Lutheran honor/shame conference...The importance of immigrants coming to the West and some other stuff

Hello, Everyone.....

Was at a conference on Honor/Shame at a Lutheran seminary 2 wks ago. I'm just scratching the surface of this topic but we all need to understand it. Met a lot of new folks from the Lutheran world as it's new to me.  

I met a Tamil pastor originally from India who's rebuilding a Church that was dying in Queens, NY. About 35 German Lutherans remained. Now, 150, most of whom have converted from other religions, call it home. Just like in Romans 11:11, I see new immigrants coming to faith in Western countries as a wakeup call to multi-generational "in name only" Christians. I call that “The 11:11 principle” & contend that revival in the West will be immigrant led. For this reason, we should pay more attention to the nations that are here. 

One of the professors at the seminary will teach a class on Honor/shame next Fall. And next year’s conference will be called “The West and the Rest: What the West can learn from the Global South”. Love it! 

At the conference, I met a Liberian student who's acquainted w/Joshua Blayhi (formerly “General Butt Naked”), the cannibal warlord turned evangelist. I mentioned him last Dec. after having met another student who's also acquainted w/him. Through the inner city work I started & ran (about 20 yrs ago), I organized an Ethiopian-themed event for Black History Month in 2000. A few wks after that event, I quickly got an inspiration for 2001. The goal was to find some locally based reconciled African Christian men from people groups which have ongoing open conflicts. 
The thematic concept was to be based on the vision & hope of reconciliation among individuals & tribes in the African context.....The endgame was to facilitate conversational models for reconciliation among those in the American gang culture. It never happened, but after viewing the documentary, “The Redemption of General Butt Naked” a few yrs ago, (very disturbing...proceed w/caution) my hope was reawakened for such an event. I vaguely remember praying a quick prayer that Blayhi might come stateside to speak someday. So, I now have 2 Liberian contacts if anyone would like to run w/this! If Joshua Blayhi could tell his story here, it could have great impact. 

Lastly, I've told you about Mo, the guy from the "I country" w/whom I connected on WhatsApp for mutual language practice. From our 1st conversation, his spiritual hunger was obvious & he revealed, unprompted, that he owned a Bible. He even started bringing it to the hotel where he works the night shift after we started talking......(YES......in the I country!)......HE READ IT, right under the watchful gaze of "YOU KNOW WHO"!!! (Reminds me of Psalm 2)....This is a screenshot of the front desk area of the hotel where he works:

​I connected him w/an I pastor whom I met in Australia 2 yrs ago.........Mo joined the pastor's Skype study. He seemed closer to Jesus w/every conversation. Then, one day, we spoke while I was waiting for a flight. He was in tears & very depressed. Someone from his country had just scammed him out of some $, promising work in the Georgian Republic....& his girlfriend had suddenly emigrated. I was concerned that he might harm himself, so I texted the pastor, who already knew. Turns out that Mo had become a Christian a few days prior!!!!! The depression had been a spiritual attack. The next day we spoke & he was full of joy. The sorrow had lifted!!!! (Psalm 3:3) Praise God!!!!! Since none of you has any idea who he is, I can say this: I'm super glad that the girlfriend is gone because they were talking about getting a "Sigheh".....(temporary marriage), which is legal & common in I for couples who want to "try each other out". It is also doubles as legalized prostitution. 

In other news, I'll be reconnecting w/a friend from the A country whom I call "R"....(not even his real initial). We met at the gym, where many from his country exercise. We agreed to start trading language lessons but it hasn't happened yet. Soon thereafter, a friend who's on mission initiated w/me about him. THEN, I was chatting w/some new friends who'd been secret workers in his homeland & now minister among the locals. They just happened to know him. They told me that, of all the local A's they know, he'd likely have the most spiritually pliant heart! Wow...confirmation or what?  About 4,000 A people are here. Most of these guys were translators for the US military during the war & are therefore mostly men of peace!!!!! Pray for my wisdom. 

For the nations   

......Just another witness to His Glory.