Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
If you are following God with all your heart, put on your earplugs and blinders (like race horses have). Follow God only. God will put the right people in your path. You know them because they reflect the Holy Spirit. They’ll be gentle and kind. They’ll talk to you in a way that resonates with your soul, with you barely hearing it. Pastor Gib Allen from CC Orlando was like that. Never aloof, snide, angry, caustic or sarcastic. Never causing strife and contention. People that spend time with God will encourage you in the thing that God is sending you to do. That is IF in fact you are seeking to serve God and loving Him with all your heart soul and mind. If your long term plan fits in these two thoughts, it probably is the plan that God has for your life.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
I invite everyone to visit us and see what we do. I have never refused anyone. I don’t care if they are Born Again christians or not. All are welcome. Well, I did refuse to welcome a creepy old expat guy who lives down here, because he insisted on seeing our financials first (I gladly show financials to donors but this guy was a weirdo, he was up to something).
There are many types of plans. My plan is just to follow God’s plan, day to day. I might be in His sweet presence at any moment. I am on my third generation down here. Started in 1993. Yes we (including you the donor) have graduated lots of professionals. We even have some Million Friends kids now that are dentists, optometrists, teachers, doctors, pastors and lawyers under our belt. Hundreds of born-again Christians with solid families. We’ve saved countless lives with medical aid, prayer and Christian lifestyle changes. But we burned through thousands upon thousands at least over the decades as well. They all still call me pastor though, even those who aren’t living Christian lives, so that’s good, I guess.
We take a lot of heat for not following different types of plans. People that don’t do what we do sometimes try to help us by recommending things. Some work. Some don’t. I just try to follow God’s prompting. That seems to upset a lot of people but they don’t have to live with the consequences. Our plan down here is to just to do the ‘next thing’ that Jesus shows me to do. FROM Jesus, not FOR Jesus. Life is what happens while you are making plans. There are two extremes in planning. I only trust God’s plans because my plans never work, ever.
Here’s the two extremes. The first is-
1. An unsustainable religious plan. I invited a Korean to help us at the dump once. As you probably know, Korean Christians are pretty hard core. This guy said to the kids when I let him talk ‘If you don’t read 30 pages of the Bible a day, you’re in sin’. I personally was CONVICTED!! But my kids can’t read. He said he ironed his money before he put it in the offering plate, Jaja. My kids don’t have money, nor an iron. I kind of admired his discipline. He was always dressed impeccably. But not a good fit for a bunch of illiterate street children.
He said something that scarred me for life, in a good way. A little harsh, but I know his heart was right. He said ‘all you are doing is fattening kids up to go to hell.’
I needed to hear that. (Kind of bruised me but I am used to that kind of insane judgement from extremely religious people). He soon parted ways with us. I guess he wanted to show me how to do it correctly. He spent probably 100,000 dollars setting up a first class childrens feeding center a couple blocks from us. He only lasted 3 months and left when the 2018 coup d’etat happened, but his words haunted me to this day.
My plan is to get kids into heaven. Not into church necessarily (although it’s a great step) but into a saving relationship with Jesus. I’ve taken the dump kids to church with Winnie. (Winnie’s church, Verbo). Never worked. My dump kids see chairs as a gym set. They’re wild. Even my best behaved. But some have a definite saving relationship with the Lord. A religious church person wouldn’t see it, but Jesus does. Verbo has a different plan, a different group I guess. Today, the world class kitchen is a crack house. The Korean brother didn’t look down God’s path (plan). He looked down religious and church paths. There was no sustainability. His path was a path to death.
Proverbs 15:24 The path of life leads upward for the prudent to keep them from going down to the realm of the dead.
The other extreme in plans is-
2. No plan except a non spiritual plan, a selfish plan to amass wealth and to become an influencer. These guys are running around Nicaragua, Central America, all over the world, including America for that matter. They are like drunken sailors. They are doling out cash to impress people, to get likes and donations. They are videoing themselves giving out money, lots of money, to build schools in one day? (supposedly) home make-overs (never know if it’s happening), 100 dollar bills to street kids, etc. They have their go-fund me accounts with 0 accountability. It’s a racket in my opinion. No plan to improve lives. Nothing about improving the benefactor’s mindset, or souls. Just butterflies flying from flower to flower leaving little deposits wherever they go. There’s no accountability. People are becoming millionaires off of this, at the expense of the poor by exploiting them.
Jesus Christ, the Lover of our souls, the Giver of life, the Creator of the Universe, is never mentioned. One guy, I’ve nick-named Murf the Smurf, is raising hundreds of thousands a week in building schools, factories, housing developments, in ‘different countries’ in 24 hour time frames. He’s hilarious. Wrong, evil, but hilarious. Guys like him are indeed preparing kids for hell.
Winnie and I are different than the two extremes. Chuck Smith taught me to always be in the middle lane. We love, madly, the people we serve to teach about Jesus’ love. We give hilariously, joyously, but with complete transparency and accountability. The Word and Prayer are always a part of the mix.
The hyper religious Korean guy never had many kids coming to his feeding center except to eat and run. He was angry all the time, mean and demanding, so the kids didn’t like him. We love the kids. We share the Gospel with them every day, even if they are ADHD’s haha. Christian songs stick with them. They remember us, mostly with love, not always though. 30 years later they still come up to me singing Christian songs sermonettes that I taught them decades ago.
My son said once, ‘Dad! All the drunks and hookers in Managua call you pastor. Is that good or bad?’. Still don’t know how to answer that. Last year, when I got arrested and they were about to put me in the cell, all my prospective ‘cell mates’ recognized me (fortunately with good memories) and started singing hymns I taught them and preaching the Gospel. Strangely it relieved me, until Winnie called and got me out of that mess. That relieved me a lot more! BTW the arresting officer and I are now great friends and he started our soccer league. Haha
So. Million Friends long term plans.
Try to really get them saved, to have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, John 3:3
Give them as much Jesus as possible. Teach them as much life lessons as possible, One on one.
Staying and not running away when things get a little uncomfortable or tense.
Love is providing for someone and protecting them. That’s what we do.
Accountability accountability accountability.
Not just hilariously giving them 100 dollar bills and telling them to go to college and you’ll send them good vibes, sprinkle a little fairy dust on them and lie to them saying they can be anything their little hearts desire, praise ‘Murf the Smurf!’ Right now, 5 Nicaraguans get laid off every hour! Not good!! Realistic expectations. Priorities. It’s much more important to be saved than it is to be a professional singer or soccer player.
We stay with them, from -9 months (when they’re in their mom’s womb), to 50 as some of them now are. As long as they want we help them when we can. Winnie looks at their report cards, buys them uniforms (IF THEY SHOW US THEIR REPORT CARDS! MOST DROP OUT AFTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS. THEY LOVE IT WHEN WINNIE SCOLDS THEM WHEN THEY DONT GET AT LEAST A ‘B’ HAHA)
It’s the long game. Long term planning is the only thing that works. Since I don’t know the future, I have to leave the planning to the One that does. This is Not a short term mission trip (but that’s all where it starts). A true Biblical missionary is someone with a few countries in his passport not 80. You find God’s true calling. Stick it out there until He moves you, which very rarely, die there or get shipped off to a ‘home’. I bought my grave site here in Managua. Amazing how cheap they are while you are still alive.
The long term plan carries into old age. There is only one thing more frightening than living a full Christian life as a missionary and then retiring back to the states, to play golf and watch tv. That is facing old age without Christ. But even if you are saved, how boring would your life be if you weren’t serving Him until your last breath.
If you’re uncertain, it’s crucial to seek salvation with certainty. Find a Bible believing church with an approachable, kind, humble pastor.
Despite current events, I believe that 2024 will be the most meaningful year of our lives, provided two conditions (plans) are met:
1. Embrace spiritual rebirth and remain steadfast in faith.
2. Strive for progress, not just for personal gain, but for the benefit of others.