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<\/h2>\n<\/h2>\n![\"Sedina_Sand_Statue_-_sculptor_at_work\"](\"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Sedina_Sand_Statue_-_sculptor_at_work-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/h2>\nImage: Flikr\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a>; Sedina Sand statue sculptor at work.<\/p>\n By Shane Bennett<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t you love a big splash, a huge harvest, a radical shift in the right direction? I sure do. But we also know that life more often consists of many small steps along the correct path. As impressive as it is to take a stick of dynamite and blow off a chunk of mountain, there is also beauty in taking a resulting piece of stone and shaping it into an enduring piece of art. Think of how many chips, scrapes, rasps, and rubs Michelangelo applied to the block of marble that eventually become the Pieta<\/a>.<\/p>\n I want to change the world and I want you to change the world. Perhaps this year you\u2019ll blow a hole the size of the Hoover Dam<\/a> through an impenetrable problem. Along the way to that, can I offer you a dozen ideas (one per month) you can use to pick up a chisel and a small hammer and take a chip in the right direction. If enough of us do this, the world will look more like the Pieta by the time we get around the sun again.<\/p>\n I know of nothing better to mold a person to God\u2019s purposes for the world than joining a like-minded band of intrepid followers for a Perspectives<\/a> or Pathways<\/a> course. Many start this week and next all over the U.S. Grab a friend and visit a class. Tell them Shane Bennett sent you and you need to check it out. You\u2019ll likely look back on it as the best investment you\u2019ve made in your life with Jesus to date.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve already taken Perspectives, then grab a handful of people who trust you, buy the DVDs, and host a Bridges Course<\/a>. In six weeks, probably less, you\u2019ll watch people exchange apathy, fear, and anger toward Muslims for love and engagement. This is one of the first, best things a lot of us could do to shift the sentiment of the American church and open new doors of loving connection to Muslims in our midst.<\/p>\n You could give a Muslim a present for Eid al-Fitr<\/a>. This end-of-Ramadan celebration falls on July 5 this year. A box of chocolates or some flowers will make a nice impression. This little act of kindness and recognition will mean something. Multiplied over enough times it will going to make something truly beautiful emerge.<\/p>\n Invite your pastor to lunch at a Middle Eastern or East African restaurant. Pray for refugees when you pray for the meal. Many of the refugees flooding into Europe<\/a> this past year, and likely this year, are from the Middle East and Eritrea.<\/p>\n Watch The Good Lie<\/a> movie to nurture compassion for refugees. Watch it with a couple of buds (and a couple boxes of Kleenex), or, better yet, schedule a showing for your whole church. Costco has a good deal on Kleenex in bulk<\/a>!<\/p>\n Read Sarah\u2019s story<\/a> and keep your eyes open for refugees who make it to your country, your town. When you find them, treat them like Jesus would. This opportunity will arise for more of us since there are presently more displaced people than ever before in history<\/a>. \u201cOne in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, it would be the world\u2019s 24th biggest.\u201d<\/p>\n Drinking copious amounts of coffee will help you<\/a> check more items off this list! And buying it from a group like Share Collective<\/a>, being launched by my friend and hero Steve Helm, will \u201chonor God by empowering the poor in every dimension, leveraging the people of faith with expertise in agriculture, medicine, business, education, nutrition, and finance.\u201d<\/p>\n While you\u2019re enjoying a steaming mug of Share Collective coffee, immerse yourself in Steve Smith\u2019s new thriller, Hastenings<\/a>. I enjoyed it. And I love the idea of communicating important, timely concepts in an exciting, fictionalized account. Will you help me seed this book throughout the church? I think God\u2019s going to use it to advance his kingdom.<\/p>\n Want to make a difference? Find a missionary who\u2019s temporarily back in their home culture, but them a coffee and listen to their story. A home assignment or an unwanted sojourn back at home is a precarious time for many cross-cultural workers. Without forgetting the ones still far away, let\u2019s rally around those who are temporarily nearby.<\/p>\n Maybe the best way to care for those far away is to pray faithfully, diligently, and knowledgeably. Start praying regularly for a cross-cultural worker. And let them know you\u2019re praying. I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll lose your reward if you\u2019re humble about this and I\u2019m pretty sure they\u2019ll be encouraged. If you really want to do this but are at a total loss as to who to pray for: Pick me!<\/a><\/p>\n No normal sports team only plays \u201caway\u201d games. Couple prayers for far-away ministries and missionaries with prayer walks<\/a> to seek God for what he wants to do in your very own neighborhood.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t even go to Mexico without one anymore. If God asks you to go somewhere really exotic like Canada or Mauritius, you gotta have one. And since I\u2019m hoping you\u2019ll go with me to Sicily<\/a> to care for refugees there, you\u2019d better get the process rolling<\/a>!<\/p>\n Thank you for reading this and for joining me in slowly, intentionally and gracefully making a dent in the planet in 2016.<\/p>\n \u00bb Let me know<\/a> how it goes and what other cool, dent-making endeavors you\u2019re up to or tell us all about it on the Missions Catalyst website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Image: Flikr\/Wikimedia Commons; Sedina Sand statue sculptor at work. Twelve Things You Can Do in 2016: A Dozen Ways to Dent the World By Shane Bennett Don\u2019t you love a big splash, a huge harvest, a radical shift in the right direction? I sure do. But we also know that life more often consists of … Continue reading Twelve Things You Can Do in 2016: A Dozen Ways to Dent the World<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-mobilization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6122,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6120\/revisions\/6122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Twelve Things You Can Do in 2016: A Dozen Ways to Dent the World<\/h1>\n
1. Grow in knowing God\u2019s global purposes.<\/h3>\n
2. Build a bridge.<\/h3>\n
3. Give a gift.<\/h3>\n
4. Pray with your pastor.<\/h3>\n
5. Cultivate compassion.<\/h3>\n
6. Be a \u201cSarah\u201d to a stranger.<\/h3>\n
7. Make your coffee count.<\/h3>\n
8. Engage your imagination.<\/h3>\n
9. Make time for a missionary.<\/h3>\n
10. Lift up a laborer.<\/h3>\n
11. Prayer walk your own neighborhood.<\/h3>\n
12. Apply for your passport.<\/h3>\n
![Flikr\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a>; Sedina Sand statue sculptor at work.<\/p>\nTwelve Things You Can Do in 2016: A Dozen Ways to Dent the World<\/h1>\nBy Shane Bennett<\/strong><\/p>\nDon\u2019t you love a big splash, a huge harvest, a radical shift in the right direction? I sure do. But we also know that life more often consists of many small steps along the correct path. As impressive as it is to take a stick of dynamite and blow off a chunk of mountain, there is also beauty in taking a resulting piece of stone and shaping it into an enduring piece of art. Think of how many chips, scrapes, rasps, and rubs Michelangelo applied to the block of marble that eventually become the Pieta<\/a>.<\/p>\nI want to change the world and I want you to change the world. Perhaps this year you\u2019ll blow a hole the size of the Hoover Dam<\/a> through an impenetrable problem. Along the way to that, can I offer you a dozen ideas (one per month) you can use to pick up a chisel and a small hammer and take a chip in the right direction. If enough of us do this, the world will look more like the Pieta by the time we get around the sun again.<\/p>\n1. Grow in knowing God\u2019s global purposes.<\/h3>\nI know of nothing better to mold a person to God\u2019s purposes for the world than joining a like-minded band of intrepid followers for a Perspectives<\/a> or Pathways<\/a> course. Many start this week and next all over the U.S. Grab a friend and visit a class. Tell them Shane Bennett sent you and you need to check it out. You\u2019ll likely look back on it as the best investment you\u2019ve made in your life with Jesus to date.<\/p>\n2. Build a bridge.<\/h3>\nIf you\u2019ve already taken Perspectives, then grab a handful of people who trust you, buy the DVDs, and host a Bridges Course<\/a>. In six weeks, probably less, you\u2019ll watch people exchange apathy, fear, and anger toward Muslims for love and engagement. This is one of the first, best things a lot of us could do to shift the sentiment of the American church and open new doors of loving connection to Muslims in our midst.<\/p>\n3. Give a gift.<\/h3>\nYou could give a Muslim a present for Eid al-Fitr<\/a>. This end-of-Ramadan celebration falls on July 5 this year. A box of chocolates or some flowers will make a nice impression. This little act of kindness and recognition will mean something. Multiplied over enough times it will going to make something truly beautiful emerge.<\/p>\n4. Pray with your pastor.<\/h3>\nInvite your pastor to lunch at a Middle Eastern or East African restaurant. Pray for refugees when you pray for the meal. Many of the refugees flooding into Europe<\/a> this past year, and likely this year, are from the Middle East and Eritrea.<\/p>\n5. Cultivate compassion.<\/h3>\nWatch The Good Lie<\/a> movie to nurture compassion for refugees. Watch it with a couple of buds (and a couple boxes of Kleenex), or, better yet, schedule a showing for your whole church. Costco has a good deal on Kleenex in bulk<\/a>!<\/p>\n6. Be a \u201cSarah\u201d to a stranger.<\/h3>\nRead Sarah\u2019s story<\/a> and keep your eyes open for refugees who make it to your country, your town. When you find them, treat them like Jesus would. This opportunity will arise for more of us since there are presently more displaced people than ever before in history<\/a>. \u201cOne in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, it would be the world\u2019s 24th biggest.\u201d<\/p>\n7. Make your coffee count.<\/h3>\nDrinking copious amounts of coffee will help you<\/a> check more items off this list! And buying it from a group like Share Collective<\/a>, being launched by my friend and hero Steve Helm, will \u201chonor God by empowering the poor in every dimension, leveraging the people of faith with expertise in agriculture, medicine, business, education, nutrition, and finance.\u201d<\/p>\n8. Engage your imagination.<\/h3>\nWhile you\u2019re enjoying a steaming mug of Share Collective coffee, immerse yourself in Steve Smith\u2019s new thriller, Hastenings<\/a>. I enjoyed it. And I love the idea of communicating important, timely concepts in an exciting, fictionalized account. Will you help me seed this book throughout the church? I think God\u2019s going to use it to advance his kingdom.<\/p>\n9. Make time for a missionary.<\/h3>\nWant to make a difference? Find a missionary who\u2019s temporarily back in their home culture, but them a coffee and listen to their story. A home assignment or an unwanted sojourn back at home is a precarious time for many cross-cultural workers. Without forgetting the ones still far away, let\u2019s rally around those who are temporarily nearby.<\/p>\n10. Lift up a laborer.<\/h3>\nMaybe the best way to care for those far away is to pray faithfully, diligently, and knowledgeably. Start praying regularly for a cross-cultural worker. And let them know you\u2019re praying. I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll lose your reward if you\u2019re humble about this and I\u2019m pretty sure they\u2019ll be encouraged. If you really want to do this but are at a total loss as to who to pray for: Pick me!<\/a><\/p>\n11. Prayer walk your own neighborhood.<\/h3>\nNo normal sports team only plays \u201caway\u201d games. Couple prayers for far-away ministries and missionaries with prayer walks<\/a> to seek God for what he wants to do in your very own neighborhood.<\/p>\n12. Apply for your passport.<\/h3>\nYou can\u2019t even go to Mexico without one anymore. If God asks you to go somewhere really exotic like Canada or Mauritius, you gotta have one. And since I\u2019m hoping you\u2019ll go with me to Sicily<\/a> to care for refugees there, you\u2019d better get the process rolling<\/a>!<\/p>\nThank you for reading this and for joining me in slowly, intentionally and gracefully making a dent in the planet in 2016.<\/p>\n\u00bb Let me know<\/a> how it goes and what other cool, dent-making endeavors you\u2019re up to or tell us all about it on the Missions Catalyst website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image: Flikr\/Wikimedia Commons; Sedina Sand statue sculptor at work. Twelve Things You Can Do in 2016: A Dozen Ways to Dent the World By Shane Bennett Don\u2019t you love a big splash, a huge harvest, a radical shift in the right direction? I sure do. But we also know that life more often consists of … Continue reading Twelve Things You Can Do in 2016: A Dozen Ways to Dent the World<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-practical-mobilization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6122,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6120\/revisions\/6122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Sedina_Sand_Statue_-_sculptor_at_work.jpg\"){kind=link}
![coffee will help you<\/a> check more items off this list! And buying it from a group like](\"http:\/\/www.bitrebels.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/coffee-and-working-go-together.jpg\"){kind=link}