…WHY WAS ISRAEL SENT INTO CAPTIVITY?…
It seemed like a pretty easy question when I first read it. All of us probably read or heard as a kid about how the Israelites worshipped idols and that is why they were sent into captivity. However, this was NOT the PRIMARY reason God was so angered by the Israelites…THIS was news to me. For some reason or another, the sermons I have heard all my life and in my own personal Bible reading, the idea of failing to care for the poor and oppressed was never touched on. It seems like a great sermon series to me, but I’m not exactly sure it is something all of us want to hear. Maybe that is why it has been glossed over, by most of us. For some reading this book, maybe this is not what stands out to them in this first chapter. However, it bothered me (Kim) so much that all my life I have thought I was pretty knowledgable about the Bible, only to realize this KEY issue in the old testament that I NEVER knew about! This is just CRAZY to me!
God speaks pretty directly to Moses, giving numerous commands to care for the poor. The commands were so extensive that they were designed to achieve the ultimate goal of eradicating poverty among God’s people: “There should be no poor among you,” God declared. (Deut 15:4). Israel didn’t fulfill God’s commands. Isaiah is pretty clear in what God was thinking of the Israelites. Even comparing them to Sodom and Gomorrah! “I have had enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals. …Stop bring meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me! (Portions of Isaiah 1:10-13, 16-17. And in Isaiah 58, again He is direct, “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to procide the poor wanderer with shelter-when you see the naked-to clothe him and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
Israel had mastered personal piety and the outward expression of formal religion. Just as many of us today go to Church on Sunday’s, attend midweek meetings, go to church retreats, meals etc…Israel was bringing sacrifices, celebrating religious holidays, fasting etc. But God wanted and WANTS more! What is out responsibility? When people look at the church, they should see the very embodiment of Jesus himself! When people look at the church, they should see the ONE who declared-in word and in deed to the leper, the lame and the poor-that HIS kingdom is bringing healing to every speck of the universe.
1 John 3:16-18 sums up well…
“This is how we know what LOVE is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down
our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has
no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or
tongue but with actions and in truth”
Last thoughts:
With most Americans living on $90/day and approximately 1 BILLION people in the world living on less than $1/day, with 40%, YES 40% of the world’s populations living on less than $2/day, what is OUR response and RESPONSIBILITY?
WHEN HELPING HURTS: Thoughts on Chapter 1
In Santo Domingo
We just wanted to update everyone that Joel will be traveling to Santo Domingo again this week from Monday through Wednesday. He is going for more meetings over the agua potable (“clean water”) project. Please pray for safe travel and successful meetings.
Preaching – Prayer Request
I (Joel) just wanted to write and ask for prayer for this Sunday and the next. I will be preaching for the first time in Spanish… well, ok… technically, I will be reading my first sermon in Spanish. I have the sermon series prepared and have it all translated and since my Spanish isn’t good enough just yet to speak freely, I will be using a script to preach in Spanish.
I will be doing a two week sermon series examining the early name for the Covenanters: Mission Friends. The first week I’ll focus on the word “friends” and what that meant to the early Covenanters and then the second week will be “mission”. I am hoping to be able to provide a little history on the Covenant as well as providing a picture as what the church should look like today.
I’d very much appreciate your prayers as, even though I’m just reading, I have a lot of nerves about speaking/preaching in Spanish for so long. It’s defintely a stretch!!!
Our book selection for this month (hopefully it will only take a month to read!)
OFFICIAL
Well, I (Kim) can say OFFICIALLY that I can drive in Ecuador. I got my license on Friday. It was such a huge relief off my shoulders. I was very nervous about taking the test only in Spanish, even though it was only 20 questions. Things are totally different here when it comes to government offices such as the ‘license bureau’ here. There was a line of probably 50-100 people, but since we had Simeon, we were able to jump ahead of all of those people and jump right in to registration. After registration, I took the test (and got 100%). Then they take your picture, another place where I jumped ahead of about 10 people because of Simeon and then we were out the door. 1 hour MAX and then a celebration mint chocolate shake from Baskin Robbins! YUMMO!
March Newsletter Released
Newsletter_March_2011
Our March newsletter is available for download (Just click the link above!). You can see what all has been happening with us since our last official update in December. Also, please note the address for Covenant World Mission has changed. If you are sending checks, please send them to:
Covenant World Mission
Joel & Kim Delp STM Support
8303 W. Higgins Rd.
Chicago, IL 60631-2941
New Roles with IPEE
We just recently realized that we have never posted on the Blog what specific roles we have at this point. Here is our list of responsibilities that we currently participate in: Joel is in a project manager role at the Covenant Camp in Santo Domingo, Kim will be doing disability diagnostic work in Tena (more information on this to come), we share a position on the FACE (the Social outreach branch) board of IPEE, Joel has a position on the committee in charge of the Camp, Joel serves as the treasurer for the Mission (all the U.S. missionaries) , we attend and help out at three different Covenant churches and Spanish classes (of course!)
Agua Potable
In Santo Domingo
Joel traveled to Santo Domingo yesterday and will be there through Saturday. He arrived yesterday safely with no problems. This is a trip that got rescheduled from last weekend since the country was in a State-of-Emergency caused by the waves of the Japan tsunami that were coming. Please pray that he will return home safely and that his trip will be productive and successful.
Pacto Sumaco
I (Joel) had the wonderful opportunity to visit the jungle town of Pacto Sumaco this last Sunday. Pacto Sumaco is a community that began or at least transitioned because of natural disaster. There was a earthquake in 1985 that caused a landslide that destroyed a community of Indigenous folks in the area of El Chaco. Since the town was destroyed, the government went about giving them new land to start up again. This is when they transitioned to the area near the volcano named Sumaco. Unfortunately, the government didn’t give them much of anything else. This is where the Evangelical Covenant Church of Ecuador (IPEE) stepped in and really helped them out. The went about assisting with building a well for clean water, helping set up the government, and eventually helping bring electricity. They helped the community out so much that the eventually renamed themselves Pacto Sumaco, the “Pacto” meaning Covenant as in Evangelical Covenant church. Pretty cool, eh?
Right now, IPEE is helping them out with suggesting new ways to farm. It is basically a farming community which for the most part produces Naranilla, which is a small orange like fruit. The problem with farming Naranilla is that it only has a two to three year life cycle before it destroys the earth that is producing it. IPEE is recommending that they do two things. Switch their primary crop to one that is more long term sustainable, as well as trying to show them that personal gardening is possible. Because of their poverty and lack of variety in crops they produce, their nutrition is very poor. If each farm would create a personal garden with a variety of produce, their level of nutrition would be significantly increased.
You can see pictures below of Sumaco as well as a picture of the personal garden that IPEE has created to demonstrate to the other farmers.