Josh Whitehead » Missions

It’s a small(er) world

Josh — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:58:44 +0000

Today, my friend Kyle shared and article with me about instant voice translation software for cell phones (you can read the article here). Recently, other technology like Life Church’s BabelWith.Me translation tool allows online interaction with people in other countries. Amazing stuff!

www.dayinscience.unsw.edu.au/

It’s a small(er) world than ever before, and God is desiring for HIS CHURCH to get involved in it. The amazing part: you can go or you can engage it without going. But, no matter what you do, get involved.

At Faith Promise, you will have 12 opportunities to go this year if you desire. Or, you can promote the internet campus to get others connected with Christ.

(I hope you are singing “It’s a smaller world after all” now!)

Compassion + Heart = Passion

Josh — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:00:04 +0000

Several months ago something hit me: Missions or compassion ministry is about the heart. I began to realize that there are some things that I have a heart for as soon as I hear about it and there are other very compelling things that I am not passionate about at all. Then, I began to develop this thought from Matthew 9. Look at what it says:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:36

Jesus was always compassionate, but He did not heal every person in every area that He traveled. Although that thought gets very complex very quickly, it opened my eyes (maybe I’m slow) to something. Jesus places His heart of compassion for different things into the hearts of different people. The struggle is that we want to force the heart that He has given us on to everyone else. So, if I have a heart of compassion for children in Thailand, everyone should have a heart for them or they are not as spiritual as I am. But, Jesus has placed that within me for me to pursue His purpose and plan for those people. As I meet others who have that same heart, I should partner with them. As I meet others with a different heart, I should encourage them to pursue all that God is asking of them.

What are your thoughts?

Canopy tour

Josh — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:00:58 +0000

We had some fun while in Costa Rica as well. On Thursday, we were free for the entire day until about 4pm. So, we decided to go on a canopy tour (something like this) and it was a blast!

Micah told Kacie and me that the platforms were only 20 feet off of the ground. Let’s say that Micah is not good at judging heights because the lowest one was 50 feet! Kacie was excited but apprehensive and she continually used the phrase “safety first.” In the video of her, the guy lets her go and acts like the didn’t clip the pulley. It was hilarious!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Then, Micah was asked if he wanted to travel upside down. Of course he did, and I caught some good footage of it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thursday was also the day that we traveled to Canas, Costa Rica. If you missed the post about the band there earlier this week, you can see it here.

God is doing amazing things in Costa Rica. Today I received word that we may be supporting a new initiative there through Open Eyes to reach students and young adults.

Pray about that opportunity with me! We want God’s will!

Eating termites

Josh — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:41:29 +0000

If we are going to kill cockroaches on this blog, then we will definitely eat termites (or at least someone will). Yep – let’s have a little fun.

My trip to Costa Rica included travel with Micah Stephens, our First Impressions Director at FPC. Micah is crazy and will do just about anything that someone asks him to do. We were also partnered with a summer intern for Open Eyes Ministries, Kacie. Kacie is a tennis star who played at Oklahoma Wesleyan University and graduated in May. We had some free time on Thursday and decided to do a canopy tour. The tour was awesome, but Micah obviously got hungry while we were there.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now I know that Tony Morgan can kill some cockroaches and that they love that in Costa Rica, but Tony, can you eat termites? Obviously Costa Ricans love that as well!

PS – there is more video of Micah and Kacie for tomorrow!

Killing Cockroaches (Costa Rican Style)

Josh — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:00:08 +0000

My friend Tony Morgan is a Central American Superstar and he did not even know it!

In preparation for training the pastors and church leaders, I decided to use some material from Tony’s book, Killing Cockroaches. They loved when the translator said that the material was taken from Matando Cucarachas. People would smile and you could hear them repeat to each other “Cucarachas.” It was hilarious! They also loved it when I said that the church was full of Cucarachas (and it probably was!).

If you haven’t read the book, I would highly recommend it. Tony is a great guy and an awesome leader in the church today. Take time to read his blog, attend one of his coaching networks and follow his Twitter feed. And encourage him to have the book translated into Spanish – we all need a copy of Matando Cucarachas!

Toma tomalo

Josh — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:00:57 +0000

One of the highlights of the week in Costa Rica was a young band in Canas. The worship leaders shared with us that a church in the area decided that their worship was “to progressive” and they were asked to leave. They were all in their early 20’s. However, God provided a new church that accepted their worship – which is mostly Hillsong United.

Listen to how awesome they are.

Click here to view the embedded video.

They ended our night of training there by singing, “Toma Tomalo.” (Take it All for those of you who are like me and can’t speak any Spanish!) It was awesome and their faces lit up as we worshipped along with them! They really liked our “Uh Uh Oh’s!”

Click here to view the embedded video.

You may be in a place where you feel like you are fighting a losing battle. You may be doing all the right things but you feel like you only get the wrong results. My advice to you: Listen to what God is saying. Sometimes He says “Go” and other times He says “Stay.” The song in their heart was “Toma Tomalo!”

The church in Costa Rica

Josh — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:00:42 +0000

Last week was an awesome experience working with Terry DuPont and Open Eyes Ministries in Costa Rica. Our job was to train church leaders and pastors in discipleship strategy and church administration in 3 hours! Although we did have some great free time, most of our days were full of travel with our sessions. For instance on Tuesday, we left the house before 7am and returned after midnight. That included 6 hours of teaching and a lot of driving! We taught in four cities in three days: Nicoya, Puntarenas, Liberia and Canas.

Here are some things that I noticed about the church in Costa Rica:

The leaders and pastors that Terry works with seem very willing to help one another.
The buildings are poorly furnished and not very nice, but the people that fill them appear happy, eager to learn and very gracious. Most of them appeared to be very humble.
Many of the issues facing the church in Costa Rica are similar to the US church – church structure plagues them, lack of vision, lack of leadership development, etc. The pastor’s there try to do it all instead of delegating responsibility and empowering their people.
The churches are scrambling to meet the needs of the community and are overwhelmed by the extreme poverty in their areas.

There are obviously tons of challenges facing the church in the US. What do you think is the greatest one?

Costa Rica updates coming this week

Josh — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:14:08 +0000

Well, I planned on updating my blog last week, but the internet was so weak that I could not even get my computer to connect. It was a good week without much web access – that has to be healthy! So, to whet your appetite, I am going to tell you about a series of blog posts that will start on Monday. Here are the topics (all dealing with Costa Rica):

The church in Costa Rica
Toma Tomalo
Killing Cockroaches
Eating Termites
Canopy Tour

It was an awesome week training church leaders. There are some great videos and pictures coming in these posts, so stay tuned!

Off to Costa Rica

Josh — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:00:55 +0000

This morning I am traveling to Costa Rica to train Pastor’s for Open Eyes Ministries. It’s a leadership development mission trip and I am all over that! Terry DuPont, the leader of Open Eyes, was the Executive Pastor who began Faith Promise Church. Terry and his wife Arlene had a vision to equip churches in Central America to do home small groups, and in 1999 they moved there to begin the ministry. Today, Open Eyes is one of the most effective ministries in Central America, helping pastors in Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica. If you are looking for a ministry to support or partner with, I would strongly recommend Open Eyes.

Please pray for safe travel, God’s presence to visit the pastor’s being trained and God’s strength to be granted to the churches in Costa Rica. I’ll give you updates throughout the week.

Pray for our Cape Town Team

Josh — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:00:09 +0000

A glimpse into the housing at Mountain View

Yesterday, several of our staffers left traveling with a team to Cape Town, S Africa to work with Living Hope Ministries. It is an amazing ministry that does numerous things, but our team will be working with the kids at Mountain View. Last Fall we had the chance to begin the work in that community and it was truly life-changing. Not a day passes that I do not pray for the kids there and the ministry done through the Life Skills Coordinators who work with the children. Pray this week for Theresa, Ralph, Doug, Tanya, Jennifer, Susan & Mia (the team leader)

Some of the Kids at Mountain View

Also, pray for Living Hope. They recently lost a significant amount of support from the US government for abstinence education (~$350,000) and may have to discontinue programs later this year.

Join me in praying for God to provide for the programs like the one that you see above. It’s changing kids lives!