Salaries and big charities

[Rant] The last couple of days there’s been some buzz about the salaries of the presidents of some of the larger Christian organizations.  Mike Sense started it (he works for Campus Crusade and Common Grounds Online picked up the story as well.  The data comes from the Forbes 200 Largest Charities database from 2005.

What’s interesting is that low salaries are almost automatically seen as “better” than the higher ones.  Crusade’s Steve Douglass earns $57,466, which is ever so much better than Franklin Graham’s $368,115 from Samaritan’s purse.  At CGO the author has “highlighted those who make less that $100,000 as if a six digit income is inherently more laudably than a five digit one.  Come on.

I don’t have any earthly idea whether these are high or low salaries.  I don’t do these guys jobs.  I’ve never seen their contract or their job description.  I’m thankful that in the Christian & Missionary Alliance we have a salaries committee of godly people that determine Dr. Benedict’s salary.  Good for them and good for him.

My personal opinion, for what it’s worth is that these kind of comparisons only breed envy and help people be judgmental.  I don’t mean to point fingers at either Mr. Sense or the guy from CGO but come on guys.  If you think they’re paid too much say so.  Don’t just dangle the numbers in front of people and see what happens. [/rant]

In the news: not everyone happy with new religion law

Forum 18 is reporting that while evangelicals are happy about the new law others are objecting to its apparent exclusivity.  As has been mentioned before Evangelicals were included among the five official religions communities.  This is because the evangelical church substantially predates the war.  The first Albanian evangelicals date to the 1980's while Serbian evangelicals date much earlier to 1967.  The tradition of evangelical theology, though not called "evangelical" specifically dates into the 1800's. Whle the text of the law hasn't been released pubically, as far as I know, the text of the parliament's submission to UNMIK is here. Pastor Aslimovski is incorrect, however, in stating that the Evangelical community is in fact Pentecostal, as indicated in his quote below.  KPEC, the evangelical community of Kosovo is a voluntary organization of protestant churches and organizations who hold to the Lausanne Covenant.  This is the only confessional/doctrinal requirement for membeship.  I wholeheartedly agree with him that the law should be clear on how religious communities get legal status.  It should not be left until later.  Only when we see the final text of the law will we really know where we are on that question.

______________________

While some Protestants are jubilant that the new religion law approved by the Kosovo Assembly on 13 July has been amended by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to specify five of the faiths by name that enjoy rights and freedoms (Muslims, Orthodox, Catholics, Jews and Evangelicals) others are critical. "If it is true that the Evangelical (Pentecostal) church is mentioned it is not right, since all should be mentioned or none," Adventist pastor Nikola Aslimovski complained to Forum 18 News Service. UNMIK promulgated the law on 24 August, but only made this public on 20 September. The law fails to tackle the highly contentious issue of how and which religious communities will get legal status. "Everything should be nailed down in one law," one religious freedom expert told Forum 18. "Nothing should ever be left vague to be returned to later."

Live from Oconto, WI

I’m here in Oconto, WI for the second day.  Oconto is a city of about 4800–5000 people north of Green Bay about an hour or so.  It’s beautifully situated on the bay itself.  One of the great things about going on tour is meeting all kinds of “average.  I put average in quotes because none of these folks are average.  God has had a plan and an agenda for each one.  He’s carried each one through difficult times, provided during times of little and blessed during times of much.

Snapshots….

…. This morning I had breakfast with two guys.  One is retired the other still works in the maintenance department of a local paper mill.   Both were full of stories about the people they’d shared Christ with and the lives they saw changed.  Both reflected on their own lives before Christ and the things God had saved them from.

The best part was that they weren’t “primping” for the missionary.  In fact, I’m not even sure they knew I was there the whole time.  They were just telling stories about stuff God had done as if it were the most natural thing in the world….exactly how it should be.  This is the Christian & Missionary Alliance at the fundamental level; people living the Call extraordinarily in ordinary places. 

… helping the new pastor unload.  I just showed up to help and didn’t know a soul.  “I just heard a new preacher came to town and came to help unload the truck,” I said.  “Oh, okay…thanks for helping,” was the frequent reply.  Folks didn’t look at me funny or ask a lot of questions.  I think the only question that mattered was, “can he pull his weight.”  I knew I’d scored with the group when the biggest guy in the group said, “Oh wait, he’ll can help me with this heavy box” and beckoned me over to give him a hand.

… standing in the meeting room and listening to an older woman describe how God had provided throughout her life.  The far-away look in her eyes a greater expression than her words about the depth of her experience with the Lord.

… speaking to two groups of AWANA kids.  As I talked about what the life of a child was like in Kosovo one little boy raised his hand to ask a question.  I think we were talking about mosques or something.  “Do you have any poisonous snakes in Kosovo?” he asked.  No, not really.  Sorry about that.  Little boys wondering about the world around them.  What percentage of missionaries have come our of little towns and little churches…I be the number would surprise us.

…playing cards with neighbors and laughing about the normal things of everyday life.  A son’s tattoo, a injured employee, the stuff of everyday life that sometimes we miss in our really hurried lives.

This is the CMA…and I’m happy to be a part of it.

 

...third time's the charm?

Weird.

Bombs in Kosovo keep exploding

18/09/2006

(Prishtina,
DTT-NET.COM)- Another bomb went off on Sunday night in Kosovo’s eastern
town of Gjilan, again targeting cars of officials from government, with
police still having no arrests made.

In the News Again...another bomb in Gjilan

I'm not sure what the deal is, but twice in two days seems a little much.  Another bomb went off in my city...actually in my neighborhood on Saturday.  My teammates report it went off about 50 meters from their apartment...rattled the dishes a little bit.  According to my team mates, the first explosion was down town, the second was behind her house, which is the reverse of the article below.

Please pray for peace and stability in Kosovo
____
Local Self-Government Ministry Car Damaged in Gnjilane Blast
17 September 2006 | 13:19 | FOCUS News Agency
Gnjilane. A strong explosion in Gnjilane, Kosovo, caused damage to four cars one of which belongs to the Local Self-Government Ministry of Kosovo, RTS informs citing Kosovo's police forces. No people were injured in the blast.
The spokesperson for the police Naser Ibrahimi stated the explosion took place on Saturday at around 8.30 p.m. local time. The motive behind the explosion is not yet clear, nor is it clear what type of explosion caused the material damage.
This is the second blast in Gnjilane for the last two days. During the last explosion that took place late on Thursday the car of Kosovo's Interior Minister Fatmir Rexhepi was damaged.
The police arrested two persons at the explosion site near the building in which Minister Rexhepi resides. However, because of lack of proof the two arrested persons had been involved in the attack they were released.

Checking in from Wausau

I’m now on what we call “missionary tour” in my little world and I’m up in Wausau, WI this week.  I’m here at Wausau Alliance Church having a great time connecting with Alliance people about Alliance missions.  Thursday night was my first speaking opportunity then last night we had a game night and some nice time just to hang out and connect.  This morning was a men’s breakfast where about 40 men showed up to hear about what God’s doing in Kosovo.  This evening it was a meeting with the youth.  We had a “mystery dinner” then I shared for a few minutes about the big questions in life before we watched “The End of the Spear,” a great movie about the four martyred missionaries in Ecuador in the 50’s and the work their families did there.

This is a great church with a heart for missions and people committed to getting the job done. 

Great stuff!

 

In the News in Gjilan

Caught this in the news this morning.  Gjilan (Gnilanje is the Serbian spelling) hasn't had a bomb like this in a number of years.  Oh, I had a friend who found an anti-tank mine under his car a couple of years back, but it didn't go off.

Pray for peace and stability in Kosovo!
----
Explosion near the house of Kosovo's Minister of Interior

Pristina /15/09/ 12:37

There was an explosion early Friday in Gnilanje near the home of Kosovo's Minister of Interior, Fatmir Rexepi, reported Kosovo police.

There were no injured in the incident, but an automobile of type Audi A4, owned by Rexepi, was damaged, alongside another vehicle parked nearby, local authorities reported.

The house of Kosovo's minister was damaged, together with surrounding houses.

The explosive device was planted under a car immediately near Rexepi's home.

So far, two suspects have been arrested, which were near the site of the explosion.

News on the Law of Religion

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you’ve notice me write about the “draft law on religion” for some time.  This law would govern how religious groups conduct themselves and has been the cause of a lot of prayer for some time.  One of the key issues for us has been the status of the protestant church community within that law.  For some time it seemed that the law would only recognize the Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish faiths as the historic faiths of Kosovo.  In many ways this made sense.  Evangelical Protestantism is a relative late comer.  At the same time, not being included in this list of faiths put the evangelical church at a significant disadvantage before the law.

Yesterday I received word that the new Law on Religion had been signed into law and that the evangelical church was included as one of the “named and recognized religious communities” of Kosova.  This is fantastic and unexpected news and we’re grateful to God for it. 

Thanks for your prayers over the last couple of years about this issue.  More information will be forthcoming, but I haven’t posted in a while and thought I’d post GOOD NEWS.

You know you've been traveling a lot when...

Yesterday, late afternoon we finally got back to Raleigh, NC where we’re spending our “home assignment” year before returning to Kosovo.  We’ve been on the road for about a month for both work-related and family visits.  We’ve been in six states, have spoken in three churches and visited lots of great people. 

When we arrived at the airport my mother, my sister and her daughter, Abbie, met us take us home.  My seven-year-old daughter asked, “Mom, after we get ‘checked-in’ to grandma's can I go play at Abbie’s house?”

Poor thing…she’s ready to unpack her bags for a while. 

In Gjilan: Court jails Kosovo Albanian army officers

Three men were jailed Thursday after an international judge found them guilty of war-crimes in Gjilan.  Roberta Clogg, our wonderful apprentice, stumbled upon the decision a couple of days ago while coming back from language class/dinner.  Read about her experience here.

From the News:

PRISTINA,
Serbia, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A district court has sentenced three of
Kosovo's ethnic-Albanian army officers to seven years in jail each for
war crimes against civilians.

The Kosovo District Court in Gnjilane, presided by Judge Vioneda
Bolero of an international judiciary team, jailed the three men for war
crimes, including inhuman treatment of civilians in the Kosovo town of
Orahovac in 1998, Belgrade's RTS Serbian radio-television reported
Friday.  More.

From what Roberta writes the whole matter was conducted peacefully.  Assuming the judge made the right decision, that's good news for Kosovo.  I'm thrilled that Kosovar Albanians are coming to terms with their own past, as all people must.

...on the road in Price, Utah

We got into Price, Utah this afternoon, a little town of about 8,400 people.  This is where my wife spent about eight years of here life.  We spoke tonight at a dinner at Price Chapel, a church that my wife’s dad pastored and is still making a positive impact on the community.

I’m not sure how many people turned up tonight, but there was probably at least a hundred, interested in hearing how “one of their own” was doing in a land few people understand.  The church is actually located in a former health club building.  They’ve made super use of the structure, proving that church isn't about the building, it’s about the people.  Tomorrow I speak to the men’s group and the Sunday morning Melissa and I will speak again.

I really enjoy meeting regular people from regular Christian & Missionary Alliance churches.  These people are living out their lives faithfully in often difficult circumstances.  The folks at Price Chapel are a religious minority in this state.  They are great, especially the guy who apologized for leaving the meeting a couple of times to answer his phone, “the damn thing never leaves me alone.”  I love it. 

Moving on to Salt Lake City

We left Ottumwa yesterday afternoon after church.  We made some really good connections with the folks at North Gate and hope to see some of them in Kosovo one of these days.  Since we were flying out of Chicago at 10am for Salt Lake City, the next stop on our little tour, we decided to book a hotel an spend the night in the Windy City.  The alternative was to leave Ottumwa at about three in the morning, something I really didn’t want to do.  Incidentally, if you’re not familiar with Hotwired I’d definitely check it out.  We booked a room at the airport Westin, which normally go for $199 a night, for only $75.

We left Ottumwa about 3 o’clock, hoping to get to the Westin at around seven, in time for the girls to swim at the pool.  However, after a wrong turn at the Iowa-Illinois border which sent us on I-74 South towards fabled Peoria, we ended up checking in slightly after 10PM.  Not quite what I had in mind.

Our stay at the Westin was one of those good-news/bad-news deals.  I haven’t stayed at a hotel in the US for a long time, over four years in fact, but the Westin had a strange combo of luxury and el-cheapo.  The room was fabulous, the internet was $9.95.  Seems like internet ought to be free at a hotel like this, it was at the Super 8 in Ottumwa.  In fact, there was free Wi-Fi in the lobby, which we took advantage of from our 3rd floor room.  The refrigerator didn’t work, but if it had, there was a sensor on it that began billing you if any bottles were “moved,” not taken out, but moved.  We were trying to cool some venison sausage from grandpa so we had to order up a new fridge.  In the morning  I would a USA Today newspaper to our room which was sweet, but it was .75, though it was free in the lobby, along with the Wall Street Journal.

Anyway, we really slept well and the beds and bathroom were excellent.  We’re on our way to SLC!

God's good...speaking in a Baptist Church

We spend the day down in Missouri yesterday visiting my wife’s grandfather.  He’s an amazing guy.  The son of a Missouri farmer, he served in WWII as a gunner in a dive-bomber, went to college on the GI Bill and became an engineer who helped develop the guidance systems on the Tomahawk cruise missile, the F-111 fighter-bomber and a number of other aircraft.  At 82 years old magazines like “Aviation Weekly,” “Newsweek” and “The Economist” are still on his reading list.  I wish I could spend more time with him!

We also had the privilege of speaking at “grandpa’s” church last night.  The church is 150 years old and is part of the Southern Baptist Convention.  While they support their own missionaries, they’ve also been praying for us over the last four years.  It was great to meet some of these faithful people.  One lady had family in Slovenia, another had traveled around the world on different trips.  Some people might not think that a rural Missouri, country church has much to contribute to the Kingdom but they’d be dead wrong.  These people are a testimony to the faithfulness of God and God’s people, demonstrated in countless small churches around the country.  I thank God for them and for their partnership with us, though they’d never met us until yesterday. 

God is doing great things throughout the world and I”m grateful for the wonderful work that the SBC is doing both overseas and in the US.  They are one of the premier church-planting groups in the US and one of the few remaining missionary-sending agencies committed to doing missions through long-term, language– and culture-learning missionaries.

Thanks everyone for a great evening!

 

This is the Christian & Missionary Alliance...in Ottumwa, IA

We’re visiting my wife’s family in Ottumwa, IA this week and on Sunday we had the opportunity to speak at North Gate Alliance Church.  Maybe I’m just all excited about being on home assignment, but I haven’t been this enthusiastic about being a part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in years.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not down on my denom, but every group has its issues and it’s just human nature to focus on what’s wrong instead of what’s right.

But after hearing from the heart of the president of the CMA and denominational leaders last week, and visiting North Gate this week I’m just really excited about what the CMA is about and where we’re headed. 

North Gate is a church that is committed to “the mission” both at home and overseas.  They’ve more than tripled their giving to the Great Commission Fund over the last four years, while at the same time undertaking an extensive building program AND hiring a Mexican graduate of Crown College to plant a Spanish-speaking congregation.  They also just sent their youth to work in the inner-city of St. Louis and have sent adult teams to Mexico.  They’re getting it done, and doing with grace and humility.

It is a privilege to be connected to a church like this, a church that models so well the vision and the history of the CMA.  Thanks to everyone in Ottumwa for making us feel at home and for making the CMA what it is!

The flattening of the CMA

I'm developing contrasting memories of Wheaton, IL. The last time we were here, which was the summer of 2002, we were in a grueling language acquisition course. We were tired, we were stressed, we were a little anxious about leaving for Kosovo a few short weeks later. This week we've been on the same campus, eating the same awesome food and surrounded by many of the same people, but it has been very, very different.

Last night marked the end of our first HAMS Conference, or Home Assignment Ministry Seminar (Conference...redundancy noted). It's been a great week of reconnecting with old friends and colleagues, seminars, worship and great messages and plain old hanging out.

One of the things that has really struck me is the the flattening, the de-corporate-izing of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. It is a welcome breath of fresh air. We had the priviledge of having the President of the CMA here with us this week, as well as a number of divisional Vice-Presidents, Assistant Vice-Presidents...a whole cornucopia of titullage. They all stayed in the same dormitory housing; we all used the same single large bathroom. Each morning I stood at a sink, towel-wrapped, shaving my face next to the President or other exalted personage. I can't speak for everyone, but that meant a lot to me. In past years the "headquarters staff" usually stayed in hotels, I'm told, while the missionaries stayed in the dorms. It may seem like a little thing, in fact some would mark it a "no brainer," but they are road signs of a movement towards what the president is calling "seamless ministry", the de-silo-ing of the corporate structures that have typified our organization.

Okay, my ride has arrived. God has been good. I have a lot more to say, but it will have to wait.

...loving life in all its various dimensions

Normally people get sick when they arrive on a mission field, not they return from one.  I’m having the exciting experience of a whopper of stomach bug the day after returning from Kosovo.  Yesterday morning I awoke jet-lagged and stupid, but relatively healthy.  By lunch time I was spending 15 minutes of every hour in the bathroom trying to exorcise the nasty bug that found me.

I’m better today, though I’m pretty sore from everyone’s favorite form of exercise, the dry-heave quiver.  I’m anticipating feeling better as the day goes on as we fly to Chicago tomorrow morning at 6:41 AM for an organizational conference. 

Back in the U.S.

We havebeen back in the US for about 16 hours, ten of which I've spent asleep. So far it is a little surreal. Here are a few of my initial fascinations:

-throwing toilet paper in the toilet.

- clean, new cars everywhere.

-my first shower...standing up, with a shower curtain, without holding the douche (sprayer)

-no trash on the roads... anywhere

-surreally clean landscape

-having to find a electrical plug adapter for my laptop, to the US standard

- my mind unable to grapple with what my body is suddenly doing here.

-I have no keys, to anything.

- there are a lot of fat people here.

Headed home tomorrow

I haven’t had much time to write this last week.  We’ve had a fantastic, super-servant-hearted group of 16 high school students and adult leaders keeping us busy until the very last day.

This group, from my home church in North Carolina has really made an impact on our little community.  First they ran our first-eve children’s program for the Ringjallja Center.  We had 20–30 kids each day from the community coming to hear about the Bible and God’s love for them.  Second, the group led a river-cleaning project.  There is small stream running through our town that is choked with debris and garbage.  In cooperation with the local youth Red Cross they cleaned our targeted stretch of river with joy and energy.  This may be a little strong, but I think they worked our local friends into the ground.  I’m not trying to be arrogant, but these American kids really know how to work!  For this project we were invited to the mayor's office and presented with a certificate of appreciation for the efforts.  They explained for the local news how they hadn't come on a “humanitarian basis” but on the basis of the love of God for the people of Gjilan.  The group also hosted three “cultural exchanges” during the evenings for the local high school students…

Anyway, this isn’t very good writing and I’m struggling to put into words what an impact this group made on the local people.  At the same time, we have been busily trying to pack, while feeding and boarding this large group.  They leave today, and we leave tomorrow.

If all goes well, we’ll spend the night in Prishtina tonight with some friends before getting on a 7AM flight for home tomorrow.  God has done some fantastic things over the last four years.  I hope I have time to process them in the weeks to come.  Right now I feel like our family has been running full speed, and will right up until we get on the plane.  “Back in the day,” missionaries had weeks to ponder their experiences, sailing on ships back to the homeland.  Today, we’ll be thrust back into American life before the wash-water has even dried on the kitchen floor.

We’ll be back in another year, God willing.  I’d like to do next term different from this one.  I’d like to be able to spend more time with my kids for one.  Anyway, I hope I can ponder and process a few weeks down the road.

Really, really light posting these few weeks

I haven't had much time to write lately.  We've got a couple of major things on our plate that isn't leaving much time to blog.  As I write this, a group of 16 American high school students and adult leaders are preparing for another day of fun and frolic here in Kosovo.  They're on a "missions trip" here until Monday and have been involved in running a children's program, ecological river clean-up project and a cultural exchange with local youth.

The second major thing is our return to the US for our one-year home assignment.  We're obligated to spend one year in the US for everyone four we're overseas.  We're leaving on an early morning flight on Tuesday, about 14 hours after our guests leave.   Sooo…we're busy packing up our house while hosting a team too!  We're having a lot of fun, but blogging will be sparse.

Vacation in Bulgaria P. III..oops a little late

*** Why I’m writing this: I’m writing this short little series to give you a window into the awesome blessing of a life of service.  When people think of a “missionary” sometimes they think of people serving diligently, under harsh conditions, dutifully suffering for their Master.  And that is true…sometimes life is like that.  But other times we are privileged to experience the unimaginable richness of life that comes from a life of stumbling obedience.  That is what I want to share with you in this little vacation chronicle.  I want you not to think of missionary life as foot-dragging resignation of life lived in difficulty, nor as a life of leisure in exotic locals, but rather of a life of beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, awesome contrasts which make missionary life a dance.***

After  a long day on the road we arrived in Nessabar, Bulgaria.  This isn’t a very big country, but the roads make you feel like it is!  Actually, it’s beautiful drive through the agricultural heartland of the nation.

Since we took so much time in Plovdiv we didn’t actually arrive in Nessabar until about 9PM local time.  That’s pretty early if you don’t have little kids with you, but with four children under seven-years-old, it was plenty late to begin looking for a hotel.  Nessabar, and especially the Sunny Beach area on the Black Sea, has incredibly active tourist areas where hotels are breeding like rabbits.  At the same time, its extraordinarily affordable.  Since we hadn’t made a reservation and just thought we’d “wing it” we stopped at a couple of 5–star hotels right on the beach.  We needed to get a base-line on prices and thought we’d start at the top.  At one brand new hotel, with marble floors, brass fixtures we found a price of a little over 200 leva per night.  That’s about $120 which included breakfast and dinner at a hotel with multiple swimming pools, exercise equipment and sits right on the beach.  Talk about affordable!  But this was still quite a bit more than we wanted to pay.

So we looked around for a couple of more hours.  The kids were tired but hung in there.  My oldest prayed diligently that we’d find something SOON!  In the end ended up at hotel about a block off the beach.  We found a two-room apartment, which over looks the swimming pools and central courtyard for $85 per night.  That includes use of all their facilities and a fantastic breakfast buffet as well.  The picture to the right is off our apartment balcony.  Not a bad deal, eh?

Yesterday we spent most of the morning on the beach.  The Black Sea.  Never in a million years would I have ever guessed that I’d be sitting on the beach in Bulgaria looking out over the Black Sea.  In my mind, growing up during the cold war, Bulgaria was always a darkly exotic place.  When I thought of of the Black Sea I thought of the Soviet Navy patrolling the cold waters of their own back yard.  I thought of pollution and poverty.  I thought of things that were just “other” and foreign.

That’s not what we’ve found here.  The beach here is as clean, white and beautiful as any I’ve ever sat on.  Okay, the service people don’t quite get the idea of “service” but the facilities are all first-rate.

Our God is a god of blessing.  I know that most of you will never sit on the beaches of the Black Sea.  I know some couldn’t afford to pay what we pay; $80–85 per night is just out of your price range, even for a one a year vacation.  But my point here isn’t to belabor the inequalities of life, but to praise the God who made it and to thank him for allowing us to share in it.