Drew Peterson is **Hopefully** Not #Untouchable

After watching the movie that is about the exploits of Drew Peterson, I’m ready for people to step up and change this system that rewards the actions of people who do wrong and minimizes the pain of victims.  The Lifetime TV network is supposedly “FOR women.”  If that is true, then I want to see them do something that will be beneficial for real women who are abused.

The only way this will happen is if we rise up and tell them that we want that to happen.  Stop being silent.  Silence is passive acceptance.  We can no longer do that.  It is not acceptable.

I was Stacy Peterson’s pastor.  And today, I’m a domestic violence activist because of her.  Please, join me in making a difference today.  Speak up about this!  Tell everyone you know about this site: documenttheabuse.com.  It is groundbreaking and will help give voices back to women whom have been silenced by their abusers.

If you don’t do anything, the culture won’t change and 8 women will continue to die each day at the hands of their abusers.  And abusers will remain untouchable.

Rise up now to honor  past victims and for the wives and mothers and daughters of tomorrow.

Peace,

Neil

2012
01/21
CATEGORY
Current Events
TAGS








1 comment

Is Drew Peterson Untouchable?

Tonight at 7pm CST, Lifetime will be releasing a movie about Drew Peterson .  Now, I “get” why they are doing a movie that centers on him, but ultimately, it won’t be helpful to all of the women out there that are still suffering at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends.

The problem is that we focus on the abuser. We focus on serial killers. We focus on professional athletes who behave poorly. Those make for the most “interesting” stories, I guess. But the victim is not the focus, and I’m afraid will never be.  So what will it take to change this?

It will take people stepping up to be a part of the solution. I’m doing that, and I’d love it if you’d join me. Tell your pastor, your community leaders, fellow church-goers, people at the gym, and the grocery store, that YOU want to make a difference in the lives of women who are being abused. Tell them that 1/4 of all women in church today are being abused. Tell them that if THEY don’t do something, that no one will. Tell them that WE cannot be silent about this anymore.

I need you to step up to bat with me and help me to save lives. Will you tell everyone you know about this site: documenttheabuse.com? It is a step-by-step guide for abused women to begin to take back their voice from their abusers. More importantly, it will give them hope and courage to plan to get away from their abusers because they’ll know that others care personally about them.

With your help, we’ll show abusers that they are NOT untouchable.  When you watch Untouchable tonight, remember the victims of domestic violence.  8 women die each day at the hands of their abusers.  With your help, this WILL change.

Peace,

Neil

2012
01/06
CATEGORY
Current Events
Domestic Violence
TAGS


2 comments

Shift 2012

I’m making a big shift in 2012. It is out of my comfort zone, but I’m doing it anyway. Some of best things we can do for ourselves are tough, but we still press through.

About three months ago I started thinking about my genetics. I’m not sure exactly why, but I started looking at the diseases that my family members are most susceptible to. Hands-down, it was heart disease. As a matter of fact, both of my grandfathers died of heart disease and coronary artery disease is a very common ailment in the ones still living.

Around that same time, I watched a documentary called Forks Over Knives. The documentary suggested that if Americans switched to a mainly plant-based diet, that many of our common disease processes would be eradicated. Heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes could be things of the past.

After doing several months of studying, I’ve decided to become a vegetarian. I believe that it is the most responsible thing that I can do for the genetic hand I’ve been dealt. As I thought about the things that I’d be missing (like Portillo’s burgers) I had the sense that God was asking me if I wanted to choose health or tasty burgers. I knew that God wanted me to love the life He gave me more than the taste of any food.

So here’s what I’m NOT doing:

~I’ll never condemn you for eating meat. I’m all “for” humane choices, but I don’t think it is wrong to eat meat.

In all of this, I ask for your respect and support. It is something that I strongly feel that I’m supposed to do. I’ve researched this thoroughly, and I’m confident in my decision. So thanks in advance for your help and encouragement in my new way of eating!

How can I help YOU reach your goals in 2012?

Peace,

Neil

2012
01/01
CATEGORY
Life
TAGS


3 comments

Lessons from #Haiti

Final day in Haiti…and I’m wiped out. We just took the longest hike of my life (7 hours) and spent time with some incredible kids and one really wonderful pastor. The progress on the school being built was great to see, too.

What I took in the most was very similar to the themes of my other trips: Being poor does not mean that you can’t be generous. After our hike to Plik, the pastor and his family offered us food that truly cost him something. He gave us papaya, wonderful coffee, and fresh baked bread. Afterward, he invites us outside for some coconut water from coconuts that his family climbed up trees to get and then the pastor hacked each one open with amazing precision and have us all we could drink. Each coconut has around 20 ounces of water in them and all 9 of us drank a whole one then asked for more for our journey back home. He immediately sent his son back up the 40 foot tall tree and dropped more coconuts down and repeated the process. All in all, he have us at least 18 coconuts. All this from a man who couldn’t make more than $2/day. Unbelievable and humbling.

The same pastor escorted us back on our walk about 2/3 of our distance home. He just wanted to make sure that his guests were ok. He went the extra mile when he didn’t have to. He didn’t have money but what he had, he have to us. He modeled generosity to me today.

Lord, may this trip stick with me and change me into the person you want me to be. Thanks for loving me enough to shape me through the poverty of some of your beautiful people in Haiti.

Peace,

Neil

2011
11/08
CATEGORY
"the least of these"
TAGS
Write comment

2 Pencils and a Lot of Love in #Haiti

This morning after we ate oatmeal and had coffee, we headed over to one of the schools that we built in Marfranc, Haiti. We went there to connect with the children and also to bring them school supplies and vitamins. We take these things for granted but Haitians certainly don’t. In a country where the life expectancy is 51 years, you can’t take anything for granted, really.

We brought each student 2 pencils, 1 pen, a chewable vitamin, and a sticker. The excitement of these kids was unfathomable. They acted like it was Christmas morning! The joy and appreciation we felt from them was palpable. What a reality check for all of us who are numbed by the material worship in our over-fed culture.

We also got to introduce some of our team members to the kids they sponsor (so they can afford to go to school and have suitable clothes). It was a tear-jerker of a moment when Bill Inman hugged the kid he sponsors and told him with emotion washing over his face that he loved him. We all do, Bill.

Then I got the chance to meet and take a picture with Adolphe Kervens, a little boy that my friends, Heidi and Acey Ty sponsor. Heidi, thank you for your generosity and for showing Acey what is important. Ty would be so proud.

Today was a complete day. Great interactions, hard physical work, and some reflection. Tomorrow, I will have my final Haitian adventure on this trip—the long hike to Plik to check out the progress on school #4! Then a good night sleep and the long trip back to Chi-town to see my incredible family (I miss them DEARLY).

Peace,

Neil

2011
11/07
CATEGORY
"the least of these"
TAGS





Write comment

Grateful in #Haiti

Last night we were all sitting on the porch of the Kay Bo Rivye (our house in Haiti) we started talking about poverty. Now when I speak of poverty I’m not talking about poverty that most of us in the US have EVER seen. This is not poverty that the Occupy Wall Street movement understands and it isn’t even something that most of the poorest in our nation will ever experience.

In one of the markets in Marfranc, a woman was making mud cookies. That isn’t a fancy name for a delicious chocolate dessert. It is exactly what it claims to be (minus the cookie part). A child made his way up to the woman and asked for a “cookie.”. The woman packed dark mud in a bowl with some vegetable oil and gave it to the hungry boy after he gave her his money which ended up being the equivalent of 1/2 of one US cent.

Now when I hear that, I’m sad and confused about how to respond. I struggle with interacting with a people who will most likely always spend their full days trying to survive instead of learning to thrive. But…I’m also deeply grateful for all that I have. I’m going to be thinking about this a great deal over the next few days. And as we approach Thanksgiving, please join me and think about what God wants a grateful people to be like and then do.

Peace,

Neil

2011
11/05
CATEGORY
"the least of these"
change
christianity
church
contentment
TAGS


Write comment

Great Conversations Plus Nothing in #Haiti

The morning began with great bold coffee at the Kay Bo Rivye (Creole for house by the river) and some stick-to-your-ribs kind of oatmeal. Then, we were supposed to be working on painting some large interior portions of the house. But in Haiti, things usually turn out a little bit differently than we plan. Today was that kind of day.

A few in our group went into Jeremie to pick up paint and cement and to complete a huge variety of errands, and several of us stayed at the house to do a few simple repairs…that took us almost no time at all. Then we waited…for about 5 hours for our remaining members to return. Needless to say, the day wasn’t the most productive. At least not in the typically American way that oftentimes significance is defined.

Instead of getting tasks completed, I had some heartfelt conversations with Vilex. He turned 28 today and is one of the best men that I know. He is the future of the Haitian church and culture. And he is the real deal. I asked Vilex what kind of Haiti he really dreams of living in. I asked him what keeps Haiti hundreds of years behind most of the developed world. We had some incredible conversations but most importantly, we just went with the natural flow of the day (degajer, as Haitians call it). What I’m learning on this trip is that sometimes the most productive thing we can do is to slow down and listen to the hearts and dreams of the people we’ve come to serve.

Today was a good day. And I have a feeling that this is really close to how Jesus would have spent this day, too. That makes me rest easy tonight.

Peace,

Neil

2011
11/04
CATEGORY
change
church
discipleship
TAGS



Write comment

Ranpli enpuisans an #Ayiti

Nou te gen yon vwayaj étonant kalm an Ayiti. Sa se yon bagay ki ra! Vwayaje nan yon nasyon nan mond twazyèm (peyi ki pi pòv nan Emisfè nan Western) se pa yon bagay fasil fè. Sekirite an se diferan ak avyon yo pa sou orè ak pis aterisaj yo pa egzakteman menm jan ak pis aterisaj nan Seyè (panse zèb, gravye, ak yon bouk kabrit oswa de). Nou ap manke yon koup la, men sak bagay sa yo ta kapab fason vin pi mal. Men, lòt pase sa, jodi a ki te vrèman terib. Poukisa? Paske nou te ale nan yon klinik medikal jodi a ak t’ap pale ak ekip sa a bèl bagay nan doktè yo ak enfimyè ak dantis soti nan Kokomo, Indiana. Lè sa a ekip te fè kèk bagay ki enkwayab. Èkstraksyon dan abse, geri tansyon wo, epi bay espwa. Eksepte pou yon ti kras 8 ane fin vye granmoun ti gason. Li te mennen l ‘bay sa a nan klinik ki opere jis yon semèn chak ane, apeprè yon semèn twò ta. Li te gen yon pèrforasyon entesten li e doktè yo ki voye l ‘lakay yo nan mouri nan bra yo nan aswè a manman l’. Se konsa, aswè a, yon jèn manman ap di orevwa pitit gason li ti … paske moun an Ayiti tou senpleman pa kapab peye swen medikal. Mwen malad. Mwen imajine li di orevwa nan youn nan ti fi ti m ‘yo. Li fè m ‘manke fanmi mwen konsa seryezman ke mwen te ka kriye. Mwen te pale byen fò ase. Men koulye a, ki sa? Mwen rive kwè gen resous yo ase nan mond sa a. Nou jis bezwen gen plis moun ki pran swen ase yo gaye yo.

~Neil

2011
11/04
CATEGORY
"the least of these"
change
christianity
church
Uncategorized
Write comment

Complete Helplessness in #Haiti

We had an amazingly uneventful trip to Haiti. That is a rare thing! Traveling to a third world nation (the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere) is not an easy thing to do. Security is different and planes aren’t on schedule and runways aren’t exactly like runways at ORD (think grass, gravel, and a goat or two). We’re missing a couple of bags but things could be way worse.

But other than that, today has been pretty awful. Why? Because we went to a medical clinic today and talked with this wonderful team of doctors and nurses and dentists from Kokomo, Indiana. And this team was doing some incredible things. Extracting abscessed teeth, healing hypertension, and giving hope. Except for a little 8 year old boy. He was brought to this clinic which operates just one week per year, about one week too late. He had a bowel perforation and the doctors sent him home to die in the arms of his mother tonight.

So tonight, a young mother will say goodbye to her little boy…because people in Haiti simply can’t afford medical care. I’m sick. I’m imagining saying goodbye to one of my little girls. It makes me miss my family so badly that I could cry. I’ve cried enough. But now what?

I happen to believe that there are enough resources in this world. We just need more people to care enough to spread them.

2011
11/03
CATEGORY
"the least of these"
missions
TAGS




Write comment

That’s Just Not in the Budget

We are deep in a recession. The housing market may never be the same. People are upside-down and inside-out. If you are like most people then you probably have more month than paycheck. Can you relate?

It is no different in the church. At NCC, we wrestle with making tough budgeting decisions. We want to make the best decisions possible with the money that God has allowed us to use for this time. But to be honest with you, I’m sick and tired of believing that the church is limited in completing the mission that God has given it due to economic hardship.

As a matter of fact, I might lose it if I hear another person tell me “well…that’s just not in the budget this year.” So…God is limited in his ability to turn people into fully-devoted followers of his through serving and learning about what real life entails, all because finances are bad. Umm…I don’t buy that. And you shouldn’t either.

Do you realize what the church can do in these hard economic times? The church can lead the way in re-shaping the value system of this culture by demonstrating radically non-sensical generosity. If every church in the US took in just one homeless person, we could end an epidemic and show the world that we take Jesus seriously about caring for the “least of these.”

By the way…there are families in every church that have the personal means and space to do this. And that is what “the church” is all about anyway…individuals banning together to do the great work of Jesus in a world desperate for grace and goodness.

There are so many other ways to help, too. 1/4 of all the women sitting in your church each Sunday are abused. Read that last line again. What can you do to make a difference? What if just one family in your church decided to open their own home to create a safe place for an abused woman? Can you imagine the impact we could make?

It is not acceptable for us to ever say “that’s just not in the budget.” Economic hard-times give us great opportunities to be generous in creative ways.

With this new kind of thinking, I want to ask you:

What dreams have you put on-hold because “that’s just not in the budget?”

2011
10/26
CATEGORY
church
TAGS


Write comment
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 675 other followers