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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 3/1/2010
(as i begin this blog, i want to make it clear that these are plans - plans the church and i are pursuing because we feel the Lord leading - but plans we're very aware the Lord could change and redirect. so as you read and get excited about the potential, also hear that as much as this is where we're moving until the Lord closes the door, we will be obedient to pursue this.)
THE HOPE: syracuse is one of roughly seven cities in the United States that receives UN refugees each year. they are granted citizenship in a cooperative worldwide effort through the UN. because so many individuals land in syracuse, there is a huge need to meet some of their physical, spiritual and emotional needs. eastern hills church, as well as a lot of churches in the area, are on the front lines of this ministry.
short version, the church has recently been active in finding people in their body to set up a 501c3 that will be a non-profit designed to solely meet the needs of this refugee population. the hope is that as early as april 1st, a home can be purchased through a program that is offering very cheap housing with the expectation that the buyer will invest and pour capital into the economy as well as increase the property value. if this home were to be purchased, contractors in the church have volunteered time and resources to help renovate those homes, while training refugees in the process - providing them with various job skills.
this house would be renovated, and then inhabited by several of these refugees. in it would be a computer lab for them to use language learning software, to skype family in their country of origin, as well as any of the other necessary uses of a computer. also in this house would be an opportunity for english classes or other training tools and seminars. the Lord has brought so many resources to the surface to make the potential of this house a reality.
THE RESPONSIBILITY: in order for this project to take root, i will fall into a role of 'making it happen.' that could mean a million different things from talking with the government about purchasing property to coordinating contractors and english tutors to any number of other tasks. but once the project is up and running, i'll be living in the home, trying to establish a family community among the men living in the home.
THE MEANS: this process will cost a fair amount, but for the time being all i know is that we need prayer. God is going to prove faithful, and we're going to step out in faith trusting this is a great ministry opportunity to build up some of His children and equip them for life in the states. a number of pieces will need to fall into place as we seek to buy the property, purchase materials, choose the men who should live in the home, and establish long term relationships with them - hopefully eventually purchasing a home for young women, and maybe more beyond that. the month of march will be spent mainly researching and dreaming and preparing for the opportunities that may arise as early as the beginning of april.
so pray. pray that God gives vision and direction. pray that the right house is made available to us. pray that the right individuals to live in the house are made apparent. pray that there aren't other roadblocks that arise, and if they do, pray that we can find ways beyond or around them. pray, because if this vision is from the Lord, He'll establish it and go before it. and pray expectantly, trusting God will reveal great and mighty things to us as we seek His face.
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 2/28/2010
twenty four hours ago i arrived in syracuse, new york... 
this pilgrimage began on valentines day of last year, floating off the coast of a beach in haiti. having just been released from the pain of kidney stones, i did everything i could to just enjoy a day free from the trials of laying on the bathroom floor. with limited ability to move, i bobbed in water that was shallow enough to stand, but deep enough to support my weight. in that moment, i felt a whisper from the Lord tell me, "syracuse...i've got something for you in syracuse."
and God whispered that word to me time and time again throughout the race.
and for over a year now, i've known i was supposed to come, and known very little else. sometimes the Lord demands action before He gives the next word. the hope was to have a plan lined up before moving out here. but countless resumes landed no work, and i decided to pile into a car anyway, and move out to NY.
i piled a closet's worth of things into my trunk, ashli hanna in the passenger seat, and traveled through michigan, canada, and new york, eventually arriving in syracuse. and i am blown away by how incredibly faithful God is to me. i remember being told in the dominican republic last year, "do you want to see how faithful God is? then be faithful yourself." how profound! as i obey, God is so good. so faithful. he gives me well beyond my needs and blesses me with most of my wants.
i met with a friend from moody last night and had dinner at her home in central new york. she shared with me the direction the church out here is moving, and the plans they hoped i would be a part of. i don't know how to explain how many of my prayers have been answered. although nothing is firmly established as of today, the desire of my heart for ministry seems to be satisfied. the desire of my heart for fellowship is being met. the desire of my heart for a place to earn a paycheck to pay bills and support my desire to be involved in ministry is starting to align. i have a home with a great family - and in beautiful irony, they've had a picture of me on their fridge for the last 5 years and didn't even know it. (true story...) time and time again, God is good.
want to know how i've seen that God is good? by being faithful to Him. it's impossible to outgive God. the more of myself i give to Him, the more of Himself He gives to me.
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 so as of today i'm in a temporary living situation in syracuse new york...actually manlius, new york. the church i'm attending and hoping to get involved in and minister through is eastern hills bible church (easternhills.org). the area of focus, as it appears right now is going to involve, housing, job training and discipleship of a large male refugee population in the syracuse area. as i get more information, i'll pass it on.
prayer requests:
-God would really make clear the doors i'm supposed to walk through. He's provided great options, but so many doors are opening its overwhelming and i don't want to commit to anything i shouldn't.
-peace for my heart. its a new phase. it's the first time i have any form of permanence in about sixteen months. with that comes a whole slew of potential insecurities as i seek to establish lasting relationships, networks, etc. a tangent of this request is that there wouldn't be room for lonliness to creep in...yet on the opposite end, that i wouldn't allow myself to be too busy to allow the Lord to do what He needs in my heart.
-Godly brothers to share life with, younger men of God to pour into, and a man of God to mentor me and really pour into me. a paul a timothy and a barnabas or two.
-that God would increase my faith. i feel like a fool a lot in this risk of a move to syracuse. i dont have things "figured out," but i feel like i'm doing exactly what God has asked of me. risk in the character of God isn't risk...and i need prayer to remind me of that.
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 10/17/2009
(this is a blog i wrote in the ukraine about four months ago. i havent changed anything, and it's been sitting, waiting to be posted. so here it is, way late...and an update on where i am today will follow in just a bit)
_________________________
some of Satan's best deception isn't found in his lies, it's in the way we hear the truth he tells us. and example is in genesis 3:5. Satan tells man, "God knows that when you eat of the tree, your eyes will be opened, and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil." It's true. their eyes were opened. they did understand good AND evil from that point. but the sad reality is that before that, they knew good...and God protected them from evil. the only thing new Satan brought to the conversation was evil...but he packaged it real nice, disguised in truth.
for a few days i've been thinking about that passage in relation to the stronghold of lust and comparison or image found here in ukraine. lust is taking the good thing God created known as love, and giving us a cheaper way to arrive at the feelings or pleasure or joy or hope found in it...but coming on it's tails is a slew of evil. hurt. depression. insecurity. broken relationships. and the list goes on and on.
talking with a friend who had an unfortunate run in with a man a few weeks back, he explained that this country has been tormented by American men coming to ukraine for sex tourism. he explained how the pursuit of "no strings" satisfaction has led to a broken country, to bitterness, and to women who have had their value stolen.
and when women find their value through their pursuit by men...especially men desiring little more than to use them, it's no wonder the girls on our teams are struggling with image in this atmosphere as well. we've defined beauty so poorly. men were created in the garden to define beauty through the woman God has designed them to commit to for a lifetime. one's wife should be their standard of beauty. we've defined love so incorrectly. we've been told to guard love, to not awaken it until it so desires. but instead we flirt with our heart and our emotions and our passions, often crossing lines we have no business toeing in the first place.
so i ask where lust stems from? satan is using a variety of root issues - be it insecurity in who we are supposed to become as men, be it past rejection by women and an inability to find acceptance thru Christ, a false understanding of beauty, misdirected affection or an unanswered cry for affection, or numerous other roots - and has led us to a dangerous outlet. almost every man i've ever met struggles with lust in some degree. for some it's as simple as noticing a beautiful woman on the street and letting his eyes gaze at her a second too long. for others, it goes as far as pornography, masturbation, or even engaging with others in their sin.
but that's what makes it such a tricky sin. the root is different for each guy
i dont have all the answers, but i love that in the same chapter that man fell, God was already active in redeeming them. I heard a man say recently, "before we fell in Adam, we were redeemed in Christ. mankind has never been without redemption." in genesis 3:22 it says, "Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever- therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken."
God understood that he had given us a good thing. he also knew that we now had sin, that we now had evil. so instead of allowing us to live in sin forever, by reaching out for that tree of life, he graciously kicked us out of the garden to receive redemption. i think in the area of lust, God is asking to give us a swift kick in the pants, as an act of grace. he's asking us to understand that there's redemption from the knowledge of evil. we dont need to know anything but the good, now that Christ conquered sin and death on the cross.
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 10/15/2009
so i know i promised a blog on the stronghold of lust and image...and it's still being worked on. but here's a quick thought from an experience the other day.
about three days ago, i went with four other world racers to an orphanage right on the russian border. it's an orphanage for special cases, mainly handicapped, mentally disabled, or invalid children. it was an incredible experience to walk into the center and see children who had often been rejected, children who couldn't be cared for, and children who really had nothing.
we walked around playing with the children. we played volleyball with some that were able to run around, played in smaller rooms at the end of the wing of the orphanage with those who couldn't. all the while, we hugged them, gave them piggy back rides, and stroked their hair.
in another wing of the orphanage were several rooms full of beds that had the extremely crippled children who couldn't communicate at all, with the lone exception of smiles. our team of five went in and prayed over these children, rubbing their shaved heads and rubbing their arms, even holding their hands if they'd let us.
we were going to go a second day, but we got an early morning call that one of the children had passed away the night of our first visit. i don't know exactly which child it was, but as i sat and prayed about the situation, grieving the loss of a child i don't really know, the Lord left me with a really calming thought.
at some point that day, i had shown that child love through touch. i have to believe that the Lord used that single act to show love to a child that probably doesn't get a lot of love and attention. There's a part of my heart that knows the Lord used my touch to communicate His love to that child. and before that child was held forever in the arms of Yhwh God, He chose to use me to hold that child.
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 10/7/2009
"The tragedy
is not that things are broken.
The tragedy is that they are not mended
again."
Alan Paton in Cry the Beloved Country
Let me take
you back with me two years. A woman came into my office at the church where I
served as the youth pastor. In our conversation, she shared with me a vision
her husband had had, a vision where a spirit hung over the church. As he prayed
into the vision, the Lord revealed to him that the spirit was a spirit of will
that the Lord wouldn't force himself through, that revival could come to our
church, but that this spirit hung there, and we had to choose to deal with it and rid it first.
Immediately,
that first paragraph might offend or startle some. I mentioned visions –
assuming the Lord still speaks to His children today, and in ways besides, but
never contrary to, His Word. I mentioned spirits – assuming there is a war in
the heavens, and also assuming we walk through life almost completely oblivious to this war. I also
mentioned that the spirit looming in Groton had to be dealt with. We like to pretend we can be
the solution to our own problems, or that they are just normal issues people
need to ‘get over.' We'd rather err to that side than "over-spiritualizing" life. But there in lies the problem, everything is spiritual.
We have
learned to live with unholiness and have come to look upon it as the natural
and expected thing.
–AW Tozer
In my next
blog I'm going to talk specifically about a spirit hanging over Ukraine, the spirit of (lust / image) but I
wanted to first explain the power I've come to believe that spirits have. It's funny,
because only to Americans does the concept of spirits need explanation.
Africans completely believe in and understand a spiritual world. Often times,
they take it too far and worship the spirits. Asians take the opposite extreme of fear, and often try to appease the spirits they know to exist. I used the word
‘know,' because it's a matter-of-fact knowledge. Haiti was well aware of the
power of witch doctors, and even in Europe, there's an understanding of a
spiritual world.
The book of
Ephesians gives a very interesting name to Satan; it calls him the Ruler of the
Kingdom of the Air. It's not a secret that Adam handed over the keys of
authority in the world to Satan in the Garden. Christ, when crucified,
descended into hell to reclaim that stolen authority, and like prophesied in Genesis
3, stomped on Satan's head so hard that he bruised his heel. Christ has the authority in this World, it is his Kingdom, and we need to be better at claiming it back for Him.
But Satan is still at
work trying to stay the Ruler of the Kingdom of the Air. Ephesians 6:12 says, "For
we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
Every
country we've gone into, we've prayed into and understood the spiritual
strongholds in certain areas. As we arrive, there is almost always a spirit that looms over our squad in an entire
country, in a specific city, or even in a specific home that begins to affect us. It affects us until we are able to recognize
that Christ regained all authority, until we ask for him to send His Spirit, and let him
regain the dominion in that area.
For
example, below is a list of countries we've been to, followed by spiritual
strongholds. These are subtle (or not so subtle) ways Satan is trying to rob
Christ of his inheritance and his Bride.
DR – spirit
of lust, spirit of laziness, of fear and of frustration
HAITI – a
spirit of laziness, of witchcraft, of confusion, and of worthlessness
CAMBODIA – a
spirit of anger, of betrayal, of loneliness, and of doubt
THAILAND – a
spirit of lust, of worthlessness, of fear, of rejection, and of depression
MALAYSIA – a
spirit of control, of pride and of displacement
MOZAMBIQUE –
a spirit of laziness, and of confusion
BOTSWANA – a
spirit of alcoholism, and of distrust
SOUTH
AFRICA – a spirit of anger, of greed, of fear, and of hatred
ROMANIA – a
spirit of unforgiveness, of insecurity, of pride, and of rebellion
UKRAINE – a
spirit of lust, of distraction or busyness, and of bitterness
These
spirits are very real, and very dangerous. And I challenge you to pray into
what spirits might be subtly stealing you away from being the person the Lord
needs you to be where you are. Maybe it's a spirit of control that's so common
in America – a need to know everything and be the one making the decisions. Maybe it's a spirit of religion – clinging too tightly to legalism or tradition
to cling to Christ and die upon His cross with Him. Maybe it's a spirit of
comparison, or a spirit of anger.
In those
moments, I challenge you to pray that the God of all peace, the God who
promised to send us the Spirit of Christ, would send His Spirit to us. Where a
spirit of lust is prevalent, usher in his Spirit of Purity. Where a spirit of
hatred is prevalent, pray in His Spirit of Love. Where a spirit of greed is
prevalent, pray into the present His Spirit of Generosity.
I write this because it's a reality our team is currently fighting. Its a reality that we're winning, partly because we recognize our authority in Christ, and because we are aware of Satan's schemes. 2 Corinthians 2 says, speaking of specifically of unforgiveness, but in a principle that i believe applies more broadly, "if we know the devil's schemes, he wont outwit us..."
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 9/19/2009
i got an email yesterday from a man i respect more than most. in it, he mentioned briefly "i can't recall a night this year my children haven't prayed for you by name."
does that give you chills? it fills my eyes with tears of both joy and unworthiness at the same time. Joy because i know that God's answering those prayers. unworthiness because someone, especially children, are investing their time and emotion into my life. there's no bigger investment, and they offer it to me so freely. since the first month of this race, God's been teaching me a lot about His Kingdom. He's been teaching me that exposing my weakness is the only way to be free from it, that the best way to handle someone abusing grace is to show more grace, that the way to become great is to get low and serve, and that God doesn't do math - He goes after the individual heart...
in January in the DR i watched children leading worship. they knew love and they knew how to meet with God. in haiti the kids sang with more passion than i'd ever seen. they understood worship. in cambodia the kids sang and danced, and a 16 year old boy had given up a lot of his father's blessing to teach students about Christ. he understood sacrifice. In malaysia, the homeless kids didn't know what they didn't have, they lived simply and were content. in mozambique, the kids had a pure inquisitiveness to them. they knew enough to seek answers to the questions - to pursue truth. in jo'burg, the street kids knew that community was the right way to live, and that honesty - no matter how painful - is right. and here in romania, the kids want to be loved. period.
i guess kids get Christ. kids understand His Kingdom. they understand trust. they understand love. they understand grace. but somewhere we become more 'civilized.' we lose the passion, the innocence and the purity we once had - which is a shame because it's the pure in heart who will see God (jesus' words, not mine).
so to those two kids...thank you. i love you and i miss you. God's got a kingdom that belongs to ones like you. never stop living for the King!
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 9/19/2009
l  ast night was a reunion of sorts. jen and tonya, the two girls i've had to trust the most this year, grown to depend on the most this year, and fallen in love with the most this year (in a purely platonic, brotherly way) met me in Brasov. over the best four cheese pizza i've ever had, we discussed a lot of things.
the honest talk came out - talk spurred on by a month where i was able to be alone a lot and wrestle with my prayers, my thoughts, and this trip. i realized last night that i'm tired. i realized last night that 9 months is a really long time, and i'm worn out. (if i'm honest, i realized that last month too. i can remember sitting with a 20 something aged guy at a church in Jo'Burg and telling him "i'm sorry, but i've had so many 'one-day' friendships on this trip, i don't need another." the irony is that that conversation led to one of the most profound one-day friendships i've had on this race).
but the longer i'm apart from the squad, the more i recognize how much we were designed for community. having a team of people with a like heart pushes me on when i want to stop. they hold me accountable when i start heading somewhere i shouldn't. they pray for me and encourage me. they know me well enough to recognize my emotions. they give me space when i need it, but don't offer the same the times i want it but shouldn't have it. they show me grace as i show my ugly side, and that grace seems to sand away (slowly but surely) the abrasive sides of me. community like the world race is how the church should be.
i've recieved a dozen or so emails, facebook comments, skype comments, etc saying the same word, "finish strong." and i need to hear that word. it's a GOOD word. but it's hard. it's hard to cling tightly to a community that is here for only a short while longer. it's hard to engage heartily into ministries when home is on the horizon. in some ways, the first months, when home was a past event, not a future event, made it easier to be living in the present.
i had a gym teacher my freshman year of high school, mr. manz, and he used to run us like dogs. and i remember the 3 mile runs...the last 400 yds was the hardest. but it was also the point where you had to give it everything you had for that last  kick. i never had the energy to kick, but i did it anyway. and i feel like that as i type today.
what does finishing strong look like? i hope it means i pray with the same passion and fervor i have this year. i hope it means i shut up and listen more than any other time on the race so far. i hope it means i invest in the squad and the relationships all the more BECAUSE i wont be as available to them in the future. i hope it means the next few months ruin me more than any others yet.
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 9/17/2009
Nick Derington and I are rocking out Brasov Romania this month. We've been staying at the Rolling Stone Hostel, and have sort of   become the guys who don't leave...
AIM has a conference in three days that will bring about 250 World Racers, WR alumni, Pastors and their wives, and AIM Staff to a camp on the fringe of the city. Nick and I were called in to make sure that what was planned would actually happen. We were given a list of things that we needed to accomplish before the conference, hitchhiked from Viile Tecii where our teams still are, and arrived in Brasov about a week ago.
Our task list involved things like finding a conference room within budget and within walking distance of the campground, figure out whether we have enough rooms reserved and communicate our needs to the campsite in person, among other things. The most bizarre request, however, was that one of the speakers at the conference needs four old doors. Nick and I then added a phamplet to the list of things we'd accomplish...to put our own little professional touch on it.
 Everything was done as of this morning, with the exception of finding antique doors and finding a printer who could print our brochure. Every ally we walked down led to nothing - especially no doors. And no one we asked was able to give us any insight into where we could find a door. Likewise, there are lot of xerox places, but no professional printers. Art shops, photo labs and other places told Nick and me that we were out of luck and should settle to get the phamplet printed at a xerox place.
Frustrated and exhausted from our time here in the city, we decided to do the one thing that made sense today - eat. We heard of a Saorma place (basically a chicken gyro in a pita wrap twice the size of a chipotle burrito!) that we were intent on finding. We headed out in the direction of this fantastic, yet seemingly mythical restaurant, excited to EAT. about two blocks from our hostel, we came across a dumpster with a door in it. But at that exact moment, a man in a car with eight doors strapped to the roof pulled up. He didn't speak english, but after pulling him into an ally to a translator, we found out he'd hook us up with doors. we needed doors, and a door guy pulled up next to us. coincidence, or providence?
so we walked and after about a half hour of frustration, found the Saormas (pronounced SHWARMAs). Because it was just a store front, there was no seating room, so we sat out on the step of the building next door. As providence would have it, it was a professional printer...the only one in Brasov.
It's been hard being away from the squad. 50 members of the H Squad are in Viile Tecii, and we're here preparing for them to recieve teaching and training. It's a ministry onto it's own...but it's been hard to not be with people who i'm going to part from soon. But in those moments of frustration, God brought me back in my journal to May, where i prayed that He would allow me to have a ministry to the backpackers of Penang. "We all have something in common, so talking to them should be easy..." Well, between the dozens of people who have called this hostel home, if even for a night, they've heard about our trip and about Christ. I just needed that refocus. Again, God in his favor answered my prayer, much later than i thought, and in a different context...but an answer nonetheless.
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 8/24/2009
i wrote about jimmy a few weeks ago. jimmy's homeless and lives on the street with his dog Jessica (named after the allman brothers song with the same name). saturday night, one of the girls on our team was sick, so we loaded into the rental car and drove to the gas station to buy a two-liter of ginger ale or sprite...
 just behind the gas station (they call them garages in south africa - and they call traffic lights 'robots.') jimmy was sitting against a wall, dazed. we pulled up, rolled down the windows, and he came and talked. we'd been out at a camp in the townships of the Mpumalanga Province, so we hadn't seen him in a week, so we did the small talk 'catch-up.' but i felt like i needed to invite him to church. we'd been working with a church, loved it, and asked him to come. 'well, i'll see you before you guys leave on thursday," was his response. i pretty much chalked that up as a 'probably wont see you tomorrow.'
but sure enough he beat us to the church. sure enough, jessica came with him.
i sat next to jimmy throughout the service, thinking about what he would be hearing and seeing that morning...and whether it was worship God the Father would see as pure and faultless. the gospel was the root and heart of the sermon. real christianity was preached with grace and truth.
half way through the service, the children who play on the playground outside during the service all ran into the sanctuary. you see, jessica started out there with the kids, and a half hour with 30 hands all over you is usually enough. so half way through the sermon, the pastor watched a dog, followed by a parade of kids, run into the sanctuary. the dog stayed under jimmy's chair the rest of the service, and no one in the church minded. and how could they, the gospel was taught that morning, and here was a man looking to know the Savior.
i don't know which i was more shocked by...that Jimmy showed up or that the church loved him well. i underestimated both, and i apologize for that.
it's just encouraging, because he asked really good questions after the service. he asked why this type of christianity is so different than everything he's ever seen of christianity before. jimmy is starting to see Christ, and i think he's finally to a point where he's not going to give up until he really does see Christ for who He is...
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Posted in a trip archive by Dave Brown on 8/24/2009
jumping out of a plane is a stupid idea. i don't know who the first person to do it was, but they must have been nuts. falling for 45 seconds at about 120mph towards the ground...strapped to a man who's strapped to a parachute...with maybe five minutes of training...not my most discerning moment (but one of my better moments.
but the parallels.
1. i had to trust glenn. glenn made all the moves - the jump out of the plane, the pull of the ripcord, the steering of the chute, the original flips out of the plane - and my only job was to go along with what he asked of me.
2. at one point glenn unbuckled my shoulder straps and loosened my chest strap - mid fall (but after the chute opened). it was not comfortable, and it made me real nervous. out of instinct, i grabbed my harness really tightly, only to hear glenn's laughter. "dave!" he yelled. "that harness is connected to you...not a parachute, what good does holding on to it do? let go and enjoy this, i've got ya...you're not going anywhere." but it's a lot easier to hold on to security for myself than it is to trust someone or something else.
3. it was over way too quick. our squad is battling the thought of "checking out" before our world race is over. but in that 2 minutes of falling, i tried to savor as much of what was happening as i could. the emotions, the fears, the feeling in my stomach sitting on the edge of the plane. those were good moments that i couldve missed, pretty easily. it goes back to enjoying the present and seeing what God has for me in this moment. but that moment in the present was fantastic, and worth savoring, even if it did end quickly.
this isn't a parallel, but the girls on BLING have been so good to me. they've really been a blessing to hang out with, pray with, talk with, and laugh with. i'm going to miss them, but i'm glad i could savor the month with them. i'm also glad i'll get to be with my teammates again come thursday...
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