Duckling Discipleship

"When you see a family of ducks crossing the road, only the first duckling is following the mother. The rest are following the duckling in front of them.” explains Curtis Sergent, a strategy coordinator for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“None of us has achieved the full measure of the stature of Christ. Every one is mature enough to be a leader of another duckling. Follow me as I follow Christ.” That’s a lot of responsibility on new believers, but they seem up for it. “Each of us, including a brand new follower, is ready and responsible to lead others to Christ. Everything we receive, we have an obligation to pass on to others.”

(extracted from William Smith, Can Short-Term Teams Foster Church-Planting Movements? Mission Frontiers, January-February 2012, U.S. Center for World Missions)

(To receive new uMarko posts via a daily email, please click Subscribe)
(On Twitter: FOLLOW uMarko or http://www.twitter.com/uMarko)

New Constitution of Hungary safeguards Marriage, the Unborn

The new Constitution of Hungary went into effect on January 1st, 2012. In many ways it provides a model to other countries in safeguarding Christian values.

The protection of the right to life and human dignity from the moment of conception. "Human dignity shall be inviolable. Everyone shall have the right to life and human dignity; the life of the fetus shall be protected from the moment of conception." (Article II)

Protection of the family and the institution of heterosexual marriage. (1) Hungary shall protect the institution of marriage, understood to be the conjugal union of a man and a woman based on their independent consent; Hungary shall also protect the institution of the family, which it recognises as the basis for survival of the nation. (2) Hungary shall promote the commitment to have and raise children. (Article K)

The condemnation of practices aimed at eugenics. “Practices aimed at eugenics, the use of the human body or its parts for financial gain, or human cloning shall be prohibited.” (Article III)

The Reaffirmation of the Underlying Christian Values of the Hungarian State and Society. The Preamble declares Hungary is “proud that one thousand years ago its King, Saint Stephen, based the Hungarian State on solid foundations, and made the country a part of Christian Europe.” Moreover, Hungary explicitly “acknowledges the role that Christianity has played in preserving the nation”. (Preamble)

The Cooperation between Church and State. "In Hungary the State and the churches shall be separated. Churches shall be independent. For the attainment of community goals, the State shall cooperate with the churches." (Article VI)

The country's governing Fidesz party pushed the law through parliament in April 2011 after winning a two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections. On January 2, 2012, mainstream media reported "tens of thousands" of people protesting in Budapest over the new constitution. The EU and US had also asked for the constitution to be withdrawn. But the constitution is supported by the overwhelming majority of Hungarian citizenry, which few reports have noted.

This constitution is a symbol of a growing trend among new EU Member States to protect life and the family. As the Turtle Bay and Beyond blog noted when it was drafted in April:

It is amazing how quickly the condemnation of the new constitution has arisen. Comments regarding the lack of transparency in its drafting and the fact that it did not follow a referendum have come pouring out of leftist EU institutions. Funny how these institutions never condemn the lack of democratic fairness or lack of transparency when legislation is rushed promoting their issues. The fact is, the new Hungarian government enjoys a super majority because the people of Hungary so voted. The new constitution is a symbol of that vision.

(quotes from the new Hungarian Constitution taken from http://www.eclj.org/pdf/ECLJ_Memorendum-Hungarian-Constitution_20110519.pdf. For more detail see Constitution of Hungary on Wikipedia.)

(To receive new uMarko posts via a daily email, please click Subscribe)
(On Twitter: FOLLOW uMarko or http://www.twitter.com/uMarko)

Why Mercy?

God's Word challenged us to "spend ourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed." (Isaiah 58:10).

He is delighted with life-saving medical care for a child in Honduras.

The three-year old girl lay listless and moaning in her mother's arms when they arrived at the weekly MTW medical clinic in Armenia Bonita, Honduras. The missionaries quickly diagnosed a serious case of pneumonia, but the weeping mother was too poor to afford to take her daughter to the hospital The team did what they could, giving the girl a breathing treatment and some antibiotics. Only a week later, the little girl ran into the clinic, jumped into the lap of the MTW missionary, kissed her, and said, "Gracias!"

He is delighted with food offered in His name to hungry gypsies.

The mother was in tears because she had nothing to feed her family. Like all Roma (disparagingly called gypsies) they live, despised by all, on the edge of society in Slovakia. But God heard her cry, sending a believing Roma neighbor with the last bag of potatoes purchased for distribution by an MTW missionary. The grateful mother could only sob, crying repeatedly "How did you know?" She like others in the village are seeing multiplied acts of sacrificial love by God's people-softening hearts to the gospel, redeeming their dignity, and opening doors for the building of God's Church.

Why do we do mercy?

Because we know God.
And love God.
And we are commanded to love others
(even more than ourselves).

from MTW (Mission to the World) newsletter, December 2011

(To receive new uMarko posts via a daily email, please click Subscribe)
(On Twitter: FOLLOW @uMarko or http://www.twitter.com/uMarko)

What do persecuted Cuban Christians ask for? Horses

In Cuba, where the communist government tries to control religious institutions while keeping its citizens mired in poverty, a horse and cart is one of the tools they need. "Donated" horses costing $500 horse are serving the needs of rural pastors and their entire congregation. The horses enable pastors to travel farther and reach more people with the gospel.

"Josue" Gonzalez, was one of five Cuban evangelists received a horse this year through special channels. He had to walk 15 to 20 miles to reach a community where he ministers. He would walk for several hours, arriving hot, sweaty and tired, in order to preach and share with people. Today Josue rides his horse, which saves him a great deal of time and energy. Now he arrives more rested and ready to teach the Word.

The horse carts can serve as transportation to bring believers to church or as an ambulance in a medical emergency. As many as 10 people can squeeze into the tiny wooden cart for church, and the carts have also been used to take women with labor complications to a medical clinic. During the week, pastors can use the horses as work animals on their small farms to help earn an income and feed their families. A contact in Cuba said, "The Christians have asked for so many horses that we can't keep up with the demand!"

(from Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, January 2012)

Marko comments: you may be thinking, "Horses? What about cars?" Perhaps you did not know that in Cuba people still drive Studebaker cars left over from the 1950's before Fidel Castro took over, started persecuting churches, and changed Cuba to a communist utopia... But the winds of change are upon Cuba, the government just recently legalized car ownership.

(To receive new uMarko posts via a daily email, please click Subscribe)
(On Twitter: FOLLOW uMarko or http://www.twitter.com/uMarko)

Arabs are rising up

11/11/11 : Tens of Thousands of Christians
gathered to fast and pray for a revival in Egypt.

Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and other countries have all experienced unprecedented revolutions that shook the entire Arab world. One dictator after another has been removed.

Arabs are finally smelling freedom after decades of oppression by ruthless dictators. They are are crying out, "Freedom or death."

Once people taste freedom, they are not able to return to slavery. Will the Muslim Brotherhood take over? Will democracy work?

I don't know. But I know one thing for sure: We now have opportunities for the gospel that we have not had for decades.

(from Horizons International prayer letter, November 2011)

(To receive new uMarko posts via a daily email, please click Subscribe)
(On Twitter: FOLLOW @uMarko or http://www.twitter.com/uMarko)