If you haven't had the chance to see the movie, The Constant Gardener, I highly recommend it. It is a story about a woman who believes that drug companies are testing pharmaceuticals on Africans. (Skip this next sentence if you haven't seen the movie and intend to, as it will give away too much important info) It turns out that the drugs being tested were actually killing the people in the study. Seem implausible? It is a powerful story but it is also a reality in Africa.

You might ask, "Why would they choose to run these tests in Africa?" "Why would they choose impoverished people?" I believe the answer is not merely that there are more people with HIV/AIDS in South Africa than any other country, but that they believe the desperation and fear in the lives of our friends here will cause them to try anything. They also feel that due to their lack of education and resources, they are "safe" for testing purposes. Who will they turn to, when these drugs fail? How will they know that they are being treated like guinea pigs?

Sometimes we wonder...what does this have to do with us? What should we do? Listen to God's instruction regarding our role with those who are in these situations:

Proverbs 31:9 (NLT)
Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

Proverbs 14:31 (NIV)
He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Acts 20:35 (NIV)
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Galatians 2:10 (NIV)
All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Please consider how you can live out this passion of God's in your community and in the world. Feel free to share your thoughts with others this week in the BLOG.

Dennis Wadley
Bridges of Hope International

"Sooner or later, you are going to learn, just as I did, that there is a difference between KNOWING the path and WALKING the path."
~Morpheus, from The Matrix~

Feel free to contact me for further ideas on how to make a difference at:

Dennis@bridges-of-hope.org
www.bridges-of-hope.org
PO Box 7294
Stellenbosch, 7599
South Africa

This week has been packed with little pains. Most of them are not the kind that hit you over the head, but rather they are the annoying kind of struggles that take up your time and disturb the flow of life. Here’s a glimpse of what has been nagging us:

Cars: One of the Bridges of Hope vehicles blew its air conditioner (not a nice thing when the summer temps in South Africa are hitting the 90’s). We found out that it will cost over $1,000 to fix it, so at least for now, we are sweating it out. Another of the vehicles decided to quit working on the highway yesterday. That same vehicle just recovered from a major water leak and an exhaust pipe the fell off. Our personal car also visited the shop last week…what a pain.

Water heater(aka Geyser): ours blew this week and had to be replaced.

Any one of these would be a pain, but together, they have weighed heavy, especially as we have been working hard to prepare for the New Year and for the arrival of two teams: one from Rolling Hills Covenant and one from Steelhead Advertising.

We determined today with our staff to give thanks in all things. That means when the phone company sends us to four different people each stating that it isn’t their job but the next person can handle it, that we give thanks for phones. That means when the car breaks down again, we thank God that we have cars. That means that when we think of how much the repair bill was for the geyser, we thank God for hot water. It is a discipline, but one that changes perspective on life and even adds some laughter to things that otherwise could make you want to cry.

Here are a few prayer requests from some of the orphans we are working with in Philippi (a township just outside of Cape Town, South Africa). When I read these, I get a kick in the rear and a reminder that I can give thanks in my little pains:

“Dear God, It’s me again. Thank you for everything you have done for me. You gave me love and you lead me. Thank you God for everything. And keep on doing what you are doing to me. Amen!!”

“Dear God, help me rebuild my confidence. Let me be confident and stand up for myself against those trying to discriminate against me. Your child, --Nono”

“You Know? I don’t know what Jesus wants from me. He gives me hard things for my life that I don’t know what to do with. Sometimes I feel like he doesn’t love me or look after me or maybe he is playing with me. Does God love me or not. There are so many things that hold my wish. I do have dreams for the future but God is letting my dreams down. Amen From…Nomofili Patricia Bokwe”

Help me out here…how have you found it possible to practice the command to “Give thanks in everything?”

Dennis Wadley
Bridges of Hope International
Dennis@bridges-of-hope.org

James has some pretty intense things to say about prayer. Read James 4:1-3 over a couple of times:
“What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

Please don’t rush through this…pause right now…really…slow down and read the last two sentences slowly and with strong emotion, that’s how they were written.

Are you not receiving what you are asking for? If not, why might that be?

I want to honestly admit to you that my family is desperate for prayer. It all started when we were robbed at gunpoint in the township that we work in South Africa a few years ago. We had just visited the house of a man who was dying of HIV/AIDS. He was skin and bones and the smell of death filled the room he was in. We walked out of that house and got into our VW van. As I slowed down to turn the corner a young guy, probably 18 years old, stepped out to cross the street. I stopped to let him pass, but instead of crossing the street, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at my head. I glanced to the left and to the right and saw guns coming out all around our vehicle, in the hands of other young men. We escaped the situation with only a few things having been stolen, but that day we were made desperately aware that our lives were completely resting in God’s hands.

We had to come face to face with the reality that being missionaries didn’t mean God wouldn’t let us die. Through the generations, so many missionaries have been martyred! As a matter of fact, people all over the world die for their faith every day. Who were we to expect that our lives were not expendable in the Kingdom? We had bought into a lie that somehow we deserved life and liberty. The lesson reminded us that our days are numbered and that the number is only held by God. In one sense, we realized that we didn’t have anything to worry about, but in another, we understood that prayer is our best weapon against the incredible amount of evil that awaits us in the community we work in.

I sent out an email to everyone I could think of asking them to pray for us. The response was amazing. Hundreds of people signed up to pray DAILY for our family and for our friends in Philippi. Hundreds more signed up to pray WEEKLY for us and the ministry. As a result of that increased prayer, we immediately saw a huge difference in the things that were happening in Philippi. There was nothing we could attribute it to, other than prayer. Praying about something that touches God’s heart is incredibly powerful. We initially asked for prayer for our safety, but realized that this was also a golden opportunity to seek prayer for every aspect of the work we were doing in the community.

Your prayers make a difference. You can actively participate in ministries all over the world through your prayers. You can touch the life of a child who has been orphaned as a result of the AIDS pandemic. You can minister to a fellow Christian who is sitting in a cell in China as a result of sharing their faith (Hebrews 13:3 “Don't forget about those in prison. Suffer with them as though you were there yourself. Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own bodies”). You can bring about change in your own government, community, family and your own life as you pray God’s will into those situations.

Don’t miss the opportunity you have to change the world. Don’t let it be said of you someday that you didn’t make a difference in the world because you didn’t ask! Include prayer in your daily routine. As you wake up, greet God and commit your day to Him. As you watch the news on t.v., turn your shock, thoughts and frustrations into prayers for your community, government and world. As you drive, pray for the things God brings to your mind. As you stand in a line at the grocery store, ask God, “What do you want me to pray about right now?” As you talk with a friend or family member and the share something important, immediately ask them, “Can I pray for you right now?”

PRAYER is powerful. It is crucial. It will change our world if we engage in it.

Now it is your turn to add to this BLOG stories about how God has worked through your prayers. Share ways that your prayer life has been sparked or jump started (if it was previously dead). If your prayer life isn’t alive…share that too and I will pray for you.

James 4:2b-3
“You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Please consider joining the Bridges of Hope International prayer team. Send me an email at: Dennis@bridges-of-hope.org
Dennis Wadley
Bridges of Hope International
www.bridges-of-hope.org

As a pastor in the U.S. I often struggled to reconcile my reformed roots, a gospel of faith alone, with passages such as Matthew 25 where Jesus boldly declares that if we don't feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give a cup of cold water to the thirsty and visit prisoners that we will be commanded to depart from His presence on Judgment Day. Also, when I studied the book of James, at times I resonated with Luther's opinion that it was a "might strawy epistle" and that maybe it shouldn't have been allowed in the canon. Consider these words from God written by James: "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,' and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

One day, two of our community health workers heard about a young widowed woman who was very sick with AIDS and had barricaded herself into her shack. Her neighbors had noticed her two young sons coming and going from the house and occasionally begging for food. When our health workers visited they found a frail, desperately ill woman sitting on a tattered sofa, the only piece of furniture in her shack made of wood and tin scraps, holding a two-week-old baby. The woman was taken to a local clinic where she died hours later, leaving behind three orphaned children.

Events such as this have deeply affected my understanding of God. Stories such as this play themselves out around the world over and over again every day: suffering people facing insurmountable challenges, desperately in need of practical care. The reality that I could have been born in a shack in Philippi has become a real part of the fabric of my soul. I didn't choose to be born into a wealthy suburban family in America. I didn't have anything to do with it thus, God must have known that I was destined for the life I had. At times I have felt twinges of guilt for all the blessings I received as an American, but I have discovered here that with blessing comes responsibility. My faith demands that I respond to the brokenness in the world with righteous deeds. These deeds have nothing to do with my salvation, but rather the actions that I participate in are the natural response of my faith to God's prompting. These actions don't save me, but if I am a believer, good deeds will accompany my faith.no, they become the biblical response of my faith in the situation at hand. Things such as these (that were topics for theological ping-pong in the past) have become the reality of my daily journey. The woman who died, leaving her three children behind, passed away during our first year living in South Africa. I am thrilled to announce that two years later, all three children are thriving. They are healthy, happy and fully loved by a woman who is raising seven orphans in a home sponsored by Bridges of Hope. We praise God for the faith of many around the world who have prayed for these children, supported their needs and allowed their faith to respond in good works.

What does this mean for others? Hopefully believers around the world who have been blessed by God with abundance, will in turn consider the reality that they could have been born into poverty. If you had been born into an urban slum, how would you want believers around the world to assist you? As you ponder this, imagine the lives of Nomafili (15 years), Thandiswa (13 years) and Onele (8 years). They lost both of their parents to HIV/AIDS and are now raising themselves in a crime-ridden neighborhood where they often hear gunshots as they lay in bed at night. They struggle to understand why God would allow both of their parents to die, but they have an unimaginable amount of hope in the midst of their tragic circumstances. The response of caring believers displaying their faith in action, has brought these girls hope. After receiving care from concerned Christians, they embraced the compelling love of Jesus at the Orphan Support Group that we lead in their neighborhood. Believers in America and South Africa are providing for their school fees, clothes, food and utilities. They have found strength through the faith of others that has caused them to begin dreaming of finishing school and becoming leaders in their country. This hope has challenged my faith to grow. The cycle completes itself: faith moves into action as works of service, works spark hope in the lives of those who are suffering, and hope in the midst of suffering builds the faith of those who are ministering. The great news of Jesus' love is recognized as love demonstrates the heart of God in practical ways.

Those who have been blessed with abundance are like puzzle pieces formed for a perfect fit with those who have great need in their lives. In the process, God makes Himself known and both pieces find their purpose being lived out in the process of transformation. I count it an honor to serve as a bridge between those in need and those who were created to meet those needs. Please pray with us that the millions of people suffering here and the millions of people called out by God to be the hands and feet and voice of Jesus to them would be connected.

Dennis Wadley
Director
Bridges of Hope International
Dennis@bridges-of-hope.org
www.bridges-of-hope.org

I received the call in the middle of the Covenant Church’s 2005 annual meeting while they were voting on whether or not my wife should be on the executive board. Jim Stipe, the former New York organizer for Bread for the World, asked if Amy or I would like to go to Scotland—all expenses paid to advocate for poor and hungry people in Africa during the G8 (great eight) summit. My initial response was, “uhh…yeah!” A free trip to Scotland—of course I will go!

It did not take long for the realization to sink in that this was no ordinary trip to Scotland to see Edinburgh castle; this was a trip with weight and responsibility. Jim had told me that they wanted me to go because I represented the “normal” people and that, as a pastor, I represented the faith perspective. I would most likely be interviewed by media, but other than that he had no idea what the itinerary would be. I slowly began to feel much less like Isaiah who, when called by God in chapter 6 says “here I am, send me!!” (like an excited student squirming in his seat with hand raised high in the back of the room). Rather, I began to feel more like Jeremiah, who is much more concerned about the task before him, for he knows what it means to be a prophet, that it is not glamorous, and rarely “fun.” “Ah, Sovereign LORD," he says in 1:6, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." He protests, and yet still answers the call. I was beginning to feel the same weight that Jeremiah did.

At Heathrow we held a press conference with Sir Bob Geldolf, organizer of the Live8 concerts, and Kumi Naidoo, chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP). Kumi works closely with Nelson Mandela and told us that he went into exile when Mandela was arrested. After the press conference, we were off to Scotland, to our local hotels and then most went to bed because of jet lag. Mysteriously, I seemed to be someone who did not suffer from this form of exhaustion, and with a double espresso from the Starbucks (I got to use my employee discount!) I went sight-seeing with Michelle Tooley, a professor of religious ethics at Brea college (Kentucky). We went to Edinburgh castle, took a picture with a bagpiper, marveled at how the whole city was promoting the “Make Poverty History” campaign in its storefronts, on the streets, and how almost every church was involved in one way or another.

Wednesday began a prayer service, followed by a press conference featuring Djimon Hounsou (star of Amistad and In America) and George Clooney. It was a time for the celebrities to speak about their involvement and for the delegates to share their stories. The celebrity factor is important for the ONE campaign because we recognize that in the United States our media is celebrity-driven, so we need our celebrities to be good stewards of their influence in order to advocate and make others aware of issues of global importance. It was during this briefing that the moderator made a statement to the effect that many of the ONE delegates had a faith perspective and then said, “I’m wondering if Adam Rohler is here?” I raised my hand. I was sitting right in the front—five feet from George Clooney when she handed me the microphone and I said what I was there to say: “I am Adam Rohler, pastor of a small Evangelical church in Manhattan, New York. I am here because my faith compels me to be here. As Christians it is our responsibility to pursue shalom in this world; Shalom is more than simply peace or the ceasing of violence, but it is really about the flourishing of all of life, a kind of harmony of life together. This is what we long for, this is what I preach about back at home, this is what I would love to preach about if given the opportunity to the G8, and this is what we are here to proclaim.” And George Clooney looked right at me and said, “That’s great.”

The trip was event-full and celebrity driven and an education on what it means to work in advocacy and on political campaigns, but overall I realized that for the most part I was there to be a pastor and to speak about shalom—perhaps not always to the media, but also to the hearts of those who work in advocacy. I had numerous conversations with people who came up to me, impressed that I was willing to talk about faith publicly, and wanting to explore how faith might further sustain them in their work. For me this is the job of a pastor and I was delighted that God used me as such. Moreover, it was also a time of doing what we talk about when it comes to faith, about living into the claim that my faith compels me to go and act, like the wise man who hears the words of Jesus and acts on them—the one who built his house on rock (as opposed to the foolish man who builds on sand, who hears the words of Jesus but does not act on them). I am attempting to be that wise person even if sometimes I feel like Jeremiah, or a holy fool, or a pastor, or an advocate, in the end it is about serving God and attempting to live into a calling that will be for God’s glory and for neighbor’s good.

The entire post can be read here: "My Faith..."

I hope you enjoy Dennis' posts and join in the discussion as we engage with and learn about the Wadley's ministry in South Africa.