[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time].
#8 W. Stanley Mooneyham: Humanitarian. 1926-1991
With today’s ubiquitous calls for Christians to respond to human needs around the world, it is difficult to remember the days when evangelicals didn’t see the connection between physical and spiritual needs in a holistic outreach. W. Stanley Mooneyham was a giant in moving the church to “come walk the world” and respond to the great needs of body and soul.
Mooneyham was a passionate maverick who, as the second president of World Vision International after its founder Bob Pierce, became an advocate for international aid and the first real star of television fundraising for the hungry and suffering children and families of the world. During his tenure, Mooneyham took the organization from an annual budget of $7 million in 1969 to $158 million with a worldwide staff of 11,000 when he left.
He really gave his life serving the poor. The ravages of the diseases he encountered in constants trips to the cesspools of the most impoverished areas of the world led to the failure of his kidneys in 1991, when he died at 65. The trauma and lure of almost constant international travel, as well as the emotional roller coaster of a life spent immersed in Southern California hedonism and Third World squalor, took a toll on not only his health but also his family. His marriage ended about the same time his days with World Vision did.
During Mooneyham's tenure as president, he directed the relocation efforts that helped Vietnamese boat people. It was an involvement typical of his time at World Vision. He was advised not to pursue the venture, which he called Operation Seasweep, and there was no place to take the boat people rescued on the high seas. But Stan threw caution to the wind, bought a World War II landing craft, outfitted it, and sent it to the South China Sea.
That’s when I met Mooneyham. In 1978 I was beginning my first job, as a writer for World Vision, and in after just seven months on the job I was sent to Asia to document the maiden voyage of Operation Seasweep. I hadn’t met Mooneyham during my early months at WV, but he wasn’t about to have me writing about the mission without a good talking-to.
When I arrived in Singapore, I was summoned to Stan’s hotel, where he lectured me on treating the poor and suffering with respect. And he didn’t want my copy filled with wonder at how “different” these people were.
That year, we rescued 228 Vietnamese boat people from the Thai pirates and the deathly surges of the high seas. Within two years, the world was shamed by the boldness of World Vision’s leader and the U.S. Navy was picking up these refugees.
Mooneyham was a special assistant to Billy Graham before joining World Vision. He was one of the first practitioner of telethons and direct-mail campaigns to raise funds and was not afraid to use emotional appeals. Responding to criticism of his methods in 1978, Mooneyham said: "We are accused of emotionalism, but hunger is emotional, death is emotional and poverty is emotional. Those who wish to make it all seem neat, clinical and bureaucratic are the ones falsifying the picture, not us."
Mooneyham was the seventh child of a cotton sharecropper in Mississippi. He joined the Navy and served in the South Pacific during World War II. He told The Times in a 1981 interview that he became a Christian because of the war. He graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University on the GI Bill. Mooneyham joined the Graham evangelical crusades as a media liaison worker in 1964 and became advance planner for Graham evangelism congresses around the world. It was in some of those foreign lands that he saw what he described as "the awesome human needs" and joined World Vision.
Jim Jewell
Leaders of the Evangelical Generation: #8 W. Stanley Mooneyham
The First Ten PR Secrets for Non-Profits
When you engage in public relations as a non-profit organization, every move must be strategic and thoughtful. The road to visibility can be long and arduous, and there is nothing more important than your reputation. For more than three decades, we have been providing counsel and service to organizations and public figures in the Christian and non-profit sectors. We’ll unfold ten things we’ve learned. Today: #1. Be One Thing.
#1 Be One Thing
Most organizations at their birth have a shining new idea and a vision for changing the world. A solution that people are willing to get behind. The founders seek to right a wrong.
Far too often, success in the journey toward that vision breeds branches in the road.
The first principle of successful non-profit public relations is to Be One Thing. Remain focused on one product, mission, ministry, or cause. We have found that the same impulses and drives that cause a visionary to begin and develop an organization often lead that founder to expand the non-profit brand by addressing additional areas of need.
This isn’t unique to the non-profit world, of course. Companies with some of the most successful consumer brands have tried to use the brand equity not just to increase the product’s market share, but also to expand what the brand represents.
Brand extension is the enemy of clear and strong identity, whether it happens at a mission or with a consumer product.
Watch for #2.
Jim Jewell
FRC Testimony to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
By Robert Schwarzwalder
Senior Vice President
Family Research Council
November 12, 2009
Co-Chairmen McGovern and Wolf, Congressman Smith and Members of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, thank you for allowing the Family Research Council to submit testimony on China’s human rights record.
In one sense, it is difficult to know where to begin. The catalog of China’s human rights abuses is so extensive that to highlight only several areas is to imply that the others are less significant. This is not the case.
Since the Maoist take-over of mainland China in 1949, tens of millions have perished under the wheel of totalitarian Communism. The exact number is difficult to quantify, but conservative estimates place the number into the 40 millions; the actual number may exceed 100 million.
We cannot truly mourn these losses without working actively to prevent additional brutality in our time. For that reason, Family Research Council will highlight two aspects of the Chinese government’s long pattern of inhumane treatment toward its own citizens that are of particular relevance to the work and ministry of our organization: its ongoing persecution of Christian believers and China’s “one child,” coercive
abortion policy.
The most authoritative study now available indicates that as of 2008, there are roughly 40 million Protestants and 14 million Catholics living in China. Of the latter number, about 10 million worship in churches not recognized by Beijing due to the Communist government’s antagonism toward Rome. Of the Protestants, substantial numbers worship in “unregistered” house churches. 1
What is the fate of these faithful men and women, productive citizens who want only to worship according to their consciences and in fidelity to the mandates of their faiths? Consider a small selection of the findings of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bi-partisan federal agency, in its 2009 annual report on China:
In May 2008, the Beijing Police raided the unregistered Shouwang Church and ordered the members to leave and stop meeting. The Shouwang Church has tried to register with the local government, but their application has been denied repeatedly because their clergy was not trained by the officially recognized Christian association. Unregistered Catholic priest Wang Zhong was sentenced to three years imprisonment for organizing a July ceremony at a new church that was legally registered with the government. Provincial authorities in Sichuan also interfered with the humanitarian activities sponsored by unregistered house church Protestants following the May 2008 earthquake. Two Protestants from Henan Province were detained and questioned about their efforts to help earthquake victims; they were held for about a week and ordered to pay a hefty fine for engaging in illegal religious activity. 2
As the Members of this panel know, lengthy books could be written about individual cases of religious persecution by the Chinese government. These not only clearly violate international accords of which China is a signatory, but more profoundly they do injustice to men and women of all ages, some quite young, others very elderly, whose only crime is to believe in the Creator of life and desire to worship Him according to biblical lights.
With respect to China’s “one child” birth policy, the three decades-old policy – euphemistically called “strategic family planning” – has resulted in untold numbers of coerced abortions, many on late-term unborn babies, and now by the Chinese government’s own admission, “there are 37 million more males than females now in China. Within the 0 - 15 year age group, there are 18 million more boys than girls.”
The massiveness of China’s forced abortion policy and its sheer brutality has not discouraged the Communist government from sustaining it. According to recent comments by Zhang Weiqing, minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, “The current family planning policy, formed as a result of gradual changes in the past two decades, has proved compatible with national conditions. So it has to be kept unchanged at this time to ensure stable and balanced population growth.” 4
Sadly, President Obama has chosen to waive the historic Kemp-Kasten prohibition that denies federal funding to organizations or programs that “support or participate in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” and provide $50 million to the United Nations Family Planning Fund, some of which will go to assist Chinese officials who will further facilitate compulsory contraception, forced abortions, and even prison terms for women who have more than one child. 5
“Nothing stamped with the Divine image and likeness was sent into the world to be trodden on,” said President Lincoln. This is the essential meaning of our Declaration of Independence, that God has created all of us equal and bestowed us with “certain unalienable rights,” the foremost among them the right to life.
This principle is true for Americans and Chinese alike, and should be reinstated as essential to America’s relationship with China’s government and its gruesome human rights policies.
Thank you again for giving the Family Research Council the opportunity to submit this testimony.
1 “Facts about Numbers of Christians in China,” Dr. Werner Burklin, www.gospelherald.net, Dec. 9, 2008
2 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, 2009 Annual Report on the People’s Republic of China, p.5
3 “China has 37 million more males than females,” People’s Daily Online, July 10, 2007. www.english.people.com.cn
4 “China Sticking with One –Child Policy,” Jim Yardley, New York Times, March 11, 2008
5 “Conservatism's Future in Foreign Policy,” by Family Research Council Senior Fellow and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission Ken Blackwell, The Washington Times, Sept. 9, 2009; FRC News Release, “FRC Commends Effort to Protect Pro-life Riders, Prevent Taxpayer Funded Abortions,” Feb. 25, 2009
Leaders of the Evangelical Generation #28: Millard Fuller
#28 Millard Fuller. Builder. 1935-2009
[I am working on a project that may become a book on the most influential evangelicals leaders of our generation, since 1976, and the impact they've had on the church and their times. I will introduce them briefly on this blog from time to time].
On February 17, 2009, I received a letter from heaven, and while it certainly seemed odd, it was the news that an old friend had died that shocked and saddened me. I grieved for the dear wife and family of a truly great man.
Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity and the Fuller Center for Housing, died Feb. 3 at the age of 74. It appears it was a heart attack, which was a surprise for a razor thin man of drive and energy. I didn’t see any news stories on his passing; perhaps you didn’t either.
I had sent Millard a letter about the new ministry we’re involved in called Flourish, an effort to energize Christian churches around the right priorities of creation care. He received my letter on January 27 and dictated a gracious response (remember when people routinely exchanged letters; how quaint). His secretary transcribed the letter and mailed it to me on February 5, with the notation: “dictated by Mr. Fuller and transcribed after his death.”
Our firm, Rooftop MediaWorks, worked with Millard and Linda Fuller soon after a late-in-life crisis, when Millard was forced out of his position as the leader of Habitat, the organization he and Linda had begun, by the board he had chosen. [When you spend much of your life in the public relations business, as I have, you often meet people at times of crisis.]
It was an ugly parting, and I first talked with Millard about it when I wrote a news piece for Christianity Today on the separation. My research left me troubled by the board’s rough treatment of Millard, so when I saw that he and Linda were continuing the ministry of providing low cost housing through a new organization, the Fuller Center for Housing, we offered to provide public relations services—which we did for the next several months, introducing the new group to the world.
When I learned yesterday of Millard’s passing in this odd and unexpected way, my first thought was that when he was pushed out of Habitat at the age of 70 he should have stepped back and enjoyed his accomplishments and bounced some grandkids on his knee. Maybe that would have prolonged his life. But instead he chose to continue serving people who suffered because of substandard housing. He believed in serving his God and his neighbors in this way, which he called the Theology of the Hammer.”
So Millard died, figuratively, with a hammer in his hand, and although his life could have been longer, I doubt that it could have been much richer.
People like Millard Fuller are great not because they are flawless or all-wise. Great people like Millard Fuller do great things by challenging themselves to do ever more, by motivating everyone in their path, and by trusting in a Greater God.
We owe Millard much and we do well to emulate him. At very least, in his honor we should pick up a hammer this year and help some folks who cannot help themselves.
That Beauty May Flourish
"We all have our own internal lists of what we call beautiful. My list would include my captivating wife, the bright eyes of my newborn daughter, the layered contours of a mountain range, the pulse and drama of a rocky shoreline, the power of a pounding waterfall, the bounty of a vegetable garden, the autumn explosion of a brilliant tree-lined lane, and even the sculpted, balanced architecture of a well-planned cityscape."
With new beauty about to be added to my life--the birth of a third daughter very, very soon--my further thoughts on beauty and the care of creation are featured today on the Flourish blog (they highlight thoughts from my one son, Michael).
Jim Jewell
The Evangelical Generation: 50 leaders who shaped a generation of evangelical influence
I'm writing material for a new project, which may turn into a book, exploring what I'm calling "The Evangelical Generation."
This will look at a generation of evangelical emergence and influence in American life, explored through the lives and public impact of individuals who I will identify as the country’s 50 most influential evangelicals from 1976 through the present.
The book will also cite the contributions of many churches, organizations and efforts that have helped define evangelical witness and presence during this generation, but have not had one of the 50 influencers at the helm. I’ll also include observations on some of the individuals who are likely to lead evangelicals in the generation to come.
I have met with, worked with, served as a public relations consultant, or been an employee of at least half of the 50 that I have provisionally identified for inclusion. On the list: Nine are deceased and at least 12 are over 70. The selection isn’t from a poll or a professional study—they are my choices based on many discussions and on my own experience working in the evangelical subculture since 1978. I have seen many of them in action through my positions at World Vision, Prison Fellowship, The Trinity Forum, The DeMoss Group, the Evangelical Climate Initiative, and Flourish, and at the public relations firm I have run since 2002, Rooftop MediaWorks. I’ve been a writer for Christianity Today and a regular observer and writer on the intersection of faith and culture.
And I can relate many firsthand experiences with many of these leaders, including forceful, poignant, and hilarious moments.
My thesis is that in terms of real church growth, spiritual influence, world impact, and cultural involvement, the generation since ‘76 is the most consequential evangelical generation in American history. My purpose is not to paint a rosy picture of evangelical leaders or exaggerate their influence, but to capture this impact on a generation that began in 1976, when Jimmy Carter presented himself as a born-again president and Chuck Colson’s book Born Again was among the best selling of all books that year. I hope to illuminate the personality of these extraordinary modern figures, highlight their strengths and idiosyncrasies, and explore their interplay with a changing American culture. The presentation of these 50 leaders will make the case that there has not been a more vibrant force or political influence on this generation than the evangelicals.
Who should be on the list?
Jim Jewell
Eating thankfully and mercifully this Thanksgiving
After watching an excellent overview of the intersection of faith and the humane treatment of animals called Eating Mercifully, produced by the Humane Society of America's Animals and Religion division, I'm beginning to examine how we can eat only meat that is raised humanely. It's hard work and it costs more. Watch the video and you'll try, too.
This all has me asking about what to do at the biggest meat treat of the year, the Thanksgiving meal. There are not many turkey producers who are treating their birds humanely. I found an article on one, marketed under the name POPS FARM. Looking for more.
Think hard about this one; watch the trailer; get the video. Start the journey.
Jim Jewell
SPEAKERS FROM DEVELOPING WORLD BRING INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE TO CLIMATE CHANGE CONCERN
Restoring Eden’s ANKLE DEEP IN REALITY Tour Features Christian Leaders from Uganda, South Pacific
LA CENTER, WASH., Oct. 30, 2009 — Christian leaders from Uganda and the South Pacific will talk about impacts of climate change being experienced in their nations, as part of the Ankle Deep in Reality tour in six Midwest and Southeastern states, October 30-November 18, 2009.
The tour, sponsored by the Christian education and advocacy group Restoring Eden (www.restoringeden.org), features Rev. Tafue Molu Lausam, a Christian pastor and activist from the South Pacific island of Tuvalu, and Sara Kaweesa, who works with the Christian conversation group A-Rocha in Kampala, Uganda,
The tour will begin in Chicago on October30 and will include events at Christian colleges, seminaries and churches in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
“The climate change policies of the industrialized nations are destroying innocent people elsewhere in the world, especially in the small low lying island countries in the Pacific,” said Rev. Lusama. “I must carry on this advocacy work to the global church until the world hears and decides on a positive, coherent and meaningful deal for stopping climate change and the tragic impacts that are threatening our very survival.”
Tentative Tour Schedule
Southeastern Tour
Nov. 3 Charleston, SC Church Event
Nov. 4 University of South Carolina
Nov. 5 Charleston Church Event
Nov. 6 Columbia, SC
Nov. 9 Eastern Mennonite Univ., Harrisonburg VA
Nov. 10 Duke Seminary, Durham, NC
Nov. 12 Vineyard church, Raleigh, NC
Nov. 17 Washington, D.C.
Midwestern Tour
Oct. 30t Wheaton College Wheaton, IL
Oct. 31 Goshen College, Goshen, IN
Nov. 1 Christ United Methodist Church, Dayton/Kettering, OH
Nov. 2 Columbus Vineyard, Columbus, OH
Nov. 3 Taylor University, Upland, IN
Nov. 4 Valparaiso College, Valparaiso, IN
Nov. 5 Huntington College, Huntington, IN
Nov. 6 Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
Nov. 8 Ann Arbor Vineyard,Ann Arbor ,MI
Nov. 9 Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN
Nov. 10 Anderson College, Anderson, IN
Nov. 11 Ashland College, Ashland, OH
Nov. 12 Wilmington College, Wilmington, OH
Rev. Tafue Molu Lusama
Rev. Tafue Molu Lusama is from the island of Tuvalu in the South Pacific, was raised as a Christian, and earned his theology degree in Samoa. He pastored congregations throughout the South Pacific before becoming the program officer for Peace and Justice in 2002. As part of his position, Rev. Lusama studied in Taiwan for a Master of Arts in Religion, where he wrote a thesis on the theological perspectives of climate change. As part of his current advocacy work, Rev. Lusama established the Tuvalu Climate Action Network in 2006. As chairman, he represented Tuvalu in important negotiations in Kenya and Poland. In addition, Rev. Lusama has been appealing to the industrialized countries to consider Tuvalu’s very survival from their daily individual decisions to their political decisions.
Sara Kaweesa
Sara Kaweesa is based in Kampala Uganda, where she leads A-Rocha Uganda Initiative (ARUI), a Christian conservation organization. Sara earned a Masters of Science in Forestry in Vienna, Austria and holds certificates in climate change from outstanding agencies such as Tearfund, UNEP, Oxfam GB, IIED, IPC Denmark and a host of others. Sara travels throughout Uganda and Africa taking the message of creation stewardship to Bible colleges, pastors, elders, church congregations and to local communities in both rural and urban settings. She also works to help local people work as best they can to prepare for and mitigate the damage the changing climate is having upon their survival. Sara is also a lay pastor at the Makerere Full Gospel Church where she serves in the ladies ministry.
Peter Illyn/Restoring Eden
Rev. Peter Illyn is the executive director of Restoring Eden (www.restoringeden.org), a network of people working to become a grassroots movement within the church dedicated to encouraging faithful stewardship of the natural world as a biblical, moral, and wise value.
Raised in South Carolina as a Russian Orthodox, Peter Illyn graduated from Rhema Bible College where he earned credentials as an evangelical minister. He spent nine years serving as a pastor in Foursquare churches in Portland, Oregon and Yakima, Washington. Peter returned to school for an undergraduate degree in marketing. Upon graduation, as a sabbatical, Peter took two llamas on a four-month, 1,000 mile trek through the Cascades, which set the long-distance record for llama packing. According to Peter, “I went into the mountains an evangelical minister, but I came out an environmental activist. I believe God made a good earth and I am called to be a good steward; to protect the fruitfulness and connectedness of creation.” Peter worked as the Northwest representative for the Evangelical Environmental Network and for Target Earth before starting Restoring Eden in 2001. Restoring Eden, Illyn says, makes hearts bigger, hands dirtier, and voices stronger by encouraging Christians to learn to love, serve, and protect God's creation. The organization’s people are involved in nature appreciation, environmental stewardship, and public advocacy.
To interview Tafue Lusama, Sara Kaweesa, or Peter Illyn, contact Debbie Payton at dpayton3@msn.com; (770) 831-7572.
50 Million Christians--In India
Key Christian leaders in India are reaching their nation, according to the Billion Soul network. In the last 30 years, the Christian population has swelled from less than 24 million to almost 50 million people, at a rate of almost 400,000 new converts per month.
Billion Soul writes:
The Indian Church has some of the most faith-filled people in the world. They have taken ownership of the Great Commission and believe it is possible to finish it in this generation. These leaders have set a goal to plant more than 500,000 churches with more than 100 million people coming to Christ. We are watching before our eyes the emergence of the largest Christian community in the world—in India.
Global Conference for Unreached People Groups to Feature J. Hudson Taylor IV, Philip Jenkins
The Finish Line Conference at Church of God HQ, Oct. 27-28
ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 15, 2009--J. Hudson Taylor IV, great grandson and namesake of the pioneering missionary to China, will head an impressive list of speakers at The Finish Line, a strategic conference on evangelism and church planting to be conducted at the Church of God World Headquarters in Cleveland, Tennessee, October 27-28, 2009. The conference will focus on the networking of church leaders in order to reach the "unreached people groups" throughout the world.
Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Penn State University and author of The Rise of Global Christianity and The Next Christendom, is a featured speaker. Jenkins has received a great deal of attention for his recent work on the changing face of the church and the explosion of Christianity in the global south.
The conference is the second in The Finish Line series of summits. The first conference, in January 2006, brought together nearly 100 leaders to hear presentations by Elmer Towns, Jack Hayford, James Merritt, and David Mohan. The Finish Line series is guided by a five-point structure for building a strong network worldwide developed by Dr. Paul Walker, former Overseer of the Church of God: relationships, resources, research, recommendations, and reports.
Other presenter at the summit will include:
• Douglas LeRoy, the World Missions Director for Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee
• Suliasi Kurulo, founder of World Harvest Centre in Suva, Fiji
• Raymond Culpepper, General Overseer of Church of God, Cleveland, Tennessee
• Alex Abraham, foremost expert on unreached peoples of India
• Alex Mitala, Chairman, New Birth Fellowship (20,000 churches), Kampala, Uganda.
• James O. Davis, Cofounder of Billion Soul Network
• Gustavo Crocker, Eurasia Director of the Church of the Nazarene, Switzerland
• Alexey Ledyaev, founder of New Generation Churches, Riga, Latvia
• David Sobrepeña, founding pastor Word of Hope, Manila, Philippines
This international summit is by invitation only. Candidates should contact the Billion Soul Network at events@Billion.tv
Media Note: To arrange an interview with conference organizers or speakers, contact Debbie Payton of Rooftop MediaWorks at dpayton3@msn.com or (404) 245-8500.
How Can I Say There is No God When All Around Creation Calls
"How can I say there is no God when all around creation calls," sings Brian Doersksen as you view amazing BBC Planet Earth footage in a video produced by The Branch Church in Texas.
Take a break; watch this video on the Flourish Blog. It's a worship experience; a visual and audio illustration of Romans 1:20.
Leading Evangelical Climate Change Critic Apologizes
Global warming denier and the lead evangelical debater on the topic apologized for extreme and distasteful promotional copy printed about his workshop at the Family Research Council Values Voter Summit this weekend.
Rusty Pritchard and I attended the workshop; Rusty writes about Cal Beisner's mea culpa (and his gracious words).
--Jim Jewell
ChildVoice Helps Heal Two Former "Wives" of LRA's Jospehy Kony
Among the previously abducted child mothers at the ChildVoice center in Uganda are two former wives--kidnapped at ages 8 and 10--of LRA leader Josephy Kony. Article on the girls in The Guardian in the UK, and soon on BBC.
Likely the Most Diverse Christian Pastors’ Conference in History
More than 40 Christian leaders and pastors from every continent will teach evangelistic and networking strategies at what certainly must be the most denominationally and internationally diverse pastors’ conference in history: Synergize 2, January 19-21, 2010 in Orlando, Florida.
The speakers represent some 115 million congregation members in their local churches and organizations. The Synergize 2 Pastor Conference presenters will teach on mobilizing leaders, multiplying disciples, and maximizing ministries.
The diversity starts with the co-sponsors: Leon Fontaine of Winnipeg, Canada; James O. Davis of Orlando, Florida; Suliasi Kurulo of Suva, Fiji; and Jonathan Falwell of Lynchburg, Virginia.
Is God Boring? Not so, says James O. Davis in Gutenberg to Google
“The power of the presentation is derived by the person who gives it. If the preacher is boring to the congregation, people will think God is boring.”
From Gutenberg to Google by Dr. James O. Davis
Sinful Preaching? From Gutenberg to Google by James O. Davis
“I have become convinced of what I learned in my first year of seminary, that it is a sin to bore people with the Gospel.” From Gutenberg to Google, by James O. Davis
LifeQwest Still Saving Street Kids in Mongolia
When my wife and I visited Mongolia in 2004 with LifeQwest founders Jerry and Susan Smith, we were shocked by the unimaginable conditions for the homeless and indigent, primarily because of the dangerous cold. We were also greatly impressed by the holistic care that LifeQwest was providing to orphaned, abandoned, and unwanted children in Darhan, in the northern reaches of the country.
I wrote about LifeQwest and Mongolia in Christianity Today:
"It's been a dark time in Mongolia following the change of government and the collapse of the economy," a local Christian pastor told me. "People have had little consideration for each other, so when we demonstrate the love of Christ for others, it is noticeable, and it makes a difference."
In Darhan, 15 youngsters swarm visitors at an apartment as a newly rescued child joins their family of orphans and abandoned children. The bounding children are animated and healthy, and they practice their English on anyone who will listen. They are the residents of one of five children's homes run by LifeQwest. Although the homes are officially full, missionaries never turn away a child whom police have swept from the streets.
Their new sister is a 4-year-old girl with closely cropped hair and an earnest, hopeful look. She didn't know her name, so she received the name Shanea, which means "new." Shanea was with a group of children in the market, an open-air series of fruit and sundry stands in a greasy and cluttered area that looks like the back lot of a factory. Shanea's mother abandoned her.
Fortunately, this group of Mongolian Christians brought her to a place where she will be cared for, nurtured, and loved. There are huge societal ills to cure, but in the lives of rescued children and the efforts of a young national church, the journey to a Mongolian morning has begun.”
The ministry is still going strong. Jerry and Susan report that LifeQwest is still involved in work with orphaned and abandoned children, as well as ministry initiatives that touch the lives of Mongolia's sick and elderly. They tell us that they are now feeding 344 babies and mothers twice daily in six different centers.
--Jim Jewell
reinventing. regularity.
The most important thing you need to know about communicating publicly is that everything has changed while the important matters are entirely the same.
Let me explain.
The ways people receive news and information and the ways they interact have changed substantially, with blinding speed. Fewer and fewer people are reading newspapers and magazines, and not as many are tuning into television and radio. Internet based media are an increasingly popular source, although even those offerings had better be quick. Mail campaigns are emailed. Followers are twitterers and it’s hard to distinguish the leaders. We’re connecting with far more people than we ever have through social networks, and there has never been less community or socialbility.
This impacts many aspects of the work of public relations and communications—what we say and how we say it. Certainly we need to feel the heartbeat of rising generations and learn and use the communications vehicles of the digital age, whether we personally like them or not.
Yet at the same time, timeless communication principles are still at work, and we have to master them and practice them with regularity. The core of a mission is its identity-- who you are, your brand. When it comes to branding, we have to hit mark and communicate it with such clarity that we cannot possibly be misunderstood. We still need to write and speak and project in concise and compelling ways. Content still counts. It’s not as important that you say something everyday—through posts, tweets, status updates, links, and texts—as it is that what you say is important.
For a cause to be widely praised and supported over a long period, you must be known for regularity of your core principles, including:
--Integrity of your program and the veracity of your assertions
--Passion of your people toward the work at hand and the resulting deep, even sacrificial, commitment
--Authentic human drama that captures hearts and minds
At Rooftop, we are prepared to help you with these challenges. We are reinventing all we do to maximize the tools of the day, and we believe this will complement skills and lessons we’ve learned through more than 30 years of public relations service in the Christian community.
Jim Jewell
Organization President Leads ChildVoice with Bicycle Ride to Benefit Rescued Child Soldiers
One of the great horrors of the modern era is the exploitation of children as pawns of war, and specifically the abduction of children to serve as soldiers and to participate in unspeakable savagery. Child Voice International is a great outreach to former child soldiers in Uganda; kids who have been rescued from or escaped the horror, only to face uncertain lives in the shadow of childhood brutality.
Check out ChildVoice. But first consider supporting the founder of the organization, who is leading with his legs! For the second year, ChildVoice president Conrad Mandsager will be riding in the Kancamagus Bicycle Challenge to benefit war affected children on September 12th. The ride is organized and produced by ChildVoice
Although the White Mountains are gorgeous in September with dramatic views, waterfalls and wildlife, this ride is certainly not a one for the faint of heart. Climbing 4300 feet in 64 miles, riders summit the infamous Kancamagus Pass twice on the ride. The difficulty of the ride symbolizes the struggle of children in war-torn Africa and the courage of the former child-soldiers to escape that horror.
Conrad has set a personal goal to raise $10,000 for ChildVoice on this ride. The proceeds from this charity event will go to support the Lukodi Center in northern Uganda, where ChildVoice is operating a residential program for formerly abducted girls and their children.
Conrad recently returned from a trip to the Center. He writes: “I was absolutely amazed by the transformation in the girls during their stay. Their smiles and laughter, their confidence, and the skills they are learning are remarkable evidence of how far they have come in healing from the horrors of their past. While I am excited about our early results, there is so much more to do. There are thousands of girls who desperately need the services that we are providing. Our staff was overwhelmed with the number of girls who applied for the 15 slots that were available in June. Your financial support will help us to reach many more girls and their children who have been traumatized by this long, protracted war.”
If you can help Conrad reach his ride goal of $10,000, go to this web page to make a donation.
By the way, if you are interested in riding on September 12th, it is not too late to sign up for the ride. Register here.
emerge. thrive. create. impact.
Rooftop Linkage
A New Campaign
As we complete summer 2009, we are launching a new campaign to present the spirit and vision of Rooftop, based on the values and passions of many terrific clients we've been privileged to serve over three decades. The central themes:
Emerge
These are tough times for many people. This presents opportunities for the followers of Christ to demonstrate the timeless values and world-changing impact of the Gospel. Rooftop provides communications counsel and service to Christians who are serving where there is great need and defining the nature of comprehensive evangelical witness. Over the years, it has been our pleasure to provide communications services to hundreds of Christian organizations, leaders, events, and causes that are on the front lines of Christian ministry and advocacy. It is our goal to help today’s ministries to emerge from difficulties and obscurity to lead with confidence in the years ahead. 
Thrive
Nobody wants to just get by. We make plans and lay foundations not to survive, but to thrive. That’s why we base our counsel not on getting attention today at the expense of fundamental values but on building brands and program integrity that you can sustain in the long term. We’ve been working in the Christian community for more than 30 years and we understand the need to put first things first and to honor the One through whom all things will indeed thrive. 
Create
We are committed to a partnership with leaders, causes, and organizations who seek not to change culture, but to create new culture. We have never been known for accepting the status quo or seeking the easy solution. As public relations professionals who have created powerful campaigns for some of the most successful ministries of our time, we are equipped to help you create the next initiative that will project Christian truth and authentic faithfulness in the midst of cultural morass. 
Impact
Our clients don’t live to get on television or to multiply Facebook friends. They don’t strive for invitations to the next VIP conference or a nice review in Christianity Today. For them, any of those achievements would be means to an end. Their goal is to transform lives and to impact the world around them. And if media want to talk with them they are most likely to find them nurturing orphans in the huts of northern Mongolia, teaching life skills to the former child soldiers of Uganda, or planting trees to protect Haitian watershed. It gives us pleasure to serve these partners who care more about impact than impression, and more about life-change than lights and action.