Bridges and Burdens

Five of us sat around a table this morning at our office on the border between the United States and México. We talked and questioned and prayed.  We're maybe five of the least likely people you would imagine to be here, except all you know us as is Casas por Cristo.  Honestly, we are nothing more than everyday people that grew up thousands of miles away from this world that we now know.  Yet somehow, the questions in our hearts and the burdens that we feel are for the millions of people living across the border in México.

Somehow these people have changed us, they have broken us, they have become the reason that we've given up our "normal" lives to move here and serve with our whole lives.  And with that, we feel the burdens of the people that we serve.  Every day we cross back and forth between a world of poverty and a world of affluence.  Some days it has become so normal that we don't think twice.  Yet others, we lay awake in bed and can't shake what we've seen.

What we feel right now are the burdens of our friends across the border.  We feel the weight of the tap on our shoulder from a neighbor asking how they can receive a home too.  We feel the look in a mother's eyes when she asks if we have one more blanket to give, when we've just handed the last one away.  We can almost hear the sobs that come from the single mother with three kids, that doesn't want to dance for money, but will do anything to feed her family.

We sit here this morning carrying the weight of their stories, the looks in their eyes, the touch on our shoulders.  We're praying and questioning and seeking what to do.  We're wondering how we can get the world that we see, that is so far away from your home in Kansas or your workplace in Colorado, into your minds and hearts too.  We don't know why we felt led here.  We don't know why God burdened our hearts to make this place home and Casas por Cristo our life.  But we are here.  And in these moments it feels like we are a bridge; some sort of a segue between two completely different worlds.

We want you to know what we see.  We want you to know what we feel.  We're asking you to carry these burdens with us.  We believe as Christ followers that we have a responsibility to pray and care for the poor and the needy.  We know that our hearts have been burdened to open others' eyes to what they might not see.  We believe that you, as our brothers and sisters across the country have a responsibility to care just the same.

So today, we're asking you to pray with us.  We're asking you to seek with us.  We're asking you to do whatever it is that God has called you to do as part of this story that we all find ourselves in.  Thank you for being a part of Casas por Cristo and even more, for being a part of God's story with us.

There is life in this city

Over the past 4 years Juárez, México has been plagued with negative headlines that have deteriorated the image and livelihood of this city.  Being deemed as one of the most dangerous places to live removes all potential for growth and overflows into every area of life for those that call this home.  In an effort to turn this around and shed a positive light on the city, an event called Juárez Competitiva is taking place from October 13-28th. Over these 16 days artists, athletes, politicians and speakers from Mikhail Gorbachev to Rudy Giuliani will visit and share innovative thoughts and ideas in hopes to bring a new light and hope to Juárez.

Kicking off this event was a concert performed by popular Latin rock group Maná.  For these few hours, Juárez was not the violence capital of the world, but rather alive, and filled with voices singing for everyone nearby to hear.  Surrounded by 30,000 people celebrating Juárez, we felt privileged to be a part of this.

The city hasn't changed, it has always been filled with this spirit.  For far too long however, this spirit has been squelched.  Now the people of Juárez are fighting back, refusing to give in to the pressures that push in around them.  They are fighting for peace, they are fighting for justice, they are fighting not to be silenced by evil anymore. As the border patrol helicopters circled above, the streets filled with voices as the crowds sang out below.

United for a reason other than violence, the city of Juárez is joining together.  Will you join with them?  Please pray for Juárez.  Pray that life would return to this city.  Pray that the livelihood that once flourished here would come back stronger than ever. Pray that this event would bring businesses and arts back to this city.  Pray that the world would start to accept this city again, to welcome it back into their arms, and see it the way that those living here always have.

(check out Juárez Competitiva's FaceBook page for photos from all of the events and the video for a clip from the show)

Photo: Tony Skarlatos

Dear Catalyst Attendees...

Go. Just Go.

Go out into the world and make disciples. Go dream the biggest dreams you know how. Go live abundantly and free. Go use the gifts and talents that you've been given to change everything. Just GO.

What if you went out, every one of you, and used the gifts and talents that God put within you to turn the world upside down for Christ?

What if you loved, what if you gave, what if you served everyday, with all of yourselves? What if your goal was to empty yourselves daily, completely? What if your were exhausted everyday because you had nothing left, because you poured it out into the world around you?

What if you took it seriously, that you were created on this Earth for one purpose that only you can fulfill? What if you intentionally lived your life daily as though the creator of the universe molded you for this exact day, this exact moment, for the exact people surrounding you?

Live with intention. Love until you have nothing left to give. Give all of yourselves away. Wear shoes bigger than you can fill. Take on causes that you should never be able to accomplish on your own. Walk into what is "impossible." And do it all knowing that the world needs you, we need you. 

We need you to follow your dreams and your vision and run full speed ahead beyond all of the voices that tell you you can't. We need you to dare to be great, because God created you to change everything. And when you do, when you live in the fulness of all you were created to be, you will remind all of us that we were created to do the same.

13,000 of you are sitting here becoming inspired by others that refused to let their dreams die. 

Be INSPIRED. 

Change EVERYTHING. 

GO

Day 21 | Planting Seeds

Today we ask that you would join us in praying for God to “water those seeds” that have already been planted. When we talk about a “seed” being planted, we are talking about the story, the love of Jesus Christ, being planted in someone’s heart. When a team comes down to build a house, seeds are planted all over the place. It could be planted with a family member, a team member, a neighbor; you never know. Pray that God would use the local pastors to go back and water the seed that has been planted by one of our teams.

Some seeds are the love of Jesus Christ being accepted for the very first time; either by a family member or a team member. Sometimes a seed is watered and a team member decides to go into ministry. So many different people can be affected in different ways by one of these short term mission trips.

We received the following email back in May. It’s a pretty cool story of what can happen when a seed is planted.

My name is Juan Manuel Munoz. I found your website on the internet. I am currently a Law student in Tyler Texas. I want to say to you guys how thankful I am with you and with God for having people like you in the world. I was 5 years old when a group of Casas Por Cristo came to our community and built a house for us. My family still has all the pictures from when they went. I remember I got a bag of skittles from a lady that worked in our house. Right now, looking back to those days when we were needy and poor, I feel that God sent those people to help us. They were so kind and generous. I’m writing this e-mail with tears in my eyes. God is my witness. Thank you so much for what you guys did. God bless you. I will donate money soon so that some other family is happy just as mine was all those years ago. Again, thank you.

 Pray that whatever “good work” Jesus has started in someone’s life would be watered and completed.
-David

Day 20 | Youth & the Next Generation

Today we are going to be praying for our youth ministries that come on trips with us. I was a youth pastor for 15 years, and consistently over those years my teens would rate our annual mission’s trips as the #1 most impacting thing we did all year. It wasn’t camp or some conference, a concert or ski trip, or even our weekly youth worship. It was our missions’ trips that we took.

You see, when a youth comes on one of our trips they are stepping massively out of their comfort zones. It no longer matters whether the person standing next to you is a cheerleader, a jock, in the band, or in chess club. They need each other to complete this task. They see that the house they are building for an entire family is often times smaller than their own bedroom. Their values are challenged! Their faith is challenged! Their worldview is expanded! They find that even though they don’t speak the same language, they can still communicate with the family they are building for because of their actions motivated by love.

In middle and high school, youth begin to decide how they want to live the rest of their life. The impact that one of these trips can have on their future is enormous. Pray that God would break down any walls that they have built up. Pray that God would allow them to see that we are all God’s children; no matter where we were born or live. Pray that they would be open to God’s call on their life. Pray for our youth; they are not only our future, but they are our present.
-David