I haven’t read the book (I do plan on reading it as I think this is a very important topic)  so I’m not really sure where Lupton is going, but he’s already creating some controversy. Apparently he’s in favor of seeing sweeping changes when it comes to American charitable giving.

The news here is painful. Our self-centeredness contributes to the problem. We evaluate our giving, Lupton argues, “by the rewards we receive through service, rather than the benefits received by the served.”

Short-term mission trips are a case in point. Such “junkets” involve expenditures of between $2.5-5 billion annually, yet produce little lasting change, often displace local labor, and distract indigenous church leaders from more important work. We get more than we give when we go.

Meanwhile, our relief-oriented, commodity-based charity flourishes at home because even though its effects are irresponsible, it feels good to the givers. Lupton grieves that “our free food and clothing distribution encourages ever-growing handout lines, diminishing the dignity of the poor while increasing their dependency.”

I often get similar questions asked of me when it comes to short term missions. Cross Point takes a dozen or so (and we hope to add many more soon) short term mission trips every year to the Dominican Republic, India, Africa, Honduras and Haiti.

I’m sure there are some people who go on these trips simply to feel better about themselves, but I think overall these trips are very productive. Here’s why:

1) Trips stretch people. Every person that goes on one of these trips is generally stretched beyond their comfort zone. These trips build enormous confidence in people and allows them to more freely trust God in the future.

2) People who go on mission trips tend to  give more. Typically people who go on these short term mission trips are more likely to give financially toward missions. They’ve seen the need first hand and their heart has been softened.

3) People who go on mission trips serve more. I’ve noticed that people who go on international short term trips tend to serve the poor more actively  at home when they return. They don’t use their trip as an excuse to sit on the sidelines as if they’ve met their serving quota. Generally it’s quite the opposite.

4) Trips call people to action. Sure there are people who go on these trips and little to nothing changes, but often it’s a life changing catalyst for them. I could go on and on with stories of people who are now changing the world because of a short term mission trip.

My friend, Rhonda, went to Africa a few years ago and since then has helped us start micro-businesses that are employing women with AIDS.

My friend, Melissa, went to Africa and has since helped start an orphanage.

My friends, Seth and Andy, went to India with me a year ago. Since then they’ve returned on their own and are starting a non-profit that’s going to impact hundreds there in India.

So what do you think? Do short term mission trips make a difference or is it just something we do to make ourselves feel better?

Statistics are not good for these inner city kids. The chance that they’ll get involved in gangs, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, and a slew of other destructive lifestyles is pretty high.

For many of them, the focused attention of Preston Taylor volunteers on a consistent basis is the most positive influential presence they will have over the course of their childhood. Now that is powerful.

Many of you have heard me talk about my lunch buddy Ledarius. We’ve been having lunch for years now and I can honestly say it’s one of the best investments of my time that I could ever make. We don’t even like read the Bible or do anything particularly spiritual, we just hang out. But over time God has formed a special bond between us that I pray will only get stronger over the years.

I’d like to challenge you today. If you live in the Nashville area, would you step up and invest in the life a PTM child who desperately needs to believe he/she is valued, loved and destined for greatness?

We need about 10 more lunch buddies and several after school tutors and I believe we can fill these slots today with your help in spreading the word or answering the call.

If you’d like to start volunteering with PTM shoot Ryan Bult our missions pastor an email at Ryan@crosspoint.tv and he’ll make it happen. Can’t wait to see what God is going to do here!!

I’m really excited to tell you about a new movie premiering this October. It’s called 58 and it’s  the inspiring true story of the global Church in action. Witness bravery and determined faith in a journey from the slums of Kenya to the streets of New York. Confront the brutality of extreme poverty and meet those who live out the True Fast of Isaiah 58 and create stunning new possibilities for the future.

Travel from the sun-scorched plains of rural Ethiopia to British shopping centers, from Brazilian ganglands and the enslaving quarries of India to western churches, businesses and conferences.

58: invites audiences to discover the incredible work of God through His people in our hurting world. Meet ordinary people, hear their stories, and see their struggles and their victories as 58: shows the relentlessly loving God at work through His Church bringing hope to the darkest challenges of our day. Experience eye-opening reasons to lift our expectations of the future.

So here’s the scoop:

I really want to encourage you to go HERE to request a complimentary screening kit for your church or group. There are a host of resources, photo galleries, and tips on planning and promoting available to you immediately.

And I just found out I get to extend a really cool offer to you guys. You can now also attend one of the 50 premiere event screenings happening in theaters nationwide. Just go HERE to register and use the access code: PETEWILSON to get your tickets.    

Check out this trailer:

Introducing God Behind Bars

This ministry is the real deal and if you’ve been looking for something to support, get involved with or pray for, you definitely want to check this out.

God’s prompting of the founder, Jake Bodine, and the skyrocketing number of incarcerated men and women in the United States has led directly to the creation of this one of a kind prison ministry.

Here are some of the features of what makes God Behind Bars unique:

• Unique four-step strategy that will allow a person to have full life change instead of some life change.

• Partner with churches and faith-based organizations to stream live, dynamic, high-quality worship experiences into prisons all over the world.

• Online campus called “Church With Inmates” that allows the families of prisoners to see and experience the same service that their loved one is watching from inside the prison.

• Intentional about family reunification through outreach ministries such as their promising new children’s ministry “Project 22”, a ministry focused on providing children of inmates with a safe place to live and restoring the child and parents relationship through biblical principals.

• Next-generation aftercare program that pledges to walk with and care for each former prisoner who completes the three prerequisite steps. Among some things that will be provided initially by the ministry are temporary living quarters, groceries, gas, a cell phone, clothes, employment training and placement.
  

This video tells the story of God Behind Bars. To get involved or learn more, click on one of the links below.

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My new addiction, thanks to Blake Bergstrom, is Geo Hive. This site is full of interesting international statistics like the following graph…

I’ve blogged a lot about our ministry in India but this one simple graph explains why I think it’s so important to have a thriving ministry there.

Where did you go on your last mission trip?

This past Saturday over 700 volunteers showed up for Serving Saturday, a regular opportunity we offer as a way to get out into the community of Nashville and serve the surrounding ministries, schools, churches and organizations that need some TLC. 700 volunteers!  On a Saturday morning in the dog days of  Nashville summer heat! I’m not so much surprised because that is what makes Cross Point, Cross Point.  I am just so incredibly grateful for the way God is moving in the hearts of the people around here and the relationships we’re building with folks in our community who might not expect an outpouring of love. It’s what breathes life into the the words of Jesus:

“Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment..” Mark 12:31

Every person counts, every pair of hands, young or old, weak or strong; every spirit, every heart in every condition, every path.  Together we make a difference.

Thanks to Ryan and the entire team for pulling off such an incredible day. The community of Nashville is uniting like never before through God’s willing and faithful servants. For more information on any of the ministries we partnered with and served, or to see how you can join with us, visit here. To check out  more amazing photos from the day go here.

We CAN end poverty.

While I think most people like the idea of fighting poverty when it’s convenient, I seriously doubt many of us actually think it’s beatable.

What if I told you I believed it is possible for the Church to end extreme poverty in our lifetime?

What If I told you I believed it is time for our low expectations in the church to change?

I know the statistics are staggering and at times overwhelming but here’s the amazing news: extreme poverty is ending. In just 25 years the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has been cut in half. (52% to  26%)  And every statistic is showing momentum toward zero in our lifetime.

There’s an awesome new movement called 58.  I don’t know if you saw the USA Today article on this Monday, but I’m so excited this is getting national headlines. It’s not about coming around a brand but under the only banner that really matters – the name of Jesus Christ. And so we are coming together.

Do me a favor and check this out.  Just CLICK here for more information about 58.  “Like” the facebook page and then RT this post. Let’s see if we can’t get behind this as a community.

We CAN end poverty.

This is Puja Ghosh. I took this picture of her last year when she had just turned five. I had the amazing opportunity to spend some time with her last year over the span of several days.

She lives with a family here in the Khalpar slum who found her in a pile of trash. Her mom literally tossed her out like you would a loaf of moldy bread.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to see her again this year. Here’s a picture of her performing in a little dance the kids did for us the other night in the middle of the slum.

I know many of you have unhealed wounds from your parents. These are deep wounds because your parents are the two people on earth who by God’s design are entrusted to pour unconditional love into your heart. So when that doesn’t happen for one reason or another it bruises our very souls. It can be the deepest of all hurts.

It’s one thing to grow up in extreme poverty.

It’s one thing to grow up in a 3×5 tent.

It’s one thing to grow up wondering where your next meal is coming from.

But it’s a whole other thing to grow up with the realization that your mom and dad threw you in the trash.

To know you were so undervalued that you were discarded as worthless and left for dead.

Lack of love is the deepest and most painful form of poverty that exists.

I’m so thankful for the family that is taking care of Puja. She goes to our school here in the slum and is actually doing very well. I’ve been able to tell a huge difference in her ability to interact and trust others.  I’m also thankful for the wonderful teachers who are pouring into her ever day. Not only will they teach her to read and write but they also share with her from the Bible about this God who claims to be a father to the fatherless. A truth she so desperately needs.

Will you guys join me all over the world in praying for Puja today?

Father God we lift up Puja in prayer to you today. We can’t even being to imagine what all she’s been through in her short life. While my kids have been growing up playing games, being tucked into bed, and showered with love she’s been searching for food, sometimes sleeping alone, and desperately searching for love.

God, I know you have a plan for her. You allowed her cries to be heard from that pile of trash one day, and I believe you’ll now hear our cries for her.

I pray as she deals with the pain of abandonment that she will come into a personal relationship with you, who promises us that you will “never leave us nor forsake us.” I pray as she struggles with not knowing her parents that you God will wrap your eternal arms around her as the Father to the fatherless.

As she grows up and is tempted by her wounds to seek love from loveless people and other things, I pray you will flood her with the thought that you love her more deeply than she can fully comprehend. That you couldn’t love her any more or any less than you do in this very moment.

Amen.

This is the first time I’ve ever been on an international missions trip. I’ve never had interest in traveling. It’s not so much that I didn’t want to go other places. I just didn’t want to leave home. Which sounds lame and unadventurous. But I try about every new item Taco Bell puts on their menu, so I’m not totally boring. What a mistake I’ve made in not traveling. Here are some things I love about India…

1.In the United States, driving is boring. There are a million rules and laws. In India, cars, bikes, motorbikes, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, cows, dogs, and people all share the same space. There’s one law – don’t crash. Traffic lanes are suggestions. Turn signals non-existent. Cars drive inches apart from each other. Traffic accidents seem inevitable but they almost never happen. You’re more likely to have an accident in your pants than see one on the road.

2. Some days my hair smells a little like potatoes. But I thought about it and it’s cool. Who dislikes potatoes? French fries, crinkle cut fries, waffle fries, sweet potato fries, curly fries, Julienne fries, all-natural Idaho white hash brown fries. It’s like having a potato buffet on your head!! Props to anyone feeling the Best in Show reference.

3. Indians each have a personal radar system called CaucasianNet. No matter where we go, of the thousands of people in the streets, we’re gawked at. When we went to the Kolkata zoo, we became a featured attraction as people posed for pictures with us. Pete said Indians in the zoo that day got 2-for-1 admission: hippos and white people.

4. India has outrageously cheap goods. We spend as much on a pair of jeans as an Indian family of four would spend to replace their entire wardrobe. A liter of water is 40 cents. Rent for a nice-sized home is about $1,200. Per year.

5. Americans bring hand wipes to a land where people wipe with their hands. (For those not catching my drift, Indians don’t use toilet paper).

Put it together and you have a land of real life Indiana Jones adventure. Except the quest isn’t to find a Holy Grail or collect awesome stones – it’s to deliver them. People where we’ve been aren’t cynical about the gospel like many in America. Tract distribution is clutch because information here is scarce. People just don’t know about Jesus or the kingdom. They flock when we come to their village, hang with us, play games with us. We listen to them. They listen to us. They might listen because we’re affluent or because we’re white. But it doesn’t matter. They’re open to hearing about the kingdom!

The Parable of the Talents makes it simple. We’re all given things we must manage. And we’ll be evaluated on how we used those things. I’ve never understood the extent to which my whiteness and affluence are “resources” God has given me to use for Him.

I stepped off the plane in Kolkata with my fears, apprehensions, and a couple bags of candy. I’ll be leaving with a completely new understanding of Jesus, the kingdom, and His love for all people. If you’ve never been on a missions trip, you must go. You have to. Leave all the theological musings of missiology behind. Stop the worrying. You’ll go to the bathroom and sleep just fine. The food will be fine. Listen to Jesus’ two letters. Go. Use your whiteness. Use your money. You can’t invest or spend it when you’re gone. There are people in a small village somewhere in the world ready to become citizens of the kingdom. They’re waiting to meet you. And their Savior. Go.