EFCA’s Mark Lewis says, “As you can imagine, all of that water in such a short time, it caught a lot of people by surprise.”

Most of the flood water has receded, leaving behind death and destruction.

(Photo courtesy of EFCA)

BBC News says 13 people have died and over 100,000 homes damaged.

“The result has been just devastating,” Lewis says, “There’s over 40,000 families that have been affected by the flood. From what we’re hearing — the data that we’re getting reported and from our conversations with families that we’ve been working with — probably upwards of three-quarters of these families are not covered by flood insurance. And that’s not a result of them being irresponsible, it’s just that they live in areas that have never ever flooded.”

Perhaps in these areas, the devastation is felt the most. You cannot prepare for something you never expect to happen.

Lewis said they spoke to one family who said in eight minutes, water had entered their house and risen to their knees. Many families left their houses with little more than the clothes on their back, just to escape with their lives.

According to Lewis, the recovery could take three to four years. The damage, he explains, is similar to what was brought by hurricane Katrina.

Overwhelmed: people and the local Church

Every person affected in the flooding has their own story. With that story, they have their own pre-existing struggles and challenges which make the flood even more devastating. It’s important to remember that with any disaster, real people are affected.

One man, Lewis shares, has stage four leukemia. He has no idea where to start. He can’t do the cleaning up by himself, and everyone he knows has been hit by the flood as well.

(Photo courtesy of Coast Guard News via Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/LB5oje)

A local pastor spent days cleaning his own home. When he returned to the church, he was stunned to find that nearly a third of the congregation had been flooded. He, too, is at a loss for how to begin.

As Lewis puts it, “With so many people affected in your [church] body, how does the church reach out even to the people who are in the church?”

The general sentiment in the community is people are overwhelmed and feel alone.

“At the same point in time, there are many people who are super grateful to the Lord for His provision and His salvation. There are people who went through some traumatic experiences of being rescued, and they’re thankful to be alive.”

With a long-term recovery in view, Louisiana needs outside resources to begin reversing some of the devastation.

“There’s a huge need for the Church to come and stand alongside other believers who have been flooded, but also to reach out to the community at the same time.”

Pray, give, go for Louisiana

There are multiple ways for the Church to get involved with relief efforts.

Number one, Lewis says, is to pray:

“Pray for these families who have been affected and are just in that state of being overwhelmed, that they would experience a sense of peace from the Lord, and just a sense of assurance that amidst this sense of overwhelm-ness, God is bigger.”

You can give to relief efforts. EFCA has a fund. Click here if you’d like to contribute.

There are also opportunities for you to go and serve. Click here for more information.

Neighbors are helping neighbors, and volunteers are going out to help those most in need. Many of these volunteers are Christians who desire to share the hope they have.

Lewis says already, people are asking why others are helping them. He says it’s a platform to share the Truth and talk about Jesus.

“We are ambassadors of Christ, and we’re here because He loves you and He wants to have a relationship with you.”

Pray, too, that despite the challenges ahead, many will come to know Jesus in Louisiana.

A plea from the Ninth Ward.
(Photo credit: Laura-Jean Watson. Caption: Danielle Bartholic)

USA (EFCA) — In New Orleans, many people are not fond of calling August 29th the “anniversary” of Hurricane Katrina, as though it were something to be celebrated.

But 2015 marks 10 years since the hurricane tore through their city, causing immeasurable devastation and heartache, and raising untold anguished questions.

Even today, and especially in the poorer neighborhoods, more than 10,000 homes bear witness to Katrina’s wrath, meaning that more than 10,000 families are still awaiting recovery.

Yet New Orleans’ pain has not been without some redemption.

EFCA Crisis Response was birthed out of that tragedy. And from lessons learned there, the growing Crisis Response team has spent the ensuing 10 years responding to other devastating hurricanes worldwide, as well to earthquakes, droughts, tornadoes, fires, floods, tsunamis, and nuclear disasters.

In the storm’s eye

Hurricane Katrina regional imagery, 2005.08.28 at 1515Z. Centerpoint Latitude: 26:13:59N Longitude: 88:08:03W.
(Photo courtesy NASA via Wikipedia)

It all began with a tropical storm on August 24, 2005, headed for the panhandle of Florida. Picking up momentum, the storm graduated to a Category 2 hurricane and shifted toward Louisiana. Voluntary evacuations were recommended but many people stayed, assuming this would be just another nuisance storm.

More than one-third of those living in New Orleans’ poorer neighborhoods likely had no vehicles, making complete evacuation impossible.

Pastor John Gerhardt of Castle Rock Community Church (EFCA) was one of those who took action, using church vans to evacuate 70 church members and their families. His caravan headed first to Jackson, Mississippi, and then to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where they took sanctuary at Village Bible Church (EFCA).

All they could do was watch the news in horror.

Back in Louisiana, the water on either side of the Industrial Canal rose as Hurricane Katrina came barreling onto the coast of New Orleans. Within a day, more than 80% of New Orleans was underwater (over 10 feet in depth in some places).

Many lost everything: materially, in terms of home and possessions; relationally, as families and friends were displaced all over the country; and emotionally, as everything they knew as normal was turned upside-down.

Some traveled back to their homes six months later, others took six years. Still others have never returned.

Random storm destruction in one neighborhood, still unrepaired in 2007.
(Photo: Laura-Jean Watson, Caption: Danielle Bartholic)

It has been said that Hurricane Katrina revealed New Orleans “dirty little secrets”–systemic injustice, racial inequities, and generational poverty. Many of the poorest neighborhoods were those most affected by the storm.

Even after government resources were attained, unscrupulous contractors routinely took advantage of residents.

Other families with limited resources and with aging, sickly, and displaced relatives had to ask almost-unanswerable questions: Do we use our funds to care for our family members or to rebuild our home?

Hurricane Katrina’s winds and water cracked open the city, exposing the poverty, the discrimination, and the gaping physical needs. Ten years later, families are still facing those needs, on top of the hurricane damage.

Yet there is hope, even amid the wreckage.

Engaging physical and spiritual needs

Before the hurricane, despite the area’s deep Catholic roots, most New Orleans residents would not even engage in a spiritual conversation. EFCA church planter Bobby Tinner points out that New Orleans was–and in many ways still is–a bohemian city, meaning “do whatya wanna,” he says, and “God is left out of the process.”

At its launch, the Crisis Response ministry sought to shift that spiritual perspective by focusing on intentional disciple-making in addition to physical rebuilding.

Volunteer teams from EFCA churches around the country poured into New Orleans–helping to gut and rebuild homes, yes, but also standing beside homeowners as they wept over their losses.

Crisis Response teamed with the homeowner and others to build this home in Central City New Orleans in June 2007.
(Photo: Laura-Jean Watson, Caption: Danielle Bartholic)

These sustained outreach efforts and the continued relational presence has helped darkness begin to lift and has opened doors for spiritual conversations.

Nearby Trinity Church–an EFCA congregation 40 miles north of New Orleans across Lake Pontchartrain–became “command central” for the EFCA recovery ministry, which immediately adopted the mantra: It’s about the people, not the project.

“I don’t know how many homes we’ve worked on, but I do know how many families we’ve connected with,” says Crisis Response director Mark Lewis.

In fact, his team has kept a spreadsheet of ministry contacts and families who have been served, which now surpasses 5,000 (with another 300+ on a waiting list).

The most significant training regularly given to volunteer teams is the most simple: Pray.

• Pray before you leave the church.
• Pray at the work site with the homeowner before you start work.
• Pray when things come up in conversation.
• Take a prayer walk daily to connect with more people in the community.
• Pray before you leave the work site.

And prayer has yielded longed-for spiritual fruit, including individuals coming to faith and others walking more closely with Jesus. The Crisis Response team has also helped launch several church plants in the New Orleans metro region, in partnership with local Evangelical Free Churches and the EFCA’s Southeast District.

Fundamentally, Crisis Response has four foci when it comes to discipleship, both in New Orleans and in its work worldwide:

1. restoration of the local church body
2. outreach, evangelism, disciple-making, and church planting in the affected community
3. life transformation in the lives of volunteers serving
4. transformation in the volunteers’ own communities

In other words, there’s a ripple effect in ministry, according to Mark Lewis.

Teams from Jesus Children’s Fellowship in Philadelphia and Hershey (PA) EFC worked together to help paint a homeowner’s house in August 2007.
(Photo: Laura-Jean Watson, Caption: Danielle Bartholic)

“When people come to volunteer, we believe God called them here for transformation in their lives,” he says–a transformation that continues when they return home and disciple others.

Ten years after Katrina, life has not yet returned to normal. Yet part of the new “normal” is a heightened sense of God at work, in a multitude of ways, through His Church, bringing redemption from the pain.

Be part of EFCA Crisis Response’s next decade of powerful ministry worldwide with your financial gifts, prayers, and hands-on service. Teams are still needed in New Orleans as well, to bring healing to that community.

Read the original article on EFCA’s Web site.

(Photo courtesy ReachGlobal)

Bulgaria (MNN/EFCA) — The United Nations estimates that there are 27 million slaves today used for sex and labor.

The reality is that human trafficking is an answer to a demand. It’s hard to stop because it is a broad, complex issue with devastating effects.

Trafficking’s specific definition, according to ReachGlobal (of the Evangelical Free Church of America or the EFCA), includes recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for labor or commercial sex acts through force, fraud, or coercion.

The big question is: how can believers be part of the solution? Answer: get in front of the problem. The foundation of all anti-trafficking efforts is prevention. That means ReachGlobal is active in raising awareness, recognizing critical points of intervention, and fighting the many facets of human trafficking.

(Screen capture courtesy EFCA)

How does that look? Intervention, through ReachGlobal in three ways: prosecution, protection, and prevention.

For this story, the focus will be on the Prevention aspect. It works in the context of community development. It’s a long, messy process. You meet people where they are, and many live in broken communities and broken relationships. They need Jesus in their lives and the impact of His love, and the Church is uniquely gifted to answer the questions asked in a broken world.

As ReachGlobal responds to the needs created by trafficking, they focus on a couple of areas known as source countries. Bulgaria remains one of the primary source countries for trafficked persons in Europe.

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

The Sofia City Team is looking for a self-starter interested in networking with area churches and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) involved in or interested in fighting human trafficking in all of its forms. They’re looking for someone to access specific areas of need and gaps in current services provided in Sofia and the surrounding area by talking with many who are currently engaged in the fight. If you’re interested in exploring this avenue further, click here.

One last thought: while the issue of human trafficking can be overwhelming, it’s important that we remember that God has designed the church to play an essential role in this fight for redemption. You can make a critical difference.

(Image courtesy EFCA)

The New Year may have started, but life can be pretty chaotic, and “stuff” carries over regardless of what the calendar says. Something has to give.

Do you sometimes wish you could push a RESET button and get a do-over?

Shane Stacey, head of the student wing of the Evangelical Free Church of America, notes that every great movement of change in North America has always begun in prayer. While the situation may not change directly, when you ground yourself in prayer, you get new perspective–a do-over, if you will.

Below, Shane shares some thoughts about RESET: A national call to prayer.

If you attend either of the student conferences in the Central or Forest Lake Districts of the EFCA in January, you’ll hear more about RESET as the ministry continues to mobilize people to a concentrated season of prayer and fasting.

Not only is RESET growing within the EFCA, it is also building steam throughout the nation. Next month, national leaders, ministries, and churches are joining together for 21 days of prayer and fasting as we seek God for revival and spiritual awakening in our nation.

Participate in the 21 Day Fast

The Praying with Jesus: Reset My Prayer Life fast (link below) is centered on the idea that Jesus is the reset that we all need. He is the rest for our lives, our churches, our communities, and the nations. He can make all things new; He can restore us to our original design.

The Reset prayer emphasis will also be a strong emphasis at the Challenge Conference July 3-7, 2016, in Louisville, Kentucky. Just 10 days later, July 16, 2016, hundreds of thousands will gather in Washington, D.C. for Together 2016. Why? Because Jesus is the reset.

We need Jesus.

(Image courtesy EFCA)

How to Get Involved

While our prayer is that the gatherings this summer will be transformative, they are not the end in-and-of themselves. We are after Jesus. We don’t need to wait for an event. Now is the time to join TOGETHER in seeking the face of God.

I am asking you to join me and many others in this prayer season. Mobilize your students, families, and entire churches to participate in seeking God together. Below are a few ways you can participate in this united season of prayer:

1. Participate a in the Reset My Prayer Life Fast: January 10-31, 2016. Determine some way that you will fast: from food (a meal a day, etc.), from various types of food (meat, sweets, etc.), or from activity (Facebook, television, etc.). Order the 21-day prayer guide: “Praying with Jesus: Reset My Prayer Life” (available at www.relationshippress.com)
2. RESET prayers from ReachStudents: We’ll be posting RESET prayers on the blog every other week. Pray them. Personalize them. Share them. Together, let’s meditate on those prayers daily until the next one posts.
3. Join the Virtual Prayer Calls–Reset Our Generation–each night from 9:00-10:30 p.m. (EST). National leaders will facilitate these prayer calls. Together 2016 will lead a special time of Reset prayer from 9:50-10:05 p.m. each night.

To join the call

Participant Number: (605) 562-3172

Access Code: 1234

Listener Number:

(605) 562-3173 (No access code required)

There is a growing movement of people across this nation who want to see Jesus exalted, the people of God turning back to God, and the advancement of the gospel, and will be praying this way for 21 days in January. Mobilize your youth, your church, and your network to join you! More information on the fast is available at www.reset2016.com/fast.

#JesusChangesEverything

“So often we see Biblical examples of God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. And this is another one of those stories.”

Claudine and her husband moved to the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo a few years ago. Her husband, a pastor, was overseeing all of the EFCA churches in Africa. Being new to the area, Claudine wasn’t sure what was in store for her.

Richey says, “She just started wondering, ‘What does God have in store for me ministry-wise here?’ So she started asking Him.”

And God answered. Claudine noticed many women in her community who went about their daily duties with their children carried on their hip. And, as it turned out, many of these women were working hard to provide for their children. All too often, poverty was leaving its ugly mark in their lives no matter how hard they worked.

“It leads them, often times, to a point of desperation where they’re either willing to sell their bodies so that they can provide food and shelter and necessities for their child, or even to the point of saying, ‘I can’t do this. I don’t have the resources for my child,'” Richey explains.

Richey says that often the mothers give their children up to a situation they know nothing about.

Change begins in the heart

(Image courtesy of Tabitha Center via Facebook)

Claudine knew this need was God’s answer to her prayer. But in order to care for the women, she had to get to know them.

“Claudine started by just a simple Bible study and inviting women that she met on the street,” Richey says.

Claudine listened to the women’s stories and in return, she told them of God’s love.

Richey says the women were so touched by the Bible study that they couldn’t wait to come back.

“These women would come early the next day or the next week because they were so eager to hear about God and His involvement in our lives and understand who He is,” she says.

Equipping for daily survival

As Claudine began to learn about these women, she felt there was more she could be doing as she shared Jesus with them. She could just tell them they needed to find a way to take care of their children, but why not help them find a way to do that?

Using her skills as a seamstress, she began teaching some of the women how to sew.

Some women were good at sewing. But Claudine decided to make a new skill available to those who didn’t pick it up as successfully. People were brought in to teach them to braid hair.

Richey says it was an answer to the need Claudine saw. “In this part of Africa, if you can sew or braid hair, you can make a living so you can support yourself and your child.”

(Image courtesy of Tabitha Center via Facebook)

This was the beginning of the Tabitha Centers–places where women learn a healthy way to support their family. And best of all, they learn about Jesus.

In addition to sewing and hairdressing, women can learn other skills like cooking and doing makeup.

Tabitha Centers have been extremely successful and are growing at a great rate. The first one was opened in 2013. The organization hopes to have 1000 of them set up by 2019. Last month, the 43^rd, 44^th, and 45^th centers were built. Earlier this month, the 46^th one opened.

More than a nice story

Claudine’s story is certainly inspirational. But too often, inspiration remains a warm feeling that fizzles out instead of becoming motivation to do something.

Richey says, “This is a way that Claudine intervened in the lives of people in her community: she prayed and asked God how He wanted her to respond and what He wanted her to do. We can all do that.”

So, wherever you are, Richey says, “You name the city, the community, the country, and God will show us what He wants us to do.”

She identifies one particularly pertinent example:

“Human trafficking is an issue–it’s real, it happens everywhere, and unfortunately, it seems to be growing.”

Even as it grows, so does the group of people fighting it. Read more about EFCA ReachGlobal and what they’re doing about it here.

“Our response as the Church worldwide is that we need to get involved. We need to get involved in the messiness of people’s lives,” Richey says in regard to human trafficking. However, her words can apply to any situation we see unfolding around us.

She leaves us with this thought: “I know that we serve a God who restores and reconnects and redeems creation to Himself, including people, no matter what the circumstance. But we also serve a God who is compassionate and loving and kind and just. He is asking us to get involved in people’s lives at points of intervention where we can be tangible hands and feet of Jesus.”

Learn more about the Tabitha Centers here. The link will connect you to information on how you can help.

Legalized or tolerated prostitution is a magnet for sex trafficking.
(Photo, caption credit: Kay Chernush for the U.S. State Department)

USA (MNN) — Colombian police busted three major human trafficking rings this week, two of which were sending women to China.

Yesterday, Indonesian police arrested two men involved in local prostitution who also had international ties. Human trafficking isn’t just an overseas problem, though.

Amy Richey of EFCA ReachGlobal says it’s a challenge for the U.S. to grapple with, too.

“There’s no quick ‘Band-Aid’; there is no way to just walk in and say, ‘Here’s the 5-step program to end human trafficking,'” she states.

“However, we need to break it down so we can understand and grapple with it. It’s like planning for a big Thanksgiving dinner – if you don’t buy the turkey, you can never have the meal.”

The face of human trafficking

Exact statistics are difficult to pin down. However, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center reports over 24,000 alerts of suspicious cases were submitted to them last year. In addition, the NHTRC received a 26-percent increase in calls directly from survivors of modern-day slavery.

(Screenshot)

Those survivors might not be who you have in mind.

“There are some typical groups [of people who are vulnerable to human trafficking],” Richey explains. “Disenfranchised youth, teenage runaways, immigrants, battered and bruised women, exploited children; the list goes on.”

Typically, these people groups become vulnerable to human trafficking when life gets “messy.”

Broken and abusive families fill the foster care system. Shattered foster children fill local and county jails. Abused and/or desperate women sell themselves on street corners.

Challenges like these aren’t easy to overcome, and usually require Christ-followers to journey with individuals through hardship. As in the Good Samaritan parable, it requires risk, as well as the willingness to move outside cultural and personal “comfort zones.”

But, Richey observes, “If we can find points of intervention, and get involved in the messiness of people’s lives, we can help prevent this atrocity from ever happening.”

How the Church can stop human trafficking

As Richey explains here, prevention is the easiest way to end human trafficking. Stopping the cycle before it starts is more effective long-term than rescue efforts.

Once entangled in the underworld of sex trafficking, it’s very difficult for victims to break free.

• 

  When explaining the complexity of human trafficking to individuals and church groups, Richey uses the visual aid pictured here. (MNN photo)

  The cost – Sex slaves are an extremely valuable source of income for traffickers and pimps. According to the International Labor Organization, each victim brings their pimp approximately $21,800 USD per year.

• The logistics – Traffickers and pimps keep a tight leash on the women and girls they control, and employ a wide range of tactics. Even when victims want to escape, they’re literally unable to break free.
• The motivation – Sex slavery doesn’t just damage women and girls physically; it wreaks havoc on their minds, emotion and will. In the same way an animal is “broken” to stay within set physical boundaries, people are conditioned to stay within certain parameters.

When explaining this concept to individuals and church groups, Richey uses the visual aid pictured above.

“It helps people understand the context and the complexity of the issue,” she explains, identifying different-colored strings that represent the people ensnared by human trafficking and factors that keep them there.

The complexity and enormity of human trafficking can make it seem like a hurdle that’s impossible to overcome. However, there are a few places you and your church can start that often get overlooked.

Community

According to the latest data, the U.S. foster care program is “home” to nearly 400,000 children.

(Photo courtesy of Bethany Christian Services)

A third of the children who are eligible for adoption will wait more than three years for a “forever family.”

“Oftentimes, they end up as runaways or in the juvenile justice system,” Richey says. The Polaris Project reports one of six runaways in 2014 were likely child sex trafficking victims.

Buddy-up with foster kids, Richey suggests, or become a mentor. If there are foster parents in your church, form support groups to help them navigate the rough waters of fostering. Help them be a Christ-like example for the kids in their care.

Church

The pornography industry amasses an estimated $13 million annually, and every 39 minutes a new porn film is created in the United States.

“It’s naïve of us to think this is not impacting our churches, and we need to have open and honest conversations. We need to hold people accountable, and we need to make sure that church youth groups are talking about difficult topics like pornography.”

Home

Human trafficking isn’t limited to sexual exploitation. The definition of human trafficking also includes forced labor. As families consume everyday products and services, Richey explains, they need to be aware of the business practices behind it.

With the gift-giving season fast approaching, take time to research the practices of companies on your family’s “wish list.”

(Wikimedia Commons)

“Chocolate is an industry that’s just notorious for using children in different parts of the world, and then not even paying the children that are working [for them],” says Richey.

It’s a cultural shift that will take years to unfold, she adds, but it’s still one that desperately needs to be started. Learn more about EFCA ReachGlobal’s efforts to end human trafficking here.

Loving the “least of these” is part of being a Christ-follower. “Jesus told us to live our life in a way that other people would see His Light, and that we would be the flavor, we would be the salt, to our world.”

Please pray the U.S. Church becomes more aware of, and involved in, the issues on its doorstep.

Fear is gripping every part of the culture in Nepal after the recent earthquake. (EFCA photo).

Nepal (MNN/EFCA) — One word summarized the day for an assessment team: Fear. That’s the word from EFCA ReachGlobal in response to the 7.8 magnitude Nepal earthquake.

EFCA workers tell us everyone is dealing with it. One worker we’ll call “Sam” said, “The church members–just like other people in Kathmandu–still don’t want to go back to their houses. The churches set up temporary shelters, usually at the church compound, and they sleep, cook, and stick together. The neighbors often join them. This is very positive. The church [has] become a ‘new normal,’ where there is no wall between the church members and the neighbors. The fear is still very high here.”

This isn’t surprising, given the continued aftershocks, shortages of food and water, and an exodus of people. News reports indicate up to 300,000 people per day are fleeing the city.

Here are current statistics from the United Nations.

• 2.8 million people displaced
• More than 70,000 houses have been destroyed (a figure that is expected to rise)
• Estimated 4.2 million people are in urgent need of water, sanitation, and hygiene support
• Some 3.5 million people need food assistance

As EFCA workers continue to meet with local church partners distributing some immediate aid resources and assessing the next steps of recovery, please continue to pray for the people of Nepal.

PRAY for:

• The local churches to play a significant role in the ‘new normal,’ one where the church is holistically caring for and serving their neighbors
• Peace to overcome fear
• Wisdom for local leaders and our assessment team in developing recovery strategies that tangibly express the Gospel

GIVE to help these present and pressing needs, but also invest in the long-term recovery and ongoing Crisis Response ministry.

(Photo courtesy of EFCA)

Samar (EFCA) — [EDITORS NOTE: We are sharing this directly from a ReachGlobal Crisis Response post.]

This past December Typhoon Ruby slammed into Borongon E. Samar. Our partner, World Harvest Fellowship Borongon (EFCP) immediately began reaching out to help in the community, along with the EFCP and Covenant EFC Singapore. ReachGlobal Crisis Response has been partnering with them in the response. After only a few months of compassionate and crisis-based Gospel outreach, they celebrated the baptism of nearly a dozen people and have established a ministry center and weekly Bible study with over 40 people.

WHF Borongon’s vision for 2015 is to plant churches in 10 communities impacted by the typhoon. Join the partnership. There are many opportunities for you to serve and support EFCA’s mission and the people affected by the typhoon. You can pray and ask God to root His Word and His Hope deeply into the hearts and minds of these new believers, and for His saving Grace to be abundantly experienced by many others in this village. You can also give to the Typhoon Response outreach.

Approximately $2500 of materials is needed to rebuild one home. Typhoon Ruby destroyed or damaged almost 1000 homes in these 10 villages alone. You can invest $650 to cover the entire 2 months cost for one of these seminary students, helping them gain practical ministry experience, while significantly extending the outreach arm of these local churches. You can also go and be a light in the darkest places with people who are hurting. Send a short-term team to help with relational outreach and ministry with kids and families.

(Photo courtesy ReachGlobal Crisis Response)

International (ReachGlobal) — [Editor’s Note: This article written by Shane Stacey,  director of the ReachGlobal Crisis Response (EFCA) ministry ReachStudents and a member of First EFC in Minneapolis, Minnesota.]

At the end of last year, I ran my first marathon. The race was tough, but it was the training that almost killed me.

With only six weeks left before the race, I injured my knee. Worried that I wouldn’t be able to run after six months of training, I went to a physical therapist.

After checking my range of motion, flexibility, and gait, she watched me run. She noticed that I wasn’t landing properly on my left foot. She demonstrated the proper form and gave me some exercises to help strengthen a few weak muscles.

“Will I still be able to run the race?” I asked.

“I’ll do everything I can,” she said, “but here is what you’re up against: we’re going to try to undo 30 years of muscle memory in six weeks.”

Those words hit like a ton of bricks. I had come in because I was in pain. Now I was aware of the problem, and I even knew how to fix it. However, getting over the injury wasn’t the biggest obstacle; I was faced with retraining my body to change something it had been doing for 30 years.

Muscle memory in the church

As ministry leaders, we often see the changing culture as our biggest obstacle, or that people are slow to grab onto vision. While these things are true, one of our biggest enemies is often our muscle memory; our unconscious leadership keeps us stuck. Leadership muscle memory relates to any behavior or mindset that is our default posture. It’s what we do without even thinking about it. This can be a positive thing, but when there is an area of our leadership needing change, muscle memory can be one of the most challenging obstacles to overcome.

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a church on a vision overhaul. Its leaders refined and re-imagined their mission, vision, values, and strategy. For instance, they admitted that one of their stated values–community engagement–was merely aspirational. Together, they determined this had to change. It was thrilling to hear various team members speak with passion about how they envisioned the church in the future.

A few months later, I visited the church again, this time on a Sunday morning. The revised vision was being unpacked in a several-week sermon series. The pastor called the congregation to be servants out of the overflow of how Christ had served them.

Then the muscle memory kicked in, and every example of how to serve was tied to a program in the church. What the pastor was unintentionally communicating was that 80% of their lives (that lived outside the church walls) had nothing to do with the mission of God. Instead, if they wanted to serve God, the primary way to do so was by volunteering in one of the ministries offered by the church, the majority of which focused on the already-reached.

What happened? What about that value of community engagement? What about getting outside the walls?

Muscle memory took over. Although there was a desire to focus outwardly, there were years of inward conditioning; the muscles continued to pull in the same direction.

Embrace the awkwardness

In any area of desired change, we often know what we should do, but it is easy to unconsciously fall back into default mode. We understand a principle–a fundamental truth about the way things should be, but we have not intentionally trained ourselves (or our teams) to practice the principle.

In the case of a desire for community engagement, it takes intentionality to replace inward-focused muscle memory with missional memory.

All learning takes place along the same path:
• Unconscious Incompetence: We are unaware of what we don’t know or can’t do.
• Conscious Incompetence: We are aware of what we don’t know or can’t do.
• Conscious Competence: We know what to do, but we have to think about it.
• Unconscious Competence: We engage in the new skill without even thinking about it. (We might call this a new muscle memory.)

The middle two stages are incredibly uncomfortable. They are humbling and feel unnatural.

This was true of reconditioning my running form. Thinking about what I needed to do and how I needed to plant my foot was awkward. At first, I just ran funny. Not only did it feel unnatural, but it also looked unnatural. Running was not relaxing. I had to think about every move I made. But as I focused on the weak muscles and persevered, I moved into new muscle memory. I did run my first marathon, just six weeks later, free of knee pain.

How do we re-train our missional muscles?

1. Spend time with outsiders.
One of the best ways to change our inward-focused muscle memory is to regularly spend time with outsiders. Listen to what they value, what they talk about, the questions they ask about family, life, politics, spiritual matters, etc. You’ll become aware of what you do not know (conscious incompetence).

2. Get coaching.
It felt weird to walk down the hallway of the clinic and have my physical therapist point out what I was doing wrong. I felt a little silly, as a grown adult, to be told I didn’t know how to walk. Give a few trusted people the opportunity to evaluate what you are saying and doing. Ask them to help you connect your passion for a principle with practice.

3. Embrace the awkwardness.
Change never feels comfortable at first. It takes a lot of humility to admit you have muscle memory that is reinforcing behavior that will never get you where you want to go. It takes even more humility to allow others to see you stumble through the awkward stage of learning something new. But embrace the awkwardness. A new pattern is just around the corner.

4. Depend on the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is our best physical therapist. He knows exactly what the problem is and the necessary heart adjustments. He is the change agent: more powerful than our own working is His working within us. Ask Him to show you what needs to change, then open your heart to change and ask Him to do the work needed for the glory of Jesus Christ.

(Photo courtesy of EFCA ReachGlobal via Facebook)

Asia (EFCA) — A ReachGlobal missionary in Asia has been released from detainment. While the detainment was not easy–in shackles and fed only rice for over four days, he is doing well and is very thankful to be reunited with his family.

We are so grateful for the many who were praying, as we saw a number of miracles on many levels in the process of his release. Please rejoice with us in this, but do continue in prayer.

• Pray for God’s grace in healing from a difficult time in prison and the stress on the family.
• Pray for God’s protection for future ministry in this country.
• God continues to open doors for ministry in this creative access country, so we pray that this will not be a setback in our ability to enter and continue ministry.
• Pray for the nationals who assisted in the release. They have put their life and that of their families in danger with this help; we ask that God would protect them and bless them for their courage to do this and their commitment to the gospel above their own well-being.

ReachGlobal takes the safety of our missionary staff and partners very seriously; however, we recognize when the Kingdom of Heaven goes up against the kingdom of this earth, imprisonment and even death are occasionally part of the Lord’s plan. Each of our staff are prepared and trained for these scenarios. We thank God for the result today and ask for His continued favor.

Learn more about ReachGlobal’s work in Asia here.