Restoring Hope for a Better Tomorrow

So often in the Word of God we see the very clear picture of Jesus being among the people.  He intentionally walked among the people, He touched the leper and broke bread with the tax collector.  He walked,and we never see Him rushing to the next event or strategy meeting on how to finance or grow His ministry.  Christ spent His mornings alone with the Father and His days with the disciples, being in the presence of the hurting, the needy, and the afflicted.  As I walked the slums of Nairobi, it appeared to me that we could treat it much like the Safari’s. Most marvel at God’s creation, then go home to our lives, showing photographs to friends and/or posting them on Facebook.  When we see the poor or the orphan, we are not just to speak of their needs to others, for first they need Jesus and then they need us.

The Lord knew the most powerful way to disciple the 12 was not to leave them in a building trying to give them a whole new world perspective, but to demand that they follow Him into the world.  It is only when we follow Christ into the lives of others that we see do much of the depravity, especially of those with so little of the world, yet so much of Jesus.  Can you imagine the amazement of the disciples wonder when the widow’s mite was given and how it blessed Jesus?  So too we grow in Christ when we remove ourselves from communities of conformity and place ourselves among divergent and desperate people.  We will find the presence of God in the most unusual people, and ultimately realize an awakening of Christ in us. This past week, among some of the least of the world, I have been in the presence of my precious Savior.  In His presence is fullness of Joy!

Praying for people in San Antonio

Gwen Cornman serving in West Virginia

Making friends in the streets of Bonton South Dallas

Prayer walk in Bonton South Dallas

Being led to the Lord

Galati, Romania is not too far away

Amazed by God’s goodness to us this Christmas. We saw over 1,000 people Christmas day in Bonton with 300 volunteers and 70 salvations. This is a beautiful picture of what God is doing in and through H.I.S. BridgeBuilders. Clothes, toys, and food were donated but most of all on a cold winter day in Dallas the gift of Christ was experienced by all who were gathered together. We are humbled to do our work unto the Lord. There were no cameras or famous people congratulating us on what we were doing just servants joyfully serving the King. Interesting that much of what we do for the least and lost will never be acknowledged by men as of great importance. But to God it was worth sending His Son that first Christmas morning.

I watched as people waited in line for a coat in the cold, Mothers giving their coats to their children, and thought I have never done this one day in my life.  There is something so pure and undefiled about serving the least. There is no earthly reward only the heavenly.

Praising God for the hundreds served in San Antonio, Galati’s Romania, and Bridgeport West Virginia. Thousands have given their time talents and treasures to this movement of God. No other birth in history is marked by such love for others and compassion for the poor. Clearly the Lord is working mightily and we long to give Him praise. You are each a great gift from God and we thank God for each of you and how you are a part of this movement of God called H.I.S. BridgeBuilders!

Looking forward to the coming year and all that God has planned as He Multiplies the Harvest!

I am reminded this Christmas season of the great blessing of giving to others.  God so loved us He gave His only Son, that we might have everlasting life.  Jesus gave His life for us, even though we were sinners and completely undeserving.  Throughout the scriptures we see stories of giving that model the great sacrifice that Jesus made for all mankind.  The little boy with the lunch of fish and loaves for his provision, prepared for him by his mother.  Can you imagine a strange man coming up and asking one of our children for their lunch to feed people they had never met, who could probably have brought their own meal had they planned better?  The gift is precious, because it is first given to the Lord and then entrusted to Him to distribute as He sees fit.  The boy’s gift fed thousands with abundance because he gave unconditionally, the same way God gave His Son for us.

Several days ago I received a call from a brother in Christ who lives in Austin. He asked what we needed for the children on Christmas day.  When I shared the need, he said “let’s do ten times that, the check will be there tomorrow”.  I was driving, and was speechless by this unbelievable act of generosity from someone, who does not live in our city, doesn’t know the families in the inner city and has no reason, other than the love of Christ, to give such a tremendous gift.  When we went to WalMart to purchase coats and toys for the kids, the staff of the entire store helped us with our purchases.  The employees immediately asked, “What church is this?” as they knew we were purchasing the items for the poor.  We linked the shopping carts together to leave, while the entire store watched. Another shop owner in WalMart began bringing donations from his store to give to the poor.  Clearly, these baskets of blessings will be used this Christmas day in BonTon, to express, to all who come, that God loves them and sent His Son for them, to meet their every need.  We are humbled by the hundreds of volunteers, churches and corporate partners that enable us to share Christ’s love with the poor on Christmas day, and every day of the year.  Please join us at 1:00pm on Christmas Day – 6508 Canaan Street – Dallas 75215

The other evening I woke up and was a little cold. I pushed a button on my thermostat and instantly the heat came on, blowing through the vents and I felt warmer.  As I was preparing to go back to bed, the Lord put on my heart our precious brothers and sisters in Christ who live in Romania.  The Gypsies live in a valley in a large city, that typically floods, in shacks with mud or concrete floors.  There is no insulation or carpets, simply cold, barren houses that provide covering.  They typically have a little wood stove  that provides heat for their families and a place to cook their meals.  Each night someone has to get up during the night to keep the wood fire going so they don’t freeze from the cold.  The question for most is, will they have enough wood?  It is amazing that they seek to keep the fire burning to sustain their lives, yet we have fires for enjoyment.  The world needs the wood for the warmth to live and they need the Word to live eternally.  The fire of the Gospel brings hope to their cold and hopeless hearts and the firewood protects them from the cold.  It is amazing how Jesus changed everything when He was here.  Our spiritual and societal needs are all met in Christ.  He has blessed us to be a conduit of the Word and has given us wood to bring the fire of revival and life.  We cannot share the Gospel to the least if they are dead from the cold.

Please do not judge the reason they are in the position they are in until you have walked among them.  Jesus seldom spoke a harsh word to the poor or afflicted, but often spoke harshly to the Pharisees, who thought they were guides to the blind and yet were blind to Him and His gospel.  I encourage you to travel globally, for it will give you new insight to the blessings God has given you and help you understand how a simple gift of firewood can open doors to eternal life.  Please pray for our ministry in Romania.

Mike in Romania during winter

Bogdon and Clifton in Romania

Firewood for winter

We are currently in Buffalo NY visiting Dan Trippie the pastor of Restoration Church Buffalo.  This young church is being used greatly by God to advance the Gospel and make Disciples in a region of our country that is in great need spiritually.  The amazing blessing of this  church is that from the beginning of their journey their Pastor has had a burden not only for the immediate community surrounding the church but for their city and specifically the least.  I am humbled by this pastor and his wife and ministry team that in a season of great need they are already burdened for the needs of their city.  I met with many of their leaders and prayed with them about Gods heart for the city.  The church is on fire for the Lord, the lost, and the least.  Clearly the heart of this Pastor has been infused into the hearts of the members of this church.  I marvel at the influence of this one man already on the city of Buffalo.  It reminds me daily that our passions are caught more than they are taught.  There is a young man who has been discipled by Dan who is ready to surrender his life to serve God in the city through HIS BB’s Buffalo.  My heart has been overwhelmed with the amazing heart of this young church that even in their need is thinking of the needs of others before themselves. I am thankful that this movement of God that he has called us to serve is being advanced through His people in cities across the nation and to the nations of the earth.  Humbled by the fact that this pastor and church have prayed us to this city and are inviting us to come and walk with them to bring HIS BridgeBuilders to the city of Buffalo.  Please pray for this amazing pastor and church and for Gods wisdom and provision for the ministry.  Thankful that God continues to lead us and use us to bring transformation to urban communities one life at a time for the Glory of God.   

Too often we travel at such a fast pace that we forget the blessings of God.  This past week we celebrated the grand opening of our new Economic Development Center (The EDC). We are truly thankful for this amazing gift from God where we are seeing daily miracles like that of John Morgan, who early this year was hopeless, jobless, and homeless.  Now to the Glory of God he has hope in The Lord, a job with the new Downtown Dallas Omni Hotel and a place to live.  Day by day God is restoring, one life at a time.  The 67,000 square foot building we now refer to as “The EDC” houses our ministry offices, a biblical counseling center, employment training for machinists and hospitality workers, and our solar screen manufacturing business.  The facility also has equipment for an auto shop, carpentry shop, warehouse, and a dental clinic.  We are prayerful about future partners who will join us in the disciple making process at this new facility.

The day of the grand opening was a great reminder of God’s unfailing goodness to this movement called H.I.S. BridgeBuilders.  The Lord reminded me of our early board members that would often lovingly call me Noah, seeking to build where there was no rain.  We have intentionally planted our mission in the most devastated parts of the city so that when the transformation comes the Glory can go only to God.  During the grand opening ceremony, we celebrated the tremendous generosity of my amazing friend Thomas Brower who was used by God to sustain the ministry when nobody else was willing to give by faith to a vision that was yet to be evidenced.  We honored my brother in Christ, Dr. EK Bailey who mentored me about the city and gave me his blessing with most of our current city partners.  EK taught us to always come to the city asking “How can we serve you?” or “How can we pray for you?” We also honored our dear friend Sharon Emmert, who like EK valiantly battled cancer.  Sharon was used by God to lay the foundation for our education, health, and employment training programs.  The last time I spoke to her she described a vision she had about a large building being used for training and our ministry. I never forgot that vision she described just days before going home to Jesus. We were reminded, much to our surprise, that the actual date of the grand opening dedication for our new building was the very day Sharon had passed away three years ago.  May we never forget those who have gone before us, God’s greatest markers are the lives of faithful servants like these.  Each has left an imprint on our ministry that will never be forgotten.

Click on this link to view more photos from the Grand Opening Ceremony.

What would be different about our churches if we didn’t measure weekly attendance in our services, but weekly evangelism in our cities? What if our strategies revolved more around our sending capacity, instead of our seating capacity?  

We should all rejoice when someone comes with a friend to worship the Lord, but even more importantly is what all believers are doing to proclaim Christ daily in the marketplace, on campuses, and in their communities.  We love seeing the church gathered, but this should not be at the expense of the church scattering throughout the city. So much of our planning is yet another way to get people to our campuses and not how to train and equip our people to be the light of Christ in the culture. 

As shepherds we must walk with them in the marketplace and in their communities and demonstrate how to disciple, lead small group bible studies and pray.  The enemy loves restricting the influence of the church to a couple days a week on a fraction of the real-estate that is owned by our Father.

     This past week we had the joy of sending a team from our inner city ministry to evangelize, teach, and lead prayer sessions among the poorest people in Europe.  The team was led by our volunteer International Director, BJ Woods.  One of our men who use to be a drug dealer is teaching young men in Romania and supporting our pastor in Romania.  My assistant who just got out of the hospital went and led prayer sessions in our young church of Gypsies.  It humbles me that our small inner city ministry is already advancing the gospel to the nations. 

What joy it brings to each of us when we realize we have been gathered to grow and to GO. What a tragedy to be prepared and never sent. Who will you go share the good news of Christ with today? Someone, somewhere is waiting for you to go! It could be across the street, across the office, or across the world. Pray, Obey, and See the glory of God’s Kingdom expanding.

This last Saturday we celebrated the first graduation of students from our Omni Hotel training class. One of the students named John, is an amazing man of faith who just found out he has been hired for a position at the new downtown Omni. We are grateful for the Omni and this amazing partnership but most of all we give God the praise. We are reminded that even when we are facing difficult circumstances in life we can rest in the fact that, Jesus is still “The Way”. I want to share with you John’s letter of thanks that he wrote to the ministry.

Dear H.I.S. BridgeBuilders

I would like to thank you and the staff for your time. You made my life worth living, I really thought I was at a Dead End until the door opened for me to come and be a part of the first Omni Class. Each and every person has played a part in the outcome of this class, you all have put together a great team. I truly feel a part of something very special, and I know it is not my doing, but God’s. I asked him to meet me there and he did just that. I know that me on my own, I would have never gotten passed the 5,000 people interviewing for the Omni jobs, but with God and this team he has put together, it can be done, I really feel it is done.

Thank you again,

John

We are blessed in our ministry to be a bridge of Hope for many who have lost their way. Jesus knows our needs and is blessing us daily, the same way he blessed John. Prayerfully we will stop and thank God just as John did. How many dead ends has Jesus plowed through for you? It’s time to give Him praise!

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you”

Omni training class graduation ceremony