Make an Impact!

Are you ready to make an Impact on the world for Christ? Liebenzell organizes a number of short-term mission projects in many parts of the world. The name of the project? "Impact"! We'll have a team coming to Canada this summer as part of the North America 2011 Impact team. Sorry, there are no more places available, but there is still room in some of the other projects like France, Bangladesh, or Russia. Read more at the Impact website: http://www.impact-teams.de. Don't worry if you don't understand Germany. You can read the page in English (or any other language) by using Google Translate: Click here to see the Impact page in English. If you know a young person that wants to make an Impact, pass this post on to them!

We are excited this week to welcome here in Toronto the Director of the Impact program, Stephan Trick and his family. He is spending six months here to develop his language skills, learn more about Canadian culture, and prepare for the summer Impact team that will serve here and in New York.

Have you ever sat in a jail cell?

Have you ever experienced sitting in a jail cell, face-to-face with a convicted criminal, with your Bible open on your lap, sharing the love of Jesus and explaining how he or she could have a new start in a relationship with the Creator God? Have you seen, first hand, the tears of joy that come when that same convict repents, accepts God's love, and gains spiritual freedom through faith in Christ? Have you ever had that wonderful experience?
Me neither.
I've read stories about it. I have talked to others who have been there and done that. I've thought that it would be a great thing to do for God. But I have never done it.
Why not?
Because nobody invited me and showed me how to do it. Or they did, but I didn't take them up on the offer.
Same difference. I didn't do it.

Have you ever knocked on the door at the home of a complete stranger -- or of a friend-- and told them about God's love for them? Have you seen their eyes fill with hope and hear them respond with thankfulness when they understood the message? Have you had that wonderful experience?
I have.
I always heard that there was great joy in sharing one's faith and helping another accept it. And now I have done it.
Why?
Because somebody invited me and showed me how to do it. They offered me the opportunity to experience, first hand, something that I would never do on my own. And they stood by my side, teaching me, encouraging me, helping me.
Big Difference. I did it.

Two experiences. Two crucial ministries in the work of proclaiming the gospel to the entire world.
One I missed out on because I didn't find someone to open the way for me. But the other changed the direction of my life. It removed a major hurdle, an unknown, about serving God. It gave me confidence. It started me down the path of full-time ministry.

We are here in Toronto to help others get started down that path. We introduce young Christians to the nitty-gritty of missions work.  We stand by their side. We teach them how to begin. We open doors for them. We encourage them and we are there when they fall, helping them back up. We help them serve God by helping them serve others.

By directing this Volunteer Program, our own ministry horizons are broadened. In early September we brought our youth to serve at a "Community Dinner", serving a hot meal to street people. It was a new, uncomfortable experience for many of them. By doing it, they learned it wasn't so bad. They actually enjoyed serving and want to come back. And an amazing thing happened. We liked it, too, and have made helping to serve this meal part of our regular Wednesday schedule.

This story repeats itself with the other ministries our youth are involved in. Inner-city, after-school programs giving kids an alternative to gangs and drugs. Serving small, immigrant churches by offering retreat facilities for spiritual rest and refreshment. Involvement in pioneer church-planting through serving a missionary family. Adventure camping turned into a spiritual journey.

As we introduce the youth to new ministry experiences, we meet a wide range of ministry leaders. We discuss ways to help them resolve their ministry challenges. Because of the breadth of our contacts, often we are able to help them network with other leaders to resolve their challenges and grow new partnerships. Once again, we are by their side. Sharing common experiences. Helping the Body of Christ grow stronger and more effective in service.

Toronto is the new face of world missions. Toronto is the most ethnically-diverse city in North America. The world is literally at our doorstep. Christians here have a golden opportunity to proclaim the gospel into China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Morocco, India, Brazil simply by sharing their faith with their neighbors! We are equipping those believers, enabling them for ministry, opening doors for service.

Are you waiting for an invitation to try something new for Christ? How about supporting a mission outreach? Why not join us in this ministry? By supporting Liebenzell Mission with your regular financial gifts you start down the path of making a difference for the Kingdom. You allow the work of forming future servants to continue here in Toronto. It is front-line ministry with a world-wide impact.
This is your opportunity.

Homeless

This week, during our Europe trip, we visited the city of Colmar, in the Alsace region of France. It is the birthplace of Fredric Bartholdi, designer of the Statue of Liberty. During our visit we learned that the city recently installed a scale model of the famous statue, so we went to visit it.  It is not nearly as impressive as the real thing sitting in New York Harbor. But despite the copies and the various locations, the most impressive thing about the statue is what it stands for. The lines written by Emma Lazarus that are engraved on the pedestal of the statue are known by most Americans:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

As we start a new mission, in a new location, a new city, a new home, we have thought a lot about those "huddled masses yearning to breathe free", the homeless, and "tempest-tost". Not just because we will be working with ministries that serve the homeless. And not just because we are learning what life is like for refugees newly arrived in this continent. It is because we have lived in many homes in the past 14 years. There is a "yearning to be free" and have a home into which we can settle. But we understand that there is a higher calling, to go where God wants us to go. The biblical concept of missions, and even evangelism, has its fundamentals, its roots in the idea of "this world is not my home", of being "in the world, but not of it". The great commission of our Lord is a call to believers to "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:19). You can feel the "homelessness" in the idea. Now I don't believe that God calls everyone to go to a foreign land, but you will have a hard time claiming, with Biblical authority, that God has called you to stay in your specific place. Abraham was the only one that God called to live in a specific place, and that was after he told him to "go". God said "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you". (Gen 12:1) And even Abraham did not know where that place was.

Perhaps you have put down roots in one city, or one location, but one thing that missionaries share in common with all believers is the truth that "we are rooted in Christ". Not in a geographical location, not in a city or people group. But that we are rooted in Christ. So you could say that missions is about "homelessness" or at least holding very lightly the houses here on earth that God has given us.

So it is with satisfaction and humility that we start this new place of service. Part of our work will deal with a ministry to the homeless. Oasis food kitchen provides meals to the needy of Toronto.

There is a  Refugee Shelter we will be supporting-- talk about being homeless. Your country being torn up by war or lawlessness and being forced to flee, leaving your work, your family, your home. It is too easy to get caught up in the politics and forget about the individual lives that need basic shelter, food, and above all, hope. (Watch a powerful video that features two young people, refugees, one of whom was served by Matthew House, one of the ministries we will be helping.)

There will be other ministries around Toronto. Not all involve the homeless or inner-city ministries. But all involve teens who have volunteered to leave their home for a time, for a year, and serve others. Our job will be to help them see the big picture of ministry. To help them to see God's plan in their lives. To protect them so that they can focus on what it is that God is telling them. It is our desire to instill in them this same idea: this world is not my home, I'm just passing through.

Donna and I are incredibly grateful for your partnership with us. You have ministered to us in wonderful ways during the past year. Still we have a tall mountain to climb. In order for us to arrive in Toronto by August 1, we need to raise the finances necessary for our year living in the city. Your gifts to Liebenzell on our behalf is the method which writes our ticket to go. Please pray with us we visit with others and share this opportunity.