at this video:

We’re looking forward to what God has in store for us in India.

Learning to Love

One of the questions we always ask ourselves is, “How do we tangibly love our neighbors?” Jesus says it’s important, so we try to take him at his word. One of the ways we’ve tried to spur this on is what we’ve called the Generosity Project. In a nutshell, we told each of our house communities that we’d match two months of their tithe. We then give it back to the group and instruct them to find tangible ways to love people [came out to about $5k per group]. They don’t need to ask for permission. They just need to pray, listen to what God and do what he says together. It’s not money we’re supposed to give away; it’s money to propel us into our world, to stand next to the lonely, to embrace the outcast, to give to those who have little. And to live the Gospel that we say we believe.

We’ve done this twice in the past two years. This is what we learned the first time:

• It’s easier to have someone else decide where the money should go.
• It’s hard to actually step out and do something.
• We’re often afraid to make mistakes with the money.
• Working together is not easy.
• Listening to God is an imperative.

Some things we’ve done the first time around:

• Made dinner for staff/residents of a residential program for teens struggling through drug and alcohol abuse – for about 6 months.
• Help remodel a house through Rebuilding Together.
• Babysat three kids for a missionary family and gave them a beautiful night out alone.
• Installed a garbage disposal for an elderly woman living alone in a motor home.
• Gave backpacks out to homeless in East Palo Alto filled with simple living essentials for the street.
• Gave $5000 to a missionary couple which ensured that they would be able to leave for their field assignment.

Some things we’re doing [or planning on doing] the 2nd time around [we're in the middle of it right now]:

• Bought an entire palate of winter coats at Costco to be given out to homeless folks as we drive around.
• Anonymously paid for the phone bill of someone who couldn’t make their ends meet.
• Provided gift cards during Christmas to over 20 families who were not able to afford simple living items to support their families.
• Bought McDonald’s for a homeless guy and sat down with him to eat and talk.
• Bought rain boots for a different homeless guy during one of the week-long storms here in San Jose.
• Will be hosting movie nights in a distressed neighborhood to provide a safe outlet for kids.

Ron Sider said recently – “I’m not committed to social justice, I’m committed to Jesus and the Scripture, and it is because I am committed to Jesus that I am committed to empowering the poor.” There is a vital link between both preaching the Gospel and living the Gospel, loving God and loving our neighbors, being enablers of spiritual freedom and vessels of social justice. When one is without the other, we are sorely missing in our theology and our practice.

It has not been easy and has revealed to us how committed [or not committed] we are to loving our neighbors. But God is teaching us a lot and we’re trying to hold tight to our original vision of simply loving God and our neighbors and having everything else come second. Look forward to sharing more stories from this.

Deeper Roots

One enduring value that we’ve had since the beginning has been discipleship… meaning, how is the message of Jesus taking deeper root into our lives. Much of how we’re growing has been just practicing what we read in the Bible. It’s hard. Because we know it’s easier to read it and move on to the next week. But in small community, you never run out of opportunities to learn to love people who don’t have it all together. Never. And so as you can imagine – Haven is both beautiful and tragic at the same time.

Several words keep coming up for us: FREEDOM and INTIMACY. We’ve spent much of 2009 grappling with the things that hinder us from really living free – including lies from Satan, generational issues and personal rebellion. Life has forced many of us to deal with ourselves – we just can’t live the way we’ve always lived.

Recently, we’ve been wrestling with what INTIMACY with God really looks like. At our winter retreat [summary here], Neil and Dana Gamble led us through a session where we just sat and listened to God. Most of us got words that were “right on the money.” We then practiced hearing words for others and we were amazed… that God would both speak to us and use us to bless others. It was groundbreaking in every way. A short testimony of someone who attended the retreat – check it.

God has been doing a work in us – it has not always been pretty. But he’s keeping his promise. This one:

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [Romans 8:29]

Here are some short testimonies from people on what God has been doing in them:

LISA N.
This year has been a very redeeming year for me. With the loss of my dad before the beginning of last year, God definitely had great plans for me and I knew that. The road was tough but the walk with Jesus was very sweet. The earlier part of the year was just leaning on Jesus as my comfort. Towards the end of the year, I felt like God helped me with taking big steps in my life and with Him. Last year I was dealing with the loss of my father but knew my Heavenly Father will be glorified in that. And I held of the hope of His promises for me, even the promises He made for my dad to take care of me. I learned to listen again and I learned that the fruit of my trust and faith in Him during this last year would result in something great, which is where I stand today. The peace that overcomes my life today and the joy that is a result of that peace is what he told me would happen last year.

WARREN
God spoke to me recently and told me I’m exactly where I should be. This seemed peculiar to me, because in a lot of ways, the expectations I’ve had for myself with regard to what I’d be doing who I’d become seemed like a far cry from reality. The dreams I’ve had for myself and the hope for those I care about have not seen the fulfillment I’d wanted. But in the midst of the sense of loss and confusion, I believe I’ve found something better… I began to understand what it means to trust in God. To boil it all down, I think this year has been about my unraveling: the things I thought I was so capable of doing, the various bubbles I have found comfort in, the expectations I had for others have seen their unraveling. And it’s precisely because of their unraveling that I have been reminded of the fact that it is God who does it, not me. He is the one who has accomplished salvation for us, He is the one who is good, and in Him alone can we put our trust. And from what I have tasted, this trust is the kind of trust that is freeing to the core.

ALAN
Being 58 years old, it’s not as much in growing as is revitalizing. There has been many callings to the missions field, but I stopped listening. It has been over twelve years since my last mission trip of Tijuana Mexico. But, the Lord has been speaking to me in a gentle voice and I’ve finally opened my heart and spritual ears to hear His calling. So, when a dear Pastor of mine asked this time to come to Tijuana, there was no hesitation to say “Here am I. Send me!” And to go down at this age with a group of college aged adults put me in a position of directing rather than doing. Sort of like Moses who would have really like to enter the Promised Land, but sent Joshua instead. This year, I’ve learned to grow into a position of listening to the Lord and imparting on others rather than not listening and departing from others.

Thanks again for praying for us, for loving us and journeying with us. We’re blessed by your commitment to the kingdom and look forward to how God will use both us… and you… to bring and live the message of Jesus in our world. As I always do, let me finish my praying for you.

Jesus, thank you that you are a good and amazing God. Thank you that you love us and love us deeply. Thank you that you use us and trust us to carry out your vision for the world. Thank you Father. I pray that you will continue to raise up a heart-felt longing to move past “church as usual” and move us into our world. Disrupt our comfort in order that we will have no choice but to trust and follow you and see how big you really are. I’m confident if we see you we won’t be left unchanged. Thank you Lord – be with my friends who are reading this and speak a word that is right for them. And I pray that they believe the word you’re speaking to them right now. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Thanks and blessings to you – until next time…

Elton Lin

PS – an update on Sarah and I forthcoming. Thanks…
PSS – a recent blog post about a random Sunday recently…

Some more pics:

Lisa and Billy’s Cookie Exchange:
Cookie Competition and Baking Cookies for a Battered Women’s Shelter [Next Door Solutions]

Haven’s Amazing Race: Big Scavenger Hunt and Raising Money for Team in Training.

Our Friends at the Victorians – Click HERE for more info.

Simon doing a magic show at the Advent Group Ministries Christmas Party.

Haven Easter Morning Hike

A lot of weddings last year! Celebrating with David and Jia…