Regenerative Living Ministries

Greetings Everyone,


It has been a long time since some of us have talked or communicated, but I just wanted to update everyone on the process of the ministry I have been working with in the last few months.  Enos Weswah and I have begun a process to create a new school.  The school will be a ministry outreach to rural communities globally not just in Kenya.  The first of many schools to come will be built in Bungoma, Kenya and from there we will begin to move not just in East Africa but central and south America.  The ideas that have developed this project start with three basic concepts for creating a developing community which are the Gospel, Education, and Sustainable Living Practices.

The first is the gospel, which for this comes in the only form with which an individual can grow called Discipleship. Everything we do must incorporate the Gospel of Jesus Christ and must represent Him and His teachings for the world.  If we are to grow a true Christian there must be true discipleship not simply baptism and a short class introducing them to Christianity, but an in-depth walk and daily maturing with a brother or sister in Christ.

The second piece is Education, and it in a practical sense is desperately needed around the world.  We will teach students practical skills using the needs of the community to determine what should be taught.  Along side skills like welding and carpentry we will teach students how to manage a business and correctly handle the monetary aspects while also teaching ethics and Christian values.  Our goal is not to simply give them an education, but give them an opportunity to help their community not just leave for the cities and never come back home.

The final part, and equally as important, is sustainable living practices, whether it is food, water or housing all must be sustainable and reproducible. We will teach students and community members how to create a regenerative farm using Compressed Earth Blocks and a design method called Regenerative Design.  In all of this diet creation and balanced production of foods are taught to students so that the students can go back to the extreme rural communities and help them to begin producing what is needed to create to healthy diverse diets of different vegetation and animal products.  The second aspect to this is creating a community that can survive with little to no outside influence or assistance surrounding a local Church thus completing the circle.

Gospel -> Education -> Regenerative Design -> Gospel......

Regenerative Living, which is the term used to explain this idea, is an based off Christian values shown throughout the life of Christ.  In truth everything discussed here is involved in regenerative Living in some way or fashion and without one part the rest fail.  If you fail to give people a way to grow physically and mentally they will fail to grow spiritually, and for so long we have continued with an antiquated model of presenting the Gospel separate from everything else while in reality the Gospel can never be separated from our everyday life.  We are called Christians because we walk and act as our leader who was Jesus Christ.  We must never forget that in life it is our mission to give not just spiritual food , but to provide for the physical needs at the same time, both must go hand in hand. 

In all of this I wanted to introduce you to The Institute for Regenerative Living.  I ask each of you to join us in prayer as we present this material and begin this ministry around the world.   If you want to get involved or have someone who would like us to speak to them about this please contact me at my e-mail alex.smiley@gmail.com or regenerative.institute@gmail.com so we can determine a good time to come visit.

With Love,
Alex Smiley 

"But if anyone has the world's goods 

and sees his brother in need,

yet closes his heart against him,
how does God's love abide in him?"
1Jn 3:17

P.S.  We are need of assistance in several areas as we begin the ministry work including Website Design, Non-Profit Creation, Transportation in the US, and Connections to the Local Churches and Communities.  If you know of anyone who will be willing to help in these areas please contact me.

The Ugly Truth

I sit here half a world away from the people I call my own, and as of late I have noticed more and more that so often the things we say are evil say so much about the world.  I have been listening to a lot of music as of late and I remember when I was little how my mother in her ways would say the evil on how home was due to the satanic music my sister was listening to.  I grew up in a home that was less than conducive for a child, but that is not what I want to say here today.  Let us examine some music most Christians wouldn’t listen if their life depended on it.  Let’s begin with a classic…

Example #1

Coolio – Gangsta’s Paradise

<Play>

As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I take a look at my life and realize theres nothin left
Cuz Ive been blastin and laughin so long
That even my mama thinks that my mind is gone…

Im the kinda G the little homiez wannabe
Like on my knees in the night
Saying prayers in the street light…

Too much television watchin got me chasin dreams
Im an educated fool with money on my mind
Got my 10 in my hand and the gleam in my eye
Im a loced-out gangsta set-trippin banger
And my homiez is, so dont arouse my anger, fool
Death aint nuthin but a heartbeat away
Im livin life do or die, what can I say?
Im 23 now, will I live to see 24
The way things is goin, I dunno

Power into money, money into power
Minute after minute, hour after hour
Everybodys runnin, but half of them aint lookin
At whats goin on in the kitchen
But I dont know whats cookin
They say I gotta learn, but nobodys here to teach me
If they cant understand it, how can they reach me?
I guess they cant
I guess they wont
I guess they front
Thats why I know my life is outta luck, fool

Chorus:
We've been spending most our lives
living in the Gangstas Paradise

Tell me why are we so blind to see
That the ones we hurt are you and me

<End>

Now tell me what do you see here?  Most white Christian Americans hear a black man talking about killing people and doing drugs.  The reality is very different…  If you begin to truly step inside the realm of the people who can relate to this music you see something very different.  You see people who are living a life in pain and misery.  A proud people who feel like the world has abandoned them and turned away leaving them to fight out the rest of their lives in the filth of those who came before them!  

I say these things because I grew up listening to music and began to realize that the music that I connected with so much was the music that talked about broken homes, pain and living in a world of terrible acts.  Music is the one thing that expresses more clearly than anything else I have ever known what the world is feeling.  So why are we not listening?

Example  #2
Whitey Ford -  What It’s Like

We've all seen the man at the liquor store beggin' for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange
He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes
"Get a job you fucking slob," is all he replies
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues

<Pause>

How many of us have seen such a situation?  How many of us have thought the same thing?  We as Christians should be the ones not condemning, but asking the questions of why.  We should not simply say he could choose to get out of this because the reality is, just like we were once in the filth of our sin, Christ did not simply say we deserve it and walk away.  He said I will become like them, and I will see it through their eyes.  He then came to save us from our misery and release us from the chains of sin that bound us to the death we so truly deserved….

<Play>

Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom that said he was in love
He said, "Don't worry about a thing, baby doll
I'm the man you've been dreaming of."
But 3 months later he say he won't date her or return her call
And she swear, "God damn, if I find that man I'm cuttin' off his
balls."
And then she heads for the clinic and
she gets some static walking through the door
They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner
and they call her a whore
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to choose

<Pause>

Again here we find something that most Christians agree upon.  The death of an innocent child is a horrific thing to happen, but when did we become cold-hearted to condemn them?  I understand standing against the sin of the world, but did Christ tell the people who knew no better to go to hell?  Why do we not simply stand silently head down next to the clinic not to condemn, but to show our love.  Anger and hatred only creates anger and hatred.  We need to be reaching these young women because the reality is their failure is our failure.  We have failed them.

<Play>

I knew this kid named Max
who used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs
He liked to hang out late
he liked to get shit-faced and keep the pace with thugs
Until late one night there was a big gun fight and Max lost his head
He pulled out his chrome .45, talked some shit, and wound up dead
Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of this pain
You know it crumbles that way
at least that's what they say when you play the game
God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to lose

<End>

I want to make the note that throughout this song the artist talks about God.  He may not refer to Him is the best light, but why is that?  You know the reason we are called Christians?  We are called this because we are the representatives of Him who has sent us.  So who wants to be like a bunch of blind sinners who act like the world is perfect as they drive back and forth on Sunday morning to their piece of dirt surrounded by wood and stone?  I don’t…  We need to change the way we view the world.  We need to examine the world around us, and we need to realize that as Coolio so plainly put it, “If they can’t understand it, how can they reach me?” 

I move on to the final thoughts, the music of our culture is the ugly truth we so blindly ignore.  Our children do not learn immorality through the music they listen to.  They accept it because we have chosen to ignore it.  The world is pushing it on them and we act like it doesn’t exist when we need to be preparing them for the things to come.  If you give a child the truth in love then they will see the lies of the world.  Therefore I finish with this simple phrase….

The music of our culture is not the problem of our culture.  It is the expression of it….

Dear Christians....

Dear Christians,

Please remember in response to the death of a man who is, undoubtedly, burning in eternal damnation separate from the Lord that we should not be in celebration. Also a moment is needed to say that all Christians who have prayed so fervently for the death of this man be convicted and repent for you have failed to forgive even though you claim forgiveness for yourself. What would have occurred if instead of condemnation you prayed for repentance? How much more the glory of God would have shown about the world to have converted one of Islam’s holy men.

If you stop and look at the Bible there is a man who murdered Christians, he sought to destroy the Church. He wanted to be the end of them, and we call him Paul. Is Christianity that far from God that we have abandoned the core values with which it was founded upon? Be convicted by the Holy Spirit, and recognize the truth because if not you should fear for yourself.

What is the difference between a blood thirsty Christian, and a blood thirsty Muslim? The answer is nothing, both of them pray for the same thing and both reject the teachings of Christ.

The Word or the World!

If you watch television on any Sunday morning you can find a dozen preachers speaking on three topics.  Normally, seven out of the twelve will be telling you about God's great plan to bless you and everything you touch.  They will then continue to tell you how if you just have faith God will provide everything you need and also everything you can ever want.  These false teachers, as many would call them, are preaching what evangelicals call "Prosperity Doctrine" and are some of the wealthiest and most well known men within Christianity.

The problem with this teaching is that God never says in the New Testament that He wants you to have wealth beyond imagine.  In fact, the New Testament speaks about the hardships and the trails every true Christian must face.  Paul, the writer of a large portion of the New Testament, talks about the hardships he endured and continued to endure until his death.  Are these men saying that he did not have enough faith?  Christ even says it is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.(Matt 19:24)  So, how can so many fall so easily to such ridiculous statements as the ones heard on their televisions?  It is simple they desire this world and the things that come with it.  Christianity as a whole has fallen prey to materialism and the greatest proponent of this is the Doctrine of Prosperity.  In truth, currently Africa is booming.  Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds, but I warn you if we do not step in a begin to teach the true word of God Africa will decline faster than Europe or the Americas could ever have in the faith.

So, next time you get the urge to watch a preacher on the television listen to what he says, and you decide is he preaching the word or the world.

Go to Hell....

You are going to Hell.  It doesn't matter if you believe in Jesus or not.  You are going to Hell.  Regardless of anything you do you will burn in the fire and exist in complete separation from God for the rest of eternity.  Now, what are you going to do?  Will you still serve God?  What about church?  Will you give God praise for the life you live or will you reject God and demand a recount...?  Will you say that isn't fair and choose another religion to follow?  Will you just give into your sinful nature completely and just do what you want?

Well I think the point I make is a valid one.   I do not know about you, but if you had asked me that question a few years back I would have been kinda in shock.  I would have not been sure what I would have done and quite possibly answered the last question with a certain yes.  I came to this point somewhere along my walk when I realized that I was working for my salvation.  I was going to church because that's what a Christian does on Sunday.  I put my ten percent in the plate because God would take care of me and I wouldn't ever be without.  I did what those around me did including saying we needed fewer services and that they needed to be shorter!  My reasons were simple I had failed to recognize who I was serving.  I didn't truly know God and I had little respect for Him.  He was as I used to say the Big Man Upstairs, but all of this changed when I began to learn about Him and His ways of doing things.  I suddenly became confronted with my failure to give Him what He is owed which is my very existence, to do with it as He chose not as I chose.  When you come to that point you see the world in a new light.  You begin to understand that it really doesn't matter what happens to you because you work until the work is done.  I came to that conclusion and fully stand behind it even now.

Even if God decided to send me to Hell when I die, which I fully deserve, I will serve Him because it is better to know Him, even if for only a short while, than to die having never experienced His presence. 

Part of this lies in the fact we all deserve Hell.  In truth God would be completely justified in throwing every single human being on the face of the planet in the pits of Hell, but He doesn't and He instead offers every individual the opportunity to come to a saving knowledge of Him in Jesus Christ.  Do you see the issue?  When we deserve the worst He actually gave the best.  The funny thing is that isn't even the reason we owe Him our very existence.  The reason is that He created us and gave us this life we live and so we owe Him everything.  When you think about it, the fact we are alive and continue to breathe is because He chooses to allow it.

The time for change is now.  You know the reason why we as Christians should never fear death.  We serve the one who created everything and He will never fail us. We are here to serve Him.  We have taken what Christianity started as which is a Kingdom meaning we have a King, a direct authority figure, and turned it into a voting system that is dependent not on God, but the masses idea of what is right and wrong. This lies a the heart of working to get to heaven and redefining salvation by saying you go to church on Sunday because you are supposed to and a failure to say we come to together as the church to praise our savior because He deserves it, not because He saved us, but because He has the right to our very being.

My challenge is for change!  The system we have created is broken, and people are flocking in droves away from this organized religion.  I challenge people to return to the church of Acts.  A church that says my King has commanded me to take care of those in need both physically and spiritually.  A church that is self sacrificing not self centered.  A church that is a beacon of light in the darkness not bringing people to it, but bringing Christ to them.  A church that follows the man who they are named after.  We need to stop serving ourselves and begin serving others.  We need to stop being like the world around us, and that starts by saying we will step out of our bubbles and develop relationships with people.  Discipleship is the heart of Christian development.  Find someone and begin challenging each other to delve deeper and to conform more completely to Christ's image.  Seek out the light....

Work until the work is done... not for the reward, but for His glory.

If you have any questions about how to get involved in missions or if you want to GO please contact me and I will do everything I can to help you.

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8

It takes the touch of the Master to make a man more than clay... For what is a man but a spec of sand in the ocean of Time... And Time but a drop of rain in God's eternity!

 

 

The Pains of the Heart...

Hola Familia,

I have a problem, my heart hurts...   It doesn't hurt because of my own needs, but the needs of someone else.  It hurts because my people have abandoned their morals for money.  It hurts because I hear my Christian brothers and sisters talk about how we should just get all the illegals and ship back over the border.  It hurts because what they say about these people they know nothing about is so wrong...  We have become scared children afraid of anyone who is not like us.   We search the darkness to find something to grasp and hold onto for fear we will fall into the eternal abyss.  We talk about numbers and figures about jobs and schools, but what we are really saying is that we have a problem and don't know how to solve it. 

We have lied to ourselves about the whole issue.  I say instead of condemning these people, help them.  I say instead of shunning them, accept them.  I say instead of passing them with your head held high not speaking, stop and build a relationship with them.  For just as we were lost sinners condemned with no rights of our own God came and built a relationship with us even when we could not understand Him.  He spoke to us not in His own language, but in ours that we might understand. 

I will simply put it this way....   Do unto others as you would have them do unto you..... Luke 6:31

So as you begin your day think about those people around you.  I challenge you to take a moment to spend some time with them.  Build a relationship.  You might be surprised at what you discover not just about them, but about yourself....


With Love,
Alex

So I decided to give it a try......

Greetings Family,

So I have decided to break down and make my attempt at blogging.  I wanted to say I feel like a kid in a candy store finally having a place where I can tell folks what is really on my mind without being constrained by limits.  So as many of you know I am Alex.  I have traveled across the world a couple of times now to visit our Christian brothers and sisters in Kenya.  I miss them very much and often times catch myself thinking how I miss the Matatus(taxis that are essentially 14 person vans that typically have about 18-22 people in them lol) of old.  I miss the sense of waking up and knowing I was going to have to walk 5-10 miles that day just to get around.  The concept of making it because I had too not just because I wanted too.  The opportunity to put a smile on a little ones face by simply saying "fine" when they ask the only English question they know, "How are you?"....

I have gotten used to being back here in the states, but find myself dreaming of going back to the simpler world, a world without a bunch of money hungry self centrist.  I know that wasn't nice, but I mean sometimes I wonder if people even know what they are talking about when they say the word need.  When I hear that word my mind draws a blank. I need nothing.  I have everything and in excess even.  I more often think of the people who live in extreme poverty not because of their choices, but because they have no way out.  I know so many people will roll their eyes and say anyone who truly wants out can get out, but I say that I know the truth of the matter and the truth is when you have no job and you have no money and you live in a tin shack then you can say your opinion matters....  Ok enough of that...  So, since I have a lot of time on my hands now that I am back to working in the oilfield expect periodic updates family!


With Love,
Alex

P.S. I am going to attach books about some of the topics I discuss. I may not have read them, but even if they are way off educating yourself on a topic is always a good thing to do!