Waldina & Michelle's Story

As with all of the Honduras blog stories, I may miss a fact, or butcher an event – but want to share what I heard. I went to Honduras with Mark Miller. Mark, his wife Elaine, and a group from our church went to Honduras three years ago to help with a Mike Silva Crusade. As part of this Crusade, the helpers were asked to make themselves available to pray with those who might come forward at the invitation. A lady and her two daughters approached Mark & Elaine and told Mark and Elaine that she was dying with cancer, and that the Lord told her to bring her daughters to them to look after her daughters after she passed away. You see, the ladies husband had been in an industrial accident and was unable to work anymore – and support the family anymore. Mark and Elaine were taken back, and didn’t quite know what to do about this, but knew they couldn’t just leave without somehow staying in contact with the lady and her daughters. They have maintained contact, and sent money down regularly since this encounter, but have always wanted to do more.

Well, the mother did pass away about a year later. The girls, Waldina and Michelle, were left with their dad, two brothers, and maternal grandmother in the home you see in the pictures tied to this blog. A couple months after the mother died, one of her sons was murdered – hanging around the wrong people at the wrong time. About a year later the grandmother also died of a heart attack; she had taken care of raising the remaining girls and their brother. A couple months ago the second son was also murdered, similar circumstances as with the first son. So now, Waldina, Michelle, and their father are left with each other. The father is an emotionally broken man, but when we visited on a Sunday afternoon – was still planning on going to church and worshipping our Lord; not turning his back on the Lord even after having lost a wife, two sons, and a mother-in-law in about two years!

Mark, Mirtza, Alicen took the girls shopping; something he and Elaine agreed they could do while he visited this February. Mark has been very concerned about the girls and their dad. The people who won the house they live in want them to leave. Mark has solicited the help of Alicen to look in after the girls, and with her business background, to perhaps help the girls to start a small business that could help them make ends meet, keep them off the streets. Dana also agreed to help brainstorm about potential places this special family could live, and that perhaps Mark and Elaine could help support as well.

Please keep this family in your prayers; that God would help heal and strengthen the father, help the girls find a small business that they could work to help support the family; that the Lord would hold an increasingly prominent role in all of their lives.

Dana & Mirtza Benscoter - True Disciples

Just recently returned from Honduras, where I spent a week with Dana & Mirtza Benscoter, founders of True Disciples Ministry. Dana's story is fascinating, and I'm writing this from a rough memory, so some facts may be slightly off - but here goes: Dana visited Honduras nearly 30 years ago to help on a church related construction project. The night before he was to depart he had a dream that the pastor of the church he was working with came up to him and asked him to stay to help complete this project. Sure enough, the next day as Dana was packing up his tools, the pastor came up to him and... well nearly 30 years later Dana is still residing in Honduras. He went from one project to another, and eventually received on-line theological training, married Mirtza, raised three children who are all in their 20's now, and he still spends the bulk of his time in Honduras with the people he has grown to love. Dana and Mirtza were such wonderful hosts for Mark Miller and me (Mark is a designer/contractor who connected me with Dana, and joined me on this trip). Shown in the photo above is, from left to right: Mirtza, Jorje (Mirtza's brother - and whose story is worthy of a separate blog), Dana, and Alicen (a very close family friend - sort like part of the family).

From their ministry web site: "True Disicples is dedicated to helping people become friends with God. Our focus is to prepare lay ministers through a monitoring-discipleship process.

While developing Christian leadership from "new disciples," we also support existing ministries with ministerial studies and contextualized out-reach ministry strategies.

Due to the extreme need among children today; our main ministry focus is to equip leadership to minister to children and youth."

Boy - one week with Dana and Mirtza, and I'm not certain I've met people so engaged in equipping other leaders and believers - they are "true disciples" of our wonderful Lord and Savior. Thank you Dana and Mirtza for showing me what a true disciple looks like.

A WHIRLWIND CHRISTMAS SEASON

A few thoughts about this Christmas Season. The birth of Christ is the reason for the season - as is often quoted. However - most people I know pack a whole bunch of activity between Black Friday and Christmas, us included. But this year was the busiest season that I can ever recall, and included some exciting HIM activity, as well as a reoccuring scriptural message that I believe the Lord was sending my way.

Bohmes Candy & Gift Shop - meant 10 am - 8 pm Mon-Sat from Black Friday through Christmas Eve. This meant Sally, and at least one of our kids or our daughter-in-law were actively manning the store, unable to help with the usual Christmas season preparation (letters, gifts, trees, cookies, etc...)



Surgery & Complications - my dad had "minor" surgery on December 6th in Seattle at the University of Washington Medical Center (about 3.5 hours away, & over the mountain pass). Complications shortly after he came home sent him back over to UWMC via flight from our local hospital on the 12th. Further complications kept him at UWMC until the 23rd - and very weakend when he returned home. I spent the 1st two weeks of December with dad in Seattle, my brother was with him the week before Christmas, I moved to his house to help nurse him back to health the week between Christmas & New Years, my sister flew and helped the 1st week of the New Year, and I moved back in until this Saturday evening. Unfortunately - further complications have back at our local hospital, where I'm with him. Please keep my dad in your prayers, this has been a very tough 6 or 7 weeks for him.

HIM ACTIVITY: Grace Clinic, the Portland Rescue Mission, and True-Disciples Ministry contacted me in one form or another for design services. Grace Clinic on the 22nd, Portland Rescue Mission on the 27th, and True-Disciples on the 1st of January. We could not meet the schedule that Grace Clinic wanted, and did not have the commercial kitchen design expertise that best suited the rescue mission (both of these determinations came after considerable discussions with clients and the North Carolina HIM staff). The
rescue mission really appreciated our Shepherd's Door design, and is looking forward to future projects through HIM - they also appreciated our honest assessment of our commercial kitchen design experience (which is decent - but not "expert"). Grace really appreciated our price range, but were in quite a hurry, and needed to pay a little more to meet their deadlines. True-Disciples is a school expansion in Honduras, and this is still potential project to expand a Christian school. True-Disciples
is coming through Mark Miller, and elder at my church (South Hills Church), who met the founder of this ministry a few years ago.

On the 23rd, I was stirred to read the Word after midnight, sensing that the Lord had something for me as I pondered my present workload diminishing at Meier, and one potential HIM project (at this point) with Grace Clinic. I was in Numbers 13, and remember thinking; "Lord - just how are you going to speak to me in Numbers?". Eight days later, at approximately 3 in the morning, now pondering the new rescue mission potential project as well as Grace Clinic, my dad needed some help, and after crawling in bed, very sleepy, I sensed that the Lord wanted me to read His word. I remember thinking, once again, how is He going to speak to me in Deuteronomy 1. Eight days later, at about 3:07 in the morning, after helping my dad once again in the wee morning hours, and nervous about being asked to speak some at church regarding our ministry with HIM, I'm reading Deut 9, and thinking - I wonder what the Lord will be teaching me tonight. In all three cases - the passages dealt with the trusting Lord, not fearing the giants in the land that He was giving them; not fearing the giants - because our God is bigger. I believe God was clearly telling me to keep pursing ministry through HIM, don't fear the giants (the support building, the lack of a regular paycheck job, not being able to help my youngest kids with college and such...); trust God - the land is good, it is what God has for me, and He will take care of all the details.

Well, there is a bunch more - but this is a pretty long blog - so I'd better close for now. My next blog will likely share more about the True-Disciples project - as details of this become clearer.

On November 4^th my dad and I visited Tom Lister of the Portland Rescue Mission to visit their three main facilities, and discuss how I could help with their ministry through architecture. The main facility is a late 1800’s four story building in downtown Portland referred to as the Burnside Center. This is their primary outreach center for those off the streets, where 600 to 700 are fed daily; chapel services, beds, recovery programs are all initiated from this 1^st step stopping ground for the homeless. This century old building has had some upgrades, but is in need of many more as funds are raised, project too numerous to list in this brief blog.

The mission also operates a “next step” center, which will shortly be undergoing a major remodel and upgrade (they wished they had known about HIM’s architectural services sooner!). The next step facility is a 1960’s former nursing home east of the downtown area, away from the major sources of drug and alcohol dealing and abusing. This facility is where recovery programs are really put into practice, and where career training will also takes place to help the homeless be homeless no longer. The mission hopes to one day build a rural recovery center, which, when in God's timing land or facilities become available, I will likely be able to assist as an architect for HIM.

Finally the third facility is The Shepherd’s Door, for homeless women and children, and well as a Christ based preschool for the neighborhood at large. This center is relatively new (2003), and provides a safe and secure center for women and children who frequently are at the shelter due to abuse. The Shepherd’s Door was recently gifted some money which will be used on providing soft surfacing, security fencing, and equipment for a toddler playground. This is my first opportunity to help provide architectural services through HIM, it may not seem like much, but to see the joy in the young children’s eyes, as we measured and discussed this upgraded playground area was such a pleasure. Drawings are required for the fence, and playground ground covering material installation; a project small enough that I should be able to squeeze this in during weekends and evenings, and a great opportunity to begin serving the Lord more purposefully through architecture.

I want to thank Tom Lister (pictured here with my dad, in the Burnside Center chapel). Tom spent the whole day with us, showing us their existing facilities, treating us to lunch, and sharing his own, very fascinating story leading him to leave a successful construction job for full time work at the mission.

Thanks Tom - looking forward to our future projects together.

My Architect Dad

My architectural career really began with my architect dad. I've been with my dad yesterday and today as he has some medical tests at the U of W medical center in Seattle (which have gone well), causing me to reflect some on the past.

Dad received his degree at Ohio State and graduated the year I was born. Like many men of his generation, he was able to attend college with the help of the GI Bill, having served in WW II.

As a young boy, maybe age 5, I decided I wanted to be an architect like my dad when I grew up, not unlike many a boy, I suspect. When we moved to South Bend, my dad worked for an architecture firm that only designed churches. Dad's job required him traveling around the midwest to check out various churches under construction. He would take one of his kids on as many of these trips as was pragmatic with his schedule, and our school schedules. I suppose it was during some of these early trips that my architectural path began to be solidified. Dad and I would talk about buildings, and mostly houses we would see along the way. Based on these type conversations, I drew up my 1st set of "dream" house plans on Holiday Inn memo paper while on one of these trips, while in the 4th grade.

Dad helped me in some 7th grade drafting class house plan projects. In my early high school years, our family had a series of difficult challenges - but one way dad and I would cope with these was to go on walks together and walk through various houses that were in early construction, figuring out the layouts when most would not be able to.

Eventually, I received my first architectural degree from Ohio State (like dad). Now, nearly 30 years of a career later, dad has begun to join me on my occasional travels to check out construction projects with my present job; sort of a role swap from when I was a boy. Next Friday, dad will join me when we visit the Portland Rescue Mission to see what design needs they might need help with. It seems only fitting that this transition into missionary architecture would include the company of my dad, who is the man God used to lead me down this career path to begin with. I have been very blessed to have such a special relationship with my dad.

Portland Rescue Mission

Earlier this week I had a great conversation with Tom Lister, Director of Vocational Ministry at the Portland Rescue Mission. The Director at this mission is Eric Baur, who I got to know well when we both lived in Walla Walla. We both moved to WW about the same time (97) and both ended up moving away around the same time (I think we might have left one year earlier that Eric and his family). Eric was the Executive Director at the Christian Aid Center. We first met when he strolled into our little start up branch architectural office, to see if we could check out a structural issue for a potential remodel they had in mind. Over the course of my 8 years in WW, I helped Eric a few times, maybe a handful, with some architectural or engineering input, sketches, etc... Eric is now the Executive Director at the Portland Mission, and when I shared with him about our new journey towards becoming an architectural missionary with HIM, he put me in touch with Tom.

Long story short, my dad and I plan on visiting Tom on November 4th to discuss some small projects that they might need some architectural support with. As you know, I'm not able to dedicate too much time to these sorts of things, but can at least get some work started and transfer back to our architectural staff at HIM headquarters.

I'm so excited that there are some opportunities to help, even if just a little bit, using my architectural background. The Lord knew I was second guessing the sense of calling that I thought he gave me, and Tom's e-mail inquiry was timed perfectly. I will share more about the few projects we might be involved with after our meeting.

In the meantime, check out the following youtube video put out by the Mission, it is very touching. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysMyc_SWeCc . Check out their website as well; portlandrescuemission.org

in His grip,

Ed

Serving God as an Architect

Ed and Sally Luebben.

A good friend helped me set up this blog today to begin a conversation about being a missionary architect. Almost exactly a year ago, I began dialoging with Helps International Ministries (HIM) about serving the Lord through architecture. The idea of serving our Lord through the practice of architecture is not necessarily new, but is not an idea I had ever really given much thought to, until last October that is.

HIM’s mission is to provide helps to missionaries and Christ centered ministries throughout the world. One of these helps is providing architecture. Long story short, after a year of prayer, reading, prayer, visiting, and more prayer, it seemed time to start moving where the Lord seemed to clearly be directing.

So, what does it mean to be a missionary architect? It means being able to use the training and skills of a lifetime to help the homeless, the hungry, the sick, the destitute by designing clinics, schools, shelters, orphanages, and similar buildings. Oh yes, it means I need a team of prayer, and yes, financial supporters before I will be able to serve full time. Please do keep this in your prayers. To find out more about HIM check out their link on this blog page.
Thank you for checking out this blog, as our journey down this new path is just beginning… should be a glorious ride.

In His Grip,
Ed Luebben, AIA

P.S. FYI: I picked up the “in His grip” salutation from a good friend, Henry, who very unexpectedly went to be with our Lord a few weeks ago. Miss you Henry, will see you before too long.