Intense (Colombia Part 2)

This time in Cali was intense. My schedule had me in the church praying every day, often for more than six hours a day. That sounds completely overwhelming! But I have to seek God earnestly in prayer to prepare for what comes next for me.

So yeah, it is intense, but isn’t God worth it?

I think most people are afraid to get alone with God, especially for any extended period of time. After all, He might start to speak, and ask something of me.

When we get alone with the Almighty, we can’t hide behind ANYTHING. God doesn’t look at the outward appearance; He looks at the heart. And He sees the deepest places, the ones we try to pretend aren’t there. When we get alone with Him, He lays every part of us bear. The sin we are so dreadfully ashamed of has to step into the light—fully exposed.

Then, there is nothing left to say but, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

There is so much FREEDOM in that, but it might very well be the scariest thing in the world.

But I have this idea, that THIS PLACE is where we find holiness. He dresses us in His righteousness, and when confronted with that kind of love and mercy, it demands from us a response. We can either take off the new garment and return to our filthy sin, abandoning God’s presence, or we can live in the light, remaining in His presence forever, covered by the blood of Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Totally free. And free to struggle to stay in the light.

Jolting (Colombia Part 1)

I shared about false peaks nearly twenty times during Summer 2012. I knew that it was for me, too, on some level.

I didn’t realize just how much that message was JUST FOR ME.

Going to Cali, Colombia jolted me a little bit.

Four am prayer meetings, six hours or more in prayer, and getting up around 5 everyday will do that to you.

Worship service at 6:30 AM, and PACKED

But it was more than that. The Holy Spirit’s fire, the passion for their city, the love for God and love for prayer, it was amazing.

I went through so many thoughts and emotions, that I’m not going to be able to describe it all to you. But I’m going to try to give an overview over the course of my next few blog posts.

First, an introduction:

Cali, Colombia is a city of three million people. Yes, it was home to the infamous drug cartels. Yes, we know it for its crime, violence, and social issues, but it is also home to the largest Church of the Nazarene in the world.

Lines form as people go in and out of the six worship services on Sunday

They have six worship services on Sunday, the first of which begins at 6:30 AM. Fourteen thousand are in attendance weekly. Every Tuesday morning, a thousand people gather together at 4 o’clock in the morning with one purpose: prayer. For two hours, they walk around and pray together.

The church is open for activities every day of the week, but prayer is always the vital foundation of all they do.

But all this started with just a few people. In a tiny church. And when the pastor and his wife began the first morning prayer and fasting service, they were joined by three others. For years, they struggled to see growth.

When they wanted to build an extension on to the church, they lost many members, including the entire church board. But they didn’t give up.

They developed what we know as “The Master’s Plan,” a discipleship and leadership training method used here, as well as in many other Christian (and Nazarene) churches.

Attending an "Encounter With God"

the secret to this outstanding growth is disciples who make disciples who make disciples… Leaders who train leaders who train leaders…

And it is incredible.

And it’s the same strategy we will be using in Extreme South America to plant churches in sixteen urban cities.

And, I personally, can’t wait to see what God will do!

I know through my trip to Colombia, God revealed so much to me. He showed me that I really am not at the peak yet, and I have further to go, but He loves it when I keep seeking the peak.

Part Three: False Peaks

As I was leaving Cusco, Peru at the end of June, it was a very bittersweet moment.

I had just experienced an excellent short-term project. We did impact and outreach events to touch hundreds of lives. We dedicated two brand new churches to God. I heard the wonderful new believers of the churches I helped to start share from their hearts, “We have to fill this church.” But I had to say goodbye to these wonderful people who had become my family.

But I was so excited to be going home. Chipotle, Graeter’s, friends, and family. Come on, that’s exciting.

With all these mixed emotions, it was a tough moment.

So I was flying out of Cusco with all these feelings, looking down on the mountains that I had seen a thousand times.

Now the city of Cusco is set in a valley; the valley itself is at 11,000 feet above sea level. That is really high. You get to Cusco, and you have trouble breathing and headaches because of the altitude. And on either side of the city are just these amazing mountains.

Flying over them, I got to see the view from above. I started thinking about the times I have hiked them, and other people I have heard talk about climbing the mountains. I am not a very good hiker. I mean, one time when I climbed a mountain, I ended up falling down it. And I have come to the conclusion that no one actually LIKES hiking. Why would you? Your lungs burn and you can’t breathe. Your legs hurt and burn and you think one more step might kill you! There is NO WAY anyone actually enjoys that! The ONLY reason someone goes hiking is to reach the top, because when you get to the top, the view is incredible.

I remembered some of the stories I’ve heard about hiking though. Guys started climbing, and they went off the path, and they thought they got to the top, with the rush of excitement that comes with it…just to look over and see that the actual peak of the mountain was next to them, further up. They had only made it to the false peak.

I saw the paths leading up to the top of the mountain from above as I flew out of Cusco that day. I looked down, and saw the peaks, but I also saw the false peaks. It would be easy to be climbing, and think you got to the top, just to discover you only made it to a false peak…

And I started to wonder, what if our spiritual lives are EXACTLY like that?

What if we haven’t yet reached the HEIGHT of what it means to know God? Really know who He is, and know his Word. Even if we have been Christians for decades, what if there is higher to go?

What if we are not yet at the peak of what it means to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths? What if there’s farther to go?

What if we can still go higher in what it means to serve God, and live by faith, and love our neighbors?

What if we are just at a false peak?

What if there is higher to go in being filled completely with the Holy Spirit? I love what Francis Chan says in his book Forgotten God: “I want to depend so completely on the Holy Spirit, that if He doesn’t come through, I won’t make it.” What if we can step out even more in faith, in giving, and in loving?

Because if there is one thing I know about hiking, it’s that the view is SO MUCH BETTER from the top.

**I want to pray for you, whoever is reading this blog right now:

Lord, thank you for who you are, and the way you transform lives. We have to just stand in awe of you, because you are the Cosmic God of the Universe, the Creator of more than 350 billion galaxies. And yet you know each one of us, even down to how many hairs we have on our heads. You are amazing God. And right now, I pray for the one reading this, that he or she would keep seeking that peak of what it means to know you, love you and serve you. We know we are not there yet, but we want to keep going higher with you. Because we really want to see that view you have for us when we reach the top. Amen.**

Part Two: Mobilizing South America

I want to share about the next phase for us in Extreme Nazarene Ministries, and my new job, beginning this September, as Mobilization Manager for the South America Region.

We want to see the church planting movement expand to all of South America.

Our vision is Acts 1:8: “And you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In Peru, we mainly worked in rural areas where there were no churches, using the 40/40 method. You are hopefully a little familiar with the 40/40 method, because I was a 40/40. The term 40/40 comes from Extreme Peru, where we sent out 40 North American, young, single missionaries with 40 Peruvian young, single missionaries. We go out two by two, just the way Jesus sent out the seventy-two in Luke 10. These missionary pairs live together, minister together, and bring differing cultural and social perspectives to the table.

Through Extreme South America (XSA) we will continue to use the 40/40 model, pairing up 80 North Americans with 80 South Americans, working together in teams to plant sixteen churches. This time around, instead of going to small towns, they are going to the large urban cities of South America—cities with a population of at least 250,000—where they will together plant a church of hundreds of people using the Master’s Plan strategy. [In the coming weeks I will be sharing more on this blog about the Master’s Plan and my experience in Cali, Colombia.]

Where do I fit in with all of this? My official job title is SAM Mobilization Manager. That sounds almost boring, but to me, it is pretty exciting.

Do you know that RIGHT NOW, there are young people in their churches all over South America who have a call to missions, and just don’t know HOW TO GO. I have already shared that I believe that God is still a God who transforms lives. Well I believe that our amazing God is still a God who CALLS people. He calls people to “go and make disciples.” That commission was given over two thousand years ago, but right now, TWO BILLION people in our world have never heard the gospel. “And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14)

For the first time in South America, a mobilization team will exist to seek out these young believers who have a call to go, and help deploy them to fulfill that call in their home country.

I am essentially a recruiter. But I have to seek these future missionaries out, help them discern their call, qualify them through an application process, work with local church leadership to interview them, help them raise support to go, teach local churches how to give to support their missionary, and send them out.

THAT is my job.

And the second phase of church planting gets me really excited. Because, these 40/40s begin in their Jerusalem. They stay in their home country, but leave their families and lives behind to go to a different city to plant the church. During the two years of church planting, they will also be studying theology and missions courses online through the South American seminary system.

After two years, they will have an opportunity to go somewhere a little further from home, i.e. Samaria, where they will plant another church in another large urban area in another country of South America. After four years of online study they will complete a Bachelor’s degree in Intercultural Studies (Missions) and have completed all requirements for ordination in the Church of the Nazarene.

We will have raised up an ARMY of North AND South American missionaries who are EDUCATED, EQUIPPED, and EXPERIENCED to send out TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.

Isn’t that exciting? God is still a God who transforms lives, and He is still a God who calls people!

And we get to be a part of that.

Deputation Message Part One

I spent July and August home in Cincinnati, essentially, on my deputation before continuing for two more years in South America.

Now you might believe that the best part was eating lots of Chipotle and Graeter’s Ice Cream!

However, I can’t say that was my favorite part (especially after my jeans got a bit tight!). The most enjoyable and fulfilling part for me was sharing about twenty times what God has done in Peru and what He is continuing to do in South America.

Every week, people would comment on my enthusiasm. But how can I NOT be excited about what God has done?

And so, I am going to publish here on my blog the basic message, in three parts, that I gave while at home. It was never the same twice, because until now, I have never had it written down word for word. Each week, I surrendered my words to the Holy Spirit, and now I surrender my fingers as I type once again, the wonderful work God has done in Peru…

Part One: My Call to Missions and Church  Planting in Peru

About three years ago, while preparing to go to Peru to serve cross-culturally for the first time, I shared with many people my call to go, and at the root of that call was a belief in a God who still transforms lives.

I believe in a God who TRANSFORMS lives.

I grew up in Southwest Ohio, and from the time I was seven years old, I knew I wanted to be a missionary. I knew that I had a call from God; I don’t remember a booming voice from heaven or anything, I just remember…knowing, and contentment in knowing I was going to be a missionary.

So as I got older, I knew what my call was, and when I was fourteen years old, I had my first opportunity to leave the United States and experience a missions project. I went to the Dominican Republic, and felt for the first time it was like to not understand anyone speaking around me. I saw destitute poverty for the first time. I did real evangelism for the first time. And through it all, God confirmed my call to missions.

As I stepped into high school, my focus was still missions. And as I went to college at Southern Nazarene University I knew I still wanted to be a missionary.

At SNU, I heard about Extreme Nazarene Ministries for the first time, and the church planting movement beginning in Peru through 40/40 missionaries—young, single missionaries going out in pairs (one North American and one Peruvian) to plant churches.

And I heard the story of a women named Vivian.

Vivian was from the jungle city of Puerto Maldonado, a mining town, where Vivian worked as…a prostitute.

And one day, a pastor and a missionary walked into a brothel. I know, it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke! But that pastor and that missionary wanted to get to know these women so that they could minister to them and the light of Jesus Christ could shine into their lives.

And they sat down to talk to Vivian. At first Vivian was tough, ready for a fight. Every question received a response as tough as a punch. They asked, “Vivian, do you like your job?”

“You think I like this? You think I like having people come in here and telling me what to do? No, I don’t like this, but this is what I have to do.”

The conversation continued, and they asked her, “Vivian, do you believe in God?”

“Yeah, sure I believe in God. But God isn’t going to come down here and pay my debts. God isn’t going to come down here and feed my son. No, I have to take care of me and my own.”

And they kept talking to Vivian. And somewhere during the conversation, she started to change. That wall she had built up started coming down. And toward the end, Pastor Freddy asked her if she wanted to pray. And Vivian said yes. She prayed to turn her life over to Jesus Christ, for him to transform her.

Vivian left her life of prostitution and moved to another city. And that doesn’t mean that everything was perfect after this moment, but now she knew Truth, and she was walking with Him.

God transformed Vivian’s life. Because we serve a God who still transforms lives!

And I heard that story, and God began to call me to Peru, to see His transforming power continue to move. So I started to pray. And the real moment I knew I HAD to go to Peru was inside an arena, attending a Christian concert with the youth group from my church. Thousands of people gathered there, in the middle of the Bible Belt of the USA. And I KNEW that every one of them had been given ample opportunity to hear the gospel, in a town with a church on every corner, while I knew that two billion people in the world have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ. The quote echoing in my mind said, “No on has the right to hear the gospel twice until everyone has heard it once.” (Oswald J. Smith)

In that moment, I knew I had to go to Peru, where a Catholicism that preaches salvation by works is polluted with ancient Incan beliefs, and so few know the truth of who Jesus Christ is and the transforming grace he offers to the lost.

In February of 2010, I arrived in Peru. Ministry in Peru looks a lot like planting seeds. We would go out and meet new people. And we would go out and knock on doors. So, any parents who told their kids not to talk to strangers, I did that everyday! It was my JOB to talk to strangers, and plant seeds. And sometimes we would plant a lot of seeds at a time, doing a big event, like a film showing in an open air plaza, and invite the whole town to come. We would share the message of the gospel with them and take down names and info for everyone, to be able to follow up with them. When we met new people, we would start Bible studies in their homes, and invite them to church.

And all of this really looked just like the Parable of the Sower Jesus tells in Matthew 13. Some of the seeds we planted fell on the path, and the enemy snatches it away before they have a chance to understand. Some of it falls on rocky places, where it can’t take root. Persecution comes at them in these small towns, and the fall away. Some of it falls among the thorns, and “the worries of this life, and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it out.” They start getting preoccupied with work, and hurrying around, and forget about Jesus, and don’t make time for his Word. But the REALLY GOOD NEWS is that some of the seed falls on good soil, where it produces a crop one hundred times what was sown.

There was good soil in Cusco, where God transformed lives.

Like Lucila and Roberto, in Oropesa, a town famous for their bread. This town just SMELLS good when you walk through it. And Lucila and Roberto are pretty well off for this town. Roberto is a driver and isn’t home much. And Lucila and Roberto were struggling in their marriage, and Roberto wasn’t around enough to be a good leader for their three sons.

And one day, the missionaries knocked on their door. They let them in and sat down to talk. And then they wanted to learn more about the Bible. As they did, their lives began to change. Their family was restored. They began attending the church, and quickly became leaders in the church.

And Lucila and Roberto had this piece of land. Land is pretty pricey in Cusco; because of tourism, land value is high. They wanted to sell it for $40,000, and probably could have gotten it. But they started talking to the missionaries about how much they want a Church of the Nazarene in Oropesa. And so they donated this land so that we could build a church in Oropesa.

In June, we built two churches out of Styrofoam blocks in Oropesa and Huaro with a group of short term volunteers from the US. And during the inauguration services for both those churches, the people were so excited. EVERY ONE of them said, “We have this new church! It is so wonderful, and so big, and we are so thankful! But now, WE HAVE TO FILL IT. The missionaries have done their work, and now we have to continue it. And in a year, we are going to need an even bigger church, one twice this size!”

God has transformed lives in these new, baby churches, and now they want to see it continue to happen in their families and communities.

Extreme Expansion

I have been absent from this blog for too long.

And you know how when you avoid something for a while, you dread returning to it. Like if you take a break from working out, it seems so much harder to start again? Or if you try to keep a daily journal, and miss a few weeks, you know you could never catch up, so you just don't even want to try?

Or, you try to keep a blog, and you forget to write about HUGE things happening, so you just stop?

My apologies. Seriously. Because I forgot to tell you about the AMAZING short term volunteer project we had the last two weeks of June.

Incredible. We built two churches. We did tons of impact. And God moved so powerfully.

And I forgot to tell you about leaving Cusco. And how incredibly hard it was to say goodbye. And how I already miss the people from our churches. My hermanos.

And I forgot to tell you how WEIRD it has been coming back to the States. Ask me about it, and I'll tell you how I feel.

And I forgot to tell you how BUSY I am with speaking engagements. Really. Every week. So, shoot me an email if you would like to hang out while I am home.

And something important that I also have forgotten to mention, is how much I need your support. I know, this may be the thing people dread from missionaries. And missionaries don't particularly like to talk about it either. But I have to tell you, because I want to give you the opportunity to partner with me in this ministry.

I need PRAYER PARTNERS. Please, pray with me as I set out to serve God in the way he has called me to. Prayer must be the foundation of everything. It is a mighty weapon against the enemy's attacks. It is our connection to a gracious Spirit who intercedes for us. We need to pray. And I need prayer.

I also need FINANCIAL PARTNERS. Allow me to be honest: I have a huge chunk of money I need to raise. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to support myself. I need you. And I'll be even more honest: the one time gifts are great, but I have expenses every MONTH. (See, I have grown accustomed to eating every day, and having a place to sleep, and not walking from town to town to do my job. I know, spoiled!) I need people to partner with me in monthly donations. That is the ONLY WAY I can serve the Lord the way he is leading me.

Please pray about being my partner in this ministry. See, I believe that God did not JUST call ME into ministry, because he knows I can't do this alone. I believe he called YOU TOO. So seek out earnestly what God would ask of you. I didn't plant churches by myself. Every person who has prayed and given was part of that.

So I won't mobilize South Americans into mission work by myself either. You are part of this.

We are ALL a part of the extreme expansion of God's kingdom!

www.extremenazarene.org/stevens

Sucked In to the Mutuality Debate

This is my take on "One In Christ: A Week of Mutuality, dedicated to discussing an egalitarian view of gender—including relevant biblical texts and practical applications. The goal is to show how scripture, tradition, reason, and experience all support a posture of equality toward women, one that favors mutuality rather than hierarchy, in the home, Church, and society. You can read the rest of the posts here."

How sad…but it is only recently that I have begun to realize that there are so many Christians who don’t believe I have any business preaching.

Sure, they don’t call me out by saying, “You, Cailyn, have no business in the pulpit. Get out and go home. Let your husband do the spiritual leading.”

I don’t have a problem with my husband (whom I don’t have yet) being a spiritual leader.

I DO, however, have a problem with being told I am of no worth in ministry. Although I guess they wouldn’t phrase it that way. I CAN do ministry, but limiting myself to working with women and children. But my voice pretty much has no business reaching the ears of men in the congregation.

Which poses a slight problem, since I have been teaching, preaching, and discipling men AND women for the past two years.

But growing up in the Church of the Nazarene, I never really realized it was a major issue. At some point of my young Bible study, I stumbled upon 1 Timothy 2, and didn’t really know what to do with it. This is where I first realized that not everyone would be okay with my call to ministry. My call to reach the unreached at the ends of the earth. My call to teach the Word of God to anyone who will listen to me.

Because apparently, my chromosomes might be the only factor to take into account.

I have (obviously) been sucked in to the mutuality debates lighting up the blogosphere.

And a few things have jumped out at me:

1. It is a VERY personal issue to women with a call to ministry. If God says that a patriarchal system is what he had in mind for the Church that bears the name of Jesus Christ, well that kind of changes everything for me.

2. Reading the entire Bible from a lens of complementarianism feels inconsistent. I get that just opening up certain sections of the Bible, and reading them at face value, you pretty much have to draw the conclusion that women are to be silent in the church. But what about the times when they very clearly don’t. When female church leaders are praised by the Apostle Paul. When he even tells women that WHEN they prophesy, they need to cover their heads. Jesus even commissioned a women to be the herald of the resurrection story, the very definition of an apostle. And in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, egalitarianism is the only thing that makes sense.

I also believe it is extremely important to remember that the Bible was not written to us. We absolutely have it as a resource to apply to our lives, but we are not the intended audience. We are eavesdropping on a conversation that Paul had about Timothy in his specific church. We are eavesdropping on Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church. We are eavesdropping on Peter’s conversation with the early believers. This REQUIRES us to investigate the context these things were written within. And Rachel Held Evans has already done a fantastic job of that on her blog.

In light of the cultural and historical contexts, and in view of the entire canon of Scripture, egalitarianism just makes sense. It is the more consistent position. It makes no exceptions.

3. I was really blown away by what Evans stated, “For patriarchalists, the power struggle between men and women will only end when men win. 

For egalitarians, the power struggle between men and women can only end when, like Christ, we both choose to lose.”

Here’s the thing, Paul’s call for the universal church isn’t about gender; it is about submitting to one another in love. EVERYONE is called to submit to one another. EVERYONE is called to stop looking after his or her own interests, but to put others first. We are ALL called to love our neighbor as ourselves.

That command has nothing to do with gender. That command has EVERYTHING to do with loving my brother or sister more than I love myself. It actually requires me to forget about myself and seek the interests of others. I choose to lose, because I am not seeking my own interests. And if we are ALL putting everybody else first, we are actually loving the way Jesus Christ did, who made himself nothing, and gave himself up for us.

In the kingdom that Jesus Christ came to establish on earth as it is in heaven, gender is just NOT part of the equation.

We are all ONE IN CHRIST.

And perhaps the most disturbing part of this debate is not the issues raised themselves, but rather the fact that we don’t really seem to be representing one body. We are definitely lacking the unity that Jesus earnestly prays for his followers to have.

So part of me wants to keep my mouth shut, but the thing I just don’t like, is that they want to silence half of the followers of Christ, half of his disciples, and half of the followers who need to be making disciples of all nations.

Ladies, we can’t keep quiet, because the Great Commission is not finished, and we need to go. We need to teach. We need to baptize. We are Christ’s ambassadors too. So until the last tribe and tongue is reached with his saving message, silence is not an option. We have an equal share in this.