Externally Focused at Watermark

 ALARM is currently looking for 3-5 people who would be willing to volunteer in the office over the summer and during the school year, if available.  Below is a job description to describe the tasks that ALARM can use help with.  We are interested in high school students, college students, or adults with daytime availability and an interest in serving the Lord with their skills. We think this could be a good learning opportunity for students with an interest in business and or missions.  Volunteers will interact with American and African staff in conducting a variety of tasks.

 If you are interested, please email Beau Fournet at bfournet@hbk.com.

Administrative Support Volunteer

Purpose:

The administrative support volunteer supports the ALARM office staff with a variety of tasks including answering the phone, greeting visitors, and organizing, updating and maintaining trip information files and general office documents.

Rewards:

• The joy of contributing to a ministry that supports leaders and communities in eight African nations
• The joy of connecting with individuals who are passionate about helping others through service with ALARM

Qualifications:

The administrative volunteer should:

• Be an active, growing Christian.
• Enjoy making phone calls and possess good phone presence.
• Enjoy working in an office environment and have basic experience using Microsoft Office to perform administrative tasks.
• Be organized, honest and able to respectfully maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information concerning ALARM team members and employees.
• Be able to volunteer in the office for a minimum of three hours per week throughout the summer with the opportunity to serve more as desired.

Responsibilities:

The administrative volunteer will do the following as needed in accord with their skills:

• Answer the phone in the ALARM office
• Greet visitors to the office
• Scan documents to maintain electronic files
• Update and maintain team member and trip information files
• Work on projects (currently long term photo project)
• Help with occasional mailings, bead sorting/packing/shipping, and data entry

Connection:

• Please call the ALARM office 972-671-8522 weekdays between 9a.m. and 4p.m.
• Ask for Elizabeth or Naomi
• Group training available June 28 or July 2 or July 6
• Please provide 2 references when you call

44 – Hours of travel time from Gitega, Burundi, to Dallas/Forth Worth, TX.

 11.88 – number of team members (Kyle Thompson left 1 day earlier, so he only gets 8/9 credit ).

60 & 40 – Number of men and women that were a part of the conferences we helped lead.

120 – average number of minutes we had to wait for dinner each night. It was good for me – I’ll never complain of slow restaurant service in the states ever again!

8 – Number of young boys we got to sing Beyonce’s Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it) with. One of the early highlights was running into a group of young Burundi boys who couldn’t speak a word of English but still knew all of the international language of Beyonce! It was a blast, and I am glad we got it captured on video. 

Brief Trip Summary

Recently a team of 12 Watermark members made the trip from Dallas to Burundi to be a part of 2 separate conferences for men and women in Gitega, Burundi.  I was incredibly proud of our team and of our church. I love the ways we are intentionally partnering with great ministries across the world (ALARM – http://alarm-inc.org/ and Living Water International (http://www.water.cc/). While in Burundi, we partnered with ALARM in hosting a conference for local pastors – we taught on topics such as conflict resolution, leadership, forgiveness, bible study methods, and healing/grieving. The women taught local church leaders on some of the same topics, as well as HIV care, health and hygiene, and parenting. Brett & Sheri Johnston and Kyle Thompson led our teams, and modeled what leadership really looks like through serving the team and the locals with Christ-like humility.

Team unity was incredible – I was in awe of the gifts and skills of the other 11 men and women on this team (Team picture to the right, without Kyle Thompson and me). The ways they served, taught, and led, both one another and the men and women at the conferences, were incredible. Again, I don’t know if I have ever been prouder of the people of our church. We enjoyed rich conversation with each other, and had MANY laugh until you cry moments. We very quickly learned that Americans can’t sing, dance, or worship like our African brothers and sisters. In fact, we were told that ‘white people dance and worship like trees’. Very true…

On a personal note, I was convicted and challenged in so many things. One is how RICH I am – in friends, family, resources, etc… Of course I knew I would be challenged in this, but it really hit me hard. I will frequently make comments about how ‘poor’ we are since I am in vocational ministry, but what a joke… I felt like the richest man in the entire world many times on the trip. At the same time, I found myself still comparing our lifestyle with others I know in Dallas. Somehow as I saw and talked with men and women who earned literally 50 cents a day in manual labor, I still found myself coveting what others back home have, trips they have taken, etc… Honestly I was disgusted by my greed…

We were able to bring a few gifts for them – bibles translated into their language (Kurundi), reading glasses, and clothes. We learned that a very small stack of hand-me-down children’s clothes is worth about 6 months of wages. The joy these men and women had was amazing. The women literally danced for minutes when they were given their own bible and the small stack of clothes.

Taking a stretch break.

The country itself is incredibly beautiful physically – very green and fertile. The poverty, on the other hand, was so saddening. The women literally would walk anywhere from 3-10 miles every day to get clean drinking water – a very common site was a woman walking up hill with bananas on her head, a baby strapped to her back, a small child walking alongside her, and a 5-gallon container of water in hand. We absolutely take for granted how blessed we are to have safe and clean drinking water all around us. Also, the consequences of war and internal conflict were evident throughout the country.

Our team had the opportunity to bring the hope of Christ to an often hopeless people. A hope that transcends income level, skin color, and country. It was awesome to watch the ‘lights’ come on as the men we were with learned how to follow Christ, to lead themselves, and to lead their families. In turn, this will help them be better leaders in their churches and communities. The hope of Christ is the only cure to the physical and spiritual poverty – both in Burundi, and locally in our lives here as well (1 Peter 3.15).

-Scott Kedersha

WOMEN

On this trip, the heavy lifting and teaching of the Shelter from the Storm materials was performed by 6 amazing ladies from Watermark Church who spent the past year readying the materials for an African audience.  It was exciting to see Congolese women break down in tears and for the first time tell the stories of sexual violence against them.  This transformation of the hearts in Goma happened because 4 of the women on this trip were willing to tell their own stories of past abuse at the outset of the conference.  Immediately, barriers were broken down among the women from Congo as they realized they were not “terminally unique” and that other women, even in America, suffered as victims of sexual violence.  But, they also saw how Christ suffered horribly through no fault of His own, just like them, and because of the pain He endured, greater good was done.  For many of them, an understanding of how the acts against them might be something God could redeem for His greater use flew in the face a lifetime of shame, guilt, and internal bondage.

 LAWYERS

I was blessed to have Russ Brown join me to carry bags for the gals on the team and spend some time with a group of Christian lawyers in Goma diving deep into scripture for the first time in many of their lives.  We examined parables and passages and had some “lively” discussions on the meaning and application of scripture.  In the end, they were left with a practical model for examining, interpreting, and applying scripture.  It was another step in the process of equipping them to use scripture as the basis for how they confront the temptations of life in central Africa.  We are hopeful that the next step before we return in the fall is a weekly bible study for the lawyers led by a pastor in Goma, who helped establish our relationship with the lawyers there.

 ORPHANS

We were also blessed to spend an extended time at the girl’s orphanage in Goma that we visited last fall.   It specializes in taking in child sexual violence victims.  The director of the orphanage told us they have now 143 girls of which 67 have been raped and rescued.  They are between the ages of 5 and 19, so you can imagine the emotional state many are in.  But, we found that many are joyful because they are safer in the city than out in the bush (areas outside the city of Goma) where most were raped by soldiers or militiamen while retrieving water or firewood for their family.  Unfortunately, there is a need for: money, clothes, shoes, beds & food.  We are hopeful that we can develop a plan to send shoes and clothes from Dallas to this orphanage in Goma. 

MEDICAL

Finally, we once again spent time at Heal Africa hospital (www.healafrica.org).  A great facility that ministers to the needs of children who are sick or have been injured in the ongoing war as well as adult victims of rape rescued from the bush. Part of our time there was spent with founder, Jo Lusi, talking about the serious need for western doctors to come and perform medical mission trips including: medical procedures, training for African doctors.  The needs in Goma are every bit as serious as those in places like Haiti.  Unfortunately, long before there was an earthquake in Haiti or a tsunami in Indonesia there was war, disease, and poverty in central Africa.  Lots of help is needed, it is just a little more inconvenient to get there.

 Thank you to all who prayed for us as we prepared the trip and carried out the mission. 

 - Rick Howard

As a result of the great response to the conspiracy campaign (www.watermarkconspiracy.org), we were able to fund the first water initiative in Burundi.  We were able to purchase this drilling rig, which is in the process of being permitted and moved from Rwanda into Burundi.

Once there, our strategic partners will locate and drill approximately 15 wells over the next several months.  Thanks for your faithfulness! Water is life there…and this will help further God’s kingdom as we also bring the living water of the gospel!

On Friday, a team of 6 women and 5 men depart Dallas headed for Soroti, Uganda.  Soroti is located in the eastern/central part of the country.  The women are: Mandy Bagdanov, Miriam Sperring, Julie Anders, Melissa Nunley, Pam McGee and Jennifer Lewis.  The guys team includes: John McGee, Kyle Graham, David Dzina, Matt McCuen, JJ Barto.  For most of the team members, this is a first trip to Africa and they are very hopeful, excited, and confident in what the Lord has in store.

Our plan is to visit the trade school that Watermark is building, meet children and families sponsored by the orphan care program, and our primary privilege and responsibility is to teach Biblical principles.  Partnered with ALARM, we are hosting 2 conferences simultaneously – one for the men and one for the women.  We expect 100 or so in each conference – though, as things go in Africa, this number is likely to change significantly with little or no advanced knowledge – Africans have much to teach this American (Jennifer Lewis) about flexibility!

We will be teaching the Biblically-based, hope-filled, grace-motivated messages of roles of men and women in marriage, conflict resolution, leadership, health and hygiene, and the principles of grieving heartache and hurts (so common and horrific there) and receiving and extending the forgiveness that is only available in our Savior.  We covet your prayers as we depart … for the participants to know our Savior and love His Word, for the truths taught to be a source of transformation and not just information (for the Americans as well as the Ugandans!), for safety with flights and physical health, for unity and sweet fellowship of the team.  May the Lord be glorified!

by Jennifer Lewis

Hello friends and family,

As many of you know I have been blessed over the past two plus years with the opportunity to travel to Central Africa with teams of lawyers from Watermark Community Church here in Dallas.  The three trips I’ve made have included time in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern Congo.  Each one has involved me and other lawyers from WatermarkJustice (our Watermark lawyers group) leading conferences for lawyers, judges, prosecutors, pastors, and government officials.  We’ve covered topics ranging from servant leadership to confronting bribery and corruption as Christians lawyers and judges to biblical conflict resolution.  Each trip has been a unique experience and each one has increased my passion for the people of Central Africa more and more.

After returning from my last trip this past October I was asked to lead a very different trip to Goma, Congo in early 2010.  Different because for the first time for me the audience will not be men and women in positions of authority or influence in the government, church, or military and because I will not have the responsibility to teach and lead extensively at the main conference.  Instead, I and one other guy get the privilege of assisting as (6) incredibly gifted women from Watermark lead a conference for victims of sexual abuse (rape) and the counselors who help them through the healing process physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Eastern Congo is the epicenter of a civil war in Central Africa that has claimed over (5) million lives over the past (15) years.  The genesis of the current conflict began with the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The perpetrators of the massacre of (800,000) Rwandans over a (6) week period in 1994 fled to the mountains of Eastern Congo once the international community responded to the crises.  There in the sanctuary of a jungle the size of Texas those same groups have killed countless innocent local Congolese men, women, and children and caused millions to die from starvation and disease while forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes for sanctuary in refugee (IDP) camps. However, in many respects the worst actions taken by these men is the brutal rape of women, young and old, as an act of war, and act of vengeance, or in some instances an act intended to procreate the next generation of “soldiers” for their militias.

It is against this historical backdrop that these women from my church, Watermark Community Church, whose lives have all been touched in some way directly or indirectly  by sexual abuse along with our partner on the ground, ALARM, will be leading a sexual abuse conference focused on healing, recovery, and forgiveness..  They will be using a curriculum developed at WCC and other churches called “Shelter from the Storm.”   These materials which are designed to help take a women through the process of healing from sexual abuse have been modified after much prayer and effort to be appropriate for an audience of victims and counselors in Goma,Congo.

They will spend (3) days leading and teaching a conference for counselors who have for years been serving and caring for rape victims to better show those victims the path to true and complete healing through Jesus Christ.  In attendance will also be victims of rape in Congo.  Women who have been sexually assaulted, typically in the jungles of eastern Congo, and then rescued from the homes or villages by the staff of Heal Africa or other organizations dedicated to this effort.  Approximately (100) women have been invited to this conference hosted by the ladies from Watermark.  My guess is (1000) could have easily been identified and invited, but space and resources are always at a premium in places like Goma.

It is our hope that this “Shelter” trip is another door God is opening for Watermark to minister to a truly forgotten people in Eastern Congo.  Just as we’ve done with the lawyer in Goma we will spend time seeking out other effective and trustworthy partners on the ground to aid in this effort.  We already have a great partner in ALARM and are building relationship with Heal Africa as well. The hope is that this is the first trip of many to help folks on the ground there  better recover from the devastation of rape and abuse in their lives.

As horrific and devastating as earthquakes in Haiti and Chile have been for the people of those countries there is a difference from Congo.  Most of those people can remember a day when there was peace in their land; when the government provided some reasonable security for them, when food was easy to find.  They can also look forward to a day when things will look “normal” again as plane loads of people and assistance arrive each day to help.  On the other side of the world, however, there are no such memories for the generation raised in and around Goma.  They have grown up knowing nothing but war and violence, hunger and disease.  It is our hope that by helping train the leaders of eastern Congo, the women who counsel victims, and the lawyers who will one day take on positions of authority in the principles we find in God’s word that cycle will one day end.

…  Please also pray for me and the other lawyer who is joining me on this trip, Russ Brown, as we spend part of the trip discipling a small group of lawyers we’ve developed relationships with since 2007.  Below I’ve also attached a link to a well timed Op/Ed piece done by Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times on Congo and the response to the crises in Africa from a number of different groups.  Specifically, he uses quotes from Richard Stearns’ book The Hole in Our Gospel.  Stearns is the president of World Vision. I recommend you read the article and the book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28kristof.html

Thanks for all of your prayers and support for me and for Michele over the past two and half years as we have followed this path to Central Africa.  Your prayers for my team and our efforts will be appreciated once again.  One final note, I am being forced to embrace a higher level of technology than I am comfortable with at this time.  Unless I mess it up or the internet crashes in Congo (both are likely propositions btw), you should be able to read updates from our trip by going to http://watermarkblogs.org/justice.

God Bless,

Rick Howard

http://watermarkconspiracy.com/why-water/

www.watermarkconspiracy.com

I just returned from another trip to Africa – this time Kampala, as well as several areas in Northern Uganda, where the communities that we serve are located. We were there to conduct some diligence in preparation for an orphan care/sponsorship program that we’re rolling out after the new year to connect 600 children with individual church sponsors.  We also saw and documented water wells – both new ones that have been drilled recently and proposed sites in preparation for Watermark Conspiracy, which is rolling out next Sunday.  We also saw progress on the trade school that we’re building in Pader and visited widow groups where micro-finance programs have had a huge impact, including the development of a pigery, that will bless thousands of widows over the next 5 years.  We also met with ministry partners on the ground to learn more about their discipleship/mentoring of the children in the program.  It was a tremendous trip and opportunity to see first-hand what God is doing through his church.

I thought I would also summarize a few of my personal takeaways:

1. There is a great joy in Jesus when you realize you have nothing to offer Him.

The folks we met, widows, orphans, child soldiers, and others had none of the trappings of success – no cars, boats, degrees, homes, money, jobs, or even food – yet, there was great joy in their hearts at the generosity of a great God that loves and values them so much that He would send His Son for them.  On the other hand, we have all of that “stuff” and whether we admit it or not, there’s a small part of us that believes that the “stuff” we have accumulated somehow gives us value and makes us worthy of God’s attention…

As I walked hand in hand with one of the young girls away from the rock quarry in Kampala, where she had previously worked all day every day busting rocks by hand for 50 cents (and the hope for one meal a day), I’m convinced that until we view our own spiritual poverty in the same way we see the visible material poverty of these people, we will never fully understand God’s grace and love..and therefore cannot truly live to serve Him.

2. There’s a healthy line between guilt and conviction.

At one place, we met a child headed household – a family of 4 – who lived in a hut about the size of my master bathroom (and I don’t live in a huge house) along with spiders, no light, and little food.  Something is simply unjust about the fact that because of these kids’ longitude and latitude, they have no access to even the basics – clean water, food, shelter, and school.

I left there thinking that we can’t feel guilty for what the Lord has blessed us with, BUT, we can and should live in a continuous state of tension and conviction as to whether we are properly stewarding God’s resources.  Why do we continue to pursue and collect things that: 1) don’t satisfy us and 2) don’t help the lives of others?  I repent.

3. When he help folks who are materially poor, we must be careful in what we say, how we act, and what we do, so that we don’t unintentionally make things worse….or create new problems for the communities that we serve or our ministry partners who are there 24/7.  Rather, we must focus on oppportunities that:

- develop people and build leaders;

- invest in strategies where folks are empowered, achieve, feel their value/dignity; and

- share the gospel each time there is an opportunity, which is the true hope for the world.

I’m reading a great book right now on this very subject, called “When Helping Hurts”. I highly recommend to everyone.

Also, if you’re interested in viewing the pictures from this trip, here are two links:

1) link to selected portraits of some of the people that we met – http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffsterlaw/Africa2009SelectedPortraits#

2) link to the complete album (800+ pictures) – http://picasaweb.google.com/jeffsterlaw/Africa2009Complete#

Enjoy!