March 2014 Newsletter

Cattle Truck Confessions
They quickly load us into the cattle trucks. It is time for us to leave the village we were currently working at and head back to the Meeting God in Missions Compound. The Village was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was spread out, mountainous, and jungle-like. It was quite a different experience for quite a different trip.

The truck takes, off leaving a trail of dust behind it. Some stand, but I choose to sit. I think back at the week and reflect and smile. The week was rough, but I love it here. And then it strikes me, and the sadness sets in: this might be my last trip for a while.

Suddenly, the skies open up and the rain hits. Not a drizzle, but a pour. The rain pelts us in the face, and it hurts. I stand up, letting the beads smack and abuse me – and I love every single minute of it. This week has smacked and abused me – and I have loved every single minute of it. Was it my experiences that made the trip? No. It was the student’s experiences.

When I was a kid, I loved receiving presents as a kid at Christmas. My face would light up as I violently tore open package after package. Now, as a parent, I take delight in giving gifts. I take delight in watching my kids’ excitement as they receive a new gift. That is the way I feel about this trip. My delight comes not from my own experiences, but through the experiences of my students. Yes, I am sad because of the realization that this experience may not happen again for a while, but I take solace in the experiences and memories God has given each and every student.

Dominican Republic Student Testimonies

Spencer Brown (left), Cody Latimer (middle), and Jeff Schallick (right) are students who are repeat Dominican Republic visitors. They decided, in their discipleship group, to write up their collective testimonies about their experience.

All: When it comes to sharing testimonies from the Dominican Republic, really no one story could accurately describe what everyone got out of this trip. For each student, what was learned on the trip was as diverse and unique as each person was on the trip. We each had our own story, so instead of sharing just one story we opted to share three.

Cody: For me, returning to the Dominican Republic presented an opportunity to see the different ways that God is moving all over the world. Whether it be in the daily on-goings of students here taking classes at Pitt, or in the lives of Dominicans living in the middle of a sugarcane field with hopes and dreams just as big as yours, it was encouraging to see that God is present in all things. It's often hard to grasp God's sovereignty, and my week spent in the Dominican Republic really reminded me that He has a plan for all of His people - one that’s too big and too perfect for us to even begin to comprehend.

Spencer: Last year when I came back from the Dominican Republic, I guess you could say I had a small existential crisis. I had this overwhelming sense of insignificance as I returned to the tedium of classes, feeling as though I had no meaningful impact now that I had returned to my life. I wasn’t alone in my feelings; some of my friends shared them. As the trip wound to a close this year, I felt a similar helplessness: a helplessness to break the systems of governmental corruption, of corporate abuse and enslavement, and of all the forces working against justice in the Dominican Republic. But God was working even in this seemingly desolate place of impotence. In this feeling of weakness, He revealed to me the need for representation of all professions, all walks of life, and all kinds of people in the Body of Christ. We need Christians equipped to fight in Washington, in board rooms, before national leaders, and inside corporations; equipped to fight for the manifestation of Christ’s Love in all these spheres. It’s something I’ve always heard in church and read in the Bible—that the Body of Christ has many members—but I’d never fully understood the beautiful truth that is until now. Work glorifying to God is not confined to mission trips, abroad; it includes every career path; it extends into education as people collect the equipment they need ignite change from within; it intertwines with every aspect of our lives as we go about our days and interact with the world and people around us. God needs instruments everywhere. The Body of Christ needs every organ and digit to function. You can always make a difference where you are now. Insignificance doesn’t exist.

Jeff: Going back to the DR for me was a mixture of excitement and anxiety. As much as I tried not to have expectations, I couldn’t help but think of playing with the kids again. The problem with that was I wasn’t allowing myself to be open to where God wanted to send me. Though I realized how selfish I was being and how I didn’t have it together for this mission trip, God was still able to use me that week. He revealed to me His love in new and creative ways that I never expected. This year I got to see how beautiful the people of the Dominican Republic are and how, like the kids, they have such a deep rooted joy in knowing Christ despite the brokenness all around them. I know a lot of people struggle with seeing the poverty and depravity in the DR, but the unexplainable joy these people have kept me from ever taking in their circumstances. It may seem like they’re missing so much, but in reality I’ve discovered they have everything. I realize now I do these trips not to do more for people or do more for God, but to simply give more of my heart to God. Only then does the work I’m doing have an impact and it’s only then we can begin to make things change.

All: Though we may all have different experiences, God is present in all of them. And that’s the beauty of it; God is amazingly personal and intimate. I believe it was by no mistake we all had unique takeaways. God knew what we all needed from this trip, and what we all learned will stay with us forever. We have all been changed and our change continues to this day.

Financial Update

This past month was much better for us than January, and we are so thankful for your giving and God’s providence. He always has provided and always will. He has taught us that many times over. We are very thankful for the support given to us as well as our wonderful supporters! If you are interested in supporting this ministry, I would love to meet with you. Please contact me using the information on on navigation bar or email me at amoore@ccojubilee.org.

Moore News

As you may have read in my last newsletter, my family and I just spent a week in Disney World. I had the preconceived notion that it would be quite chaotic and stressful. What I experienced was quite the contrary: it was chaotic and wonderful, going from ride to ride, and from character to character. The entire family had a blast. It was a wonderful time to spend with my entire family. And the best part? Getting the Lego Millennium Falcon set and being able to build it with the boys at home. It created some awesome family time. If you are interested a reading an article I just wrote about my trip to Disney, and some theological thoughts about it, click and check it out: http://thepittstop220.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-theology-of-disney.html.

It seems that Emily survived the week alone with the boys while I was gone to the Dominican Republic, and that minimal damage was done. They did give me a huge surprise by meeting me at the airport. It is always great to hear the excitement in their voice when they first see me. They (including Emily) are all doing well.

We thank you all so much for taking the time to read this newsletter and for your constant support. May God Bless you!

In Christ,
Andy Moore

The Theology of Disney

As you may have read in my last newsletter, my family and I just spent a week in Disney World. What a wonderful time it was! From riding the Star Wars ride, Star Tours, five times to exploring the different worlds of EPCOT to feasting on the wonderful food the park had to offer. Despite the thrills and organized chaos that come with a Disney vacation, it was a wonderful time to spend with my entire family. Would I go again? In a heartbeat. It was that good of a time.

There was one thing that stuck out with me in the trip in particular. Throughout the small city that is Walt Disney World, there are various quotes from Walt Disney himself. One reads “I don’t want the public to see the world they live in while they’re in the Park. I want them to feel they’re in another world.” I casually read this sentence, not paying it any mind as I hustled to our next ride. But there was something about this quote that kept impaling my brain. It just would not leave me alone. Finally I started to mull the questions, “Why do people need an escape from reality?” and “Why should they escape to Disney World?”

Disney World might be the closest thing that we can get to a Utopia on Earth. Think about it. The parks are immaculately clean. You are constantly entertained…even waiting in line can be entertaining. The workers (called Cast Members) are care free and happy, even if it is synthesized. And most importantly, the parks are rid of a perceived notion of evil. When you go there, you escape the atrocities that are the rest of the world. It may be the closest thing we have to a utopia on this earth. So, is this escape truly why people flock there and are willing to shell out money for a temporary euphoria?

Being a minister, I have a tendency to look at the world through a biblical perspective. In the creation account in Genesis 1, we see God’s perfect order creating a world that is without evil or blemish. It is a world that is perfect for the pinnacle of God’s creation: mankind. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31a, emphasis mine). God made a world that was perfect for us, and this world is what man was meant and wired for. It was very good. It was shalom, or peace as it was intended to be: full and complete.

In Genesis 3, we see the quick and decisive fall of mankind that cursed everything that was once good. Man, who was created perfectly human and was already told by God they were “very good,” was told by another being they could be better...that we didn’t need God, for we could be our own God. Lies we still believe today. The serpent said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4b-5). How was it possible for people who were created perfectly human to become even greater? It was not, but that did not stop us from believing the lie. And so the fruit was picked, and the rest is sad, sad history. The world is now corrupt and evil.

So why is there a need to escape this reality? If we were indeed made to live in that shalom, if we were created for a world that was perfect for us, then it is no wonder that we are crawling and fighting to get back to a world that we were wired for. This is why people, I believe, are so eager to get to Disney World; they are pining for a world that they were meant for. Disney World is a generic Eden, where you forget that the world is harsh and cold. (This is not a knock on Disney World. I would gladly go again.) We are yearning for a world that is free of tears, death, mourning, and pain. Disney tries to offer that. The only thing is that at some point you have to pack up and leave, and eventually you are left with the “Disney Down.”

C.S. Lewis says it much more eloquently in his book Mere Christianity. He says, “The Christian says, 'Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire: well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.'”

If this was the end of the story, it would be a sad world that we live in. Jesus Christ, in his glory and compassion, saw that we were broken people attempting to work our way back to perfection, but failing miserably. In his love, he reached to us, by taking those imperfections and impurities and making us realize that we are in desperate need of God, and that our attempts at self-salvation have also failed. And he cleansed us. He declared us righteous. If we believe that Jesus Christ is the true savior of the world, then we are part of his story. What is that story? God is making all things new. He is restoring the broken, and making them whole again. We now get to participate in this epic narrative. God is restoring shalom. So when we yearn for a world that is free of tears, death, mourning, and pain, we must remember that redemption and restoration are God’s desires, also. As it says in Revelation 21:4-5, "He (Jesus) will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he (Jesus) who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'" Amen.