Hope for the Outcasts

Well again welcome to WOW! World Outreach Week. Welcome to everybody joining us on Facebook live. Everybody over there in the venue service and everybody live here in the auditorium. It is great to have you with us. My name is René. I'm another one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church and I want to invite you to grab the message notes that look like this that are inside your bulletin so you can follow along a little bit.

If you are a regular attender here at Twin Lakes Church you know that this is one of my absolutely favorite weeks of the year and if you're a first-time guest today let me tell you you chose a great weekend. A little bit different than what we regularly do in our weekend services here. First of all I'll only be speaking for about 10 minutes instead of 30 and I know that's like a dream come true for many of you but that's because the sermon most of it will be a very inspiring short film by our staff videographer Jamie Rama about three of our global partners.

Why are we doing that? Well all year long here at Twin Lakes we give away at least 10% and usually more than that of every single dollar that is ever donated to us to people doing great work all around the world and every year this World Outreach Week is when we give you a little peek into what's been happening through your support but first let me set this up.

Why do we even do World Outreach and why do we here at Twin Lakes Church do World Outreach the particular way that we do World Outreach? Well let me explain it this way you may have heard that there's kind of a big football game coming up next weekend. Show of hands how many of you passionately care about that game because the Niners are in it? Show of hands how many of you passionately care more about the commercials than the game itself? Most of us.

I want to show you the commercial that was voted in one poll as the best Super Bowl commercial ever. This was in the 2015 Super Bowl broadcast. Do you remember this? When I wake up I know I'm gonna be young gonna be the man who wakes up next to you and when I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be young gonna be the man who goes along with you.

Everybody just say with me ah what is it about that ad that strikes such a chord and by the way that it's kind of hidden but that's a beer commercial. So why don't they just show some guy guzzling a brew for 60 seconds because that would never make you go ah right what is it about this commercial that makes us respond that way well here's my theory we have all felt like that lost puppy at times and this is why that plot line of the lost animal or the lost toy or the lost child or the lost alien always strikes a chord every single time it resonates whether it's in a fairy tale a movie a storybook think Toy Story Finding Nemo Finding Dory Pinocchio Far From Home E.T. and on and on and on our hearts just go out to the lost and we all really long for a group to be part of a group that helps find the lost like those Clydesdales in the commercial.

Well guess what Jesus described his own mission in those terms he said the son of man came to seek and save the what the lost and he told stories about a lost sheep a lost coin a lost son to explain his heart and explain his mission we sing songs responding to that idea like Amazing Grace I once was lost but now I'm found.

Well then Jesus tells all his followers go into all the world world outreach and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Okay that's great but what's the gospel basically good news for lost puppies most famous verse in the Bible for God so loved the world the whole world all nations all races all languages all people that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish shall not be lost but have eternal life.

So our mission's clear go to the world and go tell the lost that God is welcoming them home through Jesus and what he did for us on the cross that's clear just one question so how do I do that? Well how did Jesus do it and how did Jesus model it and how did Jesus teach us to do it? It's interesting Jesus never said make sure you wrestle and gain political power and control over people he never said that he never said form an army and coerce people he said put away your sword and to be fair Jesus never even said use powerpoint slides and cool lighting and 35-minute sermons although I think there's nothing wrong with those things.

But Jesus did model one method for sharing the gospel and he taught us to do this one method over and over and over. I mean from day one Jesus began his public ministry this way in a synagogue in Nazareth he opens a scroll and he begins to read the Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the who the poor he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Jesus there is quoting from the Old Testament the Hebrew Scriptures the book of Isaiah where the prophet Isaiah is writing about a day that God will bring peace and restoration to the whole planet no more poverty no more injustice no more sickness no more death.

And Jesus is saying in that synagogue it has started the tiny seed of that is starting to germinate and I'm going to bring that message to the poor and the imprisoned and the sick in other words the lost and Jesus found them and he fed them and he healed them as kind of the vanguard kind of a foretaste of what God's going to do to the whole entire planet one day and then he tells us to spread the good news of the kingdom of heaven the same exact way in many many different verses like this one Jesus said let your light shine before others that they may see your what good deeds and glorify your father in heaven.

Okay good deeds for whom? Well Jesus said this many times he says for example when you throw a banquet invite the poor the crippled the lame and the blind in other words all the lost puppies and he taught this and he modeled this again and again you know I love classic art and my favorite pieces of classic art about the Bible are about this theme like this Rembrandt called Christ Among Outcasts. I love this so much I have a print of this in my living room not an original just a copy just to make that clear but I love this because Jesus is surrounded by the marginalized the disabled and the poor and the old widows and the small children or this woodcut by the amazing 19th century French illustrator Gustav Doré Jesus reaching out to the sick and the outcast because that's how Jesus rolled.

Now the gospel wasn't just for those people the rich and the powerful connected also were ministered to by the gospel but it was when they saw Jesus reaching out to these people that their hearts were changed too. That's why you know how many times the Bible says that we should assist the poor and the marginalized two thousand times. Now this isn't the entirety of the gospel message but this is the launching pad the frame for the gospel why because actions speak louder than words and if our message is good news for lost puppies Jesus says find the lost puppies and help them out because then everybody else who might outwardly present as having it all together but really feels deep inside kind of lost too they're going to see those good deeds and see the heart of God and they're going to know that if God loves those people he loves me too.

Remember Jesus said that people see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven in other words good deeds lead to goodwill which leads to an openness to the good news good lead good deeds lead to goodwill which leads to an openness to the good news and that is why we partner with 26 global partners who serve Christ exactly this way all over the world.

There's actually a list on pages two and rather pages three and four of your notes about which one of our global partners are here more than half of them are with us this week please say hi please connect with them after services or during dessert and dialogue events or Wednesday nights and we're going to show you three examples specifically of how our global partners do what we've been talking about in this year's Wow documentary.

We're going to take you first to Oregon where Camp Attitude brings hope to families of kids with special needs and then we're going to fly you all the way over to India to first Prakash which means light of vocational training center which takes marginalized young people and trains them and disciples them and to Little Flock Children's Home which reaches homeless children and widows and marginalized people.

You might remember that part of our 2020 vision project which includes our new college coffee house which is now under construction but as part of that project we completely funded the building of a school and medical dental clinic at Little Flock and wait till you see how they have filled these hallways and remember as you watch this these are all people that you already support if you've given a dollar to Twin Lakes Church you have supported these people because we always tithe to our global ministry partners from what comes in to Twin Lakes Church so now let's check them out in action.

My name is Dan Whitney and I'm president of Camp Attitude Oregon. At the end of 2000 I broke my neck when I did that I was paralyzed from the neck down while I was in the hospital I had no idea what was gonna come I didn't know if I'd ever move below my neck again it was just a whole new normal and my kids knew it was you know dad was gonna be different from now on and my wife just supported me the whole way during that time I met a guy that had the idea for this camp up here at that point I really needed to be a part of something because I knew it was gonna be special.

In 2005 we had one week, 2006 we had three weeks and then from there on it's been eight weeks and then we have specialized camps now would be like osteoimperfecta which is brittle bone disease and in the future we hope to have even more specialized camps like autism you have the special needs child and they are the rock stars. They're so used to being told no no no in so many parts of society and them being a burden we totally redefined normal.

In the outside world if they have a physical disability children are looked at differently they're pointed at they're not included they're told no that they can't participate and on this side of the wall kids are accepted and loved for who they are no matter what their ability is. It really is an amazing transformation of watches people because they're expecting like the other shoe to drop for there to be some type of fee or something that goes with it there's no cost everything that we do is based off of donations.

We have the buddies and the buddies are with their camper their special needs child from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. and the amazing thing about that is the relationship that is built between those two. I love coming back to Camp Attitude because I love seeing the smiles on these kids faces I love seeing them be able to have fun without any judgment from anyone. Every year I learn something new and it every week teaches me how to care for others and to be compassionate and to like to take time to understand the struggles that other people go through.

It's so incredible getting to meet the campers and their families and you make wonderful connections with people that last for a lifetime. The parents come up and they actually get a respite and they don't get that that respite time is so critical. As special needs parents we're on all the time 24/7 we live in a state of heightened attention and to be able to come here and know that our kid is safe and happy and accepted has been truly amazing for us.

By far my favorite thing is the talent show these kids get up there and they do things they've never done and the parents cannot believe what they're seeing I mean it's like standing ovation for them. Here's God taking special needs children and the love from this camp and that's the buddies and everybody else that has just shown them love all week and they feel like hey you know what I can do this.

God is at the center of everything that we do people that attend don't have to be Christians we make it known that we're a faith-based camp but we're not here to proselytize to them we want to do that through our actions which is our flipping to five that we should we should have the same attitudes out of Christ Jesus and so that's what we tell everybody don't go out there and tell people show people that's where God is saying hey I'm gonna plant some seeds through you.

The ultimate goal is we're gonna have some people walk out of here and feel like hey this is what Christians do and this is what more important what Christ can do and so we're not about religion we're about relationship and that's what's emphasized all week long.

I'm very thankful for the foundation of faith that I received here at camp there was not one person that judged my struggle they accepted my brokenness we are so happy so at peace just working with campers with camp attitude and we never would have imagined that our life would go that way before Dan's accident.

God always has great plans when I broke my neck I never asked the question why it was what you know what does God want me to do now this is what God has given me he's given me joy in my heart and there's not many days where I lose that if you're gonna pray God use me be ready for the way he's gonna use you because I never dreamt that he would use a broken neck to accomplish something that he wanted to accomplish but I'm so glad that he did it and I'm here today to say I'm glad that I broke my neck I'm glad that I'm that I'm partially paralyzed I'm thankful for that because of what has come from it.

I was born and raised in India went to the United States for Education then began working in a church overseeing missions and having heard about the plight of children orphans and street kids I felt that it was a mandate given by God to care for orphans and widows so we founded Linflak in India. Linflak is a place for orphans and widows we want orphans to come and live here and know first and foremost that they are loved by God it's also a place where we hope that they will thrive.

We give them education we give them all that they need basic needs and we are committed to them till the end of their education even through career and because this is India and if they don't have parents or any relatives even to get them married it's also a place for widows where they can come and find family here. Linflak is more than just an orphanage it's also a place that cares about its neighbors it's also an outreach to the village helping empower women so that's when we said we need to teach them sewing and we need to teach them tailoring and jewelry making so that the women can find some means of sustaining their families.

All of our labor force is from the village and we also try to employ the Dalits because they cannot get jobs that easily so it's a very complex culture it's such an ancient civilization we'll continue to provide opportunities for widows we'll continue doing village outreach and empowering the village community they feel completely accepted by us they say to me little flock is a life-giving place for us they said we can't imagine our lives without what we have experienced here.

I think we'd like to see our children grow up and impact the world around them you know many people have asked us are these kids up for adoption we said no we want these kids to grow up here in country and be change makers within the country so we hope that we can have a lot of our kids educated in different fields including government and the other plan we have which I also should mention is to start a school here which will serve not only our kids but also the village community.

So I would say little flock is not only a place where people come and are nurtured and loved but we hope that all those that come to little flock and go out in the community will have some impact and it has a greater impact on this community. I think if little flock didn't exist here lots of people would not have jobs lots of these people will be on the edge of poverty and they would also have no hope not only do we do tangible things for them through employment and training and everything that it's doing things but it's also making a difference in their spiritual climate in this village.

Prakash was started as a dream in 1961 but actually the school came into being 45 years ago Twin Lakes came on board at the very beginning of fundraising and so Lord and I came on as what we were thinking would be donors but God had a different plan in India a trade is only learned through the family so if a young person is an orphan or the family is so poor that nobody could be in the trade they are without hope.

Our students come down out of poverty and they absolutely have no hope when you get out in the tribal areas you have areas with no electricity no running water no written language and none of the children have ever gone to school so you start with the basics how do you wash your hair how do you brush your teeth in India there's not a lot of opportunity for a lower caste woman they live day to day future is not a word these girls have ever even considered.

The girl's school was a dream that Lauren and I had and it's only about 10 years old and it's remarkable in one year to see the change in a girl's life it's a hundred percent turnaround when the girls come here we just we strive hard to make them feel worthy mostly they come from the marginalized families very poor backgrounds they come from orphanages they come from broken families unimaginable conditions they have their emotional needs most of them have physical needs so once they feel safe and once they feel that they are accepted they are not looked down on that changes them.

They are mostly rejected and they are not valued as much as their brothers or the male child in the family the very first lesson we give them is you are special so that touches their hearts. I see the difference in them in second year and I cannot believe that this is the same girl that we had to work on when she entered her chair.

I was a orphan kid I was deserted I was lost but the light like a prakash is a light that prakash came in my life and everything it changed. It's a real joy to work here in prakash now I mean helping students to understand their life purpose our mission is to bring those young people who do not have a hope and teach them give them a basic skill so that they will stand on their own feet.

The vision of prakash institute is to see young generation or the marginalized young people of india getting transformed in their thinking and the training here in prakash institute not only will give them good skills but help them to learn more about life what life is and how to live this life.

We'll continue to address the needs of those who are parentless outcast hopeless directionless the students coming to prakash are experiencing and given love in a drastically different and almost anti-cultural way that absolutely changes their lives they seem to get a hope for a better future that was never even in their realm of thinking coming in with no hope and leaving with extreme hope for a better life.

This last year was our 45th anniversary which we celebrated at prakash in february of 2019 the attendance was spectacular we had former students who came and gave their testimonies or stories we were just elected the top three schools in maharasha state and that's out of maybe a thousand or more schools.

So yeah let's thank all our global ministry partners and thank you so much for being a part of this and by the way tonight when we have the illusionist it's going to be so much fun at six o'clock the night right here we're also going to take an offering to try to raise funds to build a cabin at camp attitude in oregon we're trying to get about 11k to build that to build that cabin.

Now I want to leave you just one more thought and this is one of my favorite things about world outreach I started with that lost puppy commercial well the very first super bowl commercial to ever go viral culturally I mean it was all over the place the next week everybody was singing a song from this commercial talking about it the next day it was way back in 1971 and a guess is about what that might have been.

Let me show you a hint as the sun set on a hilltop in italy a group of beautiful racially diverse young people saying I'd like to build the world a home and furnish it with love and I remember I was 10 years old thinking wow is this like a commercial about church or about missionaries or something this is awesome and then they went on I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony so beautiful then they sang the last line I'd like to buy the world a coke and I was like what I guess the band plays will you accept coca-cola into your heart as your personal lord and savior right?

But the vision of this caught the imagination of the country why? Well because 1971 everybody was so tired of a decade of division political division and racial division and really hatred that were just tearing us apart hey do people feel that way now maybe more than ever would you like to be part of the solution?

Good news at the very end of the bible there's a vision of heaven in revelation seven nine and it says after this I looked and there before me was a great multitude more than anyone could count from every nation tribe people and language standing before the throne and before the lamb you know what that means heaven's going to be the most diverse place you could ever imagine and Jesus is already building his kingdom to look just like this.

Did you know most of the Christian world is not white and it's not American it's brown and it's black and it's in every country in the world and that's one of my favorite things about doing world outreach because when we get outside of our own little world and we work with and serve our brothers and sisters all around the world with brown skin and black skin and in marginalized communities here and in other countries really it's a preview of heaven.

And just like Jesus said some people will see that and glorify God because when we do outreach what right they will see us all working together across borders and they'll think this is what I've been waiting for people of all races gathered together for a common goal and not for global consumption of sudered water but because of the good news about a God who loves the whole world so much that he came to find all of us lost puppies including you and including me.

Let's pray heavenly father thank you so much for your word that tells us to go into all the world to go to all creation and thank you that you came for the lost and I pray that if anybody feels lost right now that they would just tell you thank you I give you my life and and and for those of us who've been found by you I pray that we would just say God I want to go and and reach the lost in your name just open my eyes to the opportunities all around me maybe that's my neighbor or getting involved in local ministry or maybe going on a short-term trip or even going full time as a global partner.

I pray that all through this room people will just say God I will go where you lead and finally God we pray for all the global partners visiting with us this week I just pray that they would know that they are loved that they would know they have a second home here that we are grateful for them bless them this week we pray in Jesus name amen.