In July of this year, SCC Global Outreach Pastor Dave Stewart traveled with a small team into the heart of Africa, focused on the miraculous reconciliation happening in the grief-torn country of Rwanda. In early October, he'll be in India following up on the Bible Academy we support and then travel to Ukraine for a special anniversary of our sister church there.
Dave plans to blog his reflections throughout the experience.
Vegas
Now, it's important to note that I don't say that often. As Global Outreach Pastor at SCC I'm blessed to travel to many exotic destinations and hang with some of the most incredible people in the world, all in an effort to make the name of Jesus known among the nations.
I've been to war-torn Bosnia, the heart of Africa, the island of Sulawesi, far into the Amazon River Basin, traveled from Pakistan into Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass. Some of the most incredible and "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto" moments imaginable.
But never have I been to a place like the city from which I just returned.
Las Vegas.
The sign says, "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" and there's no doubt; it is fabulous. The amazing hotels, casinos, and lights on the strip are dazzling to say the least. Everything about the place screams opulence and grandiosity. There's even a huge pyramid and replica sphinx!
Without a doubt, there's more to see than you could ever hope to take in during one visit. Amazing shows and gifted artists, and a serious “wow” factor.
Yes, Vegas is dazzling. But the closer you get, the more you begin to see the not-so-subtle signs of a dark, sinister underbelly… a suffocating presence of broken lives.
Like I said, I've been to crazy places but I've never seen guys walking around wearing t-shirts which advertise, "girls delivered to your room in 20 minutes." Handing out business cards with pictures of naked girls, prices and a phone number to call. Handing them to anyone who would take a card. Thousands.
I really don’t think I’m naive about sex trafficking or the "legality" of prostitution in Nevada by any stretch but I couldn't believe how blatant and in your face it was...all happening with families walking up and down the strip dragging their small children along.
And just a thought...how incompetent are you as a parent to have your children under the age of 10 along to see all the things which happen on the Vegas strip after 9 pm? (OK, sorry for the judgmentalism...back to my point).
I found myself wondering about this place…how many young girls have been manipulated, deceived or forced into a life of meeting anonymous men's momentary urges? How many families have seen their finances disappear due to an uncontrolled gambling habit? And how many people travel all the way to Vegas to engage in behavior they would never dare embrace near home where someone they know might see them?
How may lives and relationships are destroyed because of this shrine in the desert, dedicated to every indulgence of the flesh?
By now you may be wondering, "yeah that's all terrible but what were YOU doing there?”
Good question.
I made my first ever trip to Vegas to join in celebrating the 2nd anniversary of Verve, a church near the strip which SCC Global Outreach helped launch. Led by pastor Vince Antonucci, Verve isn't just complaining or judging those caught up in the idol worship in this place. They're doing something about it. A small group of people with a love for Jesus and a heart for lost people came here two years ago…together… and God has been doing amazing work through them ever since.
Over 100 people have been baptized into Christ since the church opened their doors. They’re reaching pimps, prostitutes, alcoholics, drug addicts, and a lot of others with not so obvious weaknesses. All people caught up in the glitz and deception that Vegas can be. All people with a God-sized hole in their heart.
The ministry of Verve is making a difference in this place…one person at a time. And as I was walking along the strip that night, heart-broken over the twisted priorities that caused so much pain, I stopped to realize...there but for the grace of God, am I. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I was that confused person once with screwed up priorities. And God loved me anyway.
If there was hope for me, then there’s hope for every person living in the darkness of Las Vegas.
Viva la Verve!
Hope in the New Year
It’s New Year’s Eve. A time of anticipation…and excitement…and hope.
We think of our family and our friends and ourselves with optimism for what the future holds.
We hope the new year will have more laughter and joy and blessings while also delivering less pain and sadness and negativity. We hope things are better next year.
But what if you lived in a place with little anticipation of things being better in the coming year? What if you knew EVERY day would be tough, every day would be an exercise in endurance requiring your best effort to survive or find food or endure the physical pain of no medical care?
And what if your anticipation of each coming day was built on nothing more than a stoic, resigned acceptance of things being just what they are, with no hope for anything better…in this life or the next?
Pretty depressing, huh?
Maybe, but this is the unfortunate and heart-breaking reality for millions of people around the world. Life is what it is, this is my fate, this is my lot in life; this is just how it is in __________ (fill in the blank with a location). Living in places where there is a sense, based on experience, where no matter what I do or try nothing about my existence will improve. Hopelessness, which becomes nothing more than a primal push to survive.
But as a believer in the eternity-changing, life-giving arrival of Jesus into our world, I have a message for the people of this world in such difficult situations. And so do you.
Romans 5:1-5 gives this message to all who will listen:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Through faith in Christ, we can have peace…and grace…and hope. And even in our sufferings, we have access to God’s love, a free gift given to us.
What if the people suffering in Third World countries heard this message?
What if God’s plan was to use you to help make that happen?
Have you shared this good news with anyone lately?
Do you plan to in the new year?
Praying for a Hopeful New Year…for all.
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