Going to Greece

Its hard to believe that less than a month ago I was touching down in Capetown, South Africa. Whats even harder to believe is that at 7:00 this morning, I will be taking off for Athens, Greece.

So much has been experienced here; Photography classes, new living circumstances, Township experiences, and even beach life. Looking back, time has flown. I look forward to what is coming next and even the future beyond that, Lord willing.

Wow. I just realized that this will be an extremely short blog update, but I guess that will happen occasionally.

Internet in Greece won’t be as available, but that makes updating more exciting for me. We will be in the town of Porto Rafti right outside of Athens. We have been blessed by being beside the ocean (I am not quite sure how close yet) so that should make for some great landscape shots.

I have mixed feelings leaving Muizenburg. The time here has been amazing. I had tears in my eyes a few days ago when i had to say good-bye to Michael, Anda, and Eric as they dropped me off here for the last time. My life was changed by them and the experience that I was able to have in Guguletu. Experiences that I will never forget and fondly remember. I have been in contact with Justin of “These Numbers Have Faces” and he is thrilled about what is happening here. I am excited that we will be able to provided him with some pictures and stories on what is happening this side. To read more about “These Numbers Have Faces” visit their website by clicking on the link on the right hand column.

Some of you have been asking about donation information. I included a link in the right-hand side that will be beneficial. Thank you so much.

Until Greece, my God guide your steps…
John Paul Vicory

The Eternal Muse

Christianity is something that I don’t understand. I am not sure I even grasp the concept of God (in the Trinitarian sense, or His character), grace, love, faith, and belief in general.

A friend brought an interesting concept to me recently that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. It keeps me up at night, and has led to more questions that keep on coming. The question related to the scope of humanity and if it was possible that God has more grace than what we realize; saving those who have never heard of Jesus Christ therefore, not believing in him. When I read the token salvation scripture, John 3:16-17, I see that God sent his son to save the world, not to judge it; that believing in him, we can enter the Kingdom of God and have eternal life. This I believe, then Nicodemus asks Jesus how to enter the Kingdom, and Jesus says that he needs to be born again. Just a few pages later, Jesus tells the rich, young ruler that he must sell everything he has in order to obtain the Kingdom. Jesus even says that He is the only way to the Father. But, Abraham’s obedience to the Lord was credited to him as righteousness, which makes me believe that salvation is possible through obedience to the Lord. That maybe belief in Christ is the belief in the Messianic message; modeling our lives after his.

What if people have never, and will never hear about Jesus, or even God? Will they have a chance to ever enter the kingdom? I almost feel guilty about being born at the space and time in which I was, knowing that there is a possibility that so many will(have) die(d) never accepting Christ spending the subsequent eternity in hell.

Like the rest of Humanity, I don’t deserve eternal life because of sin, but why am I so privileged, while the majority of the people in existence will have never believed. I struggle so much with it because it doesn’t really sound like justice to me to let so many people die. It’s like the gift is free, but not an option which is open to everyone. This frightens me. It frightens me because it makes me question whether I believe his love is really unfailing. I am not talking here about the people that openly reject Christ, but those who have never heard about him. Is it just by chance that they will not enter the kingdom? What if someone were to tell them, would they believe then? I would like to think that if all the people who have never heard the message of Jesus were to hear his message at least some of them would accept him as their Savior and enter into a relationship with Him. What about those people who never hear about Jesus, but seek something outside of themselves? Luke 11 promises that those who seek will find. Do we always know what we are seeking? Will He credit that to them as righteousness? I don’t know. Will he judge them by a different standard than he does those who have actually heard about him? Maybe? SALVATION BELONGS TO HIM ALONE

I don’t know the answers. I know that His ways are so much higher than my ways, and that my finite, sinful, and unjust mind doesn’t hold a candle to the Mind of the Creator. I have this feeling that I will never know the answers, but where does that leave me? What will I use my life for now? If salvation is possible for all people where they are, what is my role in sharing the love and message of Christ? Doesn’t that make it a bit futile? I can’t bring myself to believe that. So, if that is my mission, then deep down I believe that if the people of the world never have the chance to hear about Jesus, they will go to hell. Ouch.

Then, if that is true, there is something seriously wrong with our priorities. Not only are we as the Bride of Christ responsible for all those in the world today that don’t know Christ, we are responsible for all of the people since Christ that lived and died and never heard about him. Doesn’t that do something to you? It does something to me. It blows my mind. It fires me up to tell as many people as I meet about Jesus. It makes me want to give every breath I have for that end. Am I wasting my time? No. I probably will end up wasting a lot of it, but I would hope that the Holy Spirit can use me to influence those around me, by Him living and speaking through me. Diving into the word (discovering His message), then diving into the world. To be a true servant; to hold nothing back. It really puts things in perspective for me. Are we using every breath of our lives to the extent that we could? The challenge is to everyone, and so is the call.

I think that the reason I have been struggling so much with these questions is that I need to understand the call is to me as well. What will I use my breath for? What will use yours for?

There are an estimated 2.62 Billion Unreached people in the world; 40% of the 6.56 Billion living in the world Today. (The Joshua Project / joshuaproject.net)

Let me know what you are thinking… I would like that.

Love in Christ
John Paul

Update from All Over

Touching down in Capetown, South Africa, I couldn’t believe I was going to be in this beautiful continent for the next month, and again in the months to come. I am sure that it will be filled with different memories and experiences, and look forward to them with all of my heart.

Capetown is like nowhere else I have been in Africa so far. It is actually hard to believe that I had been so close to a place like this only 4 months previous. The weather is cool, windy, and sometimes rainy (the kind that doesn’t include a lot of precipitation and no lightning); unlike Uganda: hot, humid, and prone to downpours with lighting that you think is going to strike you in the head (and the thunder so loud that you think it did).

The people here are a mix of black and white. There are many tribes (like Zulu) that add to the black population, and many “tribes” (like Afrikaans) that add to the white population. Most everyone keeps to themselves, but some are outgoing. The poverty isn’t as blatant and neither are the range of diseases that were found in Ethiopia and Uganda. That isn’t to say that there aren’t the diseases, they just aren’t in the open as much. South Africa still has the highest percentage of HIV infections in the world, and not as much awareness advertising (that I have seen).

As far as the town where we reside, Muizenberg is the location where surfing was introduced to South Africa. I didn’t really know what the living situation would be, but I never expected that we would be only blocks from the beach (I go there every morning). The area also boast the highest population of Great White Sharks in the world. Some of you may have seen documentary features on the Discovery Channel about the sharks that jump out the water to feed; yeah, that’s here off the coast a few kilometers at Seal Island. They do have a shark spotting system here though, which is good for the hundreds of surfers that frequent the breakers.

The PhotogenX team is a little bit smaller than once anticipated. Over 50 were accepted to the program, but now there are only 25 that will be traveling to each place. Probably about 18 have been here most of the time with the DTS portion, and a few joined later (like myself).

I am excited to see what transpires over the next nine months especially. There are some high hopes and great ideas developing, and the overall spirit of the school is positive. I am glad that there is still a huge emphasis on Injustice, which is part of my passion as well. Many of the ideas that I have in my head is what other people have been thinking and processing as well. Its good to fellowship with others who have similar dreams.

I also have a few picture and words about St. Ameria’s in Uganda. PICTURES!!! There has also been expressed interest in sending a YWAM team down there to get some much needed construction accomplished. It continues to amaze me that the work is continuing there. It will be such a blessing to return one day and see all the Lord has done there through people like you.

I want to thank those of you who attended the Not Alone Benefit Photography Show and supported the orphans. I have been in contact with the administration from each of the orphanages and they will be getting the transfers soon! They are very excited even though they don’t know how much they will be getting.

The whole vision for Not Alone is also going ahead. It may not seem like it for a while, but I know that the time spent here and now will influence the future vision. People have been pretty excited to hear about it and what God has done. For now, I am surrendering the vision to the Creator who will continue to mold and form it into what he wants it to be. That is the best place for it!

I haven’t decided yet which day that I can update the blog, so hang with me for a few weeks. Since the travel will be sporadic, the blog-updates may be as well! Thank you for your patience. I appreciate the feedback, as usual, and am honored that you would share this experience with me!

Love and Blessings in Christ

John Paul Vicory

[Love is the Movement]

Benefit… Back in Denver

Back in Denver as of 10:30pm Labor Day, I am exhausted. The last 6 weeks has been amazing, and I have seen so much. Much of what God is doing in the hearts and minds of Christians across the country, and much of what he is doing in my own heart and mind.
The last benefit show is this Friday Night here in Littleton. Check out http://matt28.com/notalone for more information on that, like directions and what-have-you. When that show is over, I will be able to give an accurate update as to how much was raised for the orphans, and more of the miraculous that God did and will continue to do.

For now. I am tired. Honestly, I am tired of doing the show. I know thats not necessarily the right attitude, but let me explain. Somewhere along the way, I can’t really remember where it was, I stopped relying on God to be my strength and His provision for the show. I lost sight of His ownership and His goals and dreams for it. It was His vision that he shared with me all the way back in Uganda. I was selfish and proud of the Tour and it led to a burn-out from it. It is too big for me to think that I have any kind of control over it, yet I tried to take it anyway.

So, that is what I have been dealing with lately, and I share it with you for more than one purpose. The first is to share my struggles with you because I know that there is so much that I need to learn in this walk. I haven’t arrived at the proverbial “there”, or have all of the answers for how to live. I still have to learn daily to put my flesh to death and walk through the power of the Spirit within me. Sometimes its harder than others. Instead of hiding it, like everything is okay, I thought that I would experiment to see what happens when my struggles are exposed.
Since there is some identification of what is happening in my heart, I can (and am trying to) take steps to correct it, to get a sense of God’s passion for those He loves (which is everyone!), to realign my life with His will and word, and to get insight and guidance from those around me.

The other reason that I share is because I am not sure I am alone in my control issue. I may be wrong, but I think that it is part of who we are as humans to desire to be in control of our lives and the world around us. Its one of those things that we say we don’t want to be a part of, but if we take a closer look at our lives, we do see that we cling to control. I have done it my whole life and I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to be used by God as an instrument for His will, despite myself. It kind of goes along with the cliche saying that I am my own worst enemy. I am the one that stands in the way of being completely open for God to use… It all comes down to surrender, and when you give your life to Christ, surrender is mandatory.

What kinds of things are you holding on and not giving over to Him? It makes sense to give it to Him because He is the one that cares (1 Peter 5:7). And, after all… He is only the creator and sustainer of the universe… (written with sarcastic undertones)

So thats not really the direction that I saw this entry taking, but thats the way it goes sometimes.
Love and Blessings from Him!
John Paul

New Life at Hopeland

What a week of changes; not only for our team, but for the base in general. Honestly, this last week was the best week I have had in a while. We were extremely busy, but focused on the issues and tasks at hand. It brought us together as a team.

It was Tara’s Birthday on Monday as well, so we got together and watched Sleepless in Seattle (I couldn’t make it through the whole thing) and ate bananas roasted with chocolate. It was so good! We were even able to use a projector for the film, so we didn’t have to huddle around a laptop.

We went to Sam Kisolo’s house this week for a time of fellowship. Sam has 15 children… That’s right, 15. Four of the kids are his by birth, the others have been adopted by Sam in response to the tremendous need for parental care in Uganda. In some ways, Uganda is extremely blessed with resources, fresh water, and help from many international NGO’s. Uganda also has some tremendously complicated problems. So many parents have died from the AIDS pandemic and many also from the war areas. It is also very common for me to have more than one wife. They also value having many children. So, the end result is so many children, and not enough people to take care of them. Even, Job, a member of our team from Gulu, has four children of his own and takes care of his niece as well. The story is the same all over Uganda. On one hand, it is sad that children aren’t getting taken care of by their parents, on the other, it’s a miracle that they are cared for by family or people like Sam.

There was a new addition to the team this week as well. P’toni and Lupe, a Tongan married couple that are leaders of the Frontier Missions Outreach, had a baby girl on Thursday night! They had been planning on going to Kampala on Thursday for a couple of weeks because the baby wasn’t actually due for another 2 weeks. They ended up leaving on Wednesday and it is a good thing. Both mother and child came back to the base on Friday and are both doing extremely well.

Like I said, it has been a very busy week. We have all been working everyday and then occasionally relaxing during the evening. Many times there are things to do during these times as well. Since the DTS left for outreach, there hasn’t been as much help in the kitchen so we have all had to take double shifts in order to get all of the food out on time. It takes away from the conference work, but it enables us to build relationships with others on the base as well. I was able to spend a considerable amount of time in conversation with the men from Sudan who are doing their SBS here. I am still blown away by their stories. I appreciate those who have been looking into what is happening all over the world as far as oppression goes. The more that we know, the more we can do to help!

I have to make an apology to the readers of this blog. There have been so many times when I wanted to share what I had been thinking, but was afraid. Afraid of people and what they might think of me. During the course of this week, though, I have been discovering that it doesn’t matter what I am thought of as long as I am being obedient to God in what I say in the blog, no matter if only my mom and dad read it. There is so much that I have been wanting to say, but have been disobedient is saying it. Because of this I am sorry.

One of the reasons that I started this blog is to encourage people to take action. When we live our lives in a way that resembles Christ, we have no other options. Christ himself stated his mission when he was back in Nazareth at the start of his ministry. He was in the temple as he often was. When he went up to read the scripture, the book of Isaiah was handed to him. This is what he said (from Luke 4:18-19)

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

As this was his call, it is ours as well. Does this in any way do any damage to the world? Of course it doesn’t, but there are so many people that aren’t doing anything about it. In the US and Western we can be so comfortable with life. Many of us want our children to get the best education that they can get so that they can life a “comfortable and satisfying” life, free from worry. In reality, we should be sending them to school to be witnesse
s to Christ and to discover ways to help God’s creation (humans especially). The rich young ruler followed all of the laws, he loved God and loved his neighbor, but was unwilling to sell what he had to give to the poor, the last request that Jesus had for him to be called a disciple. Are we willing to pick up the Bible and follow Christ’s teaching and his life, no matter what actions that we have to take?

I don’t say all of these things because I am mad or disappointed. I say them because I have discovered the fulfillment that comes from following his command to GO! (Luke 10:3). I am not perfect or “there” or anything like that, but these aren’t my words; Jesus is the one that spoke them. I need them just as much as anyone. There is no doubt; I am a sinner, truly unworthy of salvation or any blessings that I have. But, God is good, and he is faithful when we are not. I say this not to condemn, but to encourage you. If we get (understand) what is in the Bible, we will understand that we are called to live in a completely different way from the world. Not only will we understand it, we will do everything we can to live the life that Christ wants us to live.

I have heard some people saying that they don’t feel like God has called them to anything, when the New Testament, especially the Gospels, is full of Jesus’ “calling”. When we step out and try some of the things that he wants us to do we have nothing at all to lose! In fact, Jeremiah 29:11 says that he has plans for wholeness, not for harm; and a hope for the future, that we will one day be united with Christ. We really have nothing to lose, plus, when we are helping others we open doors for them to share in salvation. When you have next to nothing here on earth, and dying seems better than living, a hope for a future is something to get excited about. I know that hope is something I take for granted in the midst of all of this “stuff” on earth that distracts me.

Anyway, the point is, that we all need to be doing something! James talks about how faith without obedience to the works that Christ called us to is dead! I thought that by coming to Africa, I could get away from this because I was going to Africa, but it has been especially hard here in Uganda to do those things that God wants; to give even a glass of water or a little cookie to someone in His name. We can all be getting involved. Pick up your Bible and discover for yourself what he asks you to do.

Thank you for reading another entry. Please continue to pray for us in this remaining week until the conference. The conference begins next Sunday, but I will try to upload a new entry before all of the activities start. Please pray that this conference will be a success, not it terms of how many people show up, but in the amount of fruit that comes from it. We know God has great plans!

Also pray that the team will be able to stay focused on what God has us here for and not to look forward to the time we leave in a way that distracts us from the present.

In Christ

John Paul