The Kingdom Experiment - Gabe and Heidi

Help Build a Virtual Orphan Village

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

One cold Sunday morning in February 2008, I was sitting in the back of a worship service, minding my own business and thinking through my lunch options when God interrupted and said, "Gabe, you will give your life for orphans." Heidi had just given birth to our fourth child a few weeks earlier, and it came as no surprise that God would be unlocking a love in my heart for orphans when He surely had unlocked a great love for my own children. God had brought me a long way and, in fact, during the 14 years I was a pastor, one of my sincerest sentiments was that I would do anything for God as long as it didn't involve kids!

I drove home from church, fired up the computer, and found that Seth had just written a blog (see it here) about some orphans in Pakistan who urgently need help. How ironic. God had just spoken to me about orphans and now voila! Here was the perfect opportunity to get started. I shot Seth an email and within a week I was part of a six-person team of supporters for orphans in Pakistan.

Over the next two years I've had the honor of getting to know Pastor Emmanuel, the man on the ground in Pakistan who takes our support dollars and buys a three-month supply of food for each orphan. Emmanuel has consistently proven his integrity and trustworthiness. Every three months, after buying the food and supplies for the orphans, he mails me the original receipts for accountability. Also enclosed in the package is a thank-you card from each orphan, individually signed and fingerprinted, the truest stamp of authenticity.

I received word yesterday from Emmanuel that the number of orphans needing urgent help now stands at 21. Two years ago it was quite manageable and sustainable to support only six orphans. But instead of receding, the need is growing, and we need to respond with fresh inspiration and direction from the Holy Spirit.

I have this idea of a Virtual Orphan Village. It's a way for those of us who are unable to sell our homes, quit our jobs, and move to a foreign land to take care of orphans in person, to still be connected together in community with like-minded Christ-followers who want to tangibly help the least of these. Here's the vision:

A team of 25 people
Each pledging monthly support of $30 for their orphan
Each pledging to pray daily for their orphan
Linked together in community via email and a Virtual Orphan Village blog, which is also a communication point to Pastor Emmanuel and the orphans
Each receiving quarterly communication and pictures directly from their orphan in Pakistan

If you are interested in joining this ministry or if you have questions, please email me at landes.gabe@gmail.com.

A Way for Kids to Help Haitians

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Our family is teaming up with our neighbors to give our kids a chance to actively participate in helping the Haitians. You can read about it on our family blog here.

2010 is the Year of the Orphan

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

I met some Australian church planters several months ago in North Carolina who had a unique attitude about the kingdom of God. "Give it a go, you never know" was a refrain they said repeatedly.

Has God given you a dream? Give it a go, you never know.

Got an idea? Give it a go, you never know.

Got an idea and you're not sure if it's you or God? Give it a go, you never know.

In that spirit I'm declaring 2010 the Year of the Orphan. This year we're going to raise money for literal orphans living in Swaziland, Mexico, and Pakistan, and we're also going to address the problem of the "orphan spirit" which so many people in the States carry with them. The orphan spirit is a repressive spirit that whispers to us, "You're on your own. God isn't showing up. You need to fend for yourself."

Everyday I interact with customers, colleagues, and Christians who are being oppressed by the orphan spirit. They're not walking in the reality that they have a Father in heaven who has adopted them into His family and they need to stand up and walk as sons and daughters. Doubt, worry, and powerlessness dominate their lives.

I have an idea of how to help both kinds of orphans.

First, I'm going to approach my 500 colleagues in the state of Ohio and ask them to support the work we're doing in Swaziland, Mexico, and Pakistan. I'll ask each to give $100. Even if the average donation is $25 per person, that's $12,500 for orphans. And if the average comes in at $100 per agent, that's a whopping $50,000! Give it a go, you never know.

Second, I've plastered my office lobby with pictures of orphans from Swaziland. It's a great conversation starter for those coming in with the orphan spirit. Customers come to me daily and share their worries and fears about their family, the economy, and all sorts of other things. I would love to say to each of them, "You remind me of this orphan right here. She worries constantly about where her next meal will come from and who is going to protect her. You're carrying around that same orphan spirit, believing you have to look out for yourself, BUT you have a Father in heaven who wants to adopt you into his family and take care of all your needs..."

Give it a go, you never know.

Thanksgiving Day Swaziland Party

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This month we learned about Swaziland using these activities:

1) Gabe shared his stories and pictures (again) from his AIM vision trip to Swazi last January.

2) We read a book called Learning to Swim in Swaziland: A Child's Eye View of a Southern African Country. You can find it here. I was so impressed that our local library had a copy of a children's book about this tiny country!

3) Our friend Tami came over one evening and shared her story with our family. She is preparing to move to Swaziland to work in the clinic in Nsoko. You can read more on her blog here.

This year, we hosted both sides of our family at our house for Thanksgiving Dinner. We decided to make this ALSO our Swaziland party (since we had a captive audience:)! You can read about all that we did HERE. (It is posted on our family blog.) My favorite part was the game we made up called "Safari" which involved a nerf gun and the Grandpas! The kids did a great job sharing about the country. It was lots of fun!

Feeding Babies in Haiti

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Thank you to the five groups (4 bunco parties and 1 book club) who collected formula for His Home in Haiti! I lost count somewhere, but I think we collected approximately 50 cans of infant formula from this. Some has already made its way to Haiti, and more will be going soon. It is a drop in the bucket for the babies there, but we pray that through spreading the word about the ministry, God will touch hearts and link kids with adoptive families or meet their needs through new ways. My prayer through the whole project was simply that God would be glorified through this!

I am going to postpone the women's trip until Fall. Several women were interested, but it seemed like spring was not a good time of year. We will see if God puts together a trip later on. Maybe He knew I wasn't ready to go meet the babies yet, in case I really want to bring some home...:)

Women's Trip to Haiti- Want to go?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I am putting together a Women's Trip to Haiti to deliver donations and visit His Home for Children.

I have wanted to go to Haiti since I was 14, so I am excited to go and deliver all the formula we are collecting through the "bunco for babies" plan. I have met the leaders of His Home a few times, and I have been following their newsletters for years. I am excited to finally get to visit the children's home in person! They have an awesome ministry caring for children and facilitating many adoptions into Christian families in the US.

I know that there are other women that God will call to go too... but I don't know who you are yet! On that note, I am putting out an open invitation to any women who want to go. This is not about a church or organization, just Christ-followers with a heart to serve and give.

Here are the details that I know so far.

Probable dates are March 5-7, 2010. We will try for a 3-day or 4-day trip. Leave on a Thursday or Friday, return on Sunday. The final dates will depend on airline availability.
The approx. cost will be airfare ($500?) + $50/day for lodging/meals
We will each take two suitcases as full as possible (usually 50lbs is the limit) of donations. We will pack all our own stuff in our carry-on.
The ministry will pick us up at the airport, and arrange for our transportation and lodging while we are there. I assume we will spend most or all of our time at the orphanage, doing any kind of work or project that is needed. And of course, loving on the kids!!!
You will need a passport, which takes 8-12 wks if you don't already have one. For more information about how to get a passport, click here.
Optional, but you might want to get some shots ahead of time. Click here to see what the government recommends. You can go through your family doctor or the Combined Health District.
We will spend time in prayer and discussion as a group prior to the trip (probably through an online group) and on the trip as well. Any faith background is fine, but know that I believe in Jesus and we will spend some time talking to Him!

That is all I know right now. Email me or post a comment if you are interested! Once we have an idea of who wants to go, we will narrow down the dates and start planning! Also, ask me questions!

*Here is a list of items we can collect and take:

Cloth diapers

rubber pants

baby bottle nipples

powder infant formula

crib and twin sheets

jeans (size 4-teens for school)

jean skirts (same)

vitamins

medical supplies

tylenol

socks

shoes

underwear

summer weight clothes, all sizes

Whatever kids need here, they are also used in Haiti.....

Bunco For Babies

Tue, 6 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I have mentioned His Home For Children, an orphanage in Haiti, here. Last weekend, my mom, Kiersen and I traveled to Boston to deliver donations to a woman who will take them on to Haiti.

We were so inspired by Julie's pictures and stories of her visits to His Home. You can read some of her stories here. The situation in Haiti is hopeless and heartbreaking, but His Home is shining God's light as they care for 124 children and finding "forever families" for many children. Read more details about His Home for Children in this blog post.

One huge cost is for baby formula. They have approximately 20 babies on formula at any one time. Hal (one of the directors) estimates that it costs about $10/week per baby, for a total of $500 per year per baby. If each baby uses one can of formula a week, that is 20 cans of formula per week, which means they need a minimum of 1,040 cans of formula each year.

My mom has been collecting donations for them for a while, but we thought of a new idea we are going to try! Read about it below and let us know if you want to join in! Pass it on as well!

BUNCO For BABIES

Do you play bunco? We are going to ask bunco groups to have one night where everyone coming donates a can of baby formula. We will collect this and ship it to His Home for Children.

If you want to help, here are some ways...

1. Ask your bunco group to do this!
2. Host a one-time bunco night (if you are not in an ongoing group) and collect formula. We can help you with how to set up the bunco game.
3. Be a "bunco mentor"- if you know how to play and would be willing to help another person set up a one-time bunco night who new to bunco.
4. Help coordinate this project. (mostly online I would think)
5. Pick up formula and transport it to our collection spots (Beavercreek and Huber Heights)
6. Go on a 3 day weekend- women's trip to Haiti next spring to help deliver and meet the babies.
7. If you have any connections with airlines, ask about free luggage or shipping!
8. Anything else God might tell you to do!

If you want to help, please post a comment, email me or find me on facebook!

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Pakistan Party!

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Today we had our Pakistan Party with some of the kids' friends! I wore the beautiful outfit that Pastor Emmanuel sent to us! We decorated with posters, pictures and streamers.

Our first game was "Find Pakistan on the Map". (Josiah wasn't allowed to play!)

Jonathan won, he was very close!

We then read a book about Pakistan and our kids talked a little bit about Pastor Emmanuel and his ministry. Kiersen said, " He teaches people about the real God." Josiah said, "He gives food and help to people who need it." We said a short prayer for his ministry together.

The kids each made a picture or card to send to Emmanuel to encourage him in his ministry.

Next, we played some games. They loved playing musical chairs!

Our music was the national anthem of Pakistan!

While we played our games, Gabe was cooking!

We had naan, rice and vegetable biriyani, madras lentils, and bananas. YUM!

All the kids liked the naan (bread), and some liked the other foods better than others.

No problem, Gabe and I loved it, so we finished it up:)

We also had a birthday girl in our midst, so we sang happy birthday to Juliann!

Each kid was given a kite and information sheet to take home, which included prayer requests for Pastor Emmanuel and his wife.

It was fun! We hope that the kids learned a little bit and that our prayers and cards will encourage Pastor Emmanuel and Sonera! We are thankful for their ministry and the chance to share it with our friends.

Praise From The Lips of Children

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I read Psalm 8 during my time with God today, and these verses stuck out to me...

2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise...

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?

9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

I had planned to work on the Pakistan Party with the kids tonight, but instead I decided we would do a praise walk. We read this psalm and then took a walk through the park. We took the camera and each child had the opportunity to take pictures of the amazing things God has created. Here are a couple of their pictures.

After our walk we just prayed and each child praised God for something He created. Then we had a picnic and played at the park. It was a fun time! I was glad that I followed God's leading to enjoy His creation instead of what I had planned to do tonight at home with our Pakistan stuff. We will do that another day, but today was a day to "consider the works of your (God's) hands"! I am (slowly) learning to listen to His leading and to trust Him to teach me how to teach the kids!

Pakistan part 1

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This week, we focused on learning more about Pakistan. We have mentioned praying for Emmanuel and the orphans there, but I realized we didn't know that much about the country itself. So this week we read a book from the library called "P is for Pakistan" (you can find it here). Then the kids made a list of questions they wanted to ask Pastor Emmanuel. We emailed those questions to him and then shared his responses with the kids. It was fun for them to think of questions and hear back from Pastor Emmanuel. Now we are planning a "Pakistan Party"... more to come on that soon! Here is the (email) interview.

Dear Pastor Gabe & Sister Heidi and all little angels,

Greetings in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanks for your email. I would like to answers your question.

It's my pleasure to give you information.

These are the answers of your questions.

1. What do you do for a job?

We apply and submit our application then they call for the interview.

2. How did you come to know about Jesus?

Salvation Experience.

I use to live sinful life before accepting Jesus Christ as my personal saviour and Lord. I was far from the Lord, my deeds were evil and I was living miserable life but One day I heard the word of God from John 1/12 when I heard this word I repented from my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal saviour and Lord in 1997.I took water baptism in 1998, and on 14 December 1998 .I was baptized in the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2.

Call of God for His Service.

After my salvation and Christian life experience I felt the call of God to serve Him. I went to bible school in 2003 and obtained 1 year bible training from F.C.Bible School Khanewal. After the bible school the call of God fulfilled in my life and I begin to serve Him.

Ministry Experience.

I begin to serve the Lord in April 2004 from that day up to now my ministry for the Lord is going on, during my ministry many people accepted Jesus Christ and received salvation from their sins, many people receive healing and many were delivered from the evil spirits.

I am serving the Lord my God in Multan.Pakistan believers that God is using me for the establishment of His Kingdom on this earth. I request you to pray for my ministry. I have Ministry called.

* Apostolic Faith Mission Church of Pakistan*
OUR ACTIVITIES ARE FOLLOWING:
Evangelism, Church Planting, Crusades, Campaign meetings, Prayer and Revival seminars, Christian literature Distribution, Sports Programme, Village outreach Ministry, Children Ministry, Translation books into Urdu language Youth Ministry, Women Ministry, Medical assistance, financial and spiritual assistance for the Widows, 0rphans, disables, rehabilitation for Drug addicted, Education for Adult illiterate and Children etc.

3.What languages do you speak?

We speak Urdu language because this is our national language .Our mother tongue is Punjabi.

4. What foods do you eat? Can you send us a recipe of one of your favorite foods?

We eat rice and chipaty (Bread) it cook by the flour, we cook curry, meat and potatoes and other vegetables and Baryani. Baryani cooks by the meat and rice .My favorite food is Baryani.

Recipe.

First of all we cook meat when it is ready then we boil rice and after boiling we mix them it called Baryani .

5. Do you play video games and televisions?

I do not play video games and television.

6. What kind of house do you live in?

I live in a simple house .It makes by the bricks and cement..

7. What kind of games do kids play?

Kids play Cricket, Hockey, Foot ball, Tense and Badminton.

8. Have you ever traveled to other countries?

No, Yet I did not traveled any country.

9. Do you ever get sick? Do you ever go to the doctor?

Yes.

We have Pakistani money, its called rupee.

Dear Pastor Gabe, if you have need any more information please write to me I would like to give answers.

Please give my greetings to Sister Heidi and love to little angels (Josiah,Kiersen,Liam and Aliya)

Yours brother in Christ.

Emmanuel Sadiq

Kids Around the World

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Summer is over and the kids are back in school! (Yes, we were thinking of homeschooling but decided to send the kids to school this year. That decision itself is another blog!) Anyway, we are adjusting our family discipleship time to work with our new schedule. No more Friday Experiments for now, but we are beginning a focus on learning about missionaries and orphans around the world. Each month(or so) we will focus on learning all about one country and ministry there. Last night was our intro night. We put up our new map and found the countries where we know missionaries!

We also read this blog update on Pakistan, and prayed for the people there.

When Josiah was a baby, we decorated his nursery with a "kids around the world" theme. I had saved all the stuff, so we pulled that out and let each child pick a couple things to hang up in their room now to remind them to pray for kids in other countries. Here are the kids with their picks:)

As I tucked Kiersen in to bed, she said, "Don't worry Mommy! I looked at my world jar and prayed for the Christians in Pakistan already!" A good start to our new learning/prayer focus. More to come!

Kiersen gets baptized

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Several weeks ago Kiersen gave me a call at my office. "Daddy," she said, "I want to get baptized."

Can you imagine how my heart exploded at hearing those words? I'll remember that phone call and her precious voice for the rest of my life. In fact, I remember the moment she was born. The doctor delivered her and placed her immediately into Heidi's arms -- she was totally PURPLE! But after a few seconds, I saw my babygirl take her very first breath, and soon she turned from purple to pink and opened her eyes. I saw her first breath! I saw her come alive! I'll never forget that moment as long as I live.

"Kiersey, did you tell your mom you want to get baptized?" I responded.

"Yes, Daddy. And she told me to call you!"

"Great!" I said. "Why don't we baptize you tomorrow night?" And so we did!

On My Third Chance...

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

One night this summer while Gabe and I were praying, someone came to the door selling something. We said no thanks, but after he left, we thought that we should have offered to pray for him since we were praying anyway! Well, a few weeks later, another door to door salesman came by, but again there was a mix-up between Gabe and I and he left before we could talk to him. We tried to track him down, but he was gone.

SO... yesterday, a third gentleman came to my door selling something and I was ready! I admire the courage it takes to go door to door selling, and he did a good job with his pitch. I purchased one of what he was selling. Then I took a chance and asked, "Is there anything I could pray about for you?" (This was after he already had the check so that he wouldn't feel like it was a condition of the sale!) He looked surprised, but then spent a few minutes talking about three different areas in his life that I could pray about. I then prayed for him on the spot about those things. He said thanks, and left.

It is not like to me to do this, but I trust that he was blessed by it! Then again, maybe he will put the word out on the street that a crazy lady lives at our address and no one else will come to try to sell me something. Who knows? I am just trying to take Jesus at his word and pray for those who come into my life, however briefly!

The Friday Experiment Spreads!

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I received an email today from another mom who is starting to do something similar to our Friday Experiments with her daughter! You can read about Lucy's first week here!

How exciting! I can't wait to hear what God does through and in her daughter as they try to "go and do likewise"!

If anyone else is doing something cool with your kids, let us know! We would love to hear about your discipleship experiences with your kids!

Friday Experiment Wk 8: Pakistan

Fri, 7 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This week we read through the last supper, and Jesus' death and resurrection. We also read about Jesus appearing to the disciples and helping them catch fish after that. After we prayed, we started discussing ideas.

Well, they had a lot of ideas today that I did have to veto. For example, Josiah was sure we should go catch fish and give the fish to someone who needed food. Since we don't own any fishing equipment, much less know who might want our fish, I decided not to go with that plan. His next idea was that I could bake some loaves of bread and we could pass out bottles of wine and bread. Maybe people would have liked that oneJ but again I said no. We discussed some more, and finally we prayed again, because we just weren't getting anywhere!

This time, Josiah said, "Let's give some money to the poor people for food, like in Pakistan." The kids know that Gabe corresponds with Pastor Emmanuel in Pakistan and that we support some orphans there. At that point, I told the kids about this blog I had just read about Christians who were killed in Pakistan, and a collection for items for the families. We agreed it would be good to send them some money, but we had already gathered up all of our spare change and the kids' allowance money last week. So this week, the kids all picked a few toys they did not want anymore, and we took those to a re-sale shop so we could send the money to Pakistan.

We also decided to forgo our lunch at McDonald's so we could also send that money, and we just played at a park and ate our 50-cent box of mac and cheese at home.

While we did not sell ALL our possessions and give the money to the poor, I was glad the kids were willing to part with a few things and sacrifice their special lunch out in order to help others. It was another good day!

Spiderman Shoes: An Answer to Prayer

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

My mom, Cheryl, is one my heroes in ministry. In addition to being a mother of 5 children of her own (one adopted), she has been the foster mom to 180+ children. She has been taking in kids for over 35 years now, loving them as her own, and when she can, staying in touch with them after they move on.

In addition to this work, she is constantly finding ways to meet needs of those around her. A few years ago she met Chris and Hal Nungester, a couple formerly from Ohio who now run an orphanage in Haiti called HIS HOME FOR CHILDREN. My mom started collecting supplies for the home, buying things from Craig's list, store sales, garage sales as well as recruiting donations. A couple of times a year, she and my dad box it all up and drive it down to Florida, where they pay to have it all shipped to Haiti.

Recently, my mom shared that she wondered at times how much good she was doing and whether she should keep sending stuff. Then she received this email from Chris, the director:

First I want to say a great big thanks for everything you have already sent!!! You have been such a huge blessing to our kids and us!!!!! In the last shipment, the first box I opened contained a pair of Spiderman tennis shoes. They were the exact size I needed for Ben. He is one of our special needs kids who spent some time in the States for shunt surgery for hydrocephalus. He also has had a stroke and has some weakness on one side from that. He is 5 years old. When he returned to Haiti a year ago following his surgery, his host dad (now going to be his adoptive dad) sent him with a pair of Spiderman tennis shoes. He had outgrown them, but refused to give them up. I told him that we needed to be praying for another pair. Within a week, your boxes came and he was thrilled that God had answered his prayer.

As my mom told me, she didn't even remember where the Spiderman shoes came from, but God knew that a little boy in Haiti needed those in an exact size! I was encouraged by this story, as it reminded me that when we are faithful in following the little promptings from God, He uses us to be the answer to prayers that we did not even know about! I am thankful for the example that both my parents set in listening to God's voice and following through, as they let God's love flow through them in practical ways.

*If you are interested in donating supplies to HIS HOME, send me an email! You can also check their website if you or anyone you know is interested in ADOPTING from Haiti!

Week 7: Foot washing and Coins for the Poor

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This week we read two stories that involved feet, so I was pretty sure we would end up doing something with that! We read about Mary putting perfume on Jesus' feet as well as the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet, so the first thing we did today was a "foot washing".

The kids took turns washing each other's feet. While the person had their feet washed, we all told that person one thing we liked about him or her. They enjoyed this, and even the baby was able to join right in!

Another story we read about was the poor woman giving two small coins and Jesus complimenting her, stating that she gave all she had. We decided to do a "treasure hunt" for all the coins we could find in our house. Each child had a bottle to collect them and we totaled it up to about $10. This doesn't sound like much. But I found this great blog this week, which gives ideas for kids to help others, and they said that Children's HopeChest could feed a person in Uganda a meal for only 14 cents. So we figured out we found enough coins to serve about 70 meals! I am going to match it and we are going to send $20 to support a family for a month.

It was another fun week!

Friday Exp. Wk #6: Toiletpaper and a Picnic

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This week we read about several parables of Jesus, as well as the story of Jesus healing ten lepers. The kids decided we could invite some of their friends over and act out the story of Jesus healing the lepers. I thought this was a good way to let them share some of what they are learning with a few of their buddies!

We made calls and fortunately, two friends were able to join us for the morning. We re-read the story with all the kids, and then used toilet paper bandages for our re-enactment. At first they all wanted to be lepers (or as Josiah kept insisting, "LEEPERS") but then Liam volunteered to play Jesus. The kids thought it was great when Liam aka "Jesus" said, "You are healed!" and they were able to shed their "bandages" and dance around! We then prayed our own prayer of thankfulness to Jesus and each child mentioned something they were thankful for.

Then it was just playtime until lunch. As I went to prepare lunch, a little thing happened. We usually go the grocery on Saturday, so by Friday the cupboard tends to be a little bare. Plus we had some unplanned lunch guests the day before, so I was not sure what I could rustle up for six kids. But wouldn't you know, I found one pizza, 5 Capri sun juices (the baby drank milk) and 6 bags of chips, one for each child. There were only 10 cookies left, but since one child declined cookies, we had exactly 2 for each child. It showed me that Jesus knew we would have 2 friends over for lunch on Friday because we had exactly enough for our picnic!!!!

It was a fun time! It was good for the kids to share their budding faith and knowledge in Jesus with their friends, and reminded me of how much fun I can have being creative in how we teach the kids about Jesus. The lunch provision also reminded me that Jesus does guide us, even in the little things, and He provides! I needed that encouragement that yes, He has a plan for us, even when I can't see it. In the larger picture of life, I sometimes wonder what is up ahead in the next year or two, and it was a good reminder that God already knows, and will ensure we are provided for when it gets here!

Friday Experiment Week 5: Water!

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

So, let me preface this by saying it was a bad week for me personally, so as I gathered the kids today, I felt beyond empty. I had no ideas, nothing. But the kids are kind of in the routine now, and really, it's about God, not my feelings, right? So we gathered up and reviewed our "Jesus Journal", and prayed.

This week, Josiah had the idea, relating to the story of Jesus walking on water and Peter attempting to... He explained it like this:

"Let's take something to the lifeguards at the pool. Because when Peter stepped out of the boat and was in the water, Jesus saved him from sinking." Good connection, one I would not have thought of! (God is awfully creative!)

We decided that water bottles might be appreciated, so we stopped at the store and bought some.

There were three lifeguards working, all looking like high school students. I was kind of disappointed one of the girls we know was not working, because I was afraid the guys might laugh at the kids. But actually, each lifeguard was very nice and seemed very surprised! After Josiah said, "Here! Jesus loves you!" and handed him a water bottle, one of the guys said (sincerely), "Hey! My day just got a lot better!" Kiersen was pretty excited to see him actually drink the water while he was in his chair!

We stayed to swim, but we got rained out. The kids gave the rest of the water bottles to the nursery workers, again, reminding them that Jesus loves them, and bringing smiles to their faces.

Reflecting on today, I think that once again, we are learning to follow even when it seems a little crazy... because who knows? Maybe that lifeguard really needed some love today and God used us to do it. I also have to admit, it was a little scarier to think of doing it at our pool with people we know around. It is one thing to tell a stranger that Jesus loves them, but next time we go to the pool, we might be remembered as some crazy Jesus people. And yet, that is ok. I am getting over some of my fears of what people think, because following Christ is what I want to do! And of course, the kids seem to have no fear at all... just genuine love! They are a great example for me!

Friday Experiment Week #4: Small Steps

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We have had a great time on our Friday Experiments, but as I woke up this Friday, I wasn't too excited. The baby and I had been sick and we had had a very busy week, so the other kids were tired and cranky. Plus, I had an appointment in the morning this Friday, so we really only had an hour to do anything. I debated whether or not we should just skip it. In my head, I argued with myself, but in the end, I decided we would at least pray and come up with an idea, and if we couldn't get it done today,we could finish over the weekend.

Corralling the kids to get them to read through our Jesus Journal and pray was not easy! First they fight about who gets to sit on my lap, then the next thing I know, one is playing the piano, one is in the bathroom, one is crying, and wait, where did the fourth one go? Finally, we read our journal and prayed: "Jesus, show us what we can do to be like you". We then discussed ideas.

Josiah's first idea was to turn water into wine. Now, with the week I had, that sounded pretty good to me:) but I wasn't quite sure how to do that, so we moved on. After a while, we came back to the idea of praying for someone who was sick, and once again, Kiersen thought of a little girl who needed our prayers.

So that is what we did! We prayed for her, and then made some cards. Although she is local, it didn't work out for us to pray in person for her (yet, anyway.) But one of the stories we read this week was about Jesus healing the Roman centurion's servant from a distance, so this made us feel better as we know Jesus can heal from far away too! We hope to get the cards and something for the family to them next week. We finished up our cards just as the babysitter was appearing at the door, and I thanked God for giving us the idea that exactly fit our timeframe! The little girl will have surgery next week, so we will continue to pray for her through this.

Reflecting upon this week, there were some good moments. One day as I read the story, Josiah responded with "WOW! How did Jesus DO that?"His sense of wonder about God is growing. Kiersen continues to be my most eloquent pray-er, as she is the one most likely to remember to pray for others each morning. She is faithful in continuing to pray for Emily (see blog here), and now the new little girl. Praying for the sick is becoming a natural reaction for her! And Liam, well, he was excited but worried about out trip to an amusement park earlier in the week. He asked me the usual 50 million questions about what we would be packing, doing, taking, etc. But in addition, he asked me several times to pray for our trip. This shows me that he is starting to associate prayer with worry, and learning that we can "cast our cares" upon God.

I know that God leads me with baby steps, and it is exciting to see the small ways that our kids are learning to follow Him. We just continue to follow, not with big flashy miracles, but small acts of love.

Wednesday night prayer is changing us

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Jesus started awakening us to his kingdom two years ago and since that time we've made gradual lifestyle adjustments to His promptings. Sometimes we make lifestyle adjustments out of obedience, but sometimes we make adjustments out of sheer hunger to move forward. I think this is the latter. We began making Wednesday nights our prayer night back in March, not because Jesus told us to (and our response being, "Okay, fine, we'll do it" ...reluctantly), but more out of desperation and hunger to have his presence and power in our lives. I'm so glad we did. It was a turning point.

At first it was awkward! We had been married thirteen years and had NEVER prayed together other than meals, or with the kids, or in a small group. But we got over this quickly and it was moot (so don't let the awkward feeling stop you! It's not a big deal!).

Here's what we do. We put the kids to bed at 8:00PM and meet up on the couch. Then we spend about 45 minutes praying for whatever or whomever comes to mind. After we say amen, we debrief for a while on what we heard. If either of us has heard anything, we decide together on how to follow-up on that prompting.

On a recent Wednesday, we started praying for students at a local college campus. We hadn't planned on praying for the students, our prayer just drifted that direction. Afterwards in our debrief, we decided to follow-up and find someone who could give us the low-down on what God's doing on that campus. After a few Google searches, I found a staff person for one of the Christian organizations and invited him to meet us for dinner.

He accepted and we met that Friday evening. In passing he mentioned several students who we might want to make contact with and encourage, one of them being a female who had two young twins. Heidi said, "Send me her contact information," and several days later, he sent Heidi her cell number.

Heidi sent her a text and offered to meet with her. Her quick response was, "I was just praying yesterday for God to send me a Christian friend." So, three days later, Heidi and this wonderful young woman met and spent some time together, encouraging each other and building a relationship.

God is teaching us that we never know what might come out of a leading from prayer! Our job is to follow up on what we hear. I don't know about you, but I am tired of getting myself entangled in self-directed initiatives. I'm done with making My Plans and then asking God to bless them; instead, I'm learning the King's way of doing things: listen to His voice and then humbly follow up.

Feeding of the Five Thousand: Friday Experiment #3

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I was excited to close down the office today for a three day weekend because that meant I was able to tag along and watch the kids live out their Friday Experiment!

At 9:30 this morning we called the kids into the family room to sit in a circle on the floor. Heidi pulled out the journal they worked on during the week and read through the highlights of the stories from the last four days. We then held hands and prayed, "Jesus, we want to be like you. Please show us what we should go do today. Amen."

HEIDI: "Well guys, what do you think we should do?"

JOSIAH: "He fed a lot of people that one day. We could go give people who are hungry some food in Dayton."

KIERSEN: "Mommy, Dayton's too far away. We should just stay in Ohio."

HEIDI: "It's okay, Kierse. We already live in Dayton."

HEIDI: "Who needs some food?" Silence from the kids. Heidi then looks at me. "Any ideas?"

GABE: "Well, Carole Sue could probably use some food. Maybe we can go drop off some groceries."

JOSIAH: "Yeah! Good idea!"

KIERSEN: "And then we can take her on a picnic!"

And so that's what we did.

We drove to Englewood where Carole Sue lives, stopping by Walmart first to pick up some of her favorite things: Diet Rite, ham, buns, Cheez-It crackers, Nutty bars, and a lot of frozen dinners. From there we drove to her apartment, hoping she would be there! She has a new phone number and we weren't able to check ahead to see if she'd be home. But as God would have it, she was there and was very surprised and happy to see the kids!

We brought in the groceries and she laughed with joy. She was so happy. When she asked why we were doing this, we explained we're trying to do the things Jesus did. And Kiersen chimed in, "Jesus loves you," while nodding her head up and down. We helped her unpack the bags and then invited her to the park across the street for lunch. She accepted!

I swung by McDonalds and picked up lunch for all of us. While we were eating on the park bench, Carole said, "This is the best day of my year!" God is in the little things. We didn't feed 5,000 like Jesus did, but God sure did make one of his precious children feel loved.

As we were pulling out of the park following the picnic, I noticed a sign in a business window across the street. The sign said, "The smallest good deed is infinitely greater than the biggest intention."

How true! Hopefully that's one of the things we're teaching the kids -- and we're learning right alongside them! Another great Friday Experiment. I'm glad I was able tag along. This was so much fun we may have to change the name to the Saturday Experiment so I can go every week!

Boating and Flowers: Friday Experiment Week 2

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This week we read Mark 2:13-3:35. We read through all that Jesus did and then prayed about what we could do today to be like Jesus. Josiah's idea was that we should go on a boat, because Jesus got on a boat and preached to the crowds. I thought this was kind of a fun idea, and I do want the kids to know that following Jesus is fun, so we decided to do it. I looked online and found out we could rent pedal-boats at Riverscape downtown. Before we went, I asked the kids how we could show love like Jesus did, and they decided we could tell people that Jesus loves them and give out flowers. So we cut flowers from a plant that I had, invited Grandma to join us, and we were off!

We stopped at the downtown library first, and as we walked back to our car, we were passing the park where a lot of homeless people tend to hang out. There were two people sitting on the ground, maybe homeless? I asked the kids if we should give them a flower and Kiersen was excited. We got one of the flowers from the car, walked up to them and I said, "Here is a flower for you." Kiersen handed the lady the flower, looked her in the eye, and said loudly and clearly, "Jesus loves you!". The lady smiled and said thanks.

When we got to the park, Kiersen was the only one who wanted to give out the flowers, so we all walked around to the tables, and she gave a flower to a person at each table, with a smile and "Jesus loves you!". (Liam finally was brave enough at the last table.) Only one person said no, the rest were nice and said thanks. We had the perfect number of flowers (5) for the occupied tables (saving one flower for Grandma!)

Then we headed down to the water and took our pedal boat ride. Whew!!! That was much more of a workout than I thought it would be! The two girls working there were very nice. I told them about the Friday Experiment, and mentioned that it was good it wasn't "walk on water" day. They laughed, although I am not sure what they thought of us. But they were very helpful as we exchanged people (Grandma had to take a turn as my legs were tired! And of course we couldn't let Aliya in the boat for fear she would jump in!) We had lots of fun!

As we debriefed later, we decided that Kiersen helped to make people's day a little better by sharing good news just like Jesus did. It was a small thing, but she was so sincere that I think she might have touched a few people's hearts. We think Jesus was glad we had fun on the boats! The only thing I wish I had done differently was to offer to pray for the girls working at the boat place, but maybe next time.

If you know our kids at all, you know that Kiersen is naturally the most shy. For her to walk up to complete strangers to share God's love just blew me away. Truly, when God calls, He equips! Today taught me that small things done in love are the way of the Kingdom, and God truly will use anyone with a willing heart!

The Kingdom Experiment

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Lots of experimenting going on in the Landes household these days! About the same time Heidi and the kids began their Friday Experiment, I also began something I'm calling The Kingdom Experiment. Simply put, my Kingdom Experiment is an exercise in prayer and taking relational risks.

Here's the deal. I am seeking to pray for one person every day, in person, for whatever need they share with me. I won't just tell them, "I'll keep you in my prayers," but instead I'll pray for them right there on the spot, and ask for the whole enchilada (whatever that enchilada may be).

It also means I'm seeking put myself in situations everyday where, if God doesn't show up, I'll be in trouble. Like embarrassed, left standing empty handed, etc.

So each day at my office, at Walmart, at Speedway, the gym, or wherever, I'm going to keep my eyes open for three kinds of people: those who are hungry, those who are sick, and those who are brokenhearted.

If they are hungry, I will buy them food or take them groceries.

If they are sick, I will pray for their healing. The whole enchilada.

If they are lonely, I will be present as a friend.

The "experiment" is to see if God shows up. My hypothesis is this: Jesus wants to do the same things Today that he did Yesterday, only we need to live with more faith....but more on that later.

Let's see what happens... I'll post stories here on the blog.

Not the righteous, but the sinners!

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Our reading today in Mark contained this verse:

Mark 2:17

¹⁷On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

The kids and I talked about what it means to be a sinner and how Jesus died on the cross to take away those sins. We decided to do an object lesson. We all wrote down a sin we had committed on paper and then burned those papers, to remind ourselves that Jesus takes the sin away forever! My list was longer than theirs of course. (The whole exercise might have been more for me than for them, as I tend to hold on to guilt long after I have confessed and been forgiven! But it was good for all of us to see how God wipes us clean!)

Then we ended our morning dancing to a praise song, to say thank you to Jesus for all He does for us. God is good!

The Friday Experiment: Week 1

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This week, the kids and I started reading the Bible with breakfast. Josiah and I are reading the Gospel of Mark, so we just read a section or two each day and then recorded in our "Jesus Journal" what Jesus did. Here are all the kids with their Bibles and journals!

My plan (read about it here) was that we would read each day and then Friday we go out to do something like Jesus did. Yesterday, (Thursday), I was getting a little nervous. It goes against my nature to not have a plan! I kept telling the kids that we would just pray and God would tell us all what we should do, but inside I was wondering if I needed a back up plan! But every time I thought that, I was reminded of the verse that says "we walk by faith, not sight", so I tried to just pray without planning!

Yesterday afternoon, out of nowhere, an idea came to me. But I wasn't sure if it was from God or not, so I didn't tell anyone else what the idea was.

This morning, we read a summary of what Jesus did in Mark 1-2:12, which is what we read this week. Mostly, Jesus healed people! We prayed and asked God to tell us what we could do to follow Jesus' example. Then we had this conversation.

Me: What do you think we should do?

Josiah: I don't know!

Kiersen: blank stare

Me: How about you give me one idea and then I will tell you my idea?

Josiah: We should pray for someone who is sick.

Me: Ok, so who do we know that is sick that we can pray for?

Kiersen: Emily!

Me: That is exactly the idea I had yesterday! That we should pray for Emily! Wow!

Josiah: Who is Emily?

Ok, let me explain. Emily is 12 years old, lives in Illinois, and had a brain tumor removed last month. We have never met her, but she is the niece of a friend of mine. I have been praying for her and following her story on this blog. I had told Kiersen about her, but Josiah was still in school last month so I think he missed the story. So, I was pretty amazed that God led us all to the same idea by giving us different parts of the bigger picture!

We read the updates on her blog and prayed specifically for the lastest concerns in her recovery. We then made cards and sent a small care package to her to encourage her and let her know we are praying! Here they show the cards they made.

Just as Jesus healed many people, we know he can heal Emily! It is not our job to heal, but to pray for it and led God's love and power flow through us. We tried to do that today. It was a great day! God is amazing!

The Friday Experiment

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

I read somewhere about a saint who would read the Gospels in the morning, and then go out in the afternoon to do whatever he had read that morning. Sounded very interesting! So this summer, the kids and I are going to dedicate Fridays to trying this out.

Our kids are pretty little (ages 7, 5, 3, and 1) so I am not sure how much they will understand. But I want them to know that Jesus is alive and active today, living through us as Christians. So I am trusting that God will maybe use us to be His hands and feet as we try to love others as Christ did.

We will record our journey on this blog, and I promise to be truthful! If God shows up in a great way, I can't wait to share it. If it totally flops, I will share that too. But I have faith that we can't go wrong seeking to follow Jesus' example!

Stay tuned.