Next Step STORM

[Editor's Note: This article was originally published 2011/07/02]

What a great week with an awesome group! God is good and His people will come from all over to stay at this camp and be His hands and feet in this community. The storm may have been from evil, but from it God will prevail and His glory will be seen and sown!

The volunteer group from 1st Assembly of God Fort Wayne, IN rocked the house this week here in Birmingham! They built the bunk beds and blessed them too! In fact, there was a whole lot of blessing going on as it seemed we never stopped moving. The group got to witness "The Basement" in action, touted as the nations largest youth group. They sat in with the Open Door Church Intercessory Prayer group Tuesday, shared at the Seniors group meeting, prayed for a guy whose house got tore up by the storm (Tony-we just pulled up, talked to him and then asked if we could pray with him. I don’t think he knew what hit him when 20 of us piled out of the van and surrounded him! J), cleaned out and organized here at the camp, had a yard sale (or giveaway), enjoyed a youth group cook-out, worked on Mary’s house in Pleasant Grove…..

We’ll let the video, put together by Josh, tell the story……

We are heading back to LA in a little bit, and we’re believing in the Lord for a firm offer from a buyer! We got work to do in Birmingham!

Love ya in Christ!

[Editor's Note: This article was originally published 2011/06/02.]

Hey Ya’ll!

Things are really moving along and THE CALENDAR IS NOW OPEN! That’s right, you can now ALL sign up to volunteer at a disaster relief base camp in Birmingham, Alabama the Beautiful! Organize your group’s week now! EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! Sorry, just gettin a little excited….

Soooo, WMC wanted to meet with the Open Door Church in AL, so a board member who happens to be a pilot volunteered his Cessna, time, and fuel to take 4 of us to Birmingham this past Monday (Memorial Day). That was pretty cool as we got to see the tornado paths from the air; definitely gives you a different perspective on things. As I looked down from a mile and a half above the earth and saw all the houses and businesses and “goings on” below, I thought about 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

Click HERE for pictures.

God knows where to find every one of us! If we’re committed to HIM, He strengthens us! It doesn’t say “if we’re perfect little angels” he’ll strengthen us. It says “committed to Him” which means we keep coming back when we hit a snag, bump, or wall. “Committed to Him” means we keep taking the “Next Step” with faith in HIM though we don’t know the outcome.

Then the headset crackles and I hear an air traffic controller tell us to divert from our flight plan because of some military operations. I started to think about all that was involved in flight travel. Federal Aviation Administration, air traffic controllers, airports worldwide, NASA, military…..What would Orville and Wilbur think if they could see all that has evolved from their life paths? What about other famous people and Bible characters? Jonah was just an ordinary human like you and me; a bit obstinate but still human. His storm happened and then he got swallowed by a big fish, which you would think would make him pause and think “this is an event of Biblical proportions. Perhaps I should mind my P’s and Q’s!” Do you think Jonah would have responded or acted differently had he known his story would be told over and over again thousands of years later?

Think about this! (Sorry to keep jumping around on ya, but I just thought about something.) We can make ripples, just like Jonah did, for years to come. And they could be good or bad. But God WILL have the glory! Reflect over the scriptures for a minute. Is there anything, good or bad, that happened that doesn’t eventually lead to God’s glory? ANYTHING? that skunks God and leaves Him smelling like a fish? We may surprise Him sometimes (Jeremiah 19:5), but we’re not gonna make Him look bad in the end! Why not do the “good” in the right spirit and that way we all come out smellin’ like a rose? I don’t know why I do what I do sometimes, but maybe if I start thinking more about others watching me and making waves for generations to come…..……. and if I ever choke a fish and he regurgitates me on land, I’m gonna know something’s up! Thanks to Jonah!

The trip to Birmingham was a success as we met some more of our family there! You’re gonna love them! We’re excited to get started! Did I tell you the calendar’s open?!! Call now to reserve your spot! Is that cheesy or what?!

Ask the Lord to prepare the way before us in this endeavor; that His Holy Spirit go ahead and prepare the appointments for us. May His will be done and no other name but HIS be praised! May many come to call on the name of Jesus, and depend on HIM to reconstruct their lives through this partnership with Open Door. Bless the good folks at Open Door many times over for their graciousness and hospitality- pressed down, shaken together, and running over! Ask that the Lord fill the camp and projects with His Spirit and bind the enemy in the name of JESUS!

May God make His face shine upon you like the Birmingham sun!

Monte, Kim, and the kids

[Editor's Note: This article was originally published 2011/05/15]

This morning I was reading in Genesis and came across the part where God appeared to Abraham to announce the fulfillment of His promise of a son to Abe and Sarah. Right about then, at that part, I was thinking about the promises God made to the man and the time it took to fulfill those promises. God promised some land to Abe’s descendants, 400 yrs into the future, and 300 miles from his homeland. That was cool because He told him it would be his innumerable offspring, which Abe knows right up front, it’s a long time in the future. But then Abe grows older and starts to wonder how this will be accomplished since his wife is barren? So the Lord clears it up and tells him it will be from his own flesh. OK, cool, so we’re having a kid! TEN YEARS pass, and understandably Sarai starts to question how this is gonna happen, so she takes matters into her own hands and makes a way. OOOPS! Wrong way. Unfortunately, Abe bit into the apple….oh, sorry, got my stories mixed up. ;) We all get on Abe and Sarai’s case because this all happens in a couple of pages for us, but you gotta give em some slack. TEN YEARS went by! I get anxious if a couple of days go by without some results! (No, I’m not saying they’re excused for the wrong decision either.) Ishmael was born when Abe was 86. THEN another 13 yrs goes by, still no son of Sarai, and God appears to Abe and says the promised son will be there next year. The promise is fulfilled 25 years after it was made! I need to have a little more patience for sure!

But now we’re back at the beginning of where I started. God appears, with 2 of His angels, once again to Abraham. LISTEN to this, this is the part that hit me today! God and his angels appeared to Abraham as 3 men, and we pick the scene up here in Genesis 18: 9-15…. the Lord told Abraham that Sarah would have a son this time next year. Sarah (89 yrs old) is listening behind the Lord’s back and can hardly keep from cracking up but keeps her composure as she thinks to herself “After I’m all worn out and my husband is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”     But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

God and His angels appeared in human form as strangers. They not only knew her name but knew her thoughts as well. Reminded me of “the little old ole lady from Van Cleve, MS” that I just referred to in an update (5-4-11). If you don’t know the story, it’s about a trip (Kim’s first) that we made to Gulfport, MS in January, 2007. We came to look at the area to see about housing for our family as we were contemplating moving down from IN to help at a volunteer camp called Hope City. After work on weds, we drove all night and arrived sometime Thursday morning. The founder of HCRN, Kevin Cox, says to me all bubbly “Hey, I got something I think will work!” “Oh yeah?!” I said. He said “yeah! Follow me! and took me and showed me these big M.A.S.H. looking green canvas tents. “Look at this one! We put a bathroom in it and already made it into an apartment! We could divide them into rooms for you and the kids and maybe even connect the 2 tents together!” Now keep in mind that I’m feeling a little groggy and grumpy, and my heart just sunk. Knowing the weakness of my flesh condition at that particular moment, I just kept my mouth shut. As I felt that “sick” feeling, I knew that (sick feeling) wasn’t in line with what our spirits had been experiencing up until then, and I prayed in my head “Oh Lord, this isn’t what you brought us here for! (That sick feeling) Direct our path!” I murmured something like “that’s nice” and off I went to take a nap.

On Thursday night’s at the camp, the volunteers were given the option of going out. If Kevin Moss was there, there was no option of where to go, only IF. He would only allow you to go to “The Shed”, and that was ok as most of the volunteers enjoyed a night at this local Bar-b-que shed. And a shed it was, no, really! So, our family is setting there at a table by ourselves, and this little old lady with red hair and a cane walks up to Kim and starts talking. It’s so loud in the crowded little chicken coop add-on, that I can’t hear Kim from across the table! So this lady gets done with Kim and comes over to me. Now I wasn’t paying much attention as Kim is always talking to someone, so it wasn’t unusual for that part. But then she comes over to talk to me and I’m thinking “Oh great! Kim started this and now I’ve gotta finish it!” That old lady started rubbing my right shoulder; got right up by my ear and said “Young man, you’ve got decisions to make and I’m gonna pray for ya! Sometimes I see these things and I like to tell it when I hear it!” I’m thinking “yeah, sure lady, let’s just get this over with” as I smile but can’t look at her as she’s right up waaay inside my comfort zone! She continues on, all the while wearing my shoulder out…….
“You know when I was a youngin and I was fixin to get married, my husband had 2 brothers that were both preachers and I said to him “if you ever think about doin something like that, I’m outta here!” Well, guess what? My husband becomes a preacher and the Lord puts a callin on my life! Sometime in my thirties I start reading the Word and every time I open it up it says “sell your possessions and give to the poor” or “sell your possessions and follow me”. Is that all you have in this book of yours Lord?!

Then He wanted us to move and I’m thinking why would I want to give up everything I have and move?! See, cause we had a 3 bedroom 2 bath house with 2 cars in the garage and a boat on the side. We had azaleas in the front and fruit trees in the back. Why would I want to give that up? You have decisions to make and I’m gonna be prayin for ya! You just remember that you were told by a little old lady here in Van Cleve, MS.” And off she went on her cane.

I looked at Kim and said “What did you say to her?” You see I’m thinking that Kim had shared our story with her, told why we were here. Kim said “She asked my name, and I told her, then she asked your name, and I told her.” “Yeah, what else?” “Nothing. That was it. My name and your name”. “But you told her what we were doing here, right?” By this time she’s a little perturbed. (with gritted teeth) “I TOLD HER MY NAME AND YOUR NAME.” Ok, I’m thinking, “She’s (the lady’s) a part of the group of volunteers”, so I looked at Kevin Cox a couple of tables away and said “Who was that lady?” He shrugged and said he didn’t know and I’m thinking “yeah, right, he put her up to this!” “C’mon! Who was she? Is she a part of the group?” He said “I don’t know, maybe she was an angel!” and we all turned around to see her and she was gone! Remember, this was a crowded, no walkway, shed, about 50’ to the door and she had a cane. And there is no way Kevin could have known what had just taken place. Why did he even say that?! (Enter - spine chills.)

So on the way out, I’m trying to process what just happened, kicking myself for not paying better attention. I’m thinking about what was just said and the order of things, thinking she extracted information somehow and then made it appear “psychic”. After being convinced that she wasn’t a “plant”…… there was no way I could explain how she told me my thoughts! Thoughts that I hadn’t shared even with Kim! AND she quoted the scripture that I had been reading!

I don’t know why I felt I should share this again. Maybe you’re in a place where you wonder what God’s doing. You’re being obedient to what you feel he’s called you to, but now it seems like He’s not there and you’re questioning if you missed something somewhere. Maybe you feel like He has something more for you, but you pray and pray and just can’t seem to connect to what it is. LISTEN! Our timing is not God’s timing! He sees you! He knows the desires of your heart! He has defeated kings, sickness, and even death, raised the dead, calmed storms, fed many with little, made an old couple have kids…….. He hears you! And nothing is too big for HIM! STAND FAST! Do not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up!
I was recently given this verse and it keeps coming back because I’m so stinking wishy washy sometimes……

 1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Remember that God’s love is enduring! That means that it is not exhausted but excruciatingly patient! He is waiting patiently and not condemning the world as it deserves, so that everyone that can be saved will be saved!

We’re heading to AL tomorrow to meet with some folks about possibly setting up another volunteer camp. Please pray that the Lord would go before us and prepare the way. May HIS will be done! From there we’ll be following the yellow brick road to IN (that’s kinda funny because our van was recalled and failed the test and Ford put us in a van with license tags from Kansas) We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore, but we’ll be back in the Hoosier state before you know it!

Love to all! Keep the faith!

Monte, Kim, and the kids

[Editor's Note: This article was originally published 2011/05/09]

Hey Ya’ll!

We are currently looking at options to best serve tornado victims in Alabama. There is a lot of commotion right now and the areas are flooded with volunteers, (Sam’s Purse had over 3000 volunteers registered last week) many of them not connected with any organization; they just want to help. The issue is that if volunteers go without being organized in some fashion, precious time can be wasted, and resources are not utilized or distributed in an effective and efficient manner. I met one large organization (Convoy of Hope) who was passing out water as fast as they could. There were people who came with water on their own and couldn’t get rid of it; saw that COH was passing out water, so they gave COH their water. By the end of the day, COH had more water than they started with! We saw cases of water everywhere, on everyone’s porches, and they were even leaving them at the outhouses. There is plenty of food and water.

My family and I started doing disaster relief in Gulfport, MS 4 yrs ago and after 2 yrs, moved to New Orleans to do the same; helping rebuild lives and homes devastated by Katrina. The roles we served were as director and project manager, and April 30th was the last day of our commitment here. (Coincidence?) Last weekend, I traveled to Alabama to assess the situation left by the tornadoes. My heart was drawn once again to the victims as I surveyed the splintered landscape and talked with survivors. How anyone could survive when there isn’t a building product left in its constructed place is beyond me. WAY beyond my pay grade other than recognizing the providence of God! To be able to talk to the survivors and hear their stories just days after the storm was both disheartening and awe inspiring.
 
We started receiving calls from people wanting to donate resources 2 days after the tornadoes touched down. We are supported as missionaries by donors, many of whom attend our home church, Woodburn Missionary. WMC has agreed to set up a disaster relief fund as we assess where the Lord would have us go; possibly setting up another volunteer camp to work with the local Long Term Recovery Coalition (LTRC) to rebuild homes of those that don’t have the wherewithal to accomplish the task on their own.
 
As we seek to identify the tornado victim’s needs, we must also assess the feasibility of a long term commitment. IF there is enough interest, our part would be to help in the coordination of volunteers by setting up a camp that would utilize volunteers in the reconstruction of lives and homes after a major disaster.

You can help by joining us in prayer as we seek the Lord’s wisdom and guidance. Ask that He distinguishes HIS voice from the flesh’s and gives discernment in “sorting it all out”.

Check out the guy in the blue shirt (below) and where he and his family survived the tornado. His name is Van Farr, and the lady in black is his sister, standing where they all huddled together through the storm. There is nothing left! He said he was an epileptic and started to seize when he realized what had happened. The neighbors came over and shook them all out of it and they watched the tornado’s backside as it continued it’s path of destruction through the area.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Please don’t assume anything. We love to hear from you!

[Editor's Note: This article was originally published 2011/05/04]

Hey Ya’ll!

Just got back yesterday from AL Tornadoes. We assessed the damage in Cullman, Birmingham, Pratt City, Tuscaloosa, Hueytown, Concord, Gieger……just to name a few of the affected areas. There were 312 Tornadoes in 24 hrs, a record, so you can’t imagine the damage. We talked to numerous survivors (amazed that there were ANY in some of the splintered, shredded, flattened areas) and I’ll try to get back to that in a later email and also share some photos. We just wanted to give you a quick update for now.

There is plenty of water and food for people in the devastated areas. Volunteers and neighbors have responded overwhelmingly; the coordination of those volunteers is what is lacking. Samaritan’s Purse had 1000 volunteers show up Sunday which is a bit much even for them. It would be nice if we could stretch the initial response out and make it last past the next big news event. It does show that Americans do have big hearts, and even in a poor economy people give of themselves to help those in need! VERY REFRESHING!

So the question is, what can we/you do?  First of all, continue to remember the families affected in your prayers. If there is anything left of a house, they are afraid to leave for fear of looting (though there is a large force of Army, National Guard, and Police on the ground). For those that the house is gone, that the right agencies would connect with them to provide the basics of life; food, water, hygiene, roof, bed. And for all of them, ask the Lord for comfort and peace of mind. I met a guy Monday who said he hadn’t slept since last Tuesday. When he closed his eyes, he would relive it.

Second is probably a given. You are probably receiving this because you VOLUNTEER. Volunteer through a coordinated effort and agency. If you just show up, chances are, you will waste time that could be used to help others.  And remember: it’s not about the projects, it’s about the people. The projects are just a platform to people’s lives; to share the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Lastly…..What would you do, if in a matter of minutes, everything you own is destroyed? Where would you go, sleep, eat, if those immediately around you were in the same condition? You obviously can’t go to work if it’s still open for business. You have no car, shower, toilet, toothpaste….. Are you connected to a body of believers that would come to the rescue? What if you lost your life in a second, because you really don’t know when it’s your turn….. Are you connected to the Savior? Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the FATHER except through ME”. GET CONNECTED and be prepared!

Thank you for the prayers!
In Jesus Name,
Monte

BTW- Feel free to forward to anyone you feel would be interested. If you know of someone who wants to be on the emailing list, have them send us an email. Please don’t ask us to add someone else. We won’t add anyone unless they make the request personally.

[Editor's Note: This article was originally published 2011/04/30.]

Update to Supporters-

More later……I am leaving now; heading into the areas affected by the tornadoes this past week. Please pray for wisdom and direction and the Lord’s leading. Pray for a location if it be His will. We have received numerous calls in regards to helping tornado victims. This is an overwhelming task and of course the usual mass confusion of all the different agencies responding. We’ve got to get better at this disaster stuff! Not being an alarmist, just a good reminder that every day is a step closer to the Lord coming back to establish His Kingdom with us and give the enemy the final boot! Praise to the Almighty El Shaddai!

Ask the Lord for divine appointments…….
                                                         ……… and that he’ll be with the family here at home.

In Christ! ~monte