NCM Magazine/Winter 2015

A PUBLICATION OF N A Z A R E N E C O M P A S S I O N A T E M I N I S T R I E S

W I N T E R

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IAL C E P S ISSUE

FA C E S O F H O P E

HOW CHURCHES ARE PICTURING A BETTER WORLD FOR CHILDREN

… for those who embrace compassion as a lifestyle

Table of Contents DEPARTMENTS 4

Connection Points 35

Called to Compassion 36

Love in Action 38

Snapshot

NCM Magazine Winter Issue, 2015 NCM Magazine aims to tell the stories of the church living out Christ’s compassion.

Our hope is that all of us would hear the call to compassion as a lifestyle.

Magazine Design: Paul Kinsman Cover Photo: Aaron Phelps

Following the example of Jesus, NCM partners with local Nazarene congregations around the world to clothe, shelter, feed, heal, educate, and live in solidarity with those who suffer under oppression, injustice, violence, poverty, hunger, and disease. NCM exists in and through the Church of the Nazarene to proclaim the gospel to all people in word and deed. n

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220 (800) 310-6362, info@ncm.org n

To sign up for a free subscription, please visit ncm.org/magazine or call (800) 310-6362.

For subscription changes, email info@ncm.org or write to NCM Magazine, 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy, Lenexa, KS 66220.

FEATURES

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Seeking Refuge A look at the roots of the current refugee crisis and how the church is responding.

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Caring for Children in Crisis When children become refugees after their lives are torn apart by war, churches in the Middle East are there to offer the gift of a future.

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A Place of Protection A child development center in Madagascar is taking vulnerable children off the street.

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Learning for Life In rural areas of Sri Lanka, kids are gaining access to quality education— and a shot at a brighter future.

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The Power of Hope Shepherd Community Center is walking alongside its neighbors to tackle urban poverty in Indianapolis.

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Childlike Faith For kids in the Philippines, a place of play is teaching them childlike faith.

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Questions? Comments? Email info@ncm.org. n

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Connection Points.

OPENING NOTES

QUOTABLE “If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our

Photo courtesy of LuVerne Ward

neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see

A Lens of Compassion

by LuVerne Ward

I

n Papua New Guinea, where I grew up, the standard greeting began with the phrase “I see you … .” The greeter would fill in the blank with what a person was doing.

I might have said to someone, “I see you sitting there” or, “I see you working in the garden.” There, to greet someone is to acknowledge him or her in the act of living.

The ethos of my work as a photographer/ videographer is essentially the same: to acknowledge the lives of others through an act that says, “I see you … living.”

The act of seeing is also a key element of compassion. In photography, the way you see shapes how you capture a subject through an image. With compassion, seeing shapes your perception of a need and how to respond.

Compassion challenges us to honor the dignity of everyone we encounter. As a photographer, a lens of compassion ensures that people are remembered for their humanity, not seen as objects of pity. There’s an art to being able to preserve another person’s act of living accurately, respectfully, and with dignity.

During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, Sebastião Salgado, a documentary photographer from Brazil, was able to capture the atrocities of the situation with deep compassion because he was willing to be with the people who were affected. He didn’t go to take photos and leave—he lived with people.

Because he shared their experiences, he could preserve their memories with dignity.

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Honoring people’s dignity makes a huge difference when it comes to how we see others, whether that’s through a camera or as compassionate Christians. With both, we should strive to highlight relationships, community, and commonality.

If you have any sort of relationship with people you photograph, it changes how you photograph them. Instead of two people being a disconnected observer and the one being photographed, you’re sharing something mutual.

I think that’s true of compassion, too. The fullest expressions of compassion recognize that we are all people, created by the same God with the same love and purpose, even in different contexts or corners of the world.

In this issue of NCM Magazine, photographers share visual expressions of encounters with compassion from the streets of Madagascar (page 16) to an urban neighborhood in the United States (page 26) to mountain villages in Sri Lanka (page 20).

In these expressions, as in life, relationship brings people closer—to one another, to shared experiences, and to the God-given dignity in each of us. It brings us close enough to truly see one another. And it gives us the ability to say, “I see you … living.”

LuVerne Ward is the communications coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene, Africa Region. Previously, he served as a photographer and videographer in the Asia-Pacific and Eurasia regions. He lives in Johannesburg with his wife, Rachel, and their children.

not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.”

– Frederick Buechner

A PUBLICATION OF N A Z A R E N E C O M P A S S I O N A T E M I N I S T R I E S

W I N T E R

2 0 1 5

IAL SPECUE ISS

FA C E S O F H O P E

HOW CHURCHES ARE PICTURING A BETTER WORLD FOR CHILDREN

… for those who embrace compassion as a lifestyle

NCM Magazine is now available on your iPad and iPhone.

Download your copy through Apple’s Newsstand today.

CHILD SPONSORSHIP SPOTLIGHT

A Two-Way Blessing LISA MASTERS, UNITED STATES (ALABAMA) Dayna and Lisa Masters have sponsored 13-year-old Anupama for three years.

L

isa Masters felt drawn to sponsor girls for one simple reason: she is a female.

“In many countries and cultures, girls are less valued by others,” Lisa says. “Females are taken advantage of more. … They need more encouragement to get education and just to know their worth.”

Lisa and her husband, Dayna, who live in Oneonta, Alabama, have been sponsoring 13-year-old Anupama for three years through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. Lisa also sponsors 12-year-old Akhi with the Sunday school class of 8- to 10-year-olds she teaches.

“I get excited when we get letters and cards,” Lisa says. “And the excitement spreads. My [four] grandkids like writing letters also. My Sunday school kids know Akhi. The kids that have graduated to another class still come by and look at her cards and read her letters. It makes us feel a little closer to … our brothers and sisters [in other places].”

Lisa, a registered nurse at a hospital, enjoys another special connection with Anupama because the 13-yearold wants to also become a nurse when she grows up.

“It is a privilege to get to know and mentor someone who lives on Share y the other side of the world,” Lisa our s ponsors says. “It is a blessing to them but hip stor y also to you. Try it. You will be so by emai ling glad you did.” c

s@ncm.o

rg.

PERSPECTIVES

Anil & Santoni’s Story by NCM Bangladesh hen work became too scarce in his village in northern Bangladesh, Anil had no choice but to set out for the city. Like many other men struggling to feed their families, the chance to work as a day laborer in the capital city of Dhaka, though more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) away, was better than going hungry in a community where work was scarce, especially for someone without a formal education.

Life as a migrant worker would take Anil to the city for a month at a time. While he was away, his wife, Santoni, begged others almost daily for suggestions about how her family could overcome the extreme poverty that was keeping them apart.

One day, a worker at the NCM-supported child development center where Anil and Santoni’s children attend, learned that a

local nonprofit organization was providing rickshaws to families as a means to earn a living. The center put Anil in touch with the group, and a year later, a new rickshaw has transformed his family’s situation.

Today, Anil continues to work hard, and thanks to the rickshaw, which he pulls daily, his family can now eat three meals a day, replace clothing that is worn out, and pay for necessary medical treatments. They have saved enough money to secure a small house, and they are even saving up to buy a piece of land for the future.

Santoni is overjoyed that her husband no longer needs to go to the city to find work.

“We stay close,” she says, “and now we are very happy in our married life.”

Finally able to meet their basic needs, Anil says, “I am living in peace with my family.”

Photo courtesy of NCM Bangladesh

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For Anil and his family, a new rick– shaw transformed their lives.

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Connection Points.

COMPASSION CONNECTION

A Lasting Legacy: A Story to Remember

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After 57 years of marriage, Robert and his wife, Mozelle, passed away just a few months apart, in 2014. Robert, a Nazarene pastor, and Mozelle, a talented writer, shared a commitment to supporting compassionate work through the church.

As an extension of the couple’s faithful lifetime giving, their son saw that proceeds from the sale of their house went to Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) to build a well in Haiti and establish a Child Sponsorship Endowment through the Church of the Nazarene Foundation. As a result of a one-time donation, a child will be sponsored throughout his or her childhood, and then the sponsorship will go to another child, and another, into perpetuity.

A legacy of love—that’s the story the Chasons most wanted people to remember.

Photo courtesy of Steve Chason

by NCM Communications astor Robert Chason loved to tell stories.

Once, while on a mission trip in Haiti, he spun an especially scary tale late into the night. His companions were frightened when he finished, and, satisfied, Robert rolled over and fell soundly asleep. The tables turned the next morning when he awoke with a start—a fellow pastor had returned the favor by placing a rooster in his bed as a wake-up gift.

Through both laughter and service, the strength of relationships continued to resonate throughout Robert’s life.

“My dad loved people and was very compassionate toward everyone in need,” says Robert’s son, Steve. “Right at the top of the list was Haiti for him. When he saw how … they needed the basics in life, such as clean water, he wanted to do all he could to help make that happen.”

A Child Sponsorship Endowment can be established with a one-time gift of $8,000.

The income on the principal provides monthly sponsorship funds year after year for child after child. For more information, contact the Church of the Nazarene Foundation at (913) 577-2983 or info@nazarenefoundation.org.

READY RESPONSE

After the Flood: Church Action in Chile Photos courtesy of NCM South America

by NCM South America

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he idea of water in the desert sounds like a hopeful thing—but that wasn’t the case in Chile’s Atacama Desert last spring.

José Santana Seto was at home with his wife and two children when the flood came.

It was 4 a.m., and as they felt the strength of the waters against their home, the only thing the family could do was pray.

Several days of high temperatures in

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the midst of a drought caused wildfires in south-central Chile, one of the world’s driest regions. When the rains came unexpectedly, flash floods pushed the once-dry Copiapó River past its banks, driving water, mud, and toxic materials from the mountain’s copper mines into surrounding communities.

In a matter of hours, entire towns were completely flooded. Twenty-six people were confirmed dead, and more than a hundred had disappeared.

Though the country has the fewest Nazarene congregations in South America, Chilean Nazarenes responded right away. Members of two churches near the affected areas removed mud from houses, gave toward an offering to assist neighbors, and distributed food and supplies. They also helped rebuild two homes of affected families.

The Seto family was among the neighbors.

Most of their furniture was lost in the flood, and José’s daughter, Pamela, commented that the help was evidence of God’s love. Her mother, Milena, said with tears in her eyes that she was surprised—and very grateful.

Unlike the Setos, many families are still unable to return to their homes. And since it will take time for the government to repair the plumbing and sewage systems, water is still a great need.

You can provide water to families and help churches throughout South America to be prepared to respond in the face of future disasters by giving to the South American Disaster Response fund at ncm.org/mag/SAMdisasters.

We love because he first loved us. ‌ Those who brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from

Photo courtesy of Aaron Phelps

do not love a

PRAY WITH US LOVING GOD, although You have created us in your image, we confess that we do not always see your image in others. Open our eyes, that we may see You in each of our brothers and sisters.

Teach us to recognize the dignity in everyone, to acknowledge one another with grace, and to offer the same generosity to our neighbors that You have offered to us.

Lord, some of your children live invisible lives, ignored and mistreated by a world that favors influence and power. Open our eyes, that we would see the people who are ignored by others.

Teach us to recognize the worth of all lives, based not on the standards of society,

him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. — 1 John 4:19-21

On Feb. 14, 2016, churches around the world will stand united against modern slavery and pray together on behalf of people who are enslaved through human trafficking. To download free resources, go to ncm.org/freedomsunday.

but on the values of your Kingdom. Where our perspective is limited, please broaden our understanding.

Where the context is complicated, fill us with your wisdom. Where the needs are clear, increase our generosity.

Where our journeys intersect, give us open hearts.

God of Mercy, your goodness is unfailing, your compassion is without limit. As You have loved us, may we love one another. With the commitment and sacrifice demonstrated to us through Christ, your Son. Lord, open our eyes that we may see You at work in our world. And may we be moved to join You. AMEN.

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he numbers are almost too high to comprehend. More than 19 million people worldwide have fled their homes and are now refugees in other countries. Half of them are children. As hundreds of thousands of refugees made their way toward Europe this fall, with more than 1 million expected over the coming months, experts have called it the largest refugee crisis since World War II. It’s not a crisis simply because Europe doesn’t have the infrastructure to support a sudden influx of people, though. It’s a crisis because millions of individuals, each with a story of loss, are on a desperate journey to seek safety and an opportunity to live with dignity.

Of course, the crisis isn’t a sudden issue either. The number of refugees worldwide has been growing for years, and the number of refugees from Syria specifically has been rapidly increasing for more than four years.

And all along the way, local Nazarene churches have been ministering to refugees in their communities.

In September, thousands of refugees were stranded at the Keleti train station when Hungary suspended its international services.

Photos courtesy of Teanna Sunberg.

Nazarenes showed up at the train station to minister to families in need of food and shelter.

SEEKING REFUGE A look at the refugee crisis and how the church is responding

by Beth Clayton Luthye, NCM Communications 8 | NCM Magazine

ROOTS OF THE REFUGEE CRISIS The largest number of refugees headed to Europe are from Syria. Most are trying to make it to Germany. The distance from Damascus, Syria, to Munich, Germany, is more than 3,400 kilometers (2,100 miles). The route is treacherous, requiring passage on rickety, overcrowded boats from Turkey to Greece.

Why would so many people want to undertake such a long, dangerous journey?

Refugees flee because of violence, war, and persecution. They face two choices: stay and risk death, or leave.

Since the war in Syria began in 2011, more than 4 million people have left. The vast majority landed in neighboring countries: Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. They typically arrived with little more than the clothes they were wearing and whatever money they had on hand. Most families wound up living in tents and ramshackle dwellings in refugee camps. It wasn’t ideal, but everyone believed it would be temporary and they could return home soon.

But today, in the fifth year of the war, the situation in Syria is worsening, with no end in sight. As the hope of returning wanes, conditions in the camps are also growing worse.

Funding for humanitarian aid has plummeted, as have opportunities for employment for

adults and education for children, and refugees living in places like Lebanon and Jordan see little hope for a future.

So, when Germany announced it would open its doors to asylum seekers, hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria and other countries began the long, dangerous journey toward Europe.

WELCOMING REFUGEES IN TRANSIT The most common route originally took refugees from Turkey to Greece by boat, then to Macedonia by bus, train, or car. From there, they went to Serbia and then Hungary, where they planned to catch a train to Germany.

The journey from Syria was difficult and expensive. The boat passage to Greece required a payment of about $1,000 per person to a

smuggler. The smugglers packed the boats with too many people, making drowning a very real danger.

For several days in September, tens of thousands of people who survived the journey crossed into Hungary. A large number were from Syria, although others were from places including Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Somalia. When Hungarian authorities suspended the international train service, thousands of exhausted families and individuals were stranded at the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary’s capital.

Nazarenes showed up at the train station as well as the Serbian border to give food to those who were hungry, provide water for those who were thirsty, and welcome those who were strangers—all in response

Half of all refugees are children, who are particularly vulnerable when families have no food, water, or shelter.

ENGLAND

JOURNEY TO GERMANY: 2,100 MILES

to Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:35. In partnership with a local volunteer organization, the Church of the Nazarene provided food, tents, blankets, shoes, and other supplies to refugees stuck in transit.

Teanna Sunberg, a Nazarene missionary living in Budapest, shared stories of refugees she met while serving.

“My husband has been missing for two years,” one woman said. “I have two children.

The airplanes bombed our house, so my father led our family out of Syria. … I need a home for my children. I need a future.”

Another refugee said, “Tell the world that in Syria, we are looking for a place where we won’t die.”

As Hungary closed its border, a new route took refugees through Croatia. There,

“TELL THE WORLD THAT IN SYRIA, WE ARE LOOKING FOR A PLACE WHERE WE WON’T DIE.”

POLAND

GERMANY

UKRAINE Munich

FRANCE

AUSTRIA

HUNGARY ROMANIA

CROATIA SERBIA ITALY

Black Sea

MACEDONIA SPAIN GREECE

Mediterranean Sea

TURKEY SYRIA Damascus

IRAQ

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ince 2011, more than 1 million Syrian refugees have come to Lebanon, a country of only 4 million people. Most of them are living in tent camps. The most crowded camps are in the Bekaa Valley, an area separated from Syria only by a chain of mountains.

by Chris Khoury The people I have met in the camps all fled their homes because their lives were in danger. Some fled because they were threatened or one of their family members

was kidnapped, others because bombs destroyed their homes or militant extremists invaded their neighborhoods. None of them intended to stay in Lebanon. Most of the refugees I talk to ask me to pray for peace in Syria because they long to go back. They say life was better. They miss their hometowns and want serenity and peace of mind.

This is a snapshot of life for refugees in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Photo courtesy of Chris Khoury

WELCOMING REFUGEES DURING RESETTLEMENT Refugee families who make it to Germany are applying for asylum with the goal of resettling permanently. Of course, that process will be a long one. Refugees who are waiting for answers in Frankfurt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, or Darmstadt are finding a warm welcome from local Nazarenes.

According to Philip Zimmermann, one of the pastors of Kirche in Aktion (Church in Action), a multi-location congregation, the response to the crisis is an overflow of ministry the church has already been doing with refugees for the past few years.

The church’s existing ministry has centered on relationship-building, but Zimmermann says they are now focusing on the influx related to the current refugee crisis.

“If the numbers [of refugees] are going to increase as much as we’re expecting, our work has to change,” he says. “We need to shift to a more needs-based ministry.”

Kirche in Aktion is focusing their ministry in part on play therapy for children. They have more than 70 volunteers working to facilitate “game teams” that offer organized play for children in refugee areas. The goal, according to Zimmermann, is to “let kids be kids again”—a critical step to help children adjust to major life change and heal from emotional trauma related to losing loved ones and experiencing violence and fear in their home countries.

“This is a moment, a window of opportunity,” Zimmermann says. “The whole world is watching. If we [as the church] want to help people in need, this is how we can do it.” n

SNAPSHOTS OF LIFE IN LEBANON’S BEKAA VALLEY

(Above) Hundreds of thousands of children and families who used to live in permanent homes and neighborhoods now live as refugees in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in tents that were designed to be a temporary solution. Many have been in tents for years. Refugees can’t get work permits, so if they are able to find any work, it’s as day laborers. Those families without much savings, or those who left their savings behind when they had to flee with only the clothes on their backs, can’t afford to rent a room in the city, so they buy wood, nails, tarps, and plastic covers to build tents on private land. They have to either pay rent to landowners or work in the fields as payment.

Photo courtesy of Chris Khoury.

Nazarenes were also on hand to respond as tens of thousands of people crossed into the country. Nazarene volunteers bought and delivered aid supplies, including tents, food, water, and baby food.

Betsy Scott, a missionary serving in Croatia, reported, “Many [refugees] are families with really young children, ranging from 3 months old to teenagers. We met a woman who had been traveling by herself with her 3-month-old. Her husband is still in Syria. … We noticed that she needed shoes, and we were able to get her a stroller for her baby. …

I’ve never seen such desperation, such heartache, such determination, such bravery, such sadness. Never.”

Photo courtesy of Chris Khoury

(Left) Wasif* and his family came to the Bekaa Valley two years ago.

When their home in Homs, Syria, was shelled one dark night, they had fewer than 10 minutes to evacuate to escape. His entire village was destroyed. “There was no time to think what to do,” Wasif says. “I just grabbed my little girl and ran with the rest of my kids through the back door outside the house. My wife was screaming. … She rushed to get our passports and savings.”

Wasif is thankful his family is safe now, but his 4-year-old daughter has not spoken a word since the traumatic event two years ago. None of his children are able to go school. He says he has little hope for the future.

Photo courtesy of Chris Khoury

(Right) These are the children of Muhib*, Wasif’s brother. The children and their mother and father also fled during the attack. Muhib’s family escaped with just the clothes they were wearing. He now suffers from migraine headaches and works as an agricultural day laborer for $7 a day. Last winter, the snow covered his family’s tent and destroyed it.

(Below) Refugees typically have to turn to the United Nations’ World Food Programme or other NGOs so they can have enough food to feed their families.

(Left) Eighty percent of the refugees living in Lebanon are women and children. When parents and older children go to work long hours in the fields, young children are often left alone without supervision.

Photo courtesy of Chris Khoury

Winter 2015 | 11

re To learn mo hurch’s about the c the response to sis, refugee cri rg/ visit ncm.o ees. mag/refug

Photo courtesy of KIA Church

(Left) Potable water is scarce, and children are the ones who carry containers, fill them up from the well, and bring them back. Bathing and washing clothes are a luxury in camps. Some depend on water used for agriculture, and other camps receive large containers of water, which can be used for bathing and laundry.

(Below) Children are the ones who have been worst affected by the refugee crisis. Most refugee children have lost out on years of education because their parents can’t afford to send them to school or because they have to work to help the family survive.

Photo courtesy of KIA Church

Photo courtesy of Chris Khoury

(Above) Most families fleeing the war in Syria came to Lebanon carrying nothing other than what they were wearing. This is what a typical tent looks like for a refugee family in the Bekaa Valley. Those who have the means can put down a cement floor, but others live with a dirt floor.

Photo courtesy of Chris Khoury

Photo courtesy of Chris Khoury

(Above) Young children who don’t go to school and don’t go to work have nothing to do in the camps. Sometimes they make trash or scraps into toys. Sometimes they become lethargic. Many become victims of abuse when they roam around the camp.

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None of the people I’ve met in the camps in Bekaa want to be here. As long as they are, though, the Church has a call to minister. *Names were changed for protection and security.

(Above) During winter, the Bekaa Valley is covered with snow. It is the most difficult season for refugees. They often spend hours removing snow from the roofs of their tents. During intense

snowfall, they sometimes have to wake up three or four times each night to shovel off the snow and keep their tents from collapsing. Each season, a few children die due to the cold.

Chris Khoury is a project monitor with Heart for Lebanon, a faith-based holistic ministry that serves refugees and others who have been marginalized. He attends a Nazarene church in Lebanon.

Height Photo: Jeremy

This December, show the world how love lives.

Compassionate Ministries Month ncm.org/december

CARING FOR

CHILDREN IN CRISIS

Churches in the Middle East are giving refugee children the gift of a future

by Rod Green, NCM Middle East

Families from Syria and Iraq are fleeing their homes when violent extremists invade their towns—the other option is to stay and die. When they arrive as refugees in neighboring countries, including Lebanon and Jordan, they most often assume a life of poverty with very little opportunity and, often, very little hope. Their neighbors resent them for coming and putting stress on limited resources, and they have trouble finding community and stability. Refugees grieve the loss of their past while struggling to see glimmers of hope for the future. Many refugees utter thoughts that go something like this: “We are tempted to return to the place we left. It would be better to die quickly there rather than die slowly as a refugee.”

Still, in refugee communities overcome by despair, God is present through the hospitality and practical expressions of love found through Nazarene churches.

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hildren shouldn’t have to pay for the decisions that grown-ups make, but that’s exactly what’s happening in the Middle East. This year’s NCM Christmas Project will provide education and support for children who have been displaced by violence and persecution. To learn how you can help give a child the gift of a future, go to ncm.org/mag/Christmas.

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DANIL Danil* came to a Nazarene school in Lebanon midway through the 2014-2015 year.

When extremist militants attacked his hometown, his family witnessed terrifying persecution firsthand and quickly fled from their home. Most Christians left his town because, in the end, the decision was between death or conversion to another faith. No more than 4 years old when we met him, Danil had seen more tragedy in a few years than most adults do in a lifetime.

When he arrived around Christmas, Danil was exhibiting responses that suggested post-traumatic stress disorder. A camera’s flash sent him into a trembling fetal position, and he wouldn’t talk to anyone for the first few months. By the end of the school year, though, he was opening up. He seemed to be searching for a sense of safety, and he found that in a teacher who would spend time quietly listening to him. By the the end of the year, Danil was smiling and joining in with the rest of the students. He even said how much he loved coming to school.

SHEIKHAN DISTRIBUTION This family is from a minority group in an area where Christians and other minorities are heavily persecuted and attacked.

They, along with their Christian neighbors, fled when extremist militants entered their city and threatened their lives. They found shelter in an unfinished building located in a remote village. The building was packed with people who needed a place to live.

A ministry team from a nearby Nazarene church found these families and delivered food to them. “When our ministry team arrived the first time,” the pastor said, “these families had nothing to eat. You cannot imagine the joy on their faces when they saw us. We thank God because He gave us the privilege of reaching out to them.”

That church has started a Sunday school for children and an education ministry for adults. One night, 25 women who had escaped captivity from violent extremists attended the church’s prayer service and came to faith in Christ.

SARA AND AMIRA

Photos courtesy of NCM Middle East

Sara* and Amira*, the young women on either side of this class picture, are sisters.

They co-teach the kindergarten class of the Syrian Temporary Education Program (STEP) for refugee students at a Nazarene church in Lebanon. Sara and Amira came to the church two years ago after they fled Syria themselves to find safety. The church let them sleep in a classroom and gave them food for a few months until they could find a place of their own. The church also helped them nurture their faith. The sisters started serving in Sunday school, and they were the best choice for kindergarten teachers when the church started STEP a year later.

Often, Syrian students can’t enter the public school system because it’s too crowded. Programs like STEP are the only chance at education for many children living as refugees.

The situation for their families is dismal.

They barely make enough money to cover the rent for their substandard apartments.

They rely on churches and ministries to provide food packages and other necessities to make ends meet. Five children had to leave STEP this year to go find work, such as delivering groceries for supermarkets or food for restaurants, to help their families survive.

For students who are able to stay in STEP, the program has become a place of stability and hope for a better tomorrow.

RAMI It doesn’t take long to figure out who the refugee children are in classes at the Nazarene schools in the Middle East. Rami* worked hard to learn and keep up with his classmates, but his challenges were many. It wasn’t until we had to ask about his father’s occupation, though, that we realized just how difficult his circumstances were. Rami typically came to class with a spirit of joy and an infectious laugh that transcends any language barriers. But when we asked about his father, his laughter turned to tears. “We lost him,” he said. “We lost him in Syria.”

For children like Rami, a scholarship to a Nazarene school means the chance at a hopefilled future. *Names are changed for security and protection.

Winter 2015 | 15

GETTING CHILDREN OFF THE STREET Photos by Drew Renaud

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adagascar is an island paradise in many ways, yet its beauty is marred by poverty. The streets of the capital city have become home to some of its poorest citizens. Families with next to nothing journey from the countryside to Antananarivo, known locally as “Tana,” in search of a job and a better life. But without money to travel back and forth, families who don’t find income have no choice but to live on the streets. Thousands of them are children.

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Parents often arrive in the city with at least two children, and it’s not uncommon for men to leave pregnant women so they can marry another or to father children with more than one woman. The result is a large number of single mothers left to care for children on their own with few resources. An estimated 82 percent of children under age 18 are living below the poverty line, according to UNICEF. In the middle of Tana, the Church of the

Nazarene ministers to children living on the streets through a child development center called AMI-4, a name that encompasses four characteristics the center fosters in children.

The “A” stands for ankizy, the Malagasy word for “child,” and the four characteristics each begin with “Mi”: mino (“believe”), mianatra (“learn”), mitombo (“grow”) and mikajy ny zony (“respect his or her value”).

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I N M A DA G A S CA R ’ S CA P I TA L C I T Y Words by Ronald and Shelly Miller

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In Tana, children without families sleep outside at night, then wake up very early and go into the streets. Those with families often sleep inside a small shelter built from cardboard or thin wood, then wake up to go out. Children typically beg or do small jobs, such as selling plastic bags or newspapers.

Some children have to steal to survive.

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Thousands of children spend their days roaming the streets of the capital city, where they have no protection. They’re vulnerable to violence, beatings, and even death. In the struggle to survive, aggressive behaviors sometimes flourish.

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Malagasy girls living in poverty are especially vulnerable, particularly to sexual exploitation. Girls with no education or job skills are at risk for being forced into commercial sex. Girls’ options are extremely limited, so the center offers vocational training even if students do not complete school.

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Drew Renaud is a photographer and video producer at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California. He led a PLNU LoveWorks team to Madagascar in the summer of 2015.

Ronald and Shelly Miller have been specialized assignment Nazarene missionaries since 2010 and have served in both Swaziland and Madagascar, where they now serve as the country’s mission coordinators and also oversee the work at AMI-4, the child sponsorship program, and leadership training.

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Since it was built and opened in 2005, children at the child development center (CDC) have received an education that brings them up to a level where they can enter the public school system or a private school. One of the current teachers used to attend the center when he was a child, and the successes are growing. In 2012, two students from the center finished high school.

In the past year, there were 15 graduates.

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Since 2005, the AMI-4 center has been committed to providing opportunities for vulnerable children who live on the streets of Tana. Today, about 380 children receive regular meals, clothing, education, and a message of God’s love at the churchled center. Funded through the NCM Child Sponsorship program, AMI-4 gives children a hopeful alternative to days on the street.

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Regular Bible classes are part of the curriculum at AMI-4, and nine children who were once part of the child development ministry have now become local pastors, excited to share the good news they found with others.

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Suppor t ministr y to vulnerab le childr e at ncm. org/ma n g / Madaga scar.

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Among the highlights at the AMI-4 center is when the staff members watch children emerge as exceptional students who go on to faithfully follow Christ and find jobs. The kids who come to AMI-4 are smart smart children with dreams. They want to be physicians, to be engineers, to be teachers.

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Kids at the CDC get to enjoy simply being children during days dedicated to fun and games. Events like the annual Christmas feast, church activity days, and family picnics have provided opportunities to build community and spend time away from daily difficulties.

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From education to health, spiritual growth to stronger families, the AMI-4 staff continues to see transformation in the lives of Tana’s street children. According to one team member, “They are being transformed into the image of God.”

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LEARNING FOR LIFE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTERS IN SRI LANKA GIVE KIDS A SHOT AT A BRIGHTER FUTURE THROUGH EDUCATION

PHOTOS BY AARON PHELPS

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here is no quick-fix solution to poverty, particularly when it comes

to generational cycles of poverty. Yet experts agree that education is a key factor in putting children on a path out of poverty.

A diploma is no guarantee for a flourishing future, but lack of education practically ensures a struggle with poverty and an uncertain future.

Although Sri Lanka has a universal education policy, many children are still out of school, and many others aren’t receiving the services they need to fully succeed in their studies. The reasons include violent conflict; lack of transportation in remote areas; and discrimination due to disabilities, ethnic background, and gender.

In remote areas of Sri Lanka, government-supported schools are free, but the standard of education is often low. Classes meet in the mornings and operate within tight schedules, and everyone faces long commutes, so teachers rarely have time to give children individual attention.

Since Nazarene Compassionate Ministries helped establish child development centers in the Thoppigala and Badulla districts, though, children have begun to receive focused help and excel in their studies for the first time.

Winter 2015 | 21

1 Sixty children from 40 families in Sri Lanka’s

Thoppigala district attend school in the mornings, then go to the child development center (CDC), which is supported through NCM’s Child Sponsorship program, in the afternoon. From 3:30–5.30 p.m. each day, children receive one-on-one help with their school work. Teachers have seen significant improvement in the students’ academic achievement.

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students by visiting the children’s homes and offering guidance and nurturing. Committed to these children, many bike 30 to 40 kilometers (19 to 25 miles) a day. To reach the schools, they often travel through military blockades, a remnant from the violent civil war that tore the country apart just a few years ago, to reach the schools. Now, thanks to support from NCM in Sri Lanka, these dedicated individuals receive a small salary.

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especially challenging for area teachers because parents did not always see the value of education, and some were not encouraging their children to attend school. In those days, many of the local children could not even write the first three letters of the alphabet.

Today, all of that has changed.

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form of transportation is by foot. Children walk to school each morning, return home to change out of their uniforms, then travel back to the CDC for the afternoon before returning home in the evening. Occasionally a local farm worker will offer a ride on a truck or tractor, but it’s not unusual for a child to cover as many as 8 kilometers (5 miles) a day on foot.

5 Children in the Badulla district of Sri Lanka

enjoy cooling off with water from a local well.

The need for clean water can also become a barrier to education. Not only do water-related diseases keep children home from school, but walking to gather water for the family also keeps children out of the classroom. Water is particularly hard to find during Sri Lanka’s hot season, and people often walk for miles to find a supply for drinking and cooking.

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6 Five years ago, when Mithushalini’s* mother was pregnant, the country was in the throes of civil war. Like thousands of other people, she had to flee her home, and the instability made it impossible for her to receive proper nutrition and prenatal care. As a result, Mithushalini was born with physical disabilities, which leave her marginalized within the community. But Mithushalini’s intelligence and hard work are nurtured by her teachers and the CDC staff, allowing her to benefit from the kindness of her classmates and receive an education that will make a brighter future possible.

7 Conditions on most of Sri Lanka’s famous tea plantations are so difficult that the younger generation is looking for an alternative. More than 40 percent of young people have moved from the mountains to the cities to work in the garment industry or other factories. Education can make the difference between a life of low-wage labor and a job that offers a path out of poverty.

8 Once classes finish for the day, one local school in the Badulla district becomes home to a Nazarene CDC, which offers additional tutoring and support for children. Thanks to the opportunities provided, the school’s overall attendance has improved, and 12 children have already passed the annual state exams with marks that qualify them to receive a scholarship to continue the next level of education at the school of their choice.

9 Mudslides are common near mountain tea plantations because the shallow roots of tea plants can’t hold the weight of the earth when monsoon rains come. Following a mudslide in Poongala, NCM in Sri Lanka set up a response center in a local school, providing emergency supplies and counseling to more than 100 children. They are working to establish a child development center there to continue supporting the community’s children who have been left vulnerable by the disaster—and who are in need of the possibilities that education brings.

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10 Across Sri Lanka, 16 CDCs serve more than 1,800 children. Local NCM staff work to help children live with dignity and hope by providing for a variety of needs: security, protection, health, affection, new experiences, praise and recognition, education, socialization, and opportunities to develop a relationship with God.

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To supp o child de r t velopment m inis visit nc tries, m.o mag/ch rg/ ildren.

*Children’s names have been changed for their safety and protection.

Aaron Phelps is a travel and lifestyle photographer living in Kansas City, Missouri. He visited NCM child development centers in Sri Lanka in the spring of 2015.

“Seeing the work NCM Lanka is doing gives me so much hope for these children’s futures,” he says. “It gives children a fighting chance with the help of education, food, hygiene and water, and so many more essential needs that are crucial for the development of a child.”

Winter 2015 | 25

THE POWER OF

Shepherd Community Center is tackling the complexities of urban poverty in Indianapolis by providing an alternative to despair words by Jeremy Height photos by Jeremy and Jill Height

Shepherd Community Church recognizes that poverty is complex and requires a holistic approach. Many of Shepherd’s neighbors are experiencing not just economic poverty, but also a poverty of hope.

The despair that’s evident is driven by a crushing economic poverty, but it has to be addressed specifically. Too many neighbors, particularly the younger ones, don’t believe in themselves or their community. In response, Shepherd’s programs are focused on empowering our neighbors, from youth mentoring to job training and GED studies. The goal is to give hope for a different tomorrow.

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Indianapolis, Indiana (USA), is famous for its sports— from football and basketball teams to car races on the Indianapolis Speedway. What the tourist brochures don’t talk about is its alarming—and growing—rate of urban poverty.

The Near Eastside is one of the three areas in Indianapolis most affected by poverty, a neighborhood where one of every three residents lives in poverty.* With that poverty comes crime, drugs, and heavy gang activity. There, in the middle of the community, Shepherd Community Center, a Nazarene compassionate ministry center, is tackling the realities of urban poverty every day, alongside our neighbors.

(Above) Research and experience have shown that education is one of the greatest weapons against systemic poverty. A local study showed that the poverty rate for people with no high school diploma in Indianapolis is 37 percent, but it drops to 17 percent with a high school diploma and 6 percent with a college degree.* In the Near Eastside, a third of our neighbors have no high school diploma.**

To counter the effects of education-related poverty, Shepherd provides one-on-one tutoring to help students prepare for post-secondary education. Many of Shepherd’s tutors have also gone on to become mentors of another student, investing time every week to provide additional adult support, particularly among the many single-parent households in the community.

(Left) When asked what his dream job is, this young boy responded, “A soccer player—or a chef.”

Dreams of a career are rare in the community surrounding Shepherd, where drugs and gang violence often cut life short. Several of the students who participate in Shepherd’s after-school programs have said they don’t expect to live into their 30s, based on the fact that so many family members and others they know have not lived that long.

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(Left) Law enforcement strategies won’t bring hope to a community, but the healing of broken relationships can become a starting point for hope. This man, who had a serious disdain for law enforcement, met the neighborhood cop

Shepherd employs.

By the end of the conversation, the police officer had apologized for the wrongs the man had experienced over the years, and the two parted with a hug.

(Right) Shepherd’s first college graduate (pictured right) has attributed his success to the power of relationships and his church family.

“I gave up on myself a long time ago,” he said, “but so many people at Shepherd believe in me.”

Like many young people from urban communities, many of Shepherd’s students have never left Indianapolis and are unnerved by the “darkness” and “quiet” they experience on trips outside the city. But they enjoy trying new activities such as hiking and rock climbing.

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(Above) Shepherd is located in a food desert. Community members have ready access to processed, packaged foods at gas stations and convenience stores, but there are no grocery stores within walking distance.

Without access to transportation, people can’t access fresh produce and other healthy options that are available in other

neighborhoods. The sodium-packed processed foods people are left with have unleashed a silent killer in the community: high blood pressure and heart disease. Many of Shepherd’s friends have suffered for years because they are too poor to access to fresh, healthy foods.

(Left) Many of Shepherd’s students have had no experience with gardening. Shepherd staff brought in clean soil—a necessity because much of the soil throughout Indianapolis’s metro area is contaminated—and created a garden. It has become a way to teach students firsthand about nutrition and healthy living, and it provides fresh produce for the kitchen that serves meals to 150 children who attend Shepherd’s Christian academy, which serves children in preschool through fourth grade.

(Above) The most important help Shepherd provides is the hope of Jesus Christ.

As part of the Church, Shepherd strives to break the cycle of poverty, including spiritual poverty. As in the book of Nehemiah, the center, together with Shepherd Community

Church, seeks to be used by God to rebuild and redeem the community, actively addressing many forms of poverty—spiritual, material, emotional, and academic—in the name of Christ.

To s Shephe uppor t rd Com munity’s ministr y , visit ncm.org /mag/C MC. In the community surrounding Shepherd Community Center, eight out of 10 children will not receive two meals a day when they are not in school.

Faced with this lack of access to consistent nutrition, Shepherd provides meals before every church gathering. Every Friday each young person involved

with the community center also receives a pack of snacks and drinks to help them through the weekend.

Jeremy Height serves as the discipleship pastor at Shepherd Community Church of the Nazarene and as the church relations coordinator at Shepherd Community Center in the Near Eastside neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana. *Statistics are from a 2013 report of the Polis Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis that analyzed U.S. Census data. **Statistics are from a 2011 report by The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Sustainable Communities Initiatives in partnership with the Polis Center.

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childlike

FAITH For kids in the Philippines, a place of play and possibility is helping them grow into the people God created them to be

Photos and Words by Dash Gualberto

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PLAY. It’s a simple word, a part of childhood that’s too easily taken for granted. But when it comes to the children in an impoverished neighborhood in the urban city General Mariano Alvarez (GMA), in the Philippines’ Cavite province, it is among their biggest unfulfilled needs.

Many children and youth in this community simply don’t have the luxury to be kids. Working from a young age is often a necessity in families who are struggling to make ends meet. And when time isn’t an issue, the where is still a problem—there’s rarely enough space to play at home, and the streets are often dangerous. Many youth are lured into joining gangs.

But for 120 children in the community,

a Nazarene child development center (CDC) has become a much-needed haven—a space where they can run around, relax, interact with their peers freely, and just be themselves. The CDC, instead of the streets, has become their playground.

The center, which is supported through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries’ Child Sponsorship program, provides children with focused help in their studies and offers guidance for their personal and spiritual growth. Workers recognize a growing respect for others, healthy choices and behavior, and overall changes in attitude. For many, they are learning for the first time that Jesus loves them, and they are discovering their own leadership potential.

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Children in the city of GMA are typically expected to help their families make ends meet.

Grace.* Children have the opportunity to lead times of interactive worship at the CDC. For many, their favorite activities are singing, dancing, or playing a tambourine or other instrument during services. For 11-year-old Grace, being on the children’s worship team has instilled new strength in her. “I used to be really shy,” she says, “but now I am more confident in everything that I do, especially when I play the drums.”

Liezel

Children in the neighborhood don’t often have time just to be kids.

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, age 11, says she enjoys coming to the CDC because “we have fun, and the leaders tell us Bible stories. … I have become more respectful to my parents and the people who are older than me.”

Without her time there, she says, “I wouldn’t know who Jesus is.”

The CDC has also given her the possibility of a path out of poverty. “I want to be a flight attendant,” she says.

After the children are done with their studies they can play and hang out with their friends in the CDC .

Marc. When the children are finished with their schoolwork, it’s time to play. While 11-year-old Marc has his long-term sites set on finishing school, in the short term, he hopes more kids will come to the CDC. For him, one of the best changes the center has brought to his life is a sense of community. “Now, I have lots of friends,” Marc says.

Kids practice their reading, a key skill for gaining an education that will provide more opportunities in their lives.

Danilo

, age 11, says if he weren’t a part of the CDC, he would “just hang out in the streets and swear a lot.”

He comes to the CDC for play, tutoring, and Bible study, and he especially loves to play the guitar there. “I can use it [the music] to worship to God,” Danilo says. “I came to know the Lord. … He changed me into a better person.”

Rachel. At the CDC, children receive tutoring and help with their homework. Teachers answer students’ questions, working to instill essential skills and understanding. “When my teachers ask me questions, I have more confidence to answer them,” says 12-year-old Rachel (left).

Her time at the CDC has given her a sense of hope and joy in addition to her confidence. Without the center, Rachel says, life would be “sad.”

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Teachers help the children with whatever they need in academic instruction or life skills.

Romel, age 11, describes life before the CDC as “hopeless.”

When asked about his favorite part of coming to the CDC, he says it’s studying the Bible. When he thinks of the future, Romel says his hope is simple: “to become a servant of God.”

Stephen.At the center, meetings begin and end in prayer. For many children, reading and studying the Bible are favorite activities. For many, like 11-year-old Stephen, being part of a church family has become an important part of their lives.

Without the CDC, he says, “I wouldn’t know who God is. [Now], I always pray and attend church.”

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Nikka, age 11, says before her time at the CDC, she had a “bad attitude.”

“My attitude changed since I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior,” she says.

a You can change h child’s life throug it sponsorship. Vis s. ncm.org/mag/c

*All children’s names have been changed for their safety and protection.

Dash Gualberto, 21, lives in Manila, Philippines. She is a daughter, friend, photographer, and, most importantly, a follower of Jesus. Of her time at the center in GMA, she says, “The children would welcome me with warm hellos and bright smiles. It was a joy to see these children laugh their hearts out, have fun with their mates, learn, and play freely. Capturing those special moments is what it’s all about. … They are such an inspiration.”

Called to Compassion.

A New View

Jesus, I answered instinctively. He asked if I would pray for him. That night, a group of us prayed for this young man and connected My encounter with a pimp in Cape Town, South Africa changed him with a local ministry.

I also met Henry*, a soccer player and the way I see God’s love. businessman from Nigeria whose brother

by Stephen Phillips promised him a better life in South Africa. Upon arriving in South Africa, though, hen working in the field of human there was no job for him. His brother hid trafficking, it’s much easier if you the fact that he is a pimp and drug dealcan clearly identify a particular person or er, and when life became tough for Henry group as evil. However, my own perceptions financially, his brother pulled him into that were challenged awhile ago. life of trafficking.

I was in Cape Town attending a conferOur group shared the gospel of Christ ence on the issue of human trafficking. On with Henry, who gave his heart to the Lord one night, we went to do some outreach but was scared to leave his “job.” For a year, in the city, targeting well-known brothels, others in Cape Town continued to follow up which are hotspots of trafficking. I was a bit with him, and he finally allowed God to set nervous. It’s always hard to go into a new him free. Today, Henry is a new man. He context and area you don’t know well. released the girls he was pimping and has We arrived at our place of outreach and started sharing the gospel with other men divided into smaller groups. So many things who have been trafficked were rushing through my from Nigeria. head. Would people even Henry has put together “Truly I tell be open to talking? As a soccer team, and we’re you, the tax the women in our group helping them start playing collectors and were talking to some of tournaments. The trafficked the women forced to sell the prostitutes men are excited, and more of themselves on the street, are entering the them are considering quitting I noticed one young man kingdom of God watching. My first thought ahead of you.” was, He must be the pimp, the one controlling these girls. I looked at him with resentment, thinking, What kind of person does this?

I decided to walk to him and start a conversation. As I approached him, I tried my best not to let my emotions reflect on my face. Then, while talking, the young pimp shared how he had come to South Africa because he was promised a soccer contract, but when he arrived, he was forced to sell girls and drugs.

I asked, “Why don’t you just say no and run away?” (as if I could fully understand the depth of his situation). He said when he arrived, his traffickers told him that his choices were to sell or be killed.

I was silent, thinking carefully about the right thing to say. Before I could open my mouth, though, the young man asked, “What are you doing here?”

We were here telling people more about

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the lifestyle of selling girls and drugs.

Through these encounters, I was reminded of Matthew 21:31, where Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”

I realized I am quick to judge people who take part in the crime of human trafficking without having all the information. It became clear to me that people who are living in darkness know it. I was so quick to think I understood, and I looked at others with disdain. God reminded me that He loves everyone equally, and those caught in darkness might go to Heaven before me.

My prayer continues to be that God will help me see people the way He does, with complete unconditional love, and that I may never think I’m better. To be compassionate is ultimately to understand that if one person suffers, so do I. To live a compassionate lifestyle is to suffer together and to act until both people are free from suffering. *Name changed for safety and protection.

Stephen Phillips lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and serves as the anti-trafficking / gender-based violence coordinator in the Africa Region.

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Love in Action.

When Partnership Becomes Personal How sister churches in Kansas and Cuba are coming together through relationship

by Lynne Bollinger, Central Church of the Nazarene, Lenexa, Kansas, USA

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nce a month, Mabel makes her way to a local hospital in Havana, Cuba, to spend time with patients who suffer from severe mental and physical handicaps. Her purpose? To throw a birthday party.

Most of the hospital’s 55 patients are immobile, so, like clockwork, Mabel brings the party to them. Because they all suffer from a physical disability that prevents them from eating solid food, Mabel arrives with cake and ice cream, throws it all into a blender, and then carefully feeds it to each birthday celebrant.

I met Mabel and witnessed her ministry firsthand on a recent trip to Havana with other members of Central Church of

Before our team left Havana, Mabel and I shared a smile and embraced for a few moments. Then I looked down to see a piece of fruit in her beautiful, worn hands. She was offering it to me as a gesture of friendship, and I accepted it gladly. We knew this would be the last time we would see each other for a while. Although we had met only days before, as she offered me the fruit, the roots of our relationship began to grow deeper.

GROWING TOGETHER Congregational partnerships are an emerging expression of the missional church.

Worldwide, sister congregations are working alongside each other in God’s mission.

As Kansans and Cubans come together for shared times around baseball diamonds or dinner tables, the seeds of relationship are planted, and then— by the grace of God—they begin to sprout.

Photos courtesy of Brian Canaday

the Nazarene from Lenexa, Kansas. For the past three years, our church has been engaged in a congregational partnership with sister churches in Havana. Every six months, teams from Central travel to Cuba to meet their partners in mission. During these short-term visits, teams build, sing, preach, and serve—and they also observe, listen, and learn from people and churches already engaged in the mission of God. While all these things take place, the seeds of new relationship are sown.

Teams from Kansas experience typical street scenes in Old Havana.

Jerry Godwin holds newborn twins at La Guinera Church of the Nazarene in Havana.

Members of the Havana Vieja Church of the Nazarene and Central Church play baseball together.

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As these partnerships form, how do we share in God’s mission together? How can trips that last a few days, organized around busy agendas, benefit everyone? As different individuals participate in various trips, how do we build meaningful relationships?

What does a healthy partnership look like across miles and cultural barriers?

When children grow up together, they share a universe of experiences. They play games, help one another with homework, share clothes, attend each other’s events,

and simply talk. These myriad moments may not seem life-changing, but they are.

These are the moments that fill our days, our weeks, our months, and our years; and the accumulation of these moments build the relationships we have with one another.

Each experience, no matter how ordinary, strengthens the deep roots of relationship.

Congregational partnerships work in a similar way. Amid the seemingly ordinary tasks of building, singing, preaching, praying, eating, sharing, listening, and learning, the roots of relationship grow deeper.

During a recent Central Church trip to Havana, the team went with Mabel to the hospital. At the main entrance, Alexis*, a hospital staff member, met them to lead a tour of the facility.

During the tour, the group asked Alexis if they could pray over a patient who was suffering. He hesitated at first, then agreed.

During the prayer, Stuart, one of the team members from Kansas, was silently praying that Alexis would be overwhelmed by the love of God. Stuart watched as Alexis was overcome with emotion during the prayer.

As the group concluded the prayer and followed him down the stairwell toward the lobby, Alexis was wiping a stream of tears from his face with a handkerchief. After he had collected himself, Alexis looked into the faces of the team, expressed his deep gratitude for their visit, and extended an invitation to the group to return at any time.

Once again, the roots of a new relationship had begun to grow.

PRIORITIZING THE PERSONAL When congregational teams from the U.S. arrive in other countries, we often arrive with busy agendas. But have we left enough room for relationship-building to take place?

The partnership between Central Church and sister congregations in Havana continues to be formed through trial and experience. At first, schedules were planned to maximize the physical labor of the Central teams. Now, partners in Havana and Kansas integrate schedules that leave margin for God to break into their moments together.

Leaders from both locales wrestle with the question, What is most important about our partnership? Does every team trip need

Clockwise from left: Mabel shows how the roots of relationship can grow through something as ordinary as sharing a piece of fruit.

A youth baseball team in Havana poses for a photo.

Lilly Fernandez, pictured here with her daughter, helps her husband, Otoniel, lead the partnership ministry of local churches in Havana.

to be arranged around putting up buildings?

Could we begin instead to structure team trips around building relationships?

With Stuart’s team, an agenda was set for buildings, but just days before the team departed for Cuba, work plans were exchanged for relational plans. As Stuart stood in the lobby of the hospital preparing to leave, he thought, Alexis has just begun to acknowledge that what took place in those few moments together was real.

who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose” (1 Cor. 3:7-8, NLT).

It’s becoming more and more evident to Central Church and our sister churches that the day-to-day interaction with others is where roots of relationship grow. As Kansans and Cubans come together for shared times around baseball diamonds or dinner tables, the seeds of relationship are plantSHARED ROOTS, SHARED PURPOSE ed and watered, and then—by the grace of What can partners do in five or six days to God—they begin to sprout. That’s because if create lasting change that gets at a com- congregational partnerships are about anymunity’s deeper issues, such as poverty or thing, they’re about relationship. injustice? Honestly, not much. Individuals can, however, play baseball together, hold *Name is changed for protection. babies, pray over a new acquaintance, or share a piece of fruit. They can work alongside brothers and sisters who may not You can see share a common language but do share a more photos from Havana common mission. As we commit to walking in the digital version of with one another in mission and through the NCM Magazine on an iPad. seemingly ordinary moments of life, relationship is formed, and the church becomes Visit Apple’s Newsstand global in the most personal way. to download your free copy.

The apostle Paul reminds us of our participation in God’s mission: “It’s not important Winter 2015 | 37

Snapshot.

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Photo courtesy of Aaron Phelps

Children from Poonagala, Sri Lanka, shred flower wreaths that were left over after they performed for a group at their school. Despite the fact that they spent hours gathering the blooms and constructing each accessory for the guests, the freedom to take them apart and toss them in the air provides as much joy for the children as creating them did.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF HOPE? Sponsor a child in Jesus’ name. ncm.org/mag/cs To sponsor a child, go online to ncm.org/cs or simply cut off and mail this form using the prepaid envelope. l I would like to sponsor a child for $30 a month. I would like to sponsor: l Greatest Need I would like to sponsor a child from:

l Greatest Need l Latin America

l Boy

l Asia l Asia-Pacific l Caribbean l Eastern Europe l Middle East

l Girl l Africa

Name / Group____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Contact Person (if different)_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Address / City / State / ZIP_______________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone____________________________________________ Email__________________________________________________________________ Church to receive 10% giving credit_______________________________________________________________________________________ You can mail this form to: Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Child Sponsorship

17001 Prairie Star Parkway, Lenexa, Kansas 66220 No payment is due now. You will receive information by mail about your sponsored child and payment options.

NAZARENE COMPASSIONATE MINISTRIES Church of the Nazarene 17001 Prairie Star Pkwy Lenexa, KS 66220 (800) 310-6362 info@ncm.org

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