Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

Acts 11:27-30

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world; and this took place in the days of Claudius. ²⁹ And the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea; ³⁰ and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

  Core Idea, Challenge & Summary

Core Idea: Jesus is the only permanent solution to severe poverty and suffering.

Challenge: To challenge Christians to answer God’s call to leave their comfort zones and spread the gospel.

Summary: From Sept. 3 to Sept 10 I was a member of a United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) team. We went to Haiti and helped build a library/book store for a local church. On Sept. 2, when I was preparing for the trip, I kept asking myself, “Why am I doing this?” God, however, knew why I needed to go. Through this trip, the Lord touched my heart and changed me in a profound way. That’s what happens when you answer God’s call to leave your comfort zone and spread the gospel. God touches you. The end result is a closer relationship with God.

As I surveyed the extreme poverty of Haiti I kept asking “Why is it like this? What can be done?” A myriad of answers came to me but the one overriding answer was Jesus. Our Lord and Savior is the only permanent solution to extreme poverty and suffering in this world. The root cause of extreme poverty and suffering is sin. Jesus is the only one who can eradicate sin. As fully God and fully human, Jesus went to the cross and paid the penalty for sin and enabled us to receive God’s forgiveness. Once we receive God’s forgiveness, we enter into a restored love relationship with God. At that moment, the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and begins the process of cleansing our hearts of sinful desires. In this way, Jesus changes hearts. As people change, not only will they stop taking advantage of the poor, they’ll also take the necessary steps to help the poor and eliminate poverty.  Jesus has won the decisive battle on the cross and, one day, he will have total victory over the dreadful effects of sin. 

With this in mind, I saw a lot of hope for Haiti. The Christian church is very active in Haiti. On Sunday morning I must have seen hundreds of people wearing their finest clothes, carrying Bibles and walking to church. The church we attended was filled to capacity. Everyone seemed to be thoroughly engaged in God’s presence during the 3 hour worship service.

The Methodist church in Haiti, however, is poor and struggling to rebuild after the earthquake. That’s where the United Methodist Church (UMC) comes in. There’s a relationship between the UM General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM), UMVIM and the Haiti Methodist Church. The Haiti Methodist Church provides the strategic planning for the rebuilding of their churches and ministries, GBGM provides logistical support & money and UMVIM provides labor & money.

This relationship is Biblical. In Acts 11 we learn how the Christians in Antioch banded together to provide for the needs of the church in Judea. In the same way, the UMC is banding together to help provide for the needs of the Haiti Methodist church. This empowers the Haiti Methodist church to proclaim the gospel throughout Haiti. As a member of an UMVIM mission team, God used me as part of a much bigger plan. This humbling experience taught me that God can use anyone in His big plans. We simply need to answer His call to leave our comfort zones. Are you willing to answer God’s call to leave your comfort zone?  

The Sermon

I. Introduction: Why am I doing this?

• We went to Petit-Goave on the coast of Haiti to help build a library/bookstore for a local church.
• The old library/bookstore was destroyed during the earthquake and this deprived the church of one of its sources of income.
• It was important for this church to revive this source of income because it was also running a school for the community kids. (80% of the schools in Haiti are run by a church.)

     B. On 2 Sept. I spent the day preparing for the trip.

• As I bought needed supplies, got a haircut and ran errands, I kept asking, “Why am I going on this trip?” The timing just didn’t seem right.
• God, however, knew why I needed to go on this trip.
• The Lord touched my heart and changed me in a profound way.
• When you answer God’s call to leave your comfort zone and spread the gospel, God touches you.
• The end result is a closer relationship with God.

II. God touched me

     A. I was brought face to face with extreme poverty and suffering

• In every town and city, there seemed to be a multitude of tent cities, each consisting of hundreds of families living in make shift shelters made out of tarps and other cloth materials.
• Many young people simply hangout on the street because unemployment is at 80%
• Every where I went, I could expect children begging me for money, food and any jewelry I might be wearing such as a watch or wedding ring.
• The team witnessed one girl running away from an older man. We learned that many poor families give their children away to a richer family. The child is then used as a servant in the richer family’s house.
• Education is not free in Haiti. Many families struggle just to provide a half-way decent education for their children

     B. I asked, “Why is Haiti like this?” and “What can be done?”

• Haiti never recovered from having to pay a debt to France for its independence
• The Haitian economy has very little exports. They export a little fruit and some rum and that’s about it. Their economy is confined to within the Haitian borders. There’s no money coming into the country to help stimulate the economy.
• We brainstormed various ideas of how the economy could be improved but one, overriding answer that came to me was Jesus Christ.
• Jesus is the only permanent solution to extreme poverty and suffering.

III. Jesus: The only permanent solution to extreme poverty and suffering

     A. The root cause of extreme poverty and the suffering it causes is sin

• Sin is disobeying God and it comes from a selfish attitude – everything is about me and my wants
• Sin causes the corruption that hinders a poor economy
• Sin causes the exploitation of the poor
• Sin causes indifference to the poor

     B. Jesus is the only one who can eradicate sin.

• As fully God and fully human, Jesus went to the cross and paid the penalty for sin and enabled us to receive God’s forgiveness.
• Once we receive God’s forgiveness, we enter into a restored love relationship with God. At that moment, the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and begins the process of cleansing our hearts of sinful desires.
• In this way, Jesus changes hearts. As people change, not only will they stop taking advantage of the poor, they’ll also take the necessary steps to help the poor and eliminate poverty.  

     C. With all this in mind, I saw hope for Haiti

IV. The hope for Haiti

     A. The Christian church is active in Haiti

• Yes, voodoo is still a serious issue but there’s more evidence of Christianity than there is of voodoo.
• On Sunday morning I saw hundreds of people wearing their finest clothes, carrying Bibles and walking to church.
• The church we attended was filled to capacity. Everyone seemed to be thoroughly engaged in God’s presence during the 3 hour worship service.
• Numerous vehicles were decorated with words like “Merci Jesus” (Thank you Jesus)

     B. The Christian church in Haiti is, however, poor like the rest of Haiti

• The church is struggling to rebuild after the earth quake
• This includes the Haiti Methodist Church

V. The plan to rebuild the Haiti Methodist church

•  The Haiti Methodist Church provides the strategic planning for the rebuilding of their churches and ministries
• GBGM provides logistical support & money
• UMVIM provides labor & money.

     B. This relationship is Biblical.

• Acts 11:27-30: The Christians in Antioch banded together to provide for the needs of the church in Judea.
• In the same way, the UMC is banding together to help provide for the needs of the Haiti Methodist church.
• This empowers the Haiti Methodist church to proclaim the gospel throughout Haiti.

VI. Conclusion

     B. This humbling experience taught me that God can use anyone in His big plans.

• We simply need to answer His call to leave our comfort zones.
• As a result, God will change us and bring us into a closer relationship with Him.

     C. Are you willing to answer God’s call to leave your comfort zone?