My Favorite Gift to PWM This Year

I want to share with you my favorite gift to PWM this year.  In early October, we received the following gift in our mailbox from a 10-year-old young man in Florida:

"Dear Mr. Darke,

I have enclosed $25.10 from my allowance for La Providencia.

Compliments of

[Name]"

I hope that this encourages you as much as it encouraged me.

Providence Prayer Trigger

Here's an easy way to remember to pray for Providence World Ministries. Whenever you see the Starbucks logo, whether it be on the store building, a commercial or an advertisement, stop and pray at that moment.

Pray for:

ENCOURAGEMENT as we strive to share the message of God's love to widows and orphans!

RELATIONSHIPS with both established and new ministry partners and workers to be strengthened.

VISION as we continue to seek out the best and most strategic way to love orphans, widows, and at-risk communities as God loves them. We need wisdom and guidance in this.

The Way Forward Project Research Summit

Last Tuesday, I had the privilege of attending a summit at the State Department in D.C. that focused on research conducted on family-based orphan care in 6 African countries.  More specifically, it focused on how to best care for orphans.  Not surprisingly, the unofficial theme for the event was "families, not institutions."  It was an intimate gathering of about 100 people, and it was full of information.  While taking about 7 pages of typewritten notes, I learned a ton in three short hours about how we can improve our care at La Providencia, and how what we're doing at La Providencia can help to inspire and equip others to practically and realistically love orphans well.  There is too much to share in this short blog, but here are a couple snippets from the conference:

“The heart of every society is revealed by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. They don’t get more vulnerable than orphans.” - Rick Warren

Twenty-four months of age is critical to brain development - if you don’t get a child out of an institution and into a family by then, there is little chance that his or her brain will ever develop fully.

“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.” - Mother Teresa

I hope that I can personally share with you other highlights from the conference.  It was quite a day.

Tough Questions in a Culture of Relativism - Volume 3: What is Family?

What is family?

In the American "classic," The Spy Next Door, the Jackie Chan character said this about what defines family: "Family isn't whose blood you carry, it's who you love and who loves you."

Desmond Tutu, on the other hand, said this about family: "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

The television show, Modern Family, provides a very interesting commentary on the evolving definition of "family" in our society.

And Merriam-Webster defines "family" seven different ways, including, "a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head," "a group of persons of common ancestry," "a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation," "the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children," "any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family," and "a unit of a crime syndicate (as the Mafia) operating within a geographical area."

So which is it? Or is it a mix of these "definitions?" Or is it something altogether different? What makes a group of people a family?

In my research of orphan care over the past few years, I've seen "family model" orphanages all over the world that vary greatly in their definitions of "family." For example, some "families" have a hut with one woman from the community caring for 15 children; some "families" have a married couple living in an apartment attached to a living area where 8 same-gender children live together in one room; some "families" have American missionaries commit to care for 8-10 children in a home for an indefinite period of time; and some "families" have national married couples loving the children as their own from an early age through their educational lives. While these examples are not exhaustive, they give you an idea of how "family" is defined differently throughout the world of orphan care.

As we seek to create a best practice model framework for orphanages with family as a critical and essential component, we need to reconcile these differences in our definitions of "family." We need to make sure that we're on the same page with regard to a clear and comprehensive definition of what "family" actually is so that we can ensure that we're not talking past each other while collaborating to develop the best practice framework. That is why we're asking you to weigh in on this all-important question that lies at the heart of the family-based orphan care model.

Providence Coffees

What began in Siguatepeque, Honduras, as a model for sustainable and long-term orphan and widow care has become a powerful approach to changing an epidemic that now plagues more than 167 million children globally. You can help further this vital work of orphan care with a simple yet important investment in quality coffee.

Here at Providence, we are excited to launch a new coffee club and hope you’ll join us in making a difference in the lives of orphans around the world! Providence Coffees offers fair trade, organic coffee from Central America, and each 13-ounce bag is only $12.95. All net proceeds help fund our efforts among the orphans of Honduras and across the globe.

Place Your Coffee Order Now!

Providence Coffees is a part of Providence World Ministries. We seek to establish innovative, culturally appropriate communities of care for orphans and widows around the world. To be part of what we are doing and help finance our efforts, please visit our website at http://providenceworldministries.org/

Conference on Honduras Recap

Last week, I attended and spoke at the Conference on Honduras in Copan, and it was a great experience. Douglas and Mizael joined me and we learned a lot about what different organizations, governmental and non-governmental, are doing throughout the country.  There were educational institutions, the UN Volunteers, the US Ambassador to Honduras (with a bunch of not-so Secret Service guys), orphan care providers, church planters, medical providers, missions directors, coffee businesses, musicians, leadership training organizations, entrepreneurs, media outlets, and several others.  Check out www.hondurasweekly.com for an article on the conference if you want more details.

It was extremely informative and encouraging to Douglas, Mizael, and me because it showed us that we are on the right track with the La Provdencia model, and a replicable best practice model framework is a huge need amongst the orphan care providers.  Not surprisingly, the vast majority of the orphanages are working on tight budgets and have very little research or other information to help them strive toward excellence at their orphanage.  They are simply getting by and doing the best with what they have.  As I discussed during my talk, I am excited that we at PWM are able to provide our children at La Providencia with excellence in every area, and simultaneously test our theories on best practices out at La Providencia.  And then, we are able to inform, educate, train, empower, and encourage others with what God teaches us in the process.  When we work with other organizations, we also (and this is just as important and valuable) are able to learn from what they have learned and we can all think bigger and get better together.  This promotes efficiency and stewardship of resources by allowing us to not have to re-invent the wheel every time we do something at the orphanage, and it also promotes a culture in which we constantly challenge each other to get better and not accept mediocrity.

One other thing that the conference did was reinforce the desperate need for us to define our terms in orphan care (and other areas) with specificity and care to ensure that we are all talking about the same things, rather than talking past each other and "disagreeing" when in fact we are talking about completely different things because we didn't define our terms.  The word "orphanage" is a perfect example, as it means very different things to different people.  Most people think of some variety of "Annie" or "Oliver Twist," which definitely exist in the world. But there are also some amazing orphanages, such as La Providencia, that are full of love, families, top-quality education, great medical care and nutrition, spiritual development, self-sustainability projects, and integration in the community.  The fact is that some orphanages are incredible places, and others are terrible places.  Don't lump them all into the same category and throw the baby out with the bathwater.  We can't be lazy in this conversation because too many lives are at stake, and orphanages are very necessary part of the orphan care equation - we need to fully understand that we can't address the current orphan crisis without orphanages.  And because of that fact, we need to demand nothing less than excellence and best practices from our orphanages at every turn.

Conference with Honduran NGOs

I am excited to attend and speak about the La Providencia best practice family model orphanage at the Conference on Honduras in Copan this week with Douglas and Mizael.  The conference includes people from non-governmental organizations working with children from all over Honduras.  We hope to start new and strengthen existing relationships during the conference that will further enable us to collaborate with other organizations throughout Honduras to continue raising the bar on the standard of care for orphans and at-risk children.  Stay tuned for updates from the conference . . . 

Sometimes "Why?" is Not the Right Question

Often people ask "Why?" when bad things happen in life, to them or to others.  And that questions certainly permeates conversations when a family member or friend commits suicide.  Suicide is something that I never experienced "close-up" until last year, when my extremely talented and beautiful sister-in-law took her own life in her home while her husband and children were sleeping.  I'll never forget the moment I heard the news or the weeks following her death when our family was searching to figure out why. Why would she have killed herself?  Why she couldn't recognize her incredible God-given talents? Why she just couldn't receive and believe compliments when others praised her work?  Why did God let this happen?  Why?  Why?  Why?

While asking "Why?" is a very common response to tragedy, and is a very natural part of the grieving process to help us try to understand and bring emotional closure, I have come to see over the past 13 months or so that it just might be the wrong question to ask.  Especially in relation to why a particular person committed suicide.  Not only because we likely will never know just why our loved one chose to take his or her own life, but because it often causes bitterness and anger, and, consequently, keeps us from asking the more important question: "To what end?" 

In Tony Dungy's (former coach of the Indianapolis Colts) book, Quiet Strength, Dungy recounts the most difficult experience he ever had in his life when his son took his own life at the age of 18.  In so doing, Dungy discusses the need to ask "What?," not "Why?": "Why do bad things happen?  I don't know.  Why did Jamie die?  I don't know. But I do know that God has the answers, I know He loves me, and I know He has a plan - whether it makes sense to me or not.  Rather than asking why, I'm askingwhat.  What can I learn from this?  What can I do for God's glory and to help others?"  The book goes on to chronicle how Dungy's life answered those questions with some very life-giving stories and conversations.  Here is but one such story that Dungy shares in his book: "One worried father asked me to call his son, who he thought might be contemplating taking his life.  We spoke several times over the next few weeks.  'Why are you taking the time to call me?'  the son finally asked.  'Because if someone had been able to help my son with a phone call, I hope they would have taken the time,' [Dungy responded.] His dad called me later to thank me for helping his son get through that time.  I was happy to know that our experience, as unbearable as it was, had actually helped another family."

God's plan in all of this may never make sense to us and we may never know why my sister-in-law committed suicide.  And there still is a whole lot of mourning and healing going on, and likely will continue in some ways for the rest of our lives.   But, fortunately, as part of the healing process, I have seen first-hand over the past 13 months how asking the question, "To what end?," has resulted in some pretty awesome things.  For example, though we've always been pretty close, our family has bonded and supported each other in ways that I have not seen before.  And one of my sister-in-laws, Brea, has championed the cause of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (afsp.org), which fights against these tragedies through research, training, education, and legislative reform on issues surrounding mood disorders, depression, and suicide.  And my mother-in-law has also taken up the cause by starting her own grass roots campaign, "Survivors of Suicidors - it's OK to talk."  Through the campaign, she is encouraging survivors to talk through their pain and loss, and to start asking the "What?" questions.

So, while we will all miss Susanne dearly for the rest of our lives, we can rest in the fact that God is using her tragic death to bring glory to Him and to help others in amazing ways, seen and unseen.  We just need to keep asking the two questions that guided Dungy through the valley he found himself in after his son's death.

Can We Really Love Our Enemies?

In Matthew 5 and Romans 12, Jesus and Paul implore us to love, bless, and pray for our enemies.  Is this really possible for us to accomplish?  Well, in this follow-up to the most recent discussion in the "Tough Questions in a Culture of Relativism" series, you can listen to the sermon I delivered on 9/11 about how we can love our enemies on global and local levels.  Just click here (http://bit.ly/rpM0yo) to download the sermon.  I'm sure that it won't come as a shock to anyone that the answer to the question involves looking in the mirror and at Jesus.

Sweet Words to Our Souls

I encourage you to meditate on these words  from Psalm 19 today:

"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb."

Mondays with Mizael

It always interests me to see how different people see the world.  Yesterday, in between meetings in Los Gatos, San Jose, San Francisco, and San Mateo, I had the pleasure of taking Mizael on a "Phil Darke Tour" of San Francisco, where he took it all in for the first time. As you might imagine, I drove him through the city and showed him Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Lombard Street, the Mission District, Coit Tower, and a few other tourist hotspots.  But the things that always caught his eye (and filled his camera) were the bridges and the Transamerica Building. Essentially, the architectural wonders grabbed him more than anything. In fact, the only thing that was on his "must-see" list was the Golden Gate Bridge, so I made a point to drive over it (NB, of course, to avoid the toll : )) and take pictures from both sides.  Why the fascination with the bridges and buildings?  Because he is an architect, and his mind is captured by great structures in the world in a way that mine is not.  I imagine that when he looked at the amazing structures in San Francisco, he could see the design and blueprints, and imagine with painstaking detail the tremendous amount of work that went into erecting the structures.  Yes, I can take in the beauty of the buildings and bridges, but I see and appreciate them in a completely different way than Mizael does.  And thank the Lord for that fact.  Otherwise, we would have a very boring and monotonous world.

Mizael is Coming to Town

Well, at least he is coming to Northern California.  Mizael Flores, our beloved Honduras National Director, is making a visit to The Golden State over the next couple weeks for a preaching conference and to further relationships with PWM's partner churches and families in the area.  He is very excited to see familiar and new faces, practice his English, and share about what God is doing at La Providencia with us in our homes.  Please be praying for safety and productivity during his trip, and for his beautiful family in Honduras while he is away from them.

A Stronghold for the Oppressed

I love Psalms 9 and 10! And here is why:

-For their exposition into God's provision for and protection of the oppressed and the fatherless - for those who have no human advocate or status in this world and thus can't protect themselves from the hands of evil.  This provides us with assurance that God not only hears the cries of the afflicted, but he "does justice" to and for them.  While admittedly the justice often does not comport with our sense of "proper" timing, we are assured here and throughout the Bible that God brings justice on the evildoer. 

"But the Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.  The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." (Psalms 9:7-9)

"The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.  O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more." (Psalms 10:17-18)

-For David's honesty in recognizing that the evildoers seemingly not only get away with their evil but prosper from it in this world.  This is where many people argue that God doesn't care or God is not active in their lives because bad things happen to "good people" and good things happen to "bad people."  But what these Psalms remind us of is that we need to keep an eternal perspective.  God will bring justice to EVERY person on this earth, and the evil will be punished - but sometimes it won't be here on earth.  Sometimes it won't be until the person dies and receives eternal punishment.  And we need to always remember that with the evildoer, as with every one of us, the only way to avoid the just punishment of death and eternal punishment is through Jesus Christ, and his perfect sacrifice for us.

"[The evildoer's] ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. . . . The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.   He says in his heart, "God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it. . . . But you do see, for you note mischief  and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless." (Psalms 10:5, 10-11, 14)

-David starts it all off with remembrance of God's work and gratitude for that work. Remembering God's continual provision and protection is what fuels our ability to have faith that He will continue to be the stronghold for the oppressed and fatherless for all generations.

"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." (Psalms 9:1-2)

Tough Questions in a Culture of Relativism - Volume 2: How Can We Love Our Enemies?

In Matthew 5:43-48, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says: "“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

I've been thinking about these verses a lot in the wake of the Osama bin Laden killing and as we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11 - what is the proper response to the killing? Joy? Exuberation? Rejoicing? Sadness? Remorse? Mourning? All I know is that I had a sick feeling in my stomach when I watched the people celebrating at the White House and in Times Square like they do on New Year's Eve when the ball is dropping.  Jesus didn't say to love when our enemies are killed and pray for their demise.  He said to love them and pray for them when they persecute us.  I struggle to see how what we did to bin Laden was consistent with this command.  How many of you have ever prayed for bin Laden?

Well, it was justice for him, you might say (as many others have).  Really?  Is that what it was?  Did it really set the world right?  Did it really bring shalom to the world?  Did it bring us closer to "making all things new?"  Or, on a more base, national level, was it even consistent with how our US legal system defines justice?  What happened to innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, which is one of the non-negotiable tenets of our country?  Despite that tenet, Osama was given the death penalty before even stepping foot in a court of law. Sure, he admitted on TV and in other recordings that he was involved in many mass murders around the world.  Sure, he spewed evil for most of his life and likely was the mastermind behind more terrorism than any other human being in the world.  But did we ever prove it? Did our near certainty give us the right to hunt him, ambush him and kill him, when he wasn't armed?  Is that really justice? 

Don't hear what I'm not saying . . . I'm not second-guessing the military team that executed its orders perfectly. I'm not even doubting the orders from our US leadership to raid the compound. Our leadership was just acting in conformity with our country's ethic permitting the killing of certain people if they are determined by the powers that be to be "bad enough" or threats to our country.  What I'm questioning is something more foundational - our double (and sometimes more than double) standards when it comes to "justice" and who deserves to be "innocent until proven guilty."  Also, I'm questioning how we as a country react to the murder of some people as tragedy and others as a reason for celebration.  How we as a country rejoice in the death of a man. How we as Christians in that country celebrate hand-in-hand with our own countrymen. How does that fulfill the call to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?" 

What are your thoughts on this very difficult issue? If you haven't done so already, think about it!  I'd love to hear your responses.

What Amazing Faith and Confidence!

As I read through Psalms 5 and 6 this morning, it struck me like never before how David doesn't just throw up prayers to God hoping that something might be heard and God might do something in response.  No!  David prays with conviction, assurance, and expectation that God will work in and through his life.  

He says in 5:3, "O, Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch."  In 6:9, he says, "The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.  All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment."  

Where does this assurance come from?  From David's understanding of God's consistent and steadfast love through his life.  From David's understanding that he, and we, can only enter God's house through grace - or as David puts it, "through the abundance of [His] steadfast love" - and that God wants us to do so every moment of every day.  David sings it well in 5:11-12, "But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, an spread protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.  For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield."

My prayer is for this confidence, assurance, and expectation that God has worked, is working, and will work in my life through my prayers.  And that I will pray without ceasing, knowing that only God can lead me into righteousness and make my path straight before me. (v. 5:8)  I pray that same prayer for each of you reading this.

Resting in the Psalms

"You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.  In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:7-8.  

What amazing words for us to rest in during our crazy lives.  As one commentator put it, David is telling us through this Psalm that "[t]rue joy and peace depend not on circumstances but on God’s protection and provisions."  And that protection and provision never fails. 

It never ceases to amaze me when I read the Psalms that David continually remembers and cries out to God, and rests in God, even when his world is crashing around him. In Psalms 3 (and likely 4), David is writing while he is fleeing from his own son, Absalom, who is trying to kill him so that he can completely take over David's throne (for this amazing, tragic story, read 2 Samuel 15-18).  And, if that weren't enough, many people were taunting David and saying that God would not protect and save him from Absalom (Psalms 3:1-2).  Yet, in the midst of that horrific circumstance, David nonetheless remembers how God has provided for him and has complete faith that God will protect and provide for him again (Psalms 3:3-8).  In fact, he says, "I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around."   

How many of us could have that same confidence in God's protection and provision if many thousands of people wanted to kill us?  David then ends Psalms 3 with a reminder that "Salvation belongs to the Lord" -- NOBODY or NOTHING ELSE! 

As I rest in that reminder and look forward to resting in the Psalms for the next couple months, it gives me a tremendous peace and calm in the midst of the craziness and difficulties in my life.  It reminds me that, though the circumstances in my life seem like major hurdles in the short-term, they are minor blips on the radar screen in the big picture and God alone, not anything that I do on my own, will "make me dwell in safety."  God alone will "put more joy in my heart" than anything I can do on my own or I can get from others.

Tough Questions in a Culture of Relativism - Volume 1 - What is Truth?

To kick off the PWM Blog, I want to start a series of questions for us to ponder together.  I have purposefully entitled it, "Tough Questions in a Culture of Relativism" because I believe that many of the questions have clear, authoritative answers; however, the answers to many of the questions have been muddied, diluted, confused, and muddled by the relativism and political correctedness that dominates our society.  To say that you have an answer or that you are "right" is equated with arrogance and intolerance.  That being said, many of the questions' answers are greatly influenced by culture, individual circumstances, and other factors. Sorry, I won't tell you which questions fall into each category : ).  Importantly, the purpose of these discussions is not to create division, but educated and mature dialogue.  I hope that this series reaches that goal.


To encourage dialogue, I will not provide any firm conclusions that I have developed on the specific questions, but will only pose the question and include a little commentary to get the conversation going.  Then, after discussion on the topic, I'll follow up with my thoughts on the issue.  And if you care about what I think (through careful study and leading by the Holy Spirit, of course), you can read my thoughts : ).


Some of the questions I am working through, some of them I have benn pondering for my entire life, some of them I have answered in my heart and mind, some of them are clearly answered in Scripture, some of them are not addressed by Scripture, and some are questions that have surfaced in my research of orphan care and everything that goes with it.  As you might imagine, in the process of researching orphan care's multiple prongs, I have come up with many more questions than answers.  So guess what . . . you get to help me to process through them (if you choose to do so : )).


So here is the first question in the series: "What is Truth?"  Is there an absolute truth?  What is it?  Who or what defines it?  Does it change depending on the individual, culture, or time?  Pontius Pilate asked Jesus the overarching question, "What is truth," in John 18 after Jesus said that He came to testify to the truth, but Pilate unfortunately did not allow Jesus, who actually is an authority on the subject, to answer the question (likely because Pilate was mocking Jesus).  So now we get to discuss the question in our age of relativism.  Should make for a very interesting discussion.  Many scholars have said that it is the most important question for us to answer.  So let's get to it . . .