Vine Pipeline Clogged!

There is no sugar coating it — this has been a frustrating spring and summer! Precious medical supplies wait in 5 containers unable to ship to Guatemala. Meanwhile, our warehouse in Guatemala City is getting desperately threadbare. For reasons that are unclear, unrelated to Vine, the government is dragging their feet in giving us clearance to ship. We haven't been able to ship anything. This is now a matter for prayer and supplication. We must remember that this is the Lord's endeavor, and he is continually teaching us at Vine to be dependent on His strength and His ways.

Please ask in Vine's behalf that our containers be released for shipment, that the 100 projects we serve in Guatemala may do their Kingdom work.

Reconnecting — Dave Russell

A few of us from the February trip gathered at Cedar Springs Church a few weeks ago to share memories and renew fellowship. Anna Garlington was the first person in Vine history who was successful in such an endeavor after a trip. Anna gets the “Bringer Togetherer Award.” She was also kind enough to bring along some frijoles negra y bananas negra, the latter being unintentionally crisp! It was fun to see everyone.
Ernie and Charlene arrived a little worse for wear after arriving Thursday morning from Las Vegas where Ernie said their daughter had just been married by Elvis. You’ll have to ask him about the truth of all that.
Woody rolled in with chips and salsa in hand. Do you think he was wearing a hat? We were all standing up talking when Stephanie slipped in. It was so good to see her once we all sat down:) Becky (AKA Barbie) arrived with her smile and easy way to complete our circle. Then, ever the observer, I watched us as we looked at pix on the TV and leafed through Ernie’s photo album. There was the off chance that we would talk about Mandy’s wheelchair, and sure enough we did. We are still in awe that God would have visited us in that way, in that place. As I watched, I thought of each person and how the Lord used our gifting in specific ways for His glory. I had my own slide show or sorts playing in my head as I remembered.
The LORD had pulled us together and knit us into His body for a particular task and for a particular period of time. He placed us individually in that body just as He willed to do in order to bring glory to himself and to provide pleasure, fulfillment and joy to us. The little remnant of our body, through chips, salsa, beans, and bananas and each other’s company remembered. And through the remembering we want to remain. Remain where? In His presence. Doing what He is doing — in the rightness of caring for the poor, the outcast and the oppressed — in the kind of sweet communion we find elusive elsewhere — in the unpredictable adventure of being blown by His breath.
It has been said that a joy is not complete unless it is shared. And in coming together to reconnect we share our joy and the joy is renewed. Stephanie understands this, for she is diligent to gather our email addresses and keep us together if only by cyberspace. She gets the “Keeper Togetherer” Award.

More Than "Stuff" — Dave Russell

There's more than "stuff" in Vine's Pipeline. There are people.

There are lots of reasons that Vine “ships” people to Guatemala. Mostly it’s for connecting. People are disconnected. They are disconnected from each other, from different people groups, from the poor, from less than sterile environments, and from their own hearts. The people that come through our pipeline sometimes think they are needed, but they are needy. Sometimes they want to make a difference, but they need to be different. Sometimes they want to share their wealth, but find they are poor. Sometimes they want to find life — and they do!

They find that there is real living in losing your life and that joining the fellowship of His suffering brings fulfillment and peace. The poor, the outcast, and the oppressed give us that gift. By connecting people to medical missions, orphanages, wheelchair ministries and mission hospitals, we help those organizations with much needed manpower and resources. In this regard, Vine is a relational catalyst. We put people together in the service of the poor and nothing is ever the same again. Vine is often the silent partner in works that shout loudly about the goodness of God.

Be sure to look at the blog for our warehouse in Guatemala City. www.vinebodegaguatemala.blogspot.com

Wasted?

In serving the poor a thought can come - “The need is so great, it seems like we’re trying to empty the ocean with a bucket.” Knowing the best efforts will likely never solve the health problem in Guatemala - this does beg the question - “So, what’s the point?” Two answers.

First is the eternal value of one person to God. Forget the numbers. What is the worth of one person? You may have heard the story of a boy finding thousands of starfish washed onto the beach & he begins throwing them back into the ocean - one-by-one. A man walks by & points out that his effort is useless - there are just too many. The boy picks up one, chucks it into the water, & says, “Well, it mattered to that one!”

The second answer Jesus addressed in Mark 14:3-9 when the disciples scolded the woman for wasting a vial of costly perfume she poured on His head. Watchman Nee, in The Normal Christian Life, shares a beautiful perspective.....

“Have we recognized working for the poor, for souls - all valuable - are as nothing compared with work done to the Lord? I do not mean expenditure of effort, but a life laid at His feet. Something has been broken in that life - what you are, not of what you do - that in others, you impart the sense of God. People will scent Christ in you - that here is one who has gone with the Lord, has not moved independently, & has subjected everything to Him. God does not set us here first to preach or work, but to create in others a hunger for Himself. That prepares soil for preaching. We cannot compel people to be hungry - it can be created only by those who carry these impressions of God. This turns upon the work of the Cross in us which releases that fragrance of Christ - & produces in others an awareness of a need to know the Lord. This is the heart of everything - to be wasted for the Lord. When we make this our supreme aim, the gospel will have achieved its end.”

This has been the heart of Vine for 14 years - asking the Lord that the people we serve would not some much see the “stuff” as they would see Jesus - & be drawn to Him.

The Sweet Spot (Dave Russell)

A few years ago I starting hearing a term in business called “The Sweet Spot.” This is a golfing term that refers to the exact spot on the face of the club that should make contact with the ball so that the ball will soar sure and straight down the fairway. Applied to business, The Sweet Spot is where your greatest talents and energies intersect with your client’s greatest need. When you’ve found the Sweet Spot, magic happens!
Personally, I am never more pumped than when my greatest talents and energies are focused on somebody-else’s greatest need, be it business or ministry (pardon the dualism). This is particularly true in my involvement with Vine. In Guatemala, there is no end of great need. Every container we send, every patient we see, every troubled soul we pray for is in our Sweet Spot –– we can’t miss.
If you can’t miss, if you’re always in the “zone”, if you’re always “on your game”, wouldn’t you play every day? This is our opportunity with this ministry. We are expanding the Kingdom by equipping fellow saints who are intersecting people at their point of need with their greatestS strength. Now, that’s SWEET.

Pallet Racks (Dave Russell)

I had an experience on the most resent mission trip that solidified for me our often confused idea of ourselves in Vine. I visited the new warehouse in Guatemala City for the first time and became somewhat overwhelmed. The place was brand new, secure and orderly. And it was clean -- no dust. We have a real loading dock and a truck ramp. We have an actual office and a secure, separate room for pharmaceuticals. It felt sort of like a new suit. I loved it, but it is so, well, “unVine”, if you know what I mean.
I looked up at our architecturally stylish roof/ceiling and asked almost audibly, “How can we have this? We have no money!” It is totally implausible that we would be in this kind of space. Bruce White would kill for this space.
I was standing in the office with Dennis, looking out into the warehouse when I noticed them. There they stood as testimony to God’s grace and provision. They were there as a monument to fourteen years of something vital and enduring -- something totally implausible: the very existence of Vine International. Rows of green pallet racks rose sure and strong from our new floor -- ebenezers of God’s faithfulness.
Those racks were built by friends of mine in our Mezate warehouse. I remember how Tim Carty told me with tears how “To the glory of God” was welded in to one of them. I remember sorting, categorizing and stacking those shelves for the first time with Woody in that awful dust trap of a warehouse! It was my first and last time to be dehydrated, every muscle and joint screaming with pain.
When our time in Mezatenango was over, we wondered if we should move the pallet racks to Xela, since they were so heavy and unwieldy. But move them we did into better quarters and cooler, cleaner conditions. Then we moved to Guatemala City for the sake of convenience and expansion and the racks went with us again.
I gazed at those racks and sobbed. Fifteen years of implausible expansion, growth and blessing flowing onto and off of pallet racks to those serving the poor in the name of Christ through medicine. We have become a Home Depot of sorts for God’s servants in Guatemala -- about 100 different projects, as a matter of fact. Dennis and Doris should be wearing little orange aprons! And the great thing about us that there is no checkout counter. “Es gratis para ti, mi hermano!” “It is free of charge to you, my brother!” “Go, heal the sick. Love well. Comfort the oppressed. Live the gospel. Earn the right to speak truth. Jesus has planted us for you. We are His gift to you because you remember the poor.”
To the glory of God, indeed.