His Voice Global Blog

Bishop, our “feet” in South Sudan, has recently taken a trip to Duk County, Jonglei…

The following is the story of what he saw through words and images. Some of the images may make you uneasy, but this is just the reality of the situation. Sometimes, when I am working on this kind of thing, I begin to wonder, where do we start? I find the last few images in this post the most encouraging because they answered that question for me…We have already started.

Bishop, our “feet” in South Sudan, has recently taken a trip to Duk County, Jonglei. This area has been devastated by fighting. These people are left without anything aside from wild fruit and honey. In the following images you will see a man smoking bees out of their hive to be able to access the honey, while his friend stands aside covering his body so as not to get stung by the wild African bees.

Here is a little bit of background.

The Nuer tribe went and killed 3,000 Murle people. The Murle took revenge by making a surprise attack on Dinka’s in Duk County.

The Duk tribes are peace loving people. Although they are Dinka’s, they speak both Nuer and Murle languages. Many times they have fallen victim of the two tribes fighting, due to being neighbors and having language in common.

The devastation left on the Dinka’s in Duk County by the Murle was great. They killed 120 people, wounded over 300 and took over 500 head of cattle and goats. This was a brutal attack that left many of their homes burnt to the ground and many children orphaned.

Bishop praying with wounded Duk man.

This woman has a broken arm, a broken leg a gun shot wound in her chest and a knife wound in her back.

Praying for an injured woman in the hospital

The remains of a burnt down home.

The image above is of a 5 year old boy and his 3 year old brother. Their parents were killed in the fighting. The 3 year old was left in the care of the 5 year old.

The church is keeping watch over them.

This little boy has also been left alone. No family, no food, and no clothes.

It is the Church’s responsibility to help in anyway we can!

Currently the big organizations, like the UN are rushing to Pibor (another region being hit by famine), but no one has come to the aid of the Duk people.

It is our heartbeat as a Church, to hurry and rescue the innocent people of Duk County with food, medicine,second hand clothes and anything else they may need. We have already supplied some first aid kits as well as Bibles; they lost many Bibles when their houses were burnt during the attack.

This is an image of the trucks unloading medical kits and Bibles.

This is an image of Bishop, praying with another Bishop. Offering encouragement through our Lord.

This is how  you can be a part of helping this community heal:

Hopefully you have heard of our 29 by 29 campaign. We have been asking people to join us and be a monthly supporter of the work of His Voice Global.

We have broken down our North Korea numbers to $10.00 a month to feed a child.

Now we know that to help these beautiful Southern Sudanese people it is only going to cost $16.00 a month to feed and clothe one person.

$16.00. 

Consider joining our 29 by 29 Campaign now and sponsoring one or two lives, like these brothers.

To join our monthly giving all you have to do is click here and fill out the form. Don’t forget to mark that you would like it to be a recurring donation, monthly.

Thanks for caring and for being an advocate for His Voice Global! We appreciate you!

At the beginning of the year, the Lord laid Ps. 86:11 on my heart in a huge way. “Unite my heart to fear your name.” This phrase has been in my mind over and over.

As some of you know, last year had many incredible moments, yet I also had some struggles with depression. I surrounded myself with people who spoke lovingly and candidly into my situation. During one of the times, I wrote a poem.

My point in showing this is that I completely forgot about the poem until TODAY! Yet, God clearly answered my prayer (that’s what this poem is). He gave me His word and some great direction in Ps. 86:11. He cares. He loves us.

Love Truth

Vernon

Therapeuo

My mind drips
with thoughts.
Hope.
Pain.
Disappointment.

Feeling like I know
enough to remain
stunned by
uncertainty,
timidity,
struggle,

I ask for freedom now.
Yet, my soul seems
divided in dozens
of pieces.
Love.
Devastation.
Fear.

Clarity in You is
what I need.
Come rescue!
Heal.
Empower.
Love.

Overcome my division.
Unify me.
Peace.
Peace.
Peace.

February brings us an extra day, so we decided to have some fun with it. One of the ways we continue to do the work we do is by having partners. Our partners are our monthly givers. We appreciate the consistency in our monthly donors because we can count on their giving to make sure work gets done!

Our hope is to get 29 new monthly donors by the 29th of this month.

Giving seems so simple, but it goes such a long way in making disciples.

If you think this is something you can’t afford, consider  giving as little as $10.00 a month or as much as you can afford!

At the end of each week we are going to do a drawing of all of our new donors. The winner will get a fun bundle that we are putting together from our friends and supporters. These bundles will include things like Project 7 coffee.

Shirts from Vive.

CD’s from Lecrae and Tedashii.

Books from Rodney Reeves and Jen Hatmaker

…and more.

For those of you who are already monthly supporters, we want to honor you too! On the 29th, we will be doing another drawing and one of you will receive a fun bundle!

So, How can you become a monthly supporter?

It is this easy!

1. Click HERE.

2. Fill out the form. In the “donation Preferences” sectionMake sure to choose, “I would like to make this a recurring donation deducted Monthly”

3. Submit.

4. You are finished and entered to win a bundle!

If you want to go a step further,  tweet or facebook, “I just became a partner with @Hisvoiceglobal – you should check them out!”

Your advocacy is a true blessing to this ministry.

The First Drawing will be next Wednesday, February 8th, at noon.

Jen Hatmaker’s new book, Seven, is a must read. Why else would I give it six out of five stars?!

I have literally never laughed so hard while reading a book, all the while feeling a hope filled conviction that things need to change.

“I considered omitting understuff from my wardrobe, but unleashing my free-swinging lady self onto this innocent world is probably a felony. No one deserves that kind of visual assault.” Seriously?! Who thinks like that! Hilarious.

Yet, my main focus will be to give some sound bites that are probing and a bit more serious.

Jen went on a seven month experiment. Each month was dedicated to fasting in some sort of way from a particular area. Here are the months and a thought about each focus.

Month One: Food

During a sermon she heard this month, the following questions were asked, which I also believe are incredibly heart probing thoughts.

1. What in my life, if taken away, would alter my value or identity?

2. What causes an unhealthy change of attitude, personality, or focus when “it” becomes threatened?

3. What is the thing outside of God that you put everything else on hold for?

Month Two: Clothes

I spend more just on clothes in one year than the average Ethiopian family earns in almost five.

His humility appeals to the unloveliness in us all. We are drawn in by His simplicity, then transformed by His magnificence.

Month Three: Possessions

These pretty clothes gave me confidence when I was terrified and uncertain…Clothes used to define me when my genuine identity was fuzzy. When I didn’t know who I was here for, I dressed like someone who did. I dolled up the container, but I’m learning that I am really just a jar of clay.

Month Four: Media

It’s okay to admit your worst struggles. To actual people. You don’t have to be awesome. You can be ordinary.

Self-hatred is not appropriate when God reveals a new angle. That is not the way of Christ, who abolished condemnation under the banner of grace.

Month Five: Waste

Appreciating creation means learning what it is capable of producing.

What does it mean to be a godly consumer? What if God’s creation is more than just a commodity?

Month Six: Spending

What if wealth and indulgence are creating polished people rotting from the inside out, without even knowing it?

What if we are camels, on this side of the needle, dangerously content with our fake gospel and avoiding the actual Christian life described in Scripture?

Month Seven: Stress

If we all lived radiantly, we simply couldn’t be hidden any longer. This is not about individual wattage; our power is communal, or it is meaningless.

This chapter has some of the most practical advice on prayer that I have ever read!

Conclusion

I hope that when you have read through each month that you may have asked the question, “What does this have to do with the month being discussed?” Part of how profound this book is written comes from its holistic nature. Honestly, the other part is that I want you to buy the book and find the connections for your self. Six out of five for Seven.

Love Truth
Vernon

As you may know, we are now serving in North Korea. We are so excited about the opportunity!

We have the ability to make a huge difference in the lives of thousands of precious orphans in North Korea. Our current coal is to raise $100,000.00 to help alleviate the food crisis situation. We are helping multiple orphanages by supplying food so these incredible children can be well fed.

Here is a link to a photo journal article from the New York Times that documents some of the issues that are being faced currently. Click here for the article. The images are powerful and we encourage you to check it out.

The estimated cost to feed a child per month is only $10.00.

If you are a high school student or a college student, we are asking that you consider being a monthly donor for just$10.00 a month!

If you have an income and a family and are looking for ways to be a part of Kingdom work, we are asking that you consider becoming a monthly donor and giving between$20.00 and $30.00 (or more).

The help that will be generated through monthly  donations is consistent support that we can count on, which will go directly to the needs of orphans.

 

Watch as we keep track to raise funds to meet our goal! You can watch the gauge by checking in on our homepage!

Please consider partnering with us in this endeavor. This is a great opportunity to show compassionto some brilliant children in need. The smallest amount goes a long way in helping to get a warm meal to these kids.

In Tim Keller’s lastest book, The Meaning of Marriage, he says the following:

To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us. (Keller, pg. 95)

I was telling a friend a few days ago that I always thought my greatest fear was to be forgotten. I had found myself doing things that would help to make sure I would not be forgotten, yet I would become incredibly stressed when someone would forget a task or forget to call me back or degrade what I did.

When you bank all your stock on “being known” (some would rightly identify it as seeking fame) so that you will not be forgotten, your mind can travel to incredibly dark places. Ever been there?

Keller identifies something that is a bit different though. He says, “To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.” Did you get that? It’s not that the greatest fear is to be forgotten, but actually to not be loved WHILE being known. Yet, he goes on to identify that God knows us fully and loves us.

He knows us better than we even know ourselves (both the good and the bad). He not only knows, but loves us. Our greatest fear has been conquered. All of the things we identify ourselves with as “fears” HAVE BEEN obliterated. Perfect has cast out fear. It is a matter of walking in this.

Love Truth
Vernon

One of my friends from high school had an incredibly difficult situation two days ago. Her sister’s apartment was robbed!

Here is the terrible thing about it all. The robbers not only stole almost all of their stuff, but also stole ALL of the kids Christmas presents! The kicker was they even stole the kids clothes, shoes, AND DIAPERS! Seriously?! Diapers?!

So, we are trying to get people to help support this family by donating money so the kids can get new Christmas presents.

Here is the breakdown…

My friends sister also has a roommate who has two children. Therefore, there are two single moms and 4 children. The two boys are age 5 & 6. The girls are age 7 & 18 months.

We have a great partner, North Church, who is taking the lead on helping to buy gifts etc. for these two families.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE consider donating even $10. It is tax deductible. If you are willing, please write a check to

North Church
1620 Florissant Park
Florissant, MO. 63031

Also, if you can shoot me an email (vernon@Hisvoiceglobal.com) to let me know how much you donated, that would be great.

In this entire process they also had their rent money for January stolen out the apartment. So, we want to help raise money towards this in the next 24-48 hours.

Please help us get the word out!

Together, let’s help to encourage these two hurting families.

Love Truth
Vernon

We’ve become accustomed to the shadows. Our acquaintance has been to our detriment. He wants us to know Reality.

After reading the Allegory of The Cave by Plato again, I have noticed our fascination with the shadows. So many are in the cave and have convinced themselves to be satisfied, yet we are called to walk in and among True Reality.

Jon Foreman says, “The shadow proves the sunshine.” It’s a brilliant quote.

Now we need to learn the information of the shadows. They are passing, yet they prove the existence of True Reality. The shadows can seem to be dark at times, yet we can have confidence they are leading us past themselves. Our chains have been broken and we no longer need to stay in the cave, yet many seem to prefer the comfort of the familiar over a meeting with the Fully Right. It can take a bit of time for our eyes to adjust, yet it’s worth it to see more fully.

True Reality has called us out of our false fascinations and given us eyes to see. Why be content with the shadows as an end in themselves, when the entire point is to call us into Greater Reality?

Love Truth

Vernon

Hey Friends, I thought you would love to see some of the updates on the projects we have working on.

First of all, If you haven’t seen Titus’ drawing video from Orphan Sunday, watch this.
Orphan Sunday Video

His Goal was $20.00. This is what he ended up raising!

Way to go Titus!  And thank you, friends, for your support! He was so excited to learn that he raised almost 40 times his goal!

As far as our Christmas Project goes, we are well on our way! Our goal is to provide 410 new sets of clothes, that is 2 for each orphan in South Sudan. We have  reached 46.5% of our goal. That is 191 sets of clothes!  The donated cost of one complete set of clothes is $20!

The first round of clothes have been given to the kids and here is a photo of them sporting their new outfits!

There is still plenty of time to give to our Christmas Project!

Just click Here to Donate NOW!

Don’t forget to type “Christmas Project” in the “Designation box”. Also, don’t forget your address so we can send you an ornament for every $20.oo you donate!

Thanks again for all your support!

Sarah

There is a freedom in fantasy that needs to be recovered.

Many times when people speak of “fantasizing” it is in way of some type of perversion, yet I think the doorway of fantasy, if properly informed, could help to drown us in the abundance of the Kingdom.

The power of believing in that which is beyond our current experience of reality needs to be rekindled.

So, I wonder how much the usage of fantasy literature would help to fight the onslaught of the ways in which the enemy attacks. Letting our mind breathe in the space of magical thoughts (read “mysteriously enchanting”), dimensions we would have never thought could really exist, and having conversations with beings that we normally would not, could be a way in opening our thoughts to resting in the depth of 1 Cor. 13:12. “For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I am fully known.”

So many times we find ourselves trying to control. What if more freedom occurs when we let go of this perceived control, only to realize we are still being held. Tightly. Lovingly.

What if the battles in our mind and actions are best informed by not only fantasizing about victory, but also the enjoyment of the victory. What if fantasy literature could help to inspire our divine imagination to press into His creative brilliance. What if fantasizing was redeemed away from adverse lusting into the fields of Life exhilarating pleasure.

Love Truth
Vernon