Crippled!

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman               

Do not be fooled by the luxuries of this world; they cripple our faith. Like Jesus explained, the right things have to die so the right things can live – we die to selfishness, greed, power, accumulation, prestige, and self-preservation, giving life to community, generosity, compassion, mercy, brotherhood, kindness, and love." - Jen Hatmaker

I was working on cleaning an office a few days ago when the person I was cleaning for asked the question we get so often from so many people. Why Miami? When I tell them the story, most people can't believe that this is what I have dreamed of doing for the last 25 years. To them it seems so radical. I don't think he could really understand why we left our family, our friends, our things and a good job to come to Miami to start an outreach to the homeless and a church for people who don't like church.

I don't think I have said this to anyone outright before, but all I could say was, "Jesus' love was radical. It stopped at nothing for us. It was in giving His life and that kind of love that turned the world upside down. I told him that I want in on the upside down Kingdom of God. I want to engage in something that is bigger than me, but is that what I am really doing? I had to really ask myself this question.

Even after leaving our family, our friends, our belongings in Missouri, I have found myself wanting to go back at times. I have found myself spending so much time figuring out how to go back and get my stuff. Yes, there are things that I have there in storage that are important to me and I really want to go back and get them, but is trying to figure out how to get it all back crippling what God has called us here to do.

So many things can take us off our course, cripple our faith and steal our attention. Please pray that our attention is not on the things that would would rob us of our compassion, mercy, generosity and love.

twisted

A couple weeks ago we had a band of thunder storms move though the area. Storms are very familiar here in South Florida with the tropical weather. For some reason, it doesn't rain in moderation, it pours down in torrents and it can happen quickly with little to no warning. 


On one particular Friday afternoon, Bruce, Hippie Jerry and Black Steve were  caught in the rain. Bruce and Jerry just sat there on the bench at the bus stop while the rain drenched them. However, Black Steve, who was on the median at the traffic light holding a cardboard sign, continued trying to collect money from compassionate motorists. I'm not sure how successful he was as most people don't like to roll their windows down in the pouring rain. To no avail he continued panhandling hoping the added misery would work in his favor.


The rain came in quickly and it came down in sheets, it was so thick visibility deteriorated and the guys couldn't even see the other side of the five lane street. Suddenly a huge gust of wind came in and what appeared to be a mini tornado picked Black Steve up about four feet off of the ground and spun him around violently while suspended in mid air and as fast as it came it left, dumping him into a huge water puddle in the middle of the intersection. Shaken and now fully bathed, he stammered to his feet and limped over to the bus stop.


The next day at breakfast, while Bruce and Jerry were telling me what happened, Bruce said "I would have went out there and helped him, but, I couldn't because I was laughing to hard."


How often we'll watch in amazement as peoples lives are disrupted by a twister of events and instead of lending a hand, we sit and chuckle, thinking "better them than me".  It's at times like these I have to check myself because I'm guilty as charged. I'll laugh when a car splashes people waiting at a bus stop. I'll think things like "sucks to be you" when I see a guy trying to change a tire on the side of a busy 12 lane highway. And oh boy! If I find out someone is having twins, I laugh out loud.


The thing is, all those things have happened to me before and instead of having compassion for the victims of circumstance, I laugh. I know laughter is supposed to be good medicine, but, in these instances it just might be the wrong medicine. 


Jesus said the second most important commandment is to love people as you love your self. That is huge when it comes to starting an outreach church,  because everyone we are reaching out to is a victim of circumstance. The circumstance of sin. The enemy is hell bent on disrupting lives with a twister of temptations. Hoping to lift us up and slam us into a puddle of road sludge. When we see someone lying in the muck, our first impulse is to step back and do nothing. However, if we love that person like we love ourselves, we would step up and offer a hand.


As we continue our mission in South Florida, please pray that God will give us the kind of compassion that changes lives and that we'll step up and offer a hand to those stuck in a puddle of muck.

Crappy Life or Not!

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

Today was a pretty rough day around the Kauffman house. I got a message on my cell phone pretty early this morning that Sam broke our coffee pot. If you know us, that is a big deal! Shortly after that Jacob was doing his chore and was cleaning the toilet. I guess he decided he needed to clean the drain pipe as well because he stuck that brush so far into the toilet that it would not come out, no matter how hard the guys tried! We had to buy a new toilet and now we have a fancy new lawn ornament. On top of that I have worked an insane amount of hours this week and just when I thought I was in the home stretch and was going to make it to the weekend finally, I splashed bleach in my eye and burned my eye really bad.

After working all day, I came home to drive Ruth to swim club, on my return home I decided that the day had been long enough and was going to to pick up pizza at Little Ceasars for dinner. Ruth and I walked up to the door of the pizza place and lying in the corner outside was a very sun-tanned, burnt eyed, homeless women. She was so frazzled. She just sat there talking to herself. I imagined she was trying to work some really tough stuff out in her mind.

Ruth and I went into the Dollar Store next door and bought a few waters and snacks to give to the women,

but really it put my entire day in persepctive. I felt like my day was aweful. One of the worst in a while, but really no matter how bad my day was today, it probably does not even compare to the despair that this women must have been feeling at that moment.

Today I realized that although there may be a toilet lawn ornament in my back yard, my life is not a crappy life at all!  Praying today that God keeps our perspective clear in the face of adversity and that we always remember how much we have to be greatful for.

Land of the Free

  Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman                                                                                            
So we spent the last few days at Ft. Benning, Georgia watching our oldest son graduate from Basic Training. There were 2 days of ceremonies honoring all the men who had spent the last 15 weeks training to become the best soldiers they can be. We were very proud, of course.  It always seemed for most of Jeremy's life that we would one day be watching this happen. He has always loved the military and has always wanted this to be part of his life.



During the graduation ceremony they read the oath that each soldier takes when signing up for the job of defending our country. One oath is that they will defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies both foreign and domestic. Since I believe that our country was founded by men who believed in God and wanted to protect us from those who might want to take our freedom away, I was very proud to know my son took an oath to protect that.

As we were driving home yesterday, it hit me how big a deal that is. Protecting and Guarding our Freedom is a big job and these men went to Hell and back to learn how to do it. Some of the stories Jeremy told us over the few days about what they went through was pretty amazing. He also told us that there were about 62 men that started in his platoon and that day at graduation only 37 men were left standing. Needless to say, it is not for the faint of heart!

I also thought about what that meant for us as we move forward in bringing freedom to people who have never really experienced it before. I believe that real freedom comes from knowing just how much we are loved by God and how much he wants to know us and how much He wants us to know Him. There are many things out there that fight for our attention so that we don't experience that kind of freedom. I also know that when you experience that kind of Freedom you want everyone you know to know it and experience it too.

Just like those men who stood there that day and took that oath to protect our Freedom, simply because they value what they know they have because of what others before them have done. We are called to bring a message of freedom, the message of God's love for us and what he did for us by sending his Son to cover our sin, to those who don't know. How are we doing that? Are we arming ourselves the way we need to so that the real message of Freedom can be found. Will you fight for it so that others may know?

2 days ago, Jeremy became an Infantryman and had a blue cord pinned on his coat to signify to others what he is prepared to do if he is called upon to defend the Constitution. The motto of an infantryman is "Follow Me." Today I am challenged by these words. How about you? What do we have to do to be prepared enough to have that kind of confidence to say to someone,"FOLLOW ME?"

Loose Ends

We have now been in Miami for 7 months. It has been a year since we made the decision to move to Miami. There have been a lot of ups and downs. Lots of lessons learned and more than that many people we have meet that have changed our lives. Many people who have shown us the hope of why we are here. We are finally starting to feel like this is our home. We miss our family and friends in Missouri but Miami has become our home.

We have found out that we have to look for another house and be out of the one we are in by June 25th. Please pray with us that we can find something in the size and price we need. Please pray that we can find a house in good proximity to Hannah and Rachael's new school and for the ministry.

We are also asking for prayer for a specific need we have in tying up a loose end. When we left Missouri in September, we put all of our stuff in storage in hopes of getting back to pick it up by Christmas. Logistics and finances did not make that possible. Now that we have a timeline for getting into a different house and feeling like we need to become more settled, there is the need to get back to Missouri to bring our stuff to Miami. We have prayed about the many ways to do this. To Rent a truck in Missouri to bring our stuff here will cost around $1,500.  With Jeff's moving business growing daily, we have decided that the money would be best spent in buying a small box truck in Missouri, loading our stuff in it, and then using it for our business and ministry. It makes much more sense to do this. We really need your prayers in this.We do not have the finances to do this but we know in God's economy all thing are possible.  Pray we can find the right truck at the right price and that this all happens in God's timing. We would prefer this to be sooner rather than later but God knows better than us when this needs to happen.

We are so greatful for all of you have supported us this past year as we have started this adventure. We are so thankful for all who have prayed for this mission. Please continue to do so!

Celebration!

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

Easter is almost here! Every year it seems to sneak up on me and every year I forget the emotion that wells up inside of me thinking about what it really means to me. I am reminded of my weaknesses and my brokenness. Last night as I was cooking dinner for my family and baking cinnamon rolls for our homeless breakfast, I started crying uncontrollably. I don't really know why. I was just standing there thinking about how fragile life is and how much we take for granted and how often things can change in a moment. I was thinking of that dark Friday many many centuries ago and how the earth shook and LOVE died. For me, For you, but love did not die and leave us alone. No, love died so that we would never be alone! So that we might know that we are loved and that we are His Beloved. So that we would know that we were meant to live for so much more.

Last night as I was standing there sobbing, I thought about how as a family we celebrate New Years Day as a beginning of something great. We have always celebrated Easter but rhis year I decided to start a new family tradition, this Easter we are going to celebrate, Just like we do on New Years Eve. I mean really celebrate! We are going to start by serving Ham, Eggs and Cinnamon Rolls for our homeless breakfast and hopefully in some small way they will know How love died for them. Then, On Sunday as a family we are going to celebrate the new life we have because on that day more than 2,000 years ago Love died so that we may never be alone. This year we are going to celebrate how Love has brought life and transformed our lives, how love has restored us and redeemed us. We are going to celebrate how love has entered into our problems with us. We are going to celebrate how love compels us! We are going to Celebrate How Love through Jesus Christ Came to Save Us! Will you celebrate too?

big bounce

The last couple of weeks of our outreach to the homeless has been quite amazing. We have had a few homeless people find new hope in life, giving them a reason to turn things around. 


Bernie, who has been homeless for years, is planning on getting a shave and a haircut and rejoining society. He's made contact with old friends and family and is headed back to the west coast of Florida. In particular, he's gotten in contact with an old pastor friend of his who wants him to come home.


Rick, has been homeless for years as well, he has saved enough money to get into a small apartment and off of the streets. He asked me to pray with him last week and started sobbing uncontrollably. He said that a few weeks ago, he started praying. He's prayed every morning since and can't believe how much his outlook on life has changed.


Mike and Tracy, a married couple, have been working hard to get off of the streets and in just a few more weeks, plan to have enough to get into an apartment.


Ricky is everything you never want to meet in a dark alley. He's had a hard life and I don't think he's even out of his twenties yet. He's mad at the world and if you look at him the wrong way, I'm sure he'd pound you into the ground. He's been homeless for the last 5 months, since getting out of jail. For the first 4 months, he stayed at a shelter and recently has been living on the streets. Nobody has ever given him a chance, until he met us. He now seems to feel like he belongs to something (that isn't an institution). You can see a physical change in his demeanor when he's talking, working and/or just hanging out with us.


For all the ones that are moving towards God, there are 10 times as many that run from him, ensnared in their addictions, unwilling to believe that God can forgive them and that he loves them. A few of the hard cases are Jerry, Bruce, Michele, Dan, Susan, Andy and Jim. They keep coming back on Saturday mornings and they stick around for the companionship, but keep God at an arms length. Please pray that God will soften their hearts and that he will give them ears to hear his voice.


We also have the ones that come once and we never see them again. Please pray that we can love them while we have them and that love will be effective enough to bounce their hearts towards God. You just never know what act of kindness will change a person for all eternity, as evidenced  by the atheist that now believes in God. after the Christians in his community gave him groceries upon finding out he was sick.



If you ask these people what the difference has been in the past couple of weeks or months, I doubt they would be able to tell you. However, if you ask them if their view on God has changed, everyone of them would probably say yes. God has been working overtime in their lives and as we love them to Jesus, their tired, weary, broken souls have embraced a new awareness of a God that truly loves them. A glimmer of hope is shining in their dark and dreary lives and it is nothing short of a miracle. Please pray that God continues to grow bigger in their lives.

Hate vs. Hope

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

I really debated whether or not I would even write a blog on this subject. I have wanted to all week and just kept praying about what the right thing would be to say. I don't know if there is even a right thing to say.

About a month ago, a very handsome young man from South Florida was shot and killed in a community in the Orlando, Fl area. This young man was from a neighborhood not far from where we live. This story is all over the news. Not just here but all over the country. It is a tragedy! There is no doubt about that and in my writing this blog I want to in no way take away from what happened to this young man. His life was taken from him. One day he was walking around with a bag of skittles and a bottle of tea and the next day he was dead and his family was grieving in ways that most of us can't even begin to imagine. As a parent who has lost a child I know there loss is beyond the scope of imagination and then to have it happen in a senseless tragedy like this, well, I can't even begin to know how they feel.

But, honestly what keeps running through my mind these last few days is the hate that almost seems to surround this whole situation. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't in any way condone the actions of the person who pulled the trigger. I know I don't know the story, I am not sure any of us will ever know the whole truth behind what happened that night, but my heart breaks for the divide that it is bringing.

What my heart breaks even more over is that justice is more important to us than love. What good is all the hate that is being directed at the man who pulled the trigger going to do? In my heart of hearts, I know that what he did that night was not right. I would rather die myself than do that to another human being! That being said, the things that keep going through my mind these last few days is how can we, any of us, stand back and cast these stones. Yes, we can all hope that there will be due process for this young man and that the law will do what it promises to do and bring to justice those who commit crimes like this against us and those we love, but if we say we Love God and we say that God sent his son to bear our sins on that cross, then how can we hate?

I ask this question because honestly I am very heart broken over how some people have responded to this tragedy. I truly believe that we can honor the memory of this young man that was lost! How do we do that?
We change the tide! We reverse the curse that seems to have plaqued us for generation after generation and we stop the hate. Yes, it may be quite true that the man who shot Trayvon Martin did so out of hate, but how do we stop that hate from growing, from becoming a bigger monster than it already is. It seems to me that what we have done in the past has not changed it. So how do we do it?

WE LOVE! WE FORGIVE!  Nothing says justice more than Love, right?

I know that I am human. I know that I have made mistakes. I know that I will probably make more mistakes in my life. I know that I have hurt people and that in my humanness, I may still hurt people. Am I trying to compare the wrong things that I have done in my life to those of the man who shot this poor kid. No, in most people's minds in may not compare, but in God's mind, I really don't know. I am sure that I have spoke a hurtful word before that drained life from someone, somewhere. We all have been guilty of something that hurt someone at some point in our life.

As I watch this story unfold day after day, I continue to see how important it is for us to remember that Jesus came to save us all. Every single one of us! Even the man who pulled the trigger that fateful night. What I have learned from watching this story unfold is that there are not many people who will stand up and say I LOVE YOU! Not just to Treyvon Martin but to the man who shot him! If we could do this, if we could stand as people and say, Hate will not live in me today. What if we followed in the footsteps of the man who chose Love that day on that cross and said today I choose LOVE. What would happen if Love was louder than Hate?

Power Play

So tonight we were reading the Bible with the kids and our reading was in Acts chapter 4.  In this passage of the Bible, Peter and John who were followers of Jesus were in Jeruselem doing some pretty cool things and telling people about Jesus and what he had done for them when they were pretty much accosted by some of the religious leaders of the day. They were taken into custody and put into Jail overnight until they could decide what to do with them. So the next day all of these religious leades gathered to dicuss what would be an appropriatte punishment for Peter and John's behavior.(You should read it if you never have, it is a pretty cool story.)

In the early part of the story they give Peter and John time to explain their side of the story and after talking amongst themselves, decide to let Peter and John go. But, before they did, they told them they better not go around speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus anymore. Peter and John of course let them know right away they felt it was better to obey what God told them to do then what these leaders were recommending. The leaders threatened a bit more and then allowed Peter and John to leave.

Now here is what gets me, instead of walking away and lying low for a while, here is what they did:

²³ As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. ²⁴ When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— ²⁵ you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,

‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? ²⁶ The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the LorD and against his Messiah.’^[e]

²⁷ “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. ²⁸ But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. ²⁹ And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

They went back and prayed for more boldness, more power!  Now I don't know about you but I know a lot of times for me when I am feeling threatened, this is not something that I normally do, but I want to. Normally, I want to retreat, hide, maybe even complain a little about how bad this sucks that we have to put up with these people. But really what I want is to have that kind of faith. I want to pray for that kind of boldness! I want to live in that confidence all the time.

As we continue reaching out to those who are hurting, to those who need healing, please pray that God gives us boldness in sharing His Love and teaching His Word and that healing will come and that many will know God's great amazing love for them.

Sincere What?

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

Last night we were doing our Bible Reading with the kids, We started reading in Acts. Jeff and I follow a daily Bible reading plan http://www.vervecatalysts.org/.  This is a great Bible reading plan if you don't have one. We decided last night to take our kids through Acts while we were reading as well.

Acts is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Always has been! History was always my favorite subject in school and there is just something about reading about how we got started as a church and what God did through just a few men in just a short amount of time. Everytime I read Acts, something new jumps off the page at me and I learn something new.

In Acts chapter 2:verse 46 it says,^" Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts."

When I was reading this on Friday, one of the things that really stood out to me was the phrase "and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. So we asked our kids last night what they thought it meant to have a glad and sincere heart. They immediately jumped on defining glad because they know it means happy, but sincere was a little more difficult. As I started to explain what I thought it meant, Hannah jumped in and said that it means genuine.  Exactly, that is what it means, but how does that happen?

When we moved to Miami to start a church for people who don't like church, we knew that a great number of people here did not go to church. One of the top reasons people here give about not liking church is that they are tired of people being fake. 

Life is hard, things go wrong, people sin against us, we sin against other people, we get sick, we struggle with our addictions, we have to work hard for so little, so how in the middle of all of this do we come together with glad and sincere hearts?

I personally think it goes back to the words of Jesus. Mark 12: 30-31. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

I wonder if we focused on learning all we could about God, getting to really know Him and what He thinks about us and how much He loves us, and if we started seeing other people the way we know God sees them and started loving them the way we know God loves them, if the walls would come down and we could finally come together and be happy and genuine with one another?

What do you think? What does being Sincere mean to you and how do you do that.

How do we get there from here.

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

This past week I have been spending a lot of time praying about what our next steps should be. We have been doing our normal Saturday morning breakfast for the homeless and spending time during the week hanging out with them.  Earlier in the week, I had contact with the lady who heads up Far Above Pearls, which is a group of people here in South Florida that reach out to individuals in the sex industry. Mostly going into clubs and hanging out with the girls and sharing God's love with them.

These are things that we want to be doing and we are building great relationships with many people. But there is still so much to be done and so many things that we feel we need to be doing and it can get pretty overwhelming at times, so now we are praying a lot about how we can get there from where we are.

Today we are asking you to pray with us about some specific things God has put on our hearts. Below is a short list of things that we feel God wants us to begin doing, so please pray for us, that God would provide the time and resources we need. We are also looking for people to partner with us in this. If there is one area that you think you would like to help support specifically. Get in touch with us and we can let you know how.

Doughnut Drop Off to local businesses. We are planning to start dropping off donuts to local businesses by April 1st. This is a way we feel we can reach out to some of the local businesses and show God's love in a practical way and meet some of the people in our community.

Outreach to those involved in the sex industry. Right now we are meeting with people locally who are involved in this. This is an area that is very touchy to so many, but something that is very close to my heart. If you are interested in knowing more about this you can e-mail me directly at wkauffman1970@live.com.

Work for Food Program. We have not resumed this as their have not been the resources to do so but we are planning to get the work for food program back up and going again. This is a program where we go out and feed the homeless every Saturday and after breakfast we ask them to help clean up the streets, neighborhoods, and businesses around where we meet. In return they get a $10 gift card for helping. We have seen this give hope and purpose to so many who thought there was not any.

Pizza drop off to neighborhoods. We know how busy families are and we would love an opportunity to meet some of our neighbors so we plan to drop off gift certificates for local pizza places as a way to show God's love and meet a practical need.

Easter Banquet for the Homeless. We would like to throw a nice dinner for the homeless on or around Easter. We are looking for a place to do this and it will take a lot of food and supplies. Please pray God provides.

Neighborhood Block Party. We found out this past week that we don't have to move from the house we are in for a while so we want to get to know our neighbors. One of the ways we planned to meet people in the area was to throw block parties. We plan to do this in May. We have a great local neighborhood park and plan to have a BBQ, some music and fun stuff for the kids to do.

These are some things we have planned. Please pray that God will provide the time and resources and that many people will see God's love for them.

Some 200 Feet Below

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

 I started back to my Health Screenings this week. I love working the health clinics. This week, I got to drive to Boynton Beach, which is almost an hour from where we live. On my way back from the clinic, driving on I-95, I hit a major traffic situation. We sat on the freeway for 30 minutes at a complete standstill when I finally made it to my I-595 interchange, no sooner had I taken the exit, when all of the sudden out of no where this car lands in the middle of the freeway. We had no idea where he came from or how he ended up right in the middle of the road, but his car was totaled and he had knocked some pretty large rocks out of the walls of the intersection. I immediately stopped along with 3 other cars to see what we could do to help. We found the man unconscious, but with a pulse. We knew better than to move him and help came very fast. I honestly thought this young man was gone. From the looks of his car to the damage he did to the road around him, I thought there was no way he would make it out of that alive. The policeman who showed immediately after us, told us to go ahead and move on as we would be in the way of emergency vehicles. So I went to my next job still very concerned and had even mentioned the accident to Jeff over dinner that night saying how I was certain the young man was dead.

During the 11 o'clock news I was amazed to see his face on the screen. Obviously most accidents are not reported on the news in a large area like Miami, but this one was different. This young man had driven his car through a barrier from I-95, dropping over 200 feet to the highway below where I was exiting. All he could say was "It was miracle." He just thought for sure he was gone. He thought as soon as his car went air born it was over. His life flashed before his eyes.

It was a miracle! I seen it with my own eyes. In my mind there was no way that after what I saw this man could be alive.  He was written off in my mind.

Then today, as I was cleaning, God reminded me of something very important. Never write anyone off. NO MATTER what the situation looks like, no matter how bleak, no matter how devastating it may seem to us, there is always hope of survival.

I know we have said it many times since coming to Miami. We know God has brought us here to bring hope to so many who maybe have thought for the last time, there is no hope, that this is the end of the road. God reminded me as I watching that video on the news with my kids, Hope is not lost and that life in all of it's frailty can bring some big surprises. That even though someone may be beat up, or bruised or maybe if there seems to be no life left in them at all, NEVER GIVE UP! You never know, you might be about to witness the miracle of life when and where you least expect it.

weekend with Bernie

“If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” ~ Luke 14:5


Bernie is a 60 something year old guy that's been living on the streets for years. He's seen all, he's done all and yet now, in what he sees as the twilight of his life, he's experiencing something he thought didn't really exist. Bernie is experiencing Love.


You see, Bernie has fallen into a pit and he can't get out. He's struggled and dug and jumped and yelled and screamed and finally, he's given up.


I sat and talked with Bernie (and his fellow campers Jim, Andy and Zeke) on Saturday morning over a hot cup of coffee and some biscuits and gravy. He laughed and he joked for a while, but, as I started drawing his story out of him, his demeanor slowly changed as he tried to recollect what he was and where he'd been over the last few decades. I could see pain in his eyes as he remembered some of the bad things that had happened. Bewilderment when he thought of the days of his corporate success, still wondering how he ended up "here".


When breakfast was over the four of them stayed and helped pack up and as we were saying goodbye, Bernie grabbed my hand and shook it. He simply said, "thank you" to choked up to say anything else, he just nodded his head, tears flowing from his eyes. For the first time in a very long time, somebody has cared enough to just listen.


Bernie experienced love.


I'm going to try to find their camp site today and take them some clothes and a pair of shoes for Jim. They could use some tents and I'm praying God will help me find some.


Is there a Bernie in your life? Someone who has fallen down so hard so often that he's given up? What can you do to give them hope? How can you help them experience love?

Hard Days Night!

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

I have not been sleeping very well lately. Not because of all the stress that most would think. I mean there are normal every day things that are going on. Work, home-schooling the kids, waiting to find out if the girls get to go to a new school, getting the girls ready for another audition if they don't get into the new school, trying to get Ruth to the swim club to try out, getting Ruth over to Pousada to have her lemonade stand for the homeless, making sure the twins get outside for an hour or so every day so they don't karate chop everything in sight(tennis seems to really help them burn some energy off and we have a great court 2 blocks from where we live), making sure we have everything we need for goodie bags to hand out to the homeless(just remembering we need cracker stix and cheese dip), cleaning the house, making sure the kids are taking care of their animals, grocery shopping for the week(seems I am forgetting to eat a lot here lately, but don't worry the kids don't seem to have that problem), making sure the laundry is done. You know all the normal doings of any wife and mom.

No, the reason why I can't sleep, I just want to do more. I can't get my mind off of the all of the things that we could be doing and aren't yet. There are so many things that I know God has brought us here to do. Yes, we are going out a few times a week to be with the homeless, we are meeting people every day who need encouragement and community and we can be that for them, but God is stirring so much in me for the women who are on the street and in the clubs, women who have not yet been told about how much God loves them, how much he adores them and how much He wants to rescue them. Today and everyday for the last few weeks, that has been a huge burden on my heart.

I just finished reading the book "The Life of the Beloved" and now I feel like all I want to do is go tell everyone I meet how much God adores them. How much He cherishes them. How much He wants to rescue them. I had the opportunity to meet 2 ladies last Monday that are what some might call industry ladies. They had been on the street for a long time. They were very professional. They were also very sad, they were very broken and very tired. You could tell they wanted something more than what the life they were leading could offer them, but they just did not know how to go from where they were, to where they wanted to be.

Honestly, most of us at one point and time in our lives, could say the same exact thing. No, not all of us have ever had to go to that place of desperation and do what they are doing to make ends meet, but I think all of us could say at one point and time in our lives that we wanted to be someone different or do something different with our lives. We want to pursue our passions, we want to go after the things that excite us. Most of us don't know how.

One thing I have learned this past week is that we all have the ability in us to give others the push they need to get out of the rut they are in and into a new game. That thing is called LOVE. We are all capable of it. We can all recieve it and we can all give it.

When we moved to Miami to start an outreach to the poor and a church for people who are far from God, we knew the people God would be sending us to, we knew exactly where God was calling us and who He was calling us to. Now, I just want to go after it with everything I am. I realize today that I am not sleeping at night because it burns inside of me and all I want to do is "Just do it." 

Please pray for us as we take new steps into unknown areas that God will guide us and direct us and that each and every person that we come in contact with will know how valuable they are and how much they are loved and How there is a God who is coming to rescue them from the "Hard days night" they are facing too.

Blessed or Cursed?

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman                            

These last few days I have been reading more of Henri J.M. Nouwen's "Life of the Beloved" I know God brought this book to me at this time in my life so that I would know and understand His Great and magnificent love for me.

Today when I was reading though, It really hit me hard why we need to so desperately understand who we are and how God see's us. Henri writes this in his book,
"Not claiming your blessedness will lead you quickly to the land of the cursed. There is little or no neutral territory between the land of the blessed and the land of the cursed. You have to choose where it is that you want to live, and that choice is one that you have to keep making from moment to moment."

Really? Like who would actually make a conscious choice to live in the "land of the cursed," are there people who wake up and say today, I will live in the land of the cursed, tomorrow, maybe believe what God says about me and live in the land of the blessed. How do we really do this to ourselves? How do we let other people do that to us? How do we do that to other people? Does not make sense on any human level, but yet we do. We go back and forth as if this is what we deserve.

Then Henri goes on about this, "I must tell you that claiming your own blessedness always leads to a deep desire to bless others. The characteristic of the blessed ones is that , wherever they go, they always speak words of blessing. It is remarkable how easy it is to bless others, to speak good things to and about them, to call forth their beauty and truth, when you yourself are in touch with your own blessedness. The blessed one always blesses, and people want to be blessed! This is so appearant every where you go. No one is brought to life through curses, gossip, accusations, or blaming. There is so much of that taking place around us all the time. And it calls forth darkness, destruction and death. As the "blessed ones" we can walk through this world and offer blessings."

What would it look like if we could wake up everyday and remember what God calls us? Remember how he sees us? Remember what he has done for us? How much more could we affect change in our homes, our work, our towns, our cities and nations.

Today if you are reading this, Know that God loves you! He really loves you! You are His blessed child! He wants to know you. God sees you as beautiful and wonderful. He has great plans for you. He wants to prosper you. He takes Pride in you!

Now go bless someone else!

Upside Down!

So it has now been 5 months since we moved to Miami to start an outreach to the homeless and a church for people who don't like church and are very far from God. There have been ups and there have been downs. There has not been more of one than the other. God has proved his faithfulness through it all. We have learned so much, lost so much and worked so hard.

There have been many people over the last week or two, calling, e-mailing, writing, just to let us know that they are praying for us and that they support what we are doing. I don't think I could have made it through these last few weeks without the prayer, love and support of so many. It has really made a difference!

One thing that I have learned in the last 2 weeks is that the way I think things should happen are not at all the way they normally do. We live in a world that is upside down in so many ways. We meet so many people who are upside down in their finances, upside down with their houses, upside down in their relationships. Upside down is a term that many people use to describe what is going on in their lives.

A friend of mine posted a verse on her facebook wall this week. It is out of James 1:12
¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

With everything we have gone through these last few weeks, with all the hurting, broken, lonely, sick, addicted people we meet daily, I have come to understand one thing, Everything on this earth looks upside down, but Jesus came to show us a different picture.

Jesus says we may be tried, we may be stolen from, we may be taken advantage of, we may be slandered, we may be accused, we may be persecuted, we may be taken to the brink, but, if we perservere, we will receive the crown of life.

The way we think things should be, the way we want victory, may never come, but if we believe in the one who came to free us from ourselves and our old life and give us life new again, we have a promise that no one can take away.

Please pray that as we walk through these earthly trials that we can hold onto the hope of the promises that God has made to us so that we can spread the message of hope that a new economy is coming. One that takes us from upside down to right side up!

man for hire

This last Saturday morning, I got up early and cooked up a couple batches of the worlds best gravy to serve to the hungry out in the park. Like many times in the past, during the week leading up to the new tradition, there were doubts about if we would even be able to serve. So many times we've come to the realization that we couldn't do it, but, held on to the belief that if God wanted it to happen, it would. Every week that we've stepped out in faith, God has provided what we needed.


Not far from the park is a Home Depot store, where guys will gather in the morning waiting to be hired for the day as laborers by contractors, movers, landscapers, etc. They are not guaranteed a job, but, go every day hoping someone will stop by needing help. This is how they survive, this is how they pay their bills. They go expecting and are often rewarded, however, there are times when there are more workers then work and they go home empty handed. You would think that when this happens, it would deter them from coming back, but, it doesn't. Instead, they head out looking for a job the traditional way, filling out applications. The next morning, they're back at Home Depot.


It makes me think how we, as followers of Jesus, could learn a real lesson from the day laborers. What if we made ourselves available every single day to be used by God? What if every morning we got up and went to a place and just waited, saying, "here I am God, need some help today? I'll build or maintain or clean or whatever you want, I'll do it, I'm your guy." One thing that's sure in God's economy is there is more work than workers.


Idealistically this sounds great and maybe someday we'll try this out, when we have more time, but, more often than not, our own schedules and agenda get in the way of going to God on a regular basis and saying "use me God! I'm a hard worker!" But, what if our survival depended on it? Jesus made it a point to say he doesn't do anything unless he sees the father do it. The only way he could see the father do it, was if he went to a place where the father was and look to see what he was doing that day.


If we just sit back and wait, we'll never get anywhere. If we do as Jesus did and go to that place where we can see what God is doing, then we put ourselves in the position of availability and we won't go home empty handed.


As we continue this mission God has put us on, please pray that no matter the fires we walk through, that we always take the time to see what God is doing.

Shattered!

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman

So this last week has been as trying as any time in my life. As I blogged earlier in the week, I had some trouble with tremors and seizures, which have since resided. The week before I worked almost every day cleaning other people's houses and I think it kicked off some of those health issues.

Instead of getting better though, our week got worst. It brought challenges we never expected to face. I know I can truly testify to God faithfulness and how he watches over us every minute of every day.

Every person that I talked with this week could tell me a story of something crazy going on in their lives. Things they never expected to happen or decisions they never expected to have to make. It definitely makes you realize that you have to be on your game and pray for protection over your family and friends constantly.

In the last few weeks I have been reading Henri J.M. Nouwen's book, "Life of the Beloved" Honestly, it is rocking my world. It covers some very simple truths or so you would think. It should be a simple truth but honestly for me, and for that matter most people, it is not. In this book, Nouwen sets out to help us understand one thing. You are loved. Not only are you loved, but you are God's Beloved.

Beloved: It means a person who is greatly loved; dear to the heart. That you are someone that matters most. Most of us either walk around not knowing or just don't believe that we could be His Beloved. I wonder what would happen if we would walk around in the freedom of knowing that the God of the universe calls us His Beloved.

Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by God's loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we are heard by God who is all ears for us. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love. This is the the truth of our lives. Do we believe it? What would happen if we did believe it and acted on this truth?  I wonder if we started really grasping this truth in the core of our being, how would things be different?

From the moment we claim the truth of being the beloved, we are faced with the call to become WHO WE ARE. When we know we are the Beloved we can let go of fear because perfect love casts out fear(1John 4:18). We can be who we're created to be. We can walk confidently and laugh at the uncertainty of the future. We don't have to look to other people for affirmation because we are loved by the only One who is constant. We can see others for who they are despite themselves-the Beloved. There's a shift that happens within us. We are set free. Free from striving to earn peoples affection. Free from all the lies and deception that plague us. Free from self-rejection. Just one word from us could shatter a thousand lies-Beloved!

Knowing the truth that we are the Beloved should become embedded in everything we say, do or think. We should be be able to let go of the doubt and insecurity that holds us down. But, does this happen? Do we hold this truth to be true? God wants us to know it and believe it. What do we believe? We usually believe the lie that Satan tries to tell us. We are hurt and we hurt and so we usually walk around with our head down believing the lie. We become o.k. with other people speaking that lie in our hearts and minds and before it is over with our butts are dragging the ground. Then we start speaking that lie into other peoples hearts and minds too. We can't help it, we are just putting on them what we believe about ourselves.

When we moved to Miami we prayed that God would give us his heart for each person we meet. What I am learning this week, is that in order to see people as God sees them, I have to first see myself as God's sees me. HIS BELOVED!