Cornerstone has two teams headed to Uganda in July (I’m on the second trip that leaves in two weeks), and the first team left today for Atlanta and then almost 8,000 miles and two 9 hour flights to Kampala, Uganda. I love being around people who are following their faith not just with words but with actions. Our salvation is not ever tied to our works, but we are called to action not just words, and I love that about these people leaving today. Imperfect people following a perfect Savior as best they can. They were all very excited about the days ahead, and if you want to follow their trip, two of them will be blogging as they can from here and here. Please be praying for our team members as they begin to arrive and get settled into their routine. Here is who is on the mission trip in that photo above:
RJ Harris
Dan Harris
Jonathan Savage
Amy Coxwell
April Brown
Jennifer Robinson
Davis Robinson
Casey Huff
Josh Cumberland
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We had our last full team meeting today before we leave for Uganda in two weeks. This meeting was all about soccer, and we played and/or practiced with the team, in conditions that have to be much like we will see in Uganda, 95*F and 100% humidity. Since soccer is such a big sport, as far as the rest of the world goes, this team was put together with soccer in mind, and has several very talented coaches, and then there’s the rest of us. The rest of us, me being one, are the ones hoping not to be trounced by 10 year old Ugandan kids on the soccer field.
As it gets closer and closer to our departure I seem to have more and more questions rolling around in my mind, but none that really need answering. I’m excited to see how God is going to use our team, how He is going to use our individual gifts to impact those we come into contact with throughout the entire trip. Brian (team lead) put it to us like this today. We are not going over there to continue the western transactional mission field of old where we show up and try to hand over the prosperity gospel to someone. We are going as partners in Christ, to come alongside other Christian brothers and sisters, to worship with them, to do what our scripture commands, to love one another (John 13:34).
I’m not sure what that looks like at this point, but that’s fine. I’m preparing best I can and not going with any specific expectation other than for God to be there, come along side us, and guide us. We are walking where others have prepared a way, and in this case literally, we follow a team leaving tomorrow who arrive back about the time we leave.
I’m taking a book along I bought back in 2009 and just haven’t had time to read yet called The Life and Diary of David Brainerd. Brainerd was an early American missionary to the American Indians in New York, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania and someone Jonathan Edwards often wrote about as an example of a true, selfless, missionary for Christ. While I don’t really consider our lives similar in almost any way, I do hope to learn more about the history of those who went before us.
As always, I am still trying to raise support for the trip. You can always make an online donation to the church here, even $10 helps. Thanks!
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It’s finally set. I’m now scheduled for two trips to Buloba Uganda in 2011, one on July 25th and the other (tentatively) on October 1st, with two great teams from Cornerstone Church. Going on a trip like this has been on my heart for many many years, but up until this point, everything I tried just didn’t seem to work. My heart wasn’t prepared to actually “go”, and consequently, the opportunities never materialized. Right now scriptures abound in my head as to why now is the “right” time but Proverbs 3:5-6 stands out. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
One of the aspects of a trip like this of course is the costs associated with travel to Uganda, and both our teams are committed to raising the funds needed to make these trips happen. For each team that means collectively raising over $30,000, and individually, it means raising more money than I have ever attempted to raise by myself in my life to date. For me, that means $6,500 for two trips plus another $1,000 minimum for expenses directly related to photography while in Uganda. This seems like an overwhelming and impossible task to me, but I know God will provide for everyone on these two trips.
I have organized the information associated with these two trips as best I can on my blog so my readers and supporters can find what they are looking for as easy as possible. This is the first official Uganda 2011 blog post, and the blow by blow will come here on my blog, but below are the two main areas where you can find information about Uganda 2011.
- Blog posts specific to the Uganda 2011 July/October trip – http://www.Uganda2011.com
- Specific trip and fund raising information – http://www.scottfillmer.com/uganda
The July trip is already well advanced in the planning process since we leave in a little over a month so I will start posting for that trip very soon. The October trip is just getting started so information about that trip will be posted as the planning develops.
The Cost Rundown…
We are traveling as a team of 10. That said, we are responsible to one another to collectively raise approximately $35,000 per trip – our teams total needs. At a bare minimum, I am personally trying to raise $6,500 for my part for both trips ($3,250 per trip), but the added expense of photographing the trip is noted. Below is a look at the per trip costs involved:
- $2,500 – Flight from Atlanta, GA to Kampala, Uganda, Africa
- $500 – in country travel, housing, food, and on the ground ministry costs
- $250 – medical costs (vaccinations)
- $500 – costs specifically related to photography on the trip ** Please see my Uganda 2011 page for more info
I looked at the traffic on my blog over the last few years and, on average, it receives 350 unique views per day, every day. That means if every visitor gave the very minimum of $10 the entire cost would be covered in less than 2 days. Or, if you look at one single month, if just 6% of my monthly visitors gave $10 over the course of one month, the cost would be covered as well.
I ask that your support of our team starts and centers on your prayers for our time there and the advancing the Kingdom of God on a continent that desperately needs healing and restoration. That being said, I ask that you would not only pray for our travels and ministry but also consider supporting Cornerstone’s work in Uganda financially. As a staff member of Cornerstone Church please know that your gift will go toward our team needs and our Church’s mission in Buloba of “Leading People to Know and Serve Jesus”.
What Can You Do?
I believe this is the first time I have ever made a solicitation on my own blog. I do not use paid advertising, I offer my photography for free to my readers for their personal use, and I have never asked for a financial commitment from my readers… until now. I am trying to raise money for these trips between now and October, so I will be periodically posting support updates and asking for your support. Beyond that everything on my blog will remain commercial free and advertising free. Below is what I prayerfully ask you to consider.
- Please pray for our trip, both in July and October
- Download the Support Letter and Detailed Trip Information (full 16mb pdf)
- Also available in a MS Word: Uganda 2011 Trip Info and Uganda 2011 Support Letter
- Make an Online Donation Directly for Uganda 2011 to Cornerstone Church below or here
- Write a check and mail it to Cornerstone Church
Make an Online Donation
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Do you want to know what casting vision looks like at Cornerstone Church in Auburn? Then you will need to be here either at 8:30, 10:00, or 11:30, this Sunday to hear the details. This Sunday is a break from our current in-motion sermon series “Counterfeit Gods” to address how our church is moving forward with a vision on specifically how to reach the unreached people in our local community. Cornerstone has done this for years, and specifically in a missional sense, we have done this in Buloba Uganda. But I love when a church says we can’t just sit and do nothing, because doing nothing is specifically not what we are called by God to do. It just happens to be my church saying that. But this Sunday Rusty will cast a vision for the church’s future outreach in a very missional way. Last night (photos above) was the final meeting with the Executive Council, volunteers, lay leaders and staff members before Rusty goes into specific detail from the platform. So if you are interested in where the people of Cornerstone Church are headed, be at 2123 Hamilton Road in Auburn on Sunday, or at least pick up the podcast on Monday.
Cornerstone has always tried to have a positive impact on our local community and that’s exciting. The exciting part about this moving ahead from where we are as a church right now is not seeing programs or membership grow, the exciting part is being able to see people grow in Christ, mature as disciples, then reach out to new people. This is the church. To see God’s work taking place in people’s lives through the Gospel message. It’s about a mission. It’s about people.
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Almost impossible to describe what we saw today as we took a small group of people from Cornerstone into Dadeville, AL. We didn’t know what to expect when we got there and most of the area was closed off, but the houses the police directed us to were way beyond needing trees cleaned up or anything like that, they just needed help finding their personal belongings so they could leave the area. It wasn’t partial damage where we were, it was complete destruction. The homeowners were more than gracious for having just lost everything and then having total strangers walking around their property. I tried to document what we saw as best I could while respecting the owners of the property. I spoke with each owner before taking any shots of course and they were more than accommodating to our group. To see the entire gallery from today visit Alabama Storm Damage April 2011.
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After months of looking at “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream” by David Platt, i finally decided i had to go ahead and read this book. Having read and studied several books and/or articles that discuss the concepts and failings of what we call the “American Dream”, I already had my own opinion about the topic, but still think it’s a worthy topic today. Radical ended up not really being focused so much on the American Dream as it was to focus away from the concept.
Whether we acknowledge it or not we are probably influenced by this concept in one way or another, and much of the time it tends to be a self-focused concept, how do I maximize my 401k, get that house, car, computer, whatever. Radical attempted to remove that self-focused concept and replace it with a global evangelistic focus that Jesus calls for in Matthew 28.
The book is a compilation of a sermon series given by the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills, Dr. David Platt, after he returned from several international missional type trips a few years ago. i have read a few other reviews that have also suggested listening to the complete sermon series in addition to reading the book. Many have said it takes the book even deeper, so eventually I hope to listen to those as well. After a longer introduction period of a few chapters, Platt goes through seven truths, which are the premise for the text and lead to Platt’s conclusion, and eventually to his call to action. The truth statements come from this evaluating proclamation…
If people are dying and going to hell without ever even knowing there is a gospel, then we clearly have no time to waste our lives on an American dream.
The Seven Truth’s of Radical:
- TRUTH 1 : All People Have Knowledge of God
- TRUTH 2 : All People Reject God
- TRUTH 3 : All People are Guilty Before God
- TRUTH 4 : All People are Condemned for Rejecting God
- TRUTH 5 : God Has Made a Way of Salvation For the Lost
- TRUTH 6 : People Cannot Come to God Apart From Faith in Christ
- TRUTH 7 : Christ Commands the Church to Make the Gospel Known to All Peoples
With each explained in detail, Radical proceeds into the final call to action with, what I read as the ultimate conclusion of the text.
…that means there is only one potential breakdown in this progression [of truths] —when servants of God do not preach the gospel to all peoples
This leads into Platt’s call to action. A one year plan, in five steps (or points), that intend to bring the believer into closer alignment to the truths in the Gospel message instead of continuing on a path towards the elusive American Dream.
Concluding Critique About Radical
For those with an evangelical background Radical will be a hard but familiar call to constantly evaluate our lives against the truths of the Gospel. Not only does it cause us to examine our lives more closely but it gives specific, tangible examples (or points) which are easy to evaluate, like reading the bible completely in one year (either you did or you didn’t).
Some may see this as works, or a process or program, but I don’t believe that is Platt’s message to believers at all. The Gospel is a call to live a radical life unlike that of the world, and Radical confirms this. It isn’t about a program to do this or that, it is about a life changed, and living a lifestyle for God not for self.
For those with a more liberal theology, or those who view some sermons as annoying guilt trips, Radical will probably be seen more as another radical pastor calling on people to give up all their worldly possessions, give them to the “poor” and go somewhere overseas to spread Christianity (which actually is in the bible too, but no doubt some will find it annoying to say the least). While they will appreciate the social consciousness aspect to Radical’s call, some will see it as an “evils of riches” guilt trip.
It is not a book that is going to answer all the questions, but it will stretch the believer into thinking beyond ourselves and the small boxes we tent to live in, especially here in the United States. Some questions that came to mind were:
- How much is enough?
- What can we live without for the sake of the Gospel?
- Where do we spend our time and is it worth our time?
- What do we see in ourselves when examining our life against scripture?
- What will we do with the five action items in Radical?
It is always interesting to see if a book stands the test of time. One way I look at the effectiveness of a book is how well does the author make their arguments, and will the book survive the initial pop culture publication. In other words, does the author make convincing enough arguments to make the book either (1) entertaining, (2) does it make you change or examine the way you think, or (3) does it even change your actions and how you live. In short, does the book shape you in some way or form.
Since I rarely read books for their entertainment value, I hope for one of the latter points, and that is where Radical lands. It made me think, it changed the way I do a few things, and it caused me to take a hard look at my long term calling. I would highly recommend Radical to anyone who has a teachable spirit and is willing to take a new look at old ways of doing Christianity beyond Sunday morning.
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I love it when the church actually is the church. Paul had such a desire to get to the unreached nations of the world that he probably died on his way to Spain, not in retirement, but with a passion to reach Spain and the world beyond for Christ. There are many things and purposes for the local church, but one undeniable charge to us from Matthew 28 is to tell those people who have never heard about Christ, the great news of salvation.
This week our church sent the latest team over to Uganda. After commissioning them on Sunday in the photo above, they were off to Atlanta for 16 hours of flight time through several countries. We are partnering with a local church in Buloba, Uganda to literally help build the church over there. It has been such a great long term, ongoing effort, and I know everyone that has gone to Africa has come back with a great exhilaration for what God is doing in Uganda.
If you would like to follow their blog posts while they are over there for the next week, you can read their posts on their blogs at Lee Cadden and Brian Johnson. Some photos from Uganda taken from Lee’s blog are below, the sunset is looking over Lake Victoria in Uganda, very near where they are staying. Be sure to check out both of their blogs for the latest.
