Vision in Action

Last week I attempted to articulate the vision that God has given us for ministry in Los Angeles.  This week I want to share a bit about how God has taken that vision and put it into action.  Living upward, we have committed ourselves to pray.  It’s been a struggle but we are committed to upholding this value.  Living inward, we have sought to meet together with other believers for weekly prayer.  We emotionally, spiritually, and financially support one another.  We have had wonderful experiences over the last year of broken hearts being healed in our living room.  Living outward has involved each member of our community going out into the world.  I have had the privilege of traveling to Uganda, Russia, and Georgia.  Kristy has ventured into the entertainment industry and builds God’s Kingdom in the hearts of young men and women who are trying to become actors.  If you look closely in the background of your favorite TV show you just might catch a glimpse of her.  Another team member is working on her Master’s degree and is studying how to use education to bring emotional and spiritual healing to children of war

Our community is growing. We have a number of guests in our home on a weekly basis.  We are now seeking to take a new step by moving into a bigger house to increase our capacity for hospitality and prayer and to welcome in new team members. 

Mission

As we planned to return to the West Coast I had anticipated working with Care Corps International on a mentoring program here in Los Angeles.  Soon after arriving I realized that this program was in a far different place than I had expected.  After some initial discouragement I found that the ministry that God had for me with Care Corps was far better than I could have imagined.  We are still trying to develop some partnerships here but my ministry has expanded to a global level.  I was invited by Jim Witty, the Founder and Executive Director of Care Corps, to travel with him to Uganda, Russia, and The Republic of Georgia.  Rather than just focusing on Los Angeles, I am Care  Corps’ Director of Children’s Trauma Care Programs. 

Care Corps mission is to equip God’s people as they establish His Kingdom by bringing hope and healing to victims of war, violence and disaster.  Over the course of the last three months, in particular we have worked to define Care Corps values and our vision for where we are headed in the next five years.  As of today, we have active partnerships in Uganda, Georgia, and Sri Lanka and are committed to these regions for the next three years.  We will equip local leaders in these areas to bring emotional and spiritual healing to people who have gone through crisis. 

Care Corps is a growing organization.  We have invitations from all over the world to equip leaders and develop programs.  In response we are hoping to bring on a couple of new individuals to the Care Corps team to improve the quality of our existing partnerships and to expand our partnerships to other areas in crisis. 

Partnership

We are so thankful to be involved in these monastic and missional ministries.  It is such an honor to serve our God.  We firmly believe that we do not do this work alone.  We have a team of people who are constantly praying for us, encouraging us, and financially supporting us.  We rely on this support to sustain this work.  We would not see hearts healed or have food on our table if it were not for your partnership with us. 

If you would like to financially support our ministry in Los Angeles and our work with Care Corps please contact me at jon.coughlin@gmail.com.  You can also contact me if you are interested in joining us in 2009 in Uganda, Georgia, Sri Lanka, or Los Angeles.  Thanks again for your prayers and support.  God has provided beautifully and supernaturally for us over the last year, largely because of the faithfulness of our families and friends.  Your labor has born much fruit. 

 

Prayer Requests

·         Pray for us as we begin searching for a new home that can accommodate our growing team.

·         Pray that our monastic team is able to make an impact in the communities we live and work in.

·         Pray for Care Corps trip schedule for 2009.

·         Pray that God would continue to bring together a Care Corps team.

As I write this blog I’m sitting in our guest house in Tbilisi and in just 12 hours we’ll begin our first training session.  I want to send a special thanks to our Bethel Family in Virginia for making this trip possible.  Your partnership has been a big encouragement to me as I have prepared to head to off to The Republic of Georgia.  I also want to thank the Christian Assembly prayer community for committing to lift us up as we go.  I just wanted to take a minute to update those who have been praying for us concerning the latest developments in Georgia and some of our plans while we are there. 

According to the United Nations there were an estimated 185,000 internally displaced people within Georgia at the height of the conflict with Russia.  Today they estimate that are roughly 90,000 who have not returned home and 30,000 who will remain displaced long term.  The good news is that Russian forces continue to withdraw from Georgia proper and more and more aid is able to reach those in need.  Medical supplies are being dispersed, families are being united, and homes are beginning to be rebuilt.  As is often the case in areas that go through trauma, the emotional affects of the conflict with Russia will remain long after the infrastructure has been restored.  Here is a brief report from an American missionary living in Tbilisi regarding our training and the emotional state of his community.  He writes, “Things are looking good for participants; this is certainly a needed course, both for locals and foreigners here.  Lots of fear and despair, bitterness, hatred of the Ru govt, resignation that Georgia is going through this AGAIN (remember, the standard statistic is that Tbilisi has been destroyed 29 times in its 1500-odd years), wondering what God is doing with this country, pride at being the crushed little guy who took on a huge enemy, mourning still..”  He also writes that according to Georgian customs of mourning, each death will have a funeral, a memorial feast 40 days after the death, and then a year memorial feast as well.  There is a lot of grieving in store for the people of Georgia to come.  Our hope is that we will be able to equip pastors and other leaders to help their communities through this grieving period.  We also hope to give them some tools to help those who are emotionally stuck in the trauma they suffered. 

Please continue to pray for our team of three.   Dr. Witty is the expert in trauma therapy.  He really knows his stuff but pray that God would clearly direct him to teach to the specific needs in this situation.  Pray for David our partner who was recently deported from Russia.  David will be staying in Tbilisi after Dr. Witty and I leave to continue to support the pastors and missionaries in the area.   Since I have no formal training in trauma therapy my role is to offer guidance, from the perspective of a lay-person concerning how to implement practically what Dr. Witty has taught.  In addition to the training I feel like God would like us to share a message of peace.  Not in the sense of the absence of war, but peace the kind of peace that comes from God that transcends understanding.  I don’t know exactly how we will express that so pray that we will speak what God wants us to speak. 

Shortly after we moved to Los Angeles my computer crashed and after many conversations with Dell technical support I learned that my hard drive was bad.  We couldn’t afford to fix the computer or purchase a new one so Kristy and I had been sharing.  For the most part I had been able to do all that I needed to do but I had felt significantly impaired for the last five months.  That all changed a couple of weeks ago.  I know very little about computers so when I finally got it working again I counted it as a miracle.  Finally, I had full and free access to all of my programs, files, and the internet.  Last Sunday I organized all I had to do and prepared for a very productive week in front of my computer. 

One of my good friends was in the process of moving his family back to the East Coast where they are from.  So, on Monday I offered to help him take his car to the place where it would be shipped off to his new home.  I was “paying it forward” since I have had many friends help me move over the years.  I was really happy to help.  At the end of that expedition he asked if I would be able to help load the truck on Wednesday.  I happily agreed though I only had a few hours available.  Then on Wednesday he asked if I would help him take his other car in to be shipped off on Friday.  Again I agreed, though, at the end of the day, when I looked back at what I had accomplished on my “to do” list, I was not happy.  I was so frustrated that I had accomplished so little.  My laptop and I had not spent the time together that I had hoped. 

Sunday was the day that my friend and his family were going to catch their plane to the East Coast.  I offered to help get them to the airport so, Sunday evening we met and loaded up a van with their luggage and got the dogs into their crates.  As we prepared to pull out of the driveway I suddenly realized what a significant moment this was for my friend.  He was leaving his home and his city that he loved.  He was heading out on a new adventure with his family that he was not exactly happy to be on.  Still, in faith he was stepping out.  Suddenly, my heart was heavy as I thought about all that this meant for them.  We stopped for just a moment and prayed.  We committed their journey to the Lord and remembered His promise never to leave his children. 

My “to do” list didn’t seem so important after that moment.  I realized that the most important thing that I did that week was to be a part of my friends last week in Los Angeles.  I was so honored to be a part of that piece of their journey.  As we prayed in their driveway I suddenly realized that all those errands we ran were holy moments.  So much of the ministry that God has for us never makes it to the “to do” list and happens between scheduled appointment.  Proverbs 16:9 is true.  “In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”