Connect with Hope

By Mark Hoffschneider
Missions director

What is your earliest memory of going to church? Was the church building unique? Did it have a traditional spire and bells?

For most of us in America, the thought of our childhood church probably conjures up images of a stately building with the sign out front indicating what the week’s sermon title would be. For most in Ghana, Sunday morning worship might be gathering outside, under the blazing sun, in plastic lawn chairs.

Or if a village is blessed with a big mango tree, those plastic lawn chairs would be placed under the tree and the drums would signal the start of worship. Walls, windows, pulpits and steeples are not found in rural Ghana.

As Hope embarks on another Lenten season, we turn our attention to Christ and his sacrifice for our sins. We might even be driven to give up something as a reminder of penitence and the promise of a new start. And, we also use this time to look externally at how we can serve the world
around us. .. specifically how we can expand God’s Kingdom in Ghana.

Over the past few years, Hope has donated over $1 million to construct 142 clean water wells in villages in and around Accra and Ho, Ghana, in western Africa. Now, most residents of these villages, including the village chiefs, want to have a church. They appreciate the critical fresh water they and their people now have to drink, but they also want the eternal water of life – Jesus Christ.

To help meet this need, Hope’s mission partner in Africa – GlobeServe International and Pastor Sam Dunya – has training and equipping pastors who now stand by, ready to serve and be deployed.

Hope’s investment in this Kingdom Expansion is to fund the construction of church structures (and the furnishing for those churches and housing for the pastor) in 40 of the villages where wells have been dug and dedicated. What is exciting about this “40 Churches in 40 Days” Lenten Outreach  Project is we are not just building a church structure. These new buildings will become a center of community life for the villages. A gathering place.

The $4,200 provides the church structure (think picnic shelter), the Bibles, benches and altar for the church, and the housing for the church pastor. That’s almost as much as a typical American receives in a tax refund.

What an incredible way to “reach out to the world around us and share the everlasting love of Jesus Christ.”  Praise God for the lives He is changing in Ghana and pray for God’s guidance in how you can be a part of it all.

Heaven will indeed be more crowded!

Blessings,

Mark Hoffschneider

Missions Director

Hundreds of kids eating meals that were made in Iowa.

by Eric Hanson
Hope member and TV reporter

My work at KCCI has taken me to tornado-damaged cities minutes after they were clobbered, Third-World countries weeks after a natural disaster and previously-joyful homes shortly after a member of the military delivered devastating news.

But landing in South Africa in late January was a different experience.

I knew I was being sent 9,000 miles from Des Moines to show Iowans the incredible amount of need in small towns at the end of washboard roads. Places where unemployment can top 80 percent and you can find more HIV positive people than negative. I also knew it was not going to feel like driving up to a story in Adel or Norwalk. What I didn’t expect was the wide variety of sometimes small signs that Iowa is having a huge effect  on that region.

Eric Hanson spent time in South Africa, reporting on the effect Iowans (including some Hope members) are having in Africa.

Limpopo Province is the northernmost region of the South Africa. The population is mostly black, mostly poor and mostly struggling. But that area is where Dr. Jim Blessman has been planting Iowa’s roots. The former head of Mercy’s pain center spent a quarter century healing Iowans of their pains. Now he and his wife, Beth, are trying to do the same thing in Africa during their retirement.

They started Blessman Ministries (www.blessmanministries.org) a decade ago with the idea that doctors on a two-week medical mission trip can prescribe penicillin but those physicians who immerse themselves in a culture can cure its problems. And Iowans have been buying into his diagnosis.

Jim & Beth Blessman built a home on a game-farm outside Mokopane three years ago. Since then, they’ve hosted 150 Iowans a year, including scores of Hope members. Two weeks in Africa turn strangers visiting their house into lifelong friends who become just as passionate about the mission as their relocated hosts.

They’ve convinced Meals from the Heartland to increase their shipment to 2 million meals this year. They’ve convinced Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse organization to ship 100,000 shoeboxes filled with gifts for children. And when locals see the Blessmans rolling into their community in their white Toyota SUV, they know help is on the way. But even more importantly, the relocated Iowans have convinced South Africans in need of so much that they have the power to change their situation.

Dr. Jim Blessman and his wife run Blessman Ministries, a Hope missions partner.

The gifts from Iowa will help anyone facing dire hunger, but long-term help is targeted to daycares, schools and drop-in centers who feed more than just stomachs. They need to feed hearts and minds with the message of Jesus Christ to qualify for ongoing help. It’s not a way to coerce locals to accept Christianity for food. Instead, it’s a realization that rice packets fill short-term needs that will only change if people do. It’s the same reason the Iowans are teaching locals how to raise corn like Iowans do. It’s also why they’re starting micro-enterprises in areas such as sewing and construction so locals can have an income by learning a trade.

Limpopo is a province where you can find kids playing with a red soccer ball that reads “Kum and Go” and you can find thousands of cardboard boxes of meals stamped “Packed in Des Moines, September 2011″. But nearby, you’ll find thousands of children who are eating because of the generosity of Iowa congregations. You’ll find dozens of families who are being housed because of the back-breaking work of Iowan construction workers. And you’ll find countless Africans benefiting from Iowans living out Christ’s instructions to help “the least of these.”

And Iowa’s impact is only a few years old.

by Mark Brandt
Minister of Children and Students

I was a big fan of Shakespeare in high school. We even had the privilege of bringing “The Merchant of Venice” to the stage my junior year. I played Gratiano, the lovable, comedic sidekick to Antonio. One of my favorite lines (and appropriate to me was), “Let me play the fool: With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”

The play itself was a great challenge! To prepare, we had to learn an entirely different way of speaking with different nuances even to the humor. Some of it was lost on us due to the context in which it was written. Some of it was funny ONLY to us because you had to know what you were saying in order for the joke to be understood. Nevertheless, we were swept up into the world of medieval Venice, and we all had a part to play. I LOVED it! I even had my first and only stage kiss … a story for another day.

Our performance was met with mixed reviews. Our parents loved it because they are our parents and are obligated to love anything we are in. Our friends in Brit lit class loved it because they had read the play and knew the story. The rest of the public was mildly entertained at best; much of the beauty and humor got lost because frankly, people just don’t talk that way anymore.

Imagine if the Bible were that way… an out-of-context, hard-to-understand piece of literature that only a few can grasp. Have you ever felt that way while reading it? I know I have. But then I dug deeper. … It isn’t lifeless and hard to understand once you get to know it. It is filled with the story of God’s people and the character of God himself! Ultimately, it is a story that we all get to be a part of. But many of us miss the beauty because we haven’t dug into the story enough to know the characters, or better yet, the author himself.

Who is writing your story right now? How is it going? Feeling very heroic lately? Then maybe you need to let God take over and get to know HIS story. In just a few short months, we are going to embark on a journey through scripture like none we have taken before. … But don’t wait! Start now! Become a fan of HOPE on Facebook or follow @hopewdm on Twitter to get the Daily Bible Readings and get to know the story!

One of the lines spoken to my character by Antonio right before Gratiano claims to be the fool is this one, “I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano, A stage where every man must play a part; and mine a sad one.”

Is that what your story feels like right now? Then let this fool remind you that there is an Author of a bigger story to your life! Get to know Him, and he can rewrite your story with TRUTH! It doesn’t mean that there won’t be any sad parts to play anymore,  it just means that no matter what, you can always hold onto the truth that the HERO always wins!

Be blessed this week!

By Suzanne Behnke
Communications editor

To help you know what Hope has going on ( No. 1 is always weekend worship), here’s a list of eight things for your calendar (in alphabetical order!):

A stands for ART as in stART Your Month with Family Art on Sunday, March 4, at 3:00 pm. The theme is “The True Meaning of Easter.” Cost is $5 a person or a maximum of $10 per family. Walk-ins are welcome.

B stands for PAUL BALOCHE, a Christian songwriter who will give a concert Friday, March 9, at 7:00 pm. Tickets are on sale at Cafe Hope and online. Baloche and friends will also lead a workshop on Saturday.

B also stands for BAPTISMS. There’s a Full Immersion and Rembrance of Baptism Service on Sunday, March 4, at 12:30 pm, in the Worship Center. Walk-ins are welcome, but please be sure to catch the details on being fully immersed here. The baptism class for those who want to be baptized or have their kids baptized at Hope is Tuesday, March 6.

C stands for CHURCHES as in the Lenten Outreach Project, 40 Churches in 40 Days. What’s that about? Click and read or watch a video.

C also stands for CLASSES. There are some offerings for almost all ages. Please go here to browse, get details and register.

G stands for GRIEFSHARE, a class starting Monday, March 5, at 6:30 pm. This is a time for those who have lost a loved one.

M stands for MISSION TRIPS. Interest meetings are going on this Sunday and other ones coming up. Look up more info on all 2012 service trips.

T stands for TASTE OF HOPE, Hope’s annual summer festival, will start planning now. There’s a meeting Wednesday, March 7, at 6:00 pm. Email gail.smith@hopewdm.org, if interested in helping or you are a rock-star organizer.

Spoiler alert: This list is not comprehensive. Look for updates soon.

Hey Hope Folks!
Starting today, I’m sending out a short-and-snappy-every-Friday-e-news message. Please take a minute to read it each week. The goal is simple: Share a few thoughts with you about what’s happening at Hope, and where God is leading our church family …
My sermon this weekend brings us to John 3, where Jesus tells Nicodemus that he “must be born again.” Most have heard it, yet few interpret it faithfully. Let’s change that. You bring a Bible and a few friends. I’ll help you dig deeper into this frequently quoted, and misquoted, biblical text. We’ll let God take it from there.
Following the sermon, you’ll be invited to take part in a Lutheran altar call, more commonly known as the Lord’s Supper. During this “holy” (set apart by God) meal, the one and only John Cheatem will sing (except for the Sunday evening service). I volunteered for a duet with him. The entire worship planning team rejected that idea. Immediately.
Last but not least, please remember our Lenten Outreach Project, 40 Churches in 40 Days. Every $4,200 builds a new church for our friends in Ghana, where Christianity is growing exponentially.Together, we can lead more people to Christ in Africa in 40 days (through 40 new churches) than we’ve reached in Iowa over the past 20 years! Give generously and pray for the expansion of God’s Kingdom all over the world. What we do now matters … forev er.
Peace,
Mike Housholder
Pastor. Preacher. Outreach Guy. Not a Singer.

By Mike Housholder
Senior pastor

This weekend at worship, I’ll take you on an interesting and relevant tour of a biblical love story (and a haircut!) gone wrong between Samson and Delilah.

The failed romance between these two bigger-than-life personalities points out some obvious pitfalls for anyone in a relationship. More importantly, it challenges us as readers of the Word to ponder the motivations and definitions for love that we carry into relationships, and it forces us to ask some first-order questions about our priorities in life.

Love is a wonderful thing … until it becomes a dysfunctional mess! God has a better plan.

Come and see!

Editor’s Note: Mission Robin’s Nest is a Hope mission partner. Here’s a wonderful Hope Story from Byron and Marcene Culbertson on their recent experience serving at this children’s home in Montego Bay in Jamaica.

We have returned from Robin’s Nest, a Christian children’s home on a mountaintop outside Montego Bay in Jamaica. Although words will be a poor substitute for the real thing, we’d like to share our experience with you. We want to encourage you to step out and do what God whispers to you; because we now know He does just that with all of us.

We were assigned a bunch of pretty simple tasks, and we finished most of them with fun and teamwork. Painting, building, organizing, fixing, cleaning, and carrying 440 concrete blocks. Part of the way through, we realized these tasks were needed, but not the big reason we were welcomed there. Helping the kids with homework, playing, swimming, doing Bible studies, pushing them on swings, reading books with them; all really good stuff, but still not the big reason we were invited in. The big reason we all went and were so openly received is to share God’s love and be loved by 30 kids and about 17 staff and 9 fellow missionaries (our team). The way those kids, who were abused and/or abandoned, loved us, trusted us, treated us so special, and asked us to simply be with them was truly inspiring.

They are joyfully unaware of how little they have, and they made us joyful because we could learn so much from them. Their bright eyes and huge smiles and enthusiastic playfulness are something we carried back with us. When you are there, they make direct eye contact, sit as close as possible with you if not on you, take you by the hand to share their time, hug you with all of themselves, ask you to read with them, and touch your hair and face and hands and in my case, belly, until you just laugh. It will always stick with us how kids with so little and such painful pasts can be so happy. God is so obviously in the midst, and we have a new and much deeper faith.

Marcene was loved on by all of them, and especially 9-year-old Prince, infant Joanna, toddlers Ayesha and Aliya. We were both touched by all of them and especially Abby, Jerome, Sun, Cisco, and Sue. Byron made special contact with Damien, Demani and Obrian. My birthday was on Thursday, and all the kids took me outside like I was Gulliver and they were the Lilliputians, pushing, pulling and giggling all the way. Once outside, being blasted with flour from head to toe surprised me. It’s their way of “marking the birthday person so they all know.” Then Joyel, the co-director of Robin’s Nest, made a beautiful cake with candles and everybody sang Happy Birthday. Think I wasn’t blown away?

Jamaica is a place where the average Jamaican makes $80/week, milk costs $10 a gallon. Resorts are luxurious and provide most of the revenue to run the society. If Jamaicans have running water, showers have no hot water. Clothes are mostly hand-me-downs. Education is a privilege. Roads and infrastructure are Third World status. The geography is mountainous anywhere away from the coastline. The weather is gorgeous and the scenery is unbelievably pretty. Most vacationers never get to see the real Jamaica because it’s just too difficult. We were treated to the “real Jamaica” and some “real Jamaican love”.

Byron’s takeaways: I actually saw what I only previously heard in the abstract. An ordinary person doing extraordinary things is the reality of God’s work when we let God be the boss. He doesn’t ask us to give up what we have or to have less. He does ask us to share what He so generously gives us because all of it comes from Him through others. And we can be the others to someone else who has so much less. Not through huge, grandiose gestures, it doesn’t require a mission trip to far-off places. Just through everyday generosity and kindness and willingness to do as He says in the Bible. What I hope I left there is the knowledge that the staff and the kids are loved and that even people they don’t see all the time value them. I taught them the deaf hand sign for “I LOVE YOU”; they really liked learning it, flashing it to us when we parted. Being abandoned and abused and treated like throw-always, these kids offer such a treasure to someone who will adopt them. I pray every kid there gets to be part of a loving, Christian family.

Marcene’s takeaways: When I arrived at the Robin’s Nest, I was excited to get the projects started and completed. Give us a list of tasks and let us go. During the first day I realized it wasn’t all about completing the task, it was so much more. It was the joy of being present, seeing God at work in others and me. What I realized this week was about developing long-lasting relationships, seeing the joy in the children, working together joyfully and taking time to be still. The overall feeling of joy and appreciation and gratitude was truly amazing. I, too, pray every child gets to be part of a Christian family. I am so thankful the children have a safe place to live. What I hope I left behind is that each child knows they are loved. And know they are each loved by God. The question I was asked most by the children is “who is your boss?” My answer was GOD.  They would nod their little heads and smile. I pray that I will start living my life as I learned; putting all of my trust in GOD. I am so excited to see what he has in store for us next.

A big “thank you” to all of you who provided the great donations. What we found out talking to Matt Riley (one of the co-directors): it takes $23,000 monthly to keep Robin’s Nest going, that is in addition to the donations. All of the team members had additional luggage filled with your donations, it is a much better way than shipping, due to the import fees and cost of supplies in Jamaica. If God has put in your heart to help Robin’s Nest, Matt says service teams bringing items is the best way. If that isn’t possible, cash donations can be given through the web site.

In closing, telling you about it doesn’t even touch how this trip affected their and our lives. Please enjoy our pictures.

God is good. God bless every one of you.

By Mike Housholder
Senior pastor

Worship Preview: “And the Walls Came Tumbling Down”
Our journey through the Bible together as a church family continues this weekend with another story from Scripture that is too often ignored, dismissed, or misunderstood (by both believers and non-believers). I’ll preach from the Book of Joshua about a courageous warrior, a town prostitute, and the walls that had to fall. Come and hear all about how God defeated the arrogance of worldly “power” and “wisdom” in a victory that makes even the best Super Bowl winning team look, well, rather tame!

The 2012 Souper Bowl Food Drive
It’s here! The annual Lutheran Church of Hope Souper Bowl Food Drive happens this weekend, Feb. 4-5. I’m asking you to bring a bunch of bags of nonperishable food items (the good stuff – the food you’d want to eat) with you when you come to worship this weekend. Local grocery stories have been notified, and they’re ready – and there’s a list of the most needed food items that you can find here.

Our goal is simple and super-sized: feed all who are hungry by filling the shelves of food pantries all throughout central Iowa!

If you feel led to do so, you can also donate money to the Souper Bowl Food Drive. 100% of the money we give will be delivered to the larger food pantries in Des Moines. They prefer money over canned foods because they have the staffing and size to buy food at wholesale prices. That said, the majority of food pantries we support in small towns and rural areas don’t have the capacity to make those purchases, so they prefer to receive the food rather than money. Give food and/or money as the Spirit leads … and thanks in advance for your generosity.

Lenten Project: 40 Churches in 40 Days!
Over the past few years, Hope has donated over $1 million to construct 140+ clean water wells in villages near Ho, Ghana, in western Africa. Life expectancy rates have changed. Education levels are way up (because kids aren’t on daily four-hour journeys with their mothers to draw water from dirty rivers). Hearts have been opened, and Christianity is spreading like wildfire … all as a result of God moving through our gifts!

Now, most of these villages want to start churches, and our missionary in Africa – Pastor Sam Dunya – has trained pastors ready to go. Here’s the amazing part: to build a village church in Ghana (basically a picnic shelter), furnish it with chairs and Bibles, and build a local parsonage (hut) for a pastor takes a grand total of $4,200!

My hope and prayer is that God will work through us during the season of Lent to provide the money to start 40 new churches in 40 days leading up to Easter! Start praying about it – God is bringing his light into the darkness of this world through you!

By Suzanne Behnke
Communications editor

2012 is one-twelfth over already! Does that make you pause?

That’s a  slightly dramatic way of saying that February is here. The point is that there’s plenty going on at Hope if you haven’t considered getting connected or serving in some way this year. We want to point out five ways to live out your faith in February (alliteration intended).

1. Feb. 4-5. This upcoming Saturday-Sunday is all about food, but it’s not snack time for the big football game. Instead, this is about food for other people. It’s the fifth Souper Bowl Food Drive, an effort to fill the shelves of central Iowa food pantries. Bring nonperishable food items to Hope this weekend – needed items here. One aspect of the Souper Bowl is to bring in some items that you pick up at the grocery store that food pantries most times don’t receive.  You can also consider making a monetary donation.

2. Feb. 3-4 is the Quilt-a-Thon. On Friday and Saturday, the Hope Quilters are organizing a “thon” to make blankets that will benefit patients at a local hospital. No previous quilting skills or experience is required or needed.

3. Feb. 6 or Feb. 11 is the start of Carecore training. This is a course that requires contacting Coordinator Kim Roush ahead of time. Carecore volunteers are trained to provide faithful support and assistance to those in need.

4. stART Your Month with Family Art is going to turn kids into songwriters. Space is limited for this chance to make some music for a loved one.

5. The start of Lent is Feb. 22 - Ash Wednesday. This is the season of the church calendar when we prepare and celebrate Jesus’ life and death and ultimate resurrection. Services are at noon and 7:00 pm at Hope West Des Moines.

There’s plenty more coming up in February, but this is a list to get you and your family started. Go here to search more opportunities.

By Mark Brandt
Minister of Children and Students

After Moses and the gang left Egypt, they wandered around the desert for several years before coming to the edge of the land of Canaan; the land God had promised He would give them.

In this weekend’s message, Moses sent out 12 scouts to report on the land, to see if it was as great as God had said and to check on the potential “resistance” they might encounter. So the 12 went out to take a peek.

What they saw was a land that was rich with possibilities AND some really big people that caused them to doubt God’s promise. I can only imagine the conversations between them all as they journeyed back to camp. Men that were tall became giants! Fear crept in, and they decided it would be best to NOT try and take the land. Even though God had promised this land to them as far back as Abraham, they decided to believe with their eyes rather than to walk by faith.

All of them except Joshua and Caleb. They chose to stand on the promises of God and challenge the fear and complacency of the people. They reminded them of God’s word and how he had said that He would deliver the land to them. They chose to stand when others wanted to return to Egypt and to the very people that had tortured and enslaved them for centuries!

This weekend we are going to examine what happens when we let fear and a lack of trust get in the way of God’s promises. We are often paralyzed … stuck in perpetual stillness. Afraid sometimes that God might actually come through on his promises, taking us out of our comfort zone and into a land that – while full of opportunity –  scares us into doubting not only God, but ourselves.

I believe like all the leaders at HOPE that we are called to do great things … even things as yet not seen. That is going to take faithful, and relentless reliance on God’s Spirit and leading…

We are ready to take on the giants!