Balance in tension. Our lives are lived in earthly difficulty and fog. We are going to a prepared place that is without difficulty and without fog; we will see Him face to face.  We are constantly faced with these two realities and we are called to live in tension, between the two, usually feeling the pull of each.  At times, these two realities intersect, at times they remain quite distinct.  On the rivers in this region, we seek to raise awareness of the Kingdom, meet eternal needs and meet earthly needs, sometimes feeling pressure to focus on one or another more extensively.  We seek to minister to both the body and the spirit. Isn’t this what Jesus did as He carried out His eternally planned mission to His created earth and its people? To neglect one area of ministry for the sake of the other is to be unlike the One we seek to follow.

In our work here, we deliver water filters, we hold health care clinics, and we counsel on loss, nutrition, parenting, marriage, and on how to live healthy, earthly lives. We also seek out hungry hearts to disciple and mentor in the ways of the Kingdom. We preach, we teach, we pray, and we help others learn to do the same.

Jesus indicated that all is of value if done in love, with the other person as our primary focus. No strings, no obligations, no hierarchy or status; humbly serving as our Father dictates. How the physical, emotional, and spiritual are related! When a person is in pain, it is very difficult to focus on other things. But when someone steps into their pain and serves them there, that one serving is perceived differently and the person in pain then allows access to their total person, inter-relational walls come down and this someone is invited into other areas of need. Intimacy is more easily allowed when there is a sense that the other is “for me”, demonstrated through a willingness to meet a pressing temporal need. One will be likely be trusted when he/she takes time and makes effort to serve a felt need. Once a person is trusted, they will be listened to. This is our ministry here, earning the right to be heard by loving and serving the people living in the interior. Some will listen, others will not, but we will love and serve them all.

Balance in tension, between heaven and earth. Jesus lived there. We must live there, as well. It is where love is communicated and sometimes received. It is where the Good News is heard, and sometimes received. It is a Kingdom perspective.

Further:

Being "born again" is not the goal, but rather the necessary beginning, the first step toward the goal of intimacy with God.

Our goal is not to make converts, but to love people and, in so doing, introduce them to our family and to our Father.

Knowing the Bible doesn’t make one holy, it leads a humble heart to relationship with its Author.

If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.

Live simply.  Most material things are not blessings, but distractions from a Kingdom focus.

People respond to pain by hardening their hearts, arresting their minds, or humbly exchanging their understanding for trust in a loving God

We cannot focus well on two things at once. To fix our eyes on Jesus, we must take our eyes off of ourselves.

Christians are not Bible followers, do-gooders or church-goers; they are Jesus lovers.

The man was dead and two days later was fully alive.  He certainly was more than a teacher, a wise man, a gifted leader.

To walk in the Spirit is often different than to follow the Bible.