New Job

I start a new job today. I am excited. So excited that I would be okay if it was my last job.

For me, this job is the completion of a journey, the continuation of a journey, and the birth of a new journey, all in one.

This life path was significantly propelled in 2005, when at a conference I heard first hand stories of God’s justice becoming a reality in extreme ways. As the founder of International Justice Mission described rescuing children from brothels and slaves from brick kiln factories, my heart came alive. I wanted my life to be given fully to God and his justice and love becoming a reality for others.

I left that conference with a fire in my heart but frustration in my mind. I was compelled but confused. And after a couple years of listening, God clearly spoke. This led to founding a nonprofit and investing in many more. I went on mission trips. I designed and hosted nonprofit websites for free. I volunteered and helped with events. Taking a project management job a year ago at a media firm, I spent as much of my free time investing in nonprofit work. My hope was that in 5 years, I would have enough business and nonprofit experience to land a management position at a nonprofit focused on addressing both physical and spiritual needs. That 5 year plan got fast tracked a couple months ago when Jeff Romack from ServLife approached me.

I’ve been a part of the ServLife community for over 8 years. I’ve led teams on trips to India and Nepal. I’ve volunteered at events. I’ve donated. I’ve attended the intimate book release of the founder. I’ve been a fan. So when the Executive Director asked me if I would be interested in chatting about joining their staff, I quickly yet tentatively said yes, let’s talk. Later that day when my wife shared her excitement, my reclined heart leaned forward.

About a month later, after much discussion and prayer, I accepted the position of Director of Operations at ServLife International. I am excited and intimidated and overwhelmed.

I would greatly appreciate your support and prayers. And I invite you to join me in what God calls us all to:

To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
(Micah 6:8b NIV)

David

I sat with David for about an hour yesterday. He has captured the hearts of our team here, but has a literal hole in his own. He desperately needs heart surgery. Albert has spent the last few weeks trying to get David’s family to take him to the hospital, or grant permission for Albert to do so. David’s uncle should arrive today and Albert hopes to acquire such permission. The second hurtle is the money for the surgery, but our team has assured Albert that it would be covered. We will figure out a way.

I sat with David and showed him pictures of my family and my son David. I slowly told him the story of David and Goliath. I prayed with him. I took his picture and let him take mine. I made animal noises. I did anything I could to make this sick, sad boy smile. He has only smiled a handful of times, and heaven breaks in when he does.

Leper Hospital

We made plans to visit the leper hospital this morning, and I had forgotten what a difficult experience that is. After a difficult and hot hour-long drive, we arrived at the Little Flower Leper Hospital. Abraham greeted us and escorted us through the wards. We walked into rooms full of 20-30 people afflicted with leprosy. Many had digits missing from their hands and feet, and some, limbs missing. Their bandages were speckled with blood spots, and it looked more like a war hospital that those afflicted with an old, treatable disease.

We walked down the rows of beds and made eye contact with those who had been sent away from their families and rejected by society. The simple act of looking them in the eye and greeting them, “Namaste,” brought a smile to many faces. In each ward we would engage this slow processional, adding hugs and hand shakes along the way. Then we would sing a worship song or two. I found myself choked up a number of times and struggled to keep from bawling in front of everyone. The music seemed to be a comfort to them, and some clapped or hummed along.

Abraham escorted us to the main office down the street where we met Brother Christa Das, who founded the hospital in 1982. He has skin of old leather and a heart of joy, and would quickly and easily break into a 4 tooth smile. On his wall were awards and a magazine from a few years back with him on the cover as India’s Man of the Year. We sat with him for about half an hour and asked questions about the hospital and his journey. He worked for 14 years in Kolkata with Mother Teresa, and shared her challenge to “preach without preaching.” His reasoning for living his life this way was quite simple. “Jesus said to care for the least of these. I believe the least of these here are lepers.”

As the team debriefed later, we concluded two things. One, that we will most likely not experience a resolution from our uncomfortable experience at the leper hospital. And two, we need to determine who the least of these in our lives are, and respond with love and sacrifice.

Make A Joyful Noise

“If you are going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”
- 1 Cor. 1:31

I’m listening to the kids singing upstairs, worshipping God and singing/yelling at the top of their lungs. It is a beautiful, joyful noise.

Today has been a good day. This morning Albert took us to their new land. I was there 4 years ago when it was only a large empty space outlined by a property wall. Today stands the first of four buildings. It will hold Albert and his family, all the children, and have space for visiting teams like us. It is a big step toward a God-dream that Albert is saying yes to. Eventually there will be buildings to house 1,000 orphans, a school and a training school for pastors. We stood on the roof and prayed that these dreams would become reality and God’s will would be done. That the opening of the front gates would be opening arms of love to all that enter. We prayed that the government would not take a portion of the land to build a new road. We prayed that it would be a place used by God.

The light of God’s love shines brightly in dark places, and this ministry is definitely a beacon of light and love here.

Heading To India

It has been three years since I was last in India, and I am anxious to go back. This time Carolyn, my 8-year-old, will be joining me, along with 5 other people from our church. The entire team is excited, and scrambling to get last minute logistics taken care of before we fly out tomorrow. The trip is for about two weeks. We’ll spend 5 days in Bihar, India, and 2 days in Kathmandu. Then the team will fly home and Carolyn and I will meet my buddy James in Delhi for 3 days. In Bihar we will be doing a photography program with children in an orphanage. Carolyn is really excited about that part. It will be good to be back in India, and I’m excited to see what God will reveal in our time there. Please pray for us and our journey.

I’ll be blogging the trip here whenever I can get access to the internet…

$34 Birthday Wish

I turn 34 this month. Yes, older than Jesus. Well, sort of…um…nevermind…

My wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I couldn’t think of anything. I truly don’t need anything that I don’t already have or couldn’t go out tomorrow and buy on my own. And honestly, part of me feels a bit sick lusting after yet another tech device or revolutionary electronic tool. I have what I need. And more. So much more. Boxes of more stuffed into my garage, closet, office.

You likely know where I’m going with this…  Yes, many people don’t have as much as I do. Many people don’t have what they need. Many people don’t have basic stuff like shoes and water and food. That’s crazy. That’s out of control. That’s something I can do something about. And so can you.

So my birthday wish this month is that you would donate $34 to ThereIsEnough to address someone’s basic human needs. Food, water, clothing, housing, health care, justice…you pick. $34 can buy a bowl of porridge or beans for 136 hungry people. It can provide 6 families with fresh water for a year. It can provide footwear for 34 previously barefoot people. It can provide building supplies for someone without shelter, basic medicines for those in need, and justice for the victim. Seriously. It can. Only $34. It can make a difference. I want my life to make a difference. I want my birthday to make a difference. I want you to make a difference. I want us to partner together today. Right now. That is my birthday wish. Please donate $34 to ThereIsEnough today.

Monthly Support Letter

I hope this finds you well and living life to the fullest. This last year has been an exciting one, with a highlight being launching a nonprofit in November 2009. The purpose of this post is to let you know about my personal journey, the nonprofit, to ask for prayer and monthly support.

MY JOURNEY
In 2004 I heard Gary Haugen of IJM speak, and God tugged at my heart to live a life of Kingdom Justice. When I asked Gary how I could work for IJM, he suggested I enter the Marines Special Operations division or become a lawyer and then come work for IJM. Now, I don’t want to have to shoot anyone or go to Law School, so Gary suggested I help raise money for what they are doing. God had awaked my heart to His passion for justice, but my path toward a response was unmapped and unclear.

In the following years I continued to take small steps of obedience to live into this calling on my life. After years of small steps of obedience, I was ready to dive in deeper into an adventurous life of sacrifice and invite others to begin a journey of sacrifice themselves by partnering with me.

THEREISENOUGH
Though many people desire to engage and help those in need, there is often a paralysis that most of us experience as we begin to feel overwhelmed with the enormity of the needs around the world. Is there anything that we can really do? We often feel intimidated by the process of choosing from among the thousands of humanitarian organizations out there; we aren’t sure what needs to address; we don’t know if an organization is trustworthy.

This paralysis that often stops conviction from transforming into real action led me to seek the insights of business owners, church leaders, charity presidents and entrepreneurs around the country. This process birthed ThereIsEnough as a donation portal addressing the basic human needs of food, water, clothing, housing, health care and justice, as clarified by Jesus in Matthew 25. Six basic needs. One response.

ThereIsEnough.org makes food, fresh water, housing, clothing, health care and justice available to those in need by serving as a donation portal to support proven charities who address these basic human needs around the world. ThereisEnough.org decreases the duration of paralysis that can often lie between conviction and action by clarifying the most critical human needs and providing a simplified means of response. Donations to the site are given directly to the organizations that do the work.

NEXT STEPS
Our team (Board of Directors, volunteers, volunteer design companies, etc.) and I launched ThereIsEnough in November of 2009, and I have been devoting an average of 20 hours a week to the organization. In March 2010 I went down to part time at my church as a worship pastor to devote more time to this work. I am currently running the nonprofit out of donated office space, and am overseeing and implementing our vision and goals. We are continuing to gain momentum, and raising more and more funds to address basic human needs on a global scale.

PRAYER SUPPORT
Starting something new is always difficult, and accomplishing God’s purposes in the world always meets resistance. I would greatly appreciate your prayers in this endeavor. If you would like to provide prayer support, please email me at adam@thereisenough.org so we can keep you in the loop with prayer requests. Thank you so much.

MONTHLY SUPPORT
My responsibilities as Founder and President of ThereIsEnough include overseeing the mission, vision, values, operations, and methodology of the organization; building partnerships; key spokesperson and fundraiser. Having surrendered part of my salary from my church earlier this year, I am now trying to raise support to replace lost income. We hope to have 50 people commit to $30/mo. or $50/mo. to support our administrative costs and my part time salary. Please consider supporting us for a two-year commitment at one of these two levels.

When $25 can feed one meal to 100 people, $14 can supply clean water for a year to three families, $5 can provide 2 pair of sandals to someone with no shoes, we can clearly see how small investments on our end can have massive impact on those who live in poverty. Please join our campaign to address basic human needs globally and show the love of Christ in very tangible ways. To make a one-time or monthly pledge, go to http://www.thereisenough.org today.

Secure and recurring donations can be made on our website. Simply visit http://www.thereisenough.org, click “Give Now,” enter an amount for “ThereIsEnough Administrative Costs” and click “Monthly Recurring.” Donations can be made with a major credit card or PayPal. If you pay by check, please note “Administrative Costs” in the memo line and mail to ThereIsEnough, PO Box 2245, Indianapolis, IN 46206. All donations are tax deductable. Thank you so much.

Thank you for taking the time to read through all of this, and for considering supporting me in this endeavor.

Thank you,

Adam J. Nevins

Monthly Support Letter (short version)

In 2004 I heard Gary Haugen of IJM speak, and God tugged at my heart to live a life of Kingdom Justice. God led me to that moment and awaked my heart to His passion for justice, but my path toward a response was unmapped and unclear.

After years of small steps of obedience, I was ready to dive in deeper into an adventurous life of sacrifice and invite others to begin a journey of sacrifice themselves by partnering with me. So in November 2009 ThereIsEnough was launched.

THEREISENOUGH
ThereIsEnough makes food, fresh water, housing, clothing, health care and justice available to those in need by serving as a donation portal to support proven charities who address these basic human needs around the world. ThereisEnough decreases the duration of paralysis that can often lie between conviction and action by clarifying the most critical human needs and providing a simplified means of response. Donations to the site are given directly to the organizations that do the work.

PRAYER SUPPORT
I would greatly appreciate your prayers in this endeavor. If you are interested, please email me at adam@thereisenough.org so we can update you with prayer requests.

MONTHLY SUPPORT
My responsibilities include overseeing the mission, vision, values, operations, and methodology of the organization; building partnerships; key spokesperson and fundraiser. Having surrendered part of my salary from my church earlier this year, I am now trying to raise support to replace lost income. We hope to have 50 people commit to $30/mo. or $50/mo. to support our administrative costs and my part time salary. Please consider supporting us for a two-year commitment at one of these two levels.

When $25 can feed one meal to 100 people, $14 can supply clean water for a year to three families, $5 can provide 2 pair of sandals to someone with no shoes, we can clearly see how small investments on our end can have massive impact on those who live in poverty. Please join our campaign to address basic human needs globally and show the love of Christ in very tangible ways.

Secure and recurring donations can be made by visiting http://www.thereisenough.org, click “Give Now,” enter an amount for “ThereIsEnough Administrative Costs” and click “Monthly Recurring.” Donations can be made with a major credit cards or PayPal. If you pay by check, please note “Administrative Costs” in the memo line and mail to ThereIsEnough, PO Box 2245, Indianapolis, IN 46206. All donations are tax deductable. Thank you so much.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, and for considering supporting me in this endeavor.

Thank you,

Adam J. Nevins

Back In Time

10:25 am, Dec. 12, 2009

Have you ever been in an altercation and witty articulation eludes you?  15 minutes later the perfect comeback is evident, but in the moment you are so clouded by emotion and passion that you stand silent and stunned.  Or worse yet, you mumble something an 8 year old would come up with on their best day.  It leaves you dissatisfied, frustrated, and regretting that you can’t go back in time and blow them away with your finely tuned argument.

I often feel a similar regret when it comes to situational benevolence.  I see a homeless man shaking his cup of change, and don’t have time to grab him some lunch, so I do nothing at all.  I drive past a broken down motorist on the highway and I do not stop to help.  We all have had these experiences, and often feel regret that we did not help.  If only we could go back in time and change our response…

A few days ago I drove to the bottom of an exit ramp to see a man holding an “Out of Work” cardboard sign.  As I pulled up and stopped, we made eye contact and held it for at least 90 minutes.  Maybe it was two seconds; it’s hard to tell for sure.  As the light changed and I hit the accelerator, I glanced down at two large, hot pizzas in the passenger seat that I was bringing home to my family.  Immediately I realized that I could have given him a piece or two of hot pizza on this cold winter day, and the regret hit me.  I had missed my opportunity to help this man in a small but meaningful way.  But then something happened.  I realized I could change the past.  I could change my passive behavior.  I could still give him a piece of pizza.  With the cunning skills of Batman, I quickly swerved into the left lane and turned at the yellow light.  I was going back in time.  I didn’t need to reach 88 mph, but I did need to loop around 4 city blocks to return to the scene of my indifference.  And finally pulling up to the intersection, flashing my hazard lights and rolling down my window, I changed the past and the future at the same time.

My hope is that our futures can change as we redeem the past.  By combating our selfishness to the degree of going back in time, it can allow us to become more aware of opportunities in the present.  Maybe even someday our knee jerk reaction will be full of grace and generous benevolence.  If we are to be articulate and quick witted in any area of our lives, may it be in love and generosity.

Justice and Worship Collide

Breakout Session:
Justice and Worship Collide in the Psalms and The Implications for Modern Worship
with Elizabeth Jones (Food for the Hungry)

It is in your household that you tend to really grasp things as a child.
The Psalms were not just read, but sung.
Most of the Psalms were written by people that were suffering.
Ps. 101:1
Book – The Message and the Music
The message of all 77 of the top worship songs from 1989 – 2005 lack anything about justice.
WE NEED SONGS ABOUT JUSTICE.
Ps. 5 and 7 – protection, refuge, deliverance from enemies
Ps. 6 and 13 – cry for help
Ps. 10 and 12 – don’t forget us
Ps. 94:1-11
A lot of the songs/Psalms are prophetic.
Worship leaders are to be prophets.
Amos 2 and 5.

“Justice” is not a noun, it is a verb.
Ps. 23
How can we sing about justice if we do not live it?
Micah 6:8
Justice is about righting relationships.
Mercy is not getting what we deserve.
(good justice songs – Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble, and God of Justice by Tim Hughes)

Elizabeth Jones