Transition, Celebration and Ministry

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It's Nice to Be Home!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends and that you enjoyed the holidays.

We ended 2011 with an American-Canadian-German-Korean Christmas. Karl's parents came from Canada for the holidays, and Hyesun's family came from South Korea. So, on Christmas Eve we enjoyed Bulgogi from Korea, a German recipe of herring in a cream sauce over boiled potatoes, and I'm sure there was some Canadian/American food in there as well. Then, we took our family Christmas picture.

A good time was had by all!

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2011 was one of the busiest ministry years of our life. Between Debbie and I we logged over 175,000 miles in the air and on the ground. By the time our travels came to an end, we felt like this:

Guatemala

We are so thrilled that we have once again been able to become part of what God is doing through Dr. Hugo Gomez and Community Health Evangelism (CHE) in Meso-America - and particularly Guatemala. It has been 7 years since we were last there, and this year we've both been able to go back twice! In November, Debbie led a team of 11 women from Mission Community Church to work among the women of two villages in the mountains of Western Guatemala. They had a wonderful time of sharing life and ministry with the women of Chicoz and Chirammos.

With Karl being on the Board of Directors of Global CHE Enterprises, and Mission Community Church being in partnership with Dr. Hugo - we know that we'll be back again partnering with the Mam and Quiche peoples.

Malawi and Fiji

Debbie spent more than 12 weeks in Malawi and South Africa this year - facilitating and leading teams from Visionledd and Mission Community Church and being part of the staff of Somebody Cares. Karl was in Malawi 3 times. Our trip in September was of particular significance.

Missions is no longer from the "north to the south" or from the wealthy nations to the poorer nations -- it is now from everywhere to everywhere. The church is truly global, and Christians from different parts of the world have much to learn from each other. God is bringing the church together in new ways in order to see individuals and communities transformed.

In September, Debbie and I facilitated dialogue and discussion between Somebody Cares Malawi and Homes of Hope Fiji to see how these two ministries can learn from each other and support each other. Homes of Hope rescues and restores women and their children who are victims of incest, abuse, rape and trafficking. Somebody Cares in Malawi is increasingly working with women who are victims of similar circumstances. It was wonderful to see how the Lord knit together the hearts of Theresa Malila of Somebody Cares and Lynnie Roche of Homes of Hope and to see open doors for potential future collaboration. It's a new day - a day where the global church works together, prays together and transforms the world together. Here is what our little group looked like in Malawi.


30 Years!

This year we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe we have been married that long. I guess we must be old! It's been a great 30 years. We have been so blessed in our marriage and we are so grateful to God for all He has provided. We have a wonderful son and daughter-in-law - we have friends around the globe, and even after 30 years we still love each other. In fact, we are more bonded together than we have ever been.

Courtesy of lots of frequent flyer miles from Delta, and a great deal we found at a Bed and Breakfast, we were able to spend 10 days in Maui. We really enjoyed the beach, the hikes in the mountains, and just spending time with each other without responsibility. It was wonderful!

Looking Ahead

In the fall of last year Karl was able to go on a retreat for a few days. The focus of the retreat was "Sabbath". It was during that retreat the Lord began to speak to him about 2012 and how we not only needed a Sabbath year, but that we needed to keep a Sabbath regularly. It was clear we needed to simplify our life and ministry. We had become very tired, and the Lord clearly spoke that 2012 needed to become a year of rest - physically, spiritually and emotionally. We needed to spend more time learning, and less on trains, planes and automobiles.

We wondered what that would practically mean. After a lot of thought and prayer we made a decision that Karl needed to move out of his role as the Executive Director of Visionledd and become the full-time Justice Pastor at Mission Community Church.

We want to be sure that the transition from Visionledd is smooth and that we do all we can to help. We will most likely continue in a much smaller role with Visionledd for the 1st quarter of 2012 as the way forward becomes clear. At the same time Karl will focus the great majority of my time on my role as the Justice Pastor at Mission.

We will continue to be involved with Somebody Cares Malawi, Global CHE Enterprises in Meso-America, and Homes of Hope in Fiji. Building and facilitating partnerships globally and locally will be a big part of our ministry in the days ahead.

Thank you so much for your friendship, prayer and support.

We pray that 2012 will be a year of peace, joy and fulfillment.

On The Road Again

"On The Road Again" -- these famous words from Willie Nelson have described much of our life these past 3+ months. It seems that we are always driving to or from the airport.

Since our last update Debbie and I have been on the road to:

• Homes of Hope in Fiji to see what God is doing in this ministry that serve women and their children who have been victims of abuse, incest and trafficking. It was a great trip. One of the things we talked about with the leadership is a possible partnership between Homes of Hope and Somebody Cares Malawi. We are praying about an exploratory trip with key Homes of Hope leaders to Malawi this fall -- hoping to discover if the models and principles of ministry employed in Fiji can be adapted to Malawi. Interestingly, Fijians believe that their islands were settled by East Africans about 3,500 years ago -- and many Fijian Christians believe that they have a call to go back to their roots and bless Africa. Could we be part of this? That is our prayer.


• Warehouse 727 -- a Visionledd partner church in St. Petersburgh, Florida. We had a wonderful time sharing about what God is doing in Malawi.
  


• Orlando, Florida where we represented Visionledd at the Orlando 2010 meetings hosted by the Mission America Coalition and the Lausanne Movement. Over 700 Christian Leaders from across the USA came together for 3 days. This was also a follow-up to the Capetown 2010 Congress on World Evangelization that Karl was able to participate in last year.


• Guatemala to reconnect with Dr. Hugo Gomez of Global CHE Enterprises. Karl is on the Board of Directors of Global CHE Enterprises -- but we went to help assess a possible partnership between Mission Community Church in Gilbert, AZ and Global CHE Enterprises. We hadn't been in Guatemala for 7 years -- and it was great to see what God is doing through this ministry.

Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit

From May 10-14 we were in Louisville, Kentucky for this gathering of about 1,500 Christians from across the USA. Theresa Malila of Somebody Cares Malawi and Karl spoke a couple of times and Visionledd had a booth in the exhibit hall. We literally talked to hundreds of people concerned for orphans and vulnerable children.
Journeys of Faith

The Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit also afforded the opportunity to debut Journeys of Faith: A Resource Guide for Orphan Care Ministries Helping Children in Africa & Beyond. This 60 page publication features the partnership between Mission Community Church in Gilbert, AZ, Somebody Cares Malawi and Visionledd. Karl and Steve Bowler also contributed material to the articles on Short-Term Missions and wrote much of the article on Principles of Partnership. You can check out the publication online by clicking on the picture below.

We have worked on this publication for almost two years, so it is wonderful to finally see it in print. Pray that the Lord will use it to connect North American churches to ministries in Africa doing community-based orphan care.

Malawi - Youth Leaders/Pastors Conference & Short-Term Teams

Karl is actually writing this blog from Detroit -- he is on his way to Lilongwe, Malawi. It's "a long way to Lilongwe". He is going to participate in a large youth leaders/pastors conference that is hosted by Somebody Cares. From May 25-27 over 1,500 leaders will be gathering to be challenged by Jim Cantelon (Founder of Visionledd), DJ McPhail (Liberty Church in Johannesburg, South Africa), Brian Campbell (Calvary Church, Atlanta), and several Christian leaders from Malawi. In the past 3 years these conferences have proven catalytic to the expansion of the work of Somebody Cares. Pray that will happen this year as well.

After the conference Karl will be visiting some of the communities that Visionledd and our partner churches are walking alongside. He gets home on June 3.

On June 10, Debbie leaves for 5+ weeks for Malawi. She will be helping to facilitate a large team of youth from Mission Community Church and then leading a Visionledd/Mission Community Church short-term team.

Pray for us as we spend much of the next two months in Africa.

Thank you for your friendship, prayer and support.

Phoenix, Fiji, Atlanta and More

Do you find it as hard to believe as we do, that the end of January has already come? We can't believe the first month of 2011 is history. It's been a very busy month, and February is filled with ministry and travel for both of us.

In January Karl, along with Bob Moffit of Harvest Foundation spoke at the East Valley Missions Consortium. They were able to share their experiences at Cape Town 2010. On January 30, Karl spoke about the work of Visionledd and Somebody Cares in Malawi at Echo Mountain Church in Phoenix. Echo Mountain has been supporting the Somebody Cares Home-Based Care Program for more than 18 months, and it was great to be with them.

In January Karl participated in a meeting of the Pathways to Global Understanding Board of Directors. Pathways classes are starting again in February throughout Arizona. This dynamic 13 week course explores God's worldwide agenda and the significant role each of us can play in seeing God's Kingdom purposes fulfilled. We believe this class should be taken by every Christian! If you haven't participated in a Pathways class, sign up!

The board of The Alliance for Transformational Ministry (ATM) also met in January. ATM is an alliance of ministries involved in Community Health Evangelism (CHE). It was exciting to here that CHE is now a ministry strategy employed by 390+ organizations in 105 nations of the world. God is doing some amazing things in transforming rural and urban communities around the globe. Through the ministry of Dr. Hugo Gomez and Global CHE Enterprises, we have been involved in CHE for more than 10 years.

In the middle of all of this, Karl has been busy doing all the things that non-profits in the USA have to do in order to keep in good standing with the IRS and State regulations. Not exciting, fun stuff, but all necessary.

Coming Up In February

February is going to be one busy month.

First on the agenda is completing a writing assignment for a new publication called Journeys of Faith. Published by the Faith to Action Initiative, Journeys of Faith will be a tool to help churches in North America partner with churches and ministries in Africa involved in community-based orphan care. Karl and Steve Bowler, Visionledd's Africa Coordinator, are writing an article on partnership. In addition, the partnership between Somebody Cares, Visionledd and Mission Community Church in Gilbert, AZ will be show-cased in the publication. In May, Journeys of Faith will be debuted at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit in Louisville, Kentucky. Both of us will be at the Summit, and Karl and Theresa Malila of Somebody Cares will be speaking on partnership at this event that attracts over 1,000 people from across the USA.

February 4-13 both of us are going to Fiji! It's not for a holiday, rather it is to visit Homes of Hope, a ministry that provides a fresh start to young women and their children who were exploited through sex trafficking and forced sex. We are going there on behalf of Vision Abolition to spend a week with the leaders of Homes of Hope to learn more about their ministry, and to see how Vision Abolition could be part of an expansion of their work. Malawi is on their radar - so of course we are very interested.

February 25-28, Karl will be at Calvary Church in Atlanta with Jim Cantelon the founder of Visionledd. Jim is speaking at Calvary, and we'll be having a Visionledd USA Board of Directors meeting that weekend as well. Karl will also be connecting with some friends of Visionledd who live in the Atlanta area.

Experience Africa in 2011

Both of us have also been involved in preparing for short-term teams going to Africa this year. We've been working with churches and ministries planning on sending trips -- helping them with preparations, logistics and training.

Visionledd USA is also sponsoring 4 trips to Africa in 2011. We have teams going to Burkina Faso, Malawi and Zambia. Our teams focus not only on serving, but also learning. While each of us can make a difference through serving, our lives will be changed as we learn about sacrifice, thankfulness, worship and relationship with God from our African ministry partners. By serving and learning, God will change our lives and we will never be the same again!

Let us know if you are interested or would like more information. We'd love to have you join us. Send an email to saltteams@gmail.com for more information.

Thank you so much for your friendship, prayer and support.

How Can You Measure Hope?

As you know, this fall we were both in Africa for an extended period of time. We were actually together in Malawi for 10 days! That doesn't happen a lot -- so it was a special blessing!

As we reflect on our time in Africa, there are a couple of experiences we would like to share with you. We hope they will be a blessing to you.

Home-Based Care in Malawi

On our first day in Malawi, our team went into Mgona – the poorest area of the capital city of Lilongwe. Mgona is home to over 50,000 people – almost half of whom are orphans and vulnerable children. The HIV infection rate in this community is estimated to be about 35%. It is here that Home-Based Care volunteers from Somebody Cares work tirelessly to bring hope to the sick, the dying, the elderly and to orphans and vulnerable children. As we visited homes we encountered those who could truly be counted among the poorest of the poor.

In every home we read the Scriptures with the patients, prayed with them, and the Somebody Cares volunteers made sure they had enough medication and food until they could visit again. In many ways we felt helpless – but when

we saw the hope that these visits bring to the patients, we realized it wasn’t so much about what we can do – it was simply the fact that we were there. Somehow, our visit brought hope.

During the time in Mgona I was once again struck by the incredible service that Home Based Care volunteers provide. With little of their own to begin with, these men and women sometimes travel long distances every day to visit those who are house-bound by AIDS and other diseases. One of the HBC volunteers we spent the day with was obviously very tired. She talked to us about her life and then said this – “Whenever I get tired from all the walking, I just remember that Jesus walked everywhere to minister to people. If Jesus walked – so can I. The fact that He walked, encourages me to continue to walk and minister to my patients.”

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a small country in West Africa that is about 50% Muslim, and 17% Christian. Visionledd partners with Vigilance Ministries in this nation of about 14 million people.

One day our team attended the HIV/AIDS Support Group that Pastor Kouliga Nikiema and his team lead every week in the capital city of Ouagadougou. What an amazing group! The 100 or so men and women in attendance came from a variety of backgrounds – Evangelical, Catholic, Muslim and Animist (followers of traditional religions). During the meeting Pastor Kouliga asked those in attendance to share what God has been doing in their life through this group. Person after person stood up and shared about how the group had blessed them. Some told of coming to know Jesus. Others talked about the emotional and physical support they received. Still others said they didn't know if they would be alive had it not been for this group. At one time, the diagnosis of AIDS left them without any hope. Now, by the grace of God – they see a hope and future for them, and their children. What a blessing to be there. Our team walked away encouraged and amazed at how God works to change lives.

Both the Home-Based Care volunteers in Malawi and the HIV/AIDS Support Group in Burkina Faso are providing hope to the hopeless. Recently, when a western visitor asked one of our partners whether or not they could measure the results of the gifts they had received from donors, our partner said this: "I can show you the wells we have drilled. I can show you the buildings we have built, and the orphans we have fed. But how can you measure hope?"

How can you measure hope? You see it in the eyes of children who once were hopeless. You see it in the response of men and women – who were once on their deathbed – but now see a future for them and their families. You see it, as those who once were being ministered to – now reach out and help others in their community. But hope can’t be measured with statistics and numbers. Hope is something that springs forth in the heart.

Christmas is a time of hope for all the world. When we were hopeless, Christ came to give us hope!

During this Christmas season we want to thank you so much for your part in bringing hope to the people of Africa. Your prayer, friendship and support is helping us and our African partners bring hope to those who need hope the most -- the orphan and vulnerable child, the widow and those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Cape Town 2010 - God Is On The Move

It’s the song of the redeemed Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

Let it rise about the four winds Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this

And all the powers of darkness Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word

When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

In so many ways the words of this song by the Newsboys sums up Cape Town 2010. What an amazing experience! 4,500 people from 198 countries worshiping God, listening to the voice of God, being the Church and praying together about what God is doing in the world. It was an amazing privilege to be part of this, the 3rd Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization.

Over the past 3 weeks, since the end of the Congress I have been processing what I learned and experienced. I know, that in the weeks to come, there will be more that I will be able to say, but for now, here are my thoughts.


God Is On The Move - I walked away with a greater sense of the fact that God is doing amazing things around the world. There are 1 million believers in Iran. An Imam in West Africa became a Christian about 10 years ago. Since then he has led about 1,000 other Muslim clerics to the Lord and churches are springing up across that part of the world as a result of his ministry. Palestinian believers and Jewish believers are being reconciled and are working together for peace. As the old song says "what a mighty God we serve"!

From Everywhere to Everywhere - The task of world evangelization is no longer from the north to the south -- it is now the task of the whole global church. That means missionaries are being sent from every nation to every nation. Latin Americans are going to the Middle East and Africa. Asians are going to Asia, Africa and Latin America. Africans are going to Europe. It is the whole body of Christ working together for Kingdom Purposes.

Partnership - The time for lone wolves is over. God is working in partnerships and networks where everyone has something to contribute and where everyone -- no matter the color of one's skin, one's gender, wealth or power -- has the opportunity to lead and fulfill God's call and vision for their lives and ministries. This new paradigm is a challenge for those of us who are in the West -- we are used to leading the charge. The call of God for us is now to partner as equals, to contribute to the vision of others, to listen, to learn, and to serve.

It Is About the Whole Church - It is not about the American Church, or the African Church, or the Asian Church or the Latin Church -- it is about the Global Church. It is about releasing the gifts of each church, of every culture, every language, of men and of women to use their spiritual gifts, natural abilities and skills. It about children, youth, men, women and those who are "old" being empowered to contribute to God's global redemptive purposes.


It is About Integrity, Humility and Service - One of the things I appreciated so much about the Congress was the fact that everyone -- whether famous or unknown, whether leading a large organization or a small one -- was identified only by their name and country of ministry. No titles. No lofty introductions. No celebrities. The focus was on humility. The call was for leaders to be people of integrity in every aspect of their life. The challenge was to serve. Perhaps Paul Borthwick of Development Associates International summed it up the best when he said the following:

"As I looked across the 4000+ persons in the assembly hall, I could see Anglican Bishops from Uganda, Australia, Rwanda, and Nigeria. The Presidents of World Vision USA and World Vision Canada were there. The Presidents of Biola University, Gordon College, Asbury Seminary, Asbury College, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary sat at various tables with associates they were just meeting. Best-selling authors and well-known Bible teachers, hugely successful business people and heads of mission agencies were all sitting with people who knew or cared little of their accomplishments. Seated at these same tables, there were village pastors from India, an unknown pioneer planting churches from Laos, campus workers from Colombia, Bible teachers from the Sudan, and church leaders from Albania. It was an amazing image of that statement, "At the foot of the Cross, the ground is level."

There is much more I could say -- and I'm sure you'll eventually hear more from me about the Congress in the days ahead. What I do ask, is that you pray for me and the team I am leading as we leave for Burkina Faso on November 19 to work alongside Pastor Kouliga Nikiema and Vigilance Ministries.

Thank you so much for all your prayer and support.

Divine Appointments Lead to Kingdom Connections

A couple of weeks ago Debbie and I had the opportunity to have breakfast with Dr. Hugo Gomez. Dr. Hugo is one of the foremost practitioners of CHE (Community Health Evangelism) in the world. He has been working with the rural poor in Guatemala and throughout Latin America for about 30 years, and has seen villages and communities transformed by the grace of God. Debbie and I have been friends and ministry partners with Dr. Hugo and his wife Miriam for about 10 years. You can read all about Dr. Hugo's ministry HERE.

One of the things we talked about was how God gives us "divine appointments" with those He wants us to have relationship with -- and partner with. We were amazed at the tapestry of relationships that God has woven into our lives over the past two years. One of the best examples is of how the Lord knit Debbie and Diane B. from Round Rock, Texas together. They met in Malawi in the summer of 2009, and when Debbie and I went to Minneapolis in April along with Theresa Malila of Somebody Cares to speak at the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit, Diane joined us. There we discovered that Diane's daughter (a student at Baylor University) had a heart for Latin America. We encouraged her to get in touch with Dr. Hugo. and go to Guatemala for the summer. She did -- and as a result, this coming March, 20 Baylor medical students will be going to Guatemala to minister with Dr. Hugo. Not only that, but it turns out that one of Dr. Hugo's long-term supporters lives less than a 1/2 mile from Diane -- and they are friends! In the meantime, a partnership formed between Visionledd and Drops of Grace, the ministry that Diane and her husband lead. This past weekend, Debbie and I spoke at a banquet in Round Rock, Texas that was raising funds for Somebody Cares Malawi! Isn't God amazing!?

But that is only one example of several "divine appointments" that have formed the basis for our ministry this fall. In September Karl was in Washington DC for a meeting of the leadership team of the Faith to Action Initiative. Karl being on the leadership team was the result of a "divine appointment" at Baylor University in February of 2009. Next year a publication funded largely by UNICEF will be coming out highlighting the partnership between Visionledd, Somebody Cares and Mission Community Church in Gilbert, AZ. UNICEF personnel have said this is perhaps the best faith-based partnership they have ever seen!

In January of of this year, when Karl was in Dallas for a meeting of the US delegates to Capetown 2010, when he "accidentally" met Karole E. who is one of the leaders of the missions ministry of a large African-American church in the Washington DC area. At the end of October, Karole and a friend who is involved in a Hispanic church in New York City are traveling to Malawi with us to see if their churches should partner with Somebody Cares! Karole's friend Martha is also looking for wholistic ministry opportunites for her church in Latin America. Do you think we should tell her about Dr. Hugo?

Another "chance" meeting on a plane between Edmonton, Canada and Salt Lake City in the summer of 2009 has led to Merle S. a Christian leader and pastor in the Atlanta area going to Burkina Faso with Karl in November!

Isn't God amazing? Only He could weave together such a web of relationships and partnerships. The Kingdom of God really does grow organically!

SO, we ask you to pray for us this fall as we spend a significant amount of time in Africa. Pray that God would bring across our path, those He wants us to partner with and build relationship with as we seek to see "His Kingdom come and His will be done" on earth as it is in heaven. Pray for safety in travel, and for effective ministry.

Here is our schedule:

October 15 - 25 - Karl is in Cape Town, South Africa as a US delegate to the 3rd Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (Cape Town 2010). About 4,500 invited delegates from over 200 nations will meet to understand what God is doing in the world, pray and strategize together.

October 19 - November 13 - Debbie is in Malawi to work with Somebody Cares leaders, staff and volunteers doing ministry in the 17 communities Somebody Cares serves.

October 25 - November 5 - Karl will be in Malawi leading a Vision Trip with the two churches from Washington DC and New York City. PLUS -- he gets to be with Debbie!

November 19 - 30 - Karl is leading a team to Burkina Faso to be with Pastor Kouliga Nikiema and Vigilance Ministries.

We are excited about all that is possible this fall.

We are also grateful for God's provision in our daily life. One of the big answers to prayer is that our son Donovan now has a full-time job as a web programmer that will enable him to continue university as well! It's a bit of a miracle and we are so thankful.

Karl will try and keep you posted about what is happening at Cape Town 2010. You can follow Karl by becoming a member of Facebook and adding him as a friend. Or you can follow the work of Visionledd on Facebook. You don't have to be a member of Facebook to read the Visionledd updates. Just go to:

Visionledd Facebook Page

Thank you again for your friendship, prayer and support.

Karl and Debbie