Helping GAIN help others.

The Gain Leadership Team.

Within the last month, I (Barrett) spent a week in Dallas with the leadership team of GAIN (gainusa.org) helping them make progress on clarifying their mission, purpose, and strategy.  They provide humanitarian aide in support of the work of Cru around the world.  The team does amazing work, and I’m getting to help them work more effectively as a team.  

I truly am excited about the growing impact they will have around the world.

Much of their work provides a platform or credibility for our staff who serve in difficult locations, and the needs they meet conveys the love of God and opens hearts to encounter Jesus.

One of the projects they work on is providing wells for water poor villages.  I've shared the story of a village in Tanzania below.

It is an honor to partner with you in helping bring the gospel to people all around the globe.  Thank you for all you do to allow us to serve with Cru.

With much love,

Ikundilo Village, Tanzania April 2016

Latitude: -2.845311  Longitude: 34.156504

Drinking water in Ikundilo comes from either a shallow well or a hand-dug hole. The laborious task of fetching water takes hours each day, especially in the dry season when women and children must wander further from the village to find water. Retrieving water can also involve danger from hyenas living in dens found in the rocky hills nearby. Hyenas commonly chase or attack people getting water during dark hours.

The task of collecting water each day falls to these women. They often wake at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. to avoid long lines at shallow wells or to be the first to find water in the bottom of holes.

The notoriously dry Bariadi area posed challenges for locating a deep well site. According to Dismas Shekalaghe of LIFE Ministry, GAiN's partner ministry in Tanzania, an entire week spent drilling to 300 feet in one location produced no water. Four drilling attempts ended in dry wells. However, by God's grace, three additional attempts resulted in water! You provided this successful well in Ikundilo Village.

Now, 500 families--several thousand people--have easy access to clean water.

When the team from GAiN arrived for the well dedication, people from the village streamed out, shouting, singing, and playing music. Some ran and danced carrying clubs or machetes. The mood was full of excitement and celebration!

People gathered in the shade for the dedication. Kepha Mlugu from LIFE Ministry addressed the crowd. He introduced community leaders and guests from GAiN and Thirst No More, GAiN's drilling partner. The crowd shouted and applauded in agreement when leaders thanked the guests, and you, for the new well!

Children climbed the tree to get a better view over the crowd.  Women brought their buckets to try out the new well!

The well, having been in place for only a few weeks, became a catalyst for a new church. Simon, wearing the orange jacket, serves as pastor of the young church. His work with LIFE Ministry inspired him to plant this church in Ikundilo.

Only one month old at the time of the celebration, the new church in Ikundilo consisted of 72 members--30 adults and 42 children. LIFE Ministry strives to build a partnership of pastors to reach this area using the provision of clean water to share Christ's love. Their plan calls for planting 1,000 churches by the year 2020. Deep-water wells, as part of a bold church planting strategy, provide both physical and spiritual living water to the people of the Bariadi region. Because of the dire need for water in these villages, beginning relationships through deep-water wells opens doors to show people the power of God.

You are helping tell the story in Asia.

This morning I sat with Mark, the director of StoryRunners, a part of Cru (storyrunners.org).  I am helping their small team of 25 with a project to help them clarify their roles to tie more directly to their plans and goals.  With a small team and a large task, it’s crucial that everyone’s contribution is strategic.  What is StoryRunners?  They help make stories like this possible:

In an Asian village, a ritualistic healer stopped to listen to a man telling stories on a street corner.  He listened to the story of a man called Jesus, who claimed to be God, healing the daughter of a man called Jairus. 

“This is a living God who’s involved in the lives of his people,” he says, astonished.  “I need to learn about this God because my god is dead and doesn’t answer me.”

A crowd of around 20 people had also gathered, some perched on nearby rooftops.  The storyteller, Rajendara, belongs to the Awadhi people.  Few Awadhis follow Jesus, but in this village that’s changing.  Rajendra is a church-planing pastor with little formal training, passionate about sharing God’s story with his people.  StoryRunners, a ministry of Cru (in partnership with TellAsia Ministries) helped Rajendra learn 42 different short stories from the Bible.  He learned how to ask questions about the stories, so listeners could understand who God is and what He’d done for them.

Rajendra returned to the same street corner for several weeks, telling Bible stories.  A group of people formed, interested in exploring God.  Hallie Miller, a StoryRunners staff members says, “A house churched formed with one Christian and about 25 nonbelievers.  Rajendra has since seen 20 people choose to follow Christ.

It’s fun to see, even in a ministry as large as Cru, “startups” like StoryRunners are pioneering new approaches to reach the world.  You and we are a part of that!

Thank you for investing in our lives and ministry.  We love serving with you.

Lost in Armenia

This year we are recalling some memorable moments in our 30 years with Cru.  

Working in crisis management with Cru, sometimes we had the feeling we were spies, doing secret stuff.  During one crisis management training in Armenia, we “lost” Bob, our trainer, when we were out at a local market.  

Jim, the other crisis manager and I got worried and finally decided to make an expensive phone call with our cell phone to see if we could locate Bob.

Our fears were relieved when he answered the phone sounding fine.  We told him we’d been searching for him and could not find him. 

Bob responded, “I’m right here at this cafe drinking coffee watching the two of you scramble around the market.”