Manila Mud on Designer Shoes

I have written this article as an overview of the project that I'm involved with in the slums of Manila.

The “Eastside” of Seattle is known for its affluence. Microsoft, SUVs, nice homes, designer clothes, good schools and big churches characterize this part of our highly secular and liberal city. During its first fifteen years, Eastside Foursquare Church struggled to shake people from this comfortable reality and to impart a vision for underdeveloped countries.

But then during 2001, a transformation began to take place. For years, Eastside’s Senior Pastor, Dr. Jim Hayford, had traveled to Manila to participate in leadership training events at the invitation of Dr. Felipe (Jun) Ferrez, who at that time was serving as the President of Foursquare Philippines. As major forces began to come together, God forged a vision that would re-shape the Foursquare Churches of Metro Manila. These converging forces included urbanization, the increased plight of the urban poor, a ripe harvest, and a vision emerging through strategic prayer.

Urbanization
God cares about cities and Metro Manila is an exploding hub of humanity. It is a case study for the modern phenomena of urbanization. Growing at a rate of 5000 people each week (National Census and Statistics Office (OC Philippines 1994)), this city is filled with the starkest contrasts between wealth and poverty. Beautiful malls and high rise buildings are adjacent to slums of squalor filled with people suffering from all the effects of poverty. Infrastructures are weakened by corruption resulting in a social system that cannot possibly keep up with the demands. It is within this center of human migration that people are searching for answers, while crying out for help.

The Plight of the Urban Poor
God’s Word makes it clear to us that He cares for the poor and the disenfranchised. His heart breaks over the suffering that comes from injustice, disease, exploitation and sin. These priorities are clearly spoken in Isaiah 58:6-12, and 59:9-17. He invites His people to gain His heart and to respond to these issues. In Manila the plight of the urban poor is inescapable.

A Ripe Harvest
Manila is a ripe harvest field of souls. Human needs coupled with a predominant Catholic view of God, allow for an openness to the ministry of Jesus Christ and to the Gospel. We have found that people in Manila are responsive and eager to receive prayer, ministry and the Gospel.

A Vision Forged from Strategic Prayer
The Urban Church Planting Project (U.C.C.P.) strategy was commenced in 2001 with a prayer conference involving the existing 48 Foursquare Churches of Metro-Manila. Confronted with the reality of the relatively slow growth of Foursquare in the city of Manila juxtaposed against the rapidly growing city and ripe harvest field, leaders and congregants met together to seek the Lord for vision and direction. From these meetings the Foursquare Churches of Metro-Manila embraced a call to reach out aggressively and strategically into the most difficult neighborhoods surrounding them. Numerous leaders felt called to “go,” and existing pastors committed themselves to a strategy of rapid church multiplication.

Vision Implemented
Out of this a vision emerged – one that saw 300 new churches planted among the poor of Manila. These churches would be holistic in nature—meeting both human needs as well as spiritual needs. This aggressive vision was supported by over forty church planting teams who started the first group of new churches. An ongoing leadership training structure was included for these new and emerging leaders.

Since 2003 the number of new churches planted in Manila through this strategy has grown to 100. When this project began, the total number of Foursquare churches was 48. In just three years that number has more than tripled! Numerous community development projects are also providing hope and a better life for thousands. Approximately 40 of the churches have pre-schools that provide children a head start in their education, while at the same time providing them with a strong spiritual foundation. The current enrollment in these schools is approximately 1200 students.

Strategic Partnership
A key word to successful missions is partnership. The leadership, strategy, and vision of the Urban Church Planting project come from the Foursquare leaders and pastors of Metro-Manila. Eastside Foursquare Church provides support and service to the project through prayer, financial resourcing, short-term teams, and leadership training and consultation. Because of this partnership, long-term relationships are being built between the leaders and congregants of Eastside and Manila. This allows for greater accountability and effectiveness. Each year we send approximately seven teams to Manila. We also now support full-time project missionaries, Pete and Tina Forras, who are there to serve the project leaders and facilitate teams. We are grateful to see other churches come alongside this project by supporting it financially and sending teams of their own.

Today hundreds of people from Eastside Foursquare Church have been part of one of our short term teams. We have sent medical, teacher training, evangelism, sports, construction, music and exposure teams. Team members are first-hand contributors to what we call the “Miracle in Manila.” Every one of them has come home with a more accurate view of the world as God sees it. As Jim Hayford states, “I am a better Pastor because I have the mud of Manila on my shoes.” Nearly one million dollars has been given by our congregation to support and facilitate this project. Thousands of Filipinos have received Christ, and a movement has begun. We praise God for allowing us to be part of this amazing process and are continuing to press forward toward the goal of 300 new churches among the poorest of the poor in this city that is loved by God.

In addition to adopting the city of Manila, Eastside Foursquare Church’s mission program keeps a multi-faceted approach to missions that includes reaching out to our own “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and uttermost parts of the earth.” Today we support seven full-time missionaries in various nations while contributing to Foursquare Missions International. We support local ministries in our community and continue to send teams to Mississippi to aid in the hurricane recovery efforts. We also have teams going to other countries around the world.

We believe every Christian is called to discover their personal and appropriate response to the Great Commission and these are some of the ways we are doing that. Eastside Foursquare Church feels a tremendous sense of obligation to do its part to be a light to the world, for “to whom much has been given, much more will be required.” (Luke 12:48). The world is getting more accessible every day. Consider the ways in which you can expand and enhance strategic partnerships as you also “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)

For more information on the Urban Church Planting Project, visit the project website at www.ucpp.org.

75 Miles on the PCT in 3 days

Tomorrow I set out on a three day run/hike from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass. I have a meeting at 7 a.m., and whenever that is done, Heidi will drive me to Snoqualmie Pass. This trail have several tough climbs fluctuating in elevation between 2500 and 6000 feet. It is supposed to be one of the most beautiful sections of the Pacific Crest Trail. The segment of the Mexico-to-Canada Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail between Snoqualmie Pass and Stevens Pass traverses the complete south-to-north width of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, sampling superb scenery of the Cascade Crest, highland flower gardens, deep-shadow virgin forests, lakes, waterfalls, the peace that surpasseth, all on a well-graded trail with numerous choice camps and a lifetime of sidetrips. The forecast looks good until Tuesday night. I hope it doesn't rain much after that. I will alternate between running and hiking in order to make the distance in this amount of time. I hope to do some journaling along the way.
Wednesday Night -- I made it!
I actually complete this in 2 1/2 days.
First, let me say that this section of the PCT is very difficult -- a seemingly endless trail of ups and downs that take one between 3000 and nearly 6000 feet in elevation -- time after time.
On Monday I started at noon and made it to Lemah Creek (21 miles) at dark. This day was a scorcher.


On Tuesday I was hoping to put in 25 miles and make it at least to Cathedral Pass, but exceeded this and managed 33 miles, finishing 2 miles past Deception Pass. I finished at dark once again and the rain was falling while I set up camp.
Today, the rain was steady and quickly turned into snow. The snow was accumulating at the top of two of the passes I went over -- windy, with snow flurries, sleet and rain. I had to keep moving to stay warm.
I ended up finishing at 4:15 this afternoon -- 20 miles for today. My ride wasn't expected until 7 p.m. so I was grateful for some kind employees from Steven's Pass who invited me to their place until my ride showed up. We had a good time drinking warm coffee and discussing our diverse lives and what brought us together for a shared cup of coffee. It reminded me or a quote that I really like: Friedrich Nietzsche: "A few hours' mountain climbing turns a rogue and a saint into two roughly equal creatures. Weariness is the shortest path to equality and fraternity — and liberty is finally added by sleep." I was wet and cold, but happy to have completed this amazing hike.

Three Fingers Mountain - August 21-22

An enjoyable overnight climb with Rollie Perez and Shaun Wilson.
We climbed the 3rd peak over on the right -- it is on top of this peak that there is an old forest service lookout that was built in the 1930s. We spent the night there.


Here Rollie makes his was to the top of the 3rd ladder leading to the lookout.


Mission Accomplished


We had a beautiful sunset. You could see the San Juan Islands, Seattle, Mt. Baker and much more!


The sunrise was equally beautiful -- a grey haze hung over the seemingly endless mountains as a result of the fires burning on the East side of the state

Messner's Mission to Mexico

Last week I received a call from Steve Mickel at Foursquare Missions International. He was asking if I knew anyone that might be able to lead a team of 130 teens from around the U.S. on a week-long mission to Tijuana, Mexico. This team just happened to be scheduled for the same time as our family vacation. We had hoped to visit Southern California but had decided to save money and instead were going to stick around here.

I told Steve I would think about it and see if I could find someone to do it. After talking to Heidi I called him back and asked told him we would do it if they would bring our family down. He said no problem -- they would even give us a car to use and a place to stay.

So we leave on Monday and will be tourists until Thursday night. Our kids will be a part of the "team" and we will spend the last week doing projects in Mexico (August 4-12).
The tickets have been purchased and we are excited that we can do this. It's cool when things like this fall into place. Some would call this good fortune. I think God more accurately and logically should get all the credit for things like this.
As kids get older you start counting down you summers. With Alicia going into the 10th grade this is a perfect time for us to do a family mission trip and spend some quality time together as well.

Keep us in your prayers. We have yet to find out all that this team will be doing. I will update this blog while travelling as much as computer access will allow.

Wednesday, 9:20 p.m.: It's fun being back in L.A. It has been about ten years since we have been here. The Echo Park neighborhood where Heidi and I met and attended Bible College has changed for the better. It still is very urban but has experienced some renewal. Yesterday we went on insane roller coasters at Magic Mtn. We have also shared meals with many old friends including the Fairfield's, Metsker's, Mickel's, and Dave Sheridan.
Tomorrow the mission trip begins around 4 p.m. when the youth start showing up. We have dinner and orientation starting at 5 p.m. This is the part of the trip we have really been looking forward to.

Thursday: Arrival Day
Today we had thought about going to the beach or to the XGames, but instead we opted for a leisurely day preparing for the arrival of the team. We had a few hours to spare this morning so we went to LIFE Pacific College in San Dimas where we "bumped into" Carley Ericson (from Eastside -- now back at LIFE), Mike Gentry (who was in our youth group in Coos Bay), Dan and Connie Stewart (President of LIFE)...we just kept bumping into people from our past. Dan had a letter from me on his desk from EFC and it was his birthday. He dedicated Alicia after she was born (15 years ago) when we interned at his church in Lancaster, CA.
This team is 130 strong, including 8 interpreters and 6 World Base Interns. We seem to have started off real well with all the leaders. Levi and Alicia are staying at the World Base for the next two nights. We leave for Mexico on Saturday morning. Tonight we went to Angeles Temple for a GREAT worship service (see photo). Tomorrow is our training day for the team -- more updates later.



Saturday Night -- August 12th, 11:00 p.m.
We are back from our trip!
It's difficult to know what to say this late at night after an eight days of outreach with over 100 teens from around the U.S.!

I will write more soon.

Open Heart Open Home

You are invited to come to our house as we invite the small groups that we lead, newcomers, friends, and members of small groups from the past.
We hope you will join us for this fun and casual time together!
Date: Sunday, September 17th
Time: 3:00—6:00 p.m. (The meal will be served at 4 p.m.)

What you can expect:
Potluck & BBQ (Bring something to share. The BBQ will be available for grilling). We will provide drinks, condiments, plates and utensils.
Fun & Fellowship - We'll even catch the end of the Seahawk's game…We have badmitton, basketball and games available. We look forward to just spending time together.
Prayer and Praise - Just before the meal we will sing a couple songs together and have small group prayer for one another

If you are part of, or interested in the geocaching small group: We will assemble a replacement for the "Grumpy Old Man" cache which was recently plundered. Please bring something to add to the box if you can. At 6 p.m. we may go and re-hide it and find another nearby cache.

Please RSVP by posting a comment on this blog or by emailing Matt or Heidi Messner.

Directions:
Map of 19916 88th Ave Ne
Bothell, WA 98011-2123, US