Celebrating his 25th anniversary in publishing—the popular Christian author and pastor sets a bold goal to help the world’s children.
By Kari Costanza
Max Lucado was surrounded by hundreds of Ethiopian fathers, mothers, and children. For many, life had been difficult. Some were infected with HIV and had made the complex mental shift from thinking constantly about death to believing in the promise of life. In a candlelit coffee ceremony, they celebrated four years as the Hope and Light Association—ministering to others with HIV. Together they broke down the walls of stigma that left sufferers shunned and silent.
As the candlelight flickered, a visitor crawled into Max’s lap: Deborah, a 3-year-old Ethiopian toddler in her finest party gown. It was a fitting moment on this first day of Max’s first trip to Africa—surrounded by angels of compassion and holding a child.
In Ethiopia, Max and his wife, Denalyn, got to know their sponsored child, Mimi (center, in purple) and her family. (Jon Warren/World Vision)
Visiting Ethiopia last year crystallized Max’s concern for children. “To see the faces of the people, to see the genuine joy and to see the difference—[now I can say,] ‘I have met people whose lives were changed through child sponsorship,’” he says. In Ethiopia, Max and his wife, Denalyn, decided to change a life themselves by sponsoring Mimi, 6.
Ethiopia was also a fitting setting for Max as he worked on his latest book, Outlive Your Life, focusing on the lessons of the early church in Acts. Not so long ago, Ethiopians were persecuted for their faith, like Stephen in Acts chapters 6 and 7. In chapter 8, Philip encounters an Ethiopian eunuch who discovers that there is nothing that can separate him from the love of God.
In 2009, Max started teaching the book of Acts at his church, Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. He was struck by how the early Christians organized themselves to help the poor. “Peter and Andrew and James and John and the women—that group of 120 in the upper room—there was nothing special about them that we are not. Yet Jesus went in there, he found these people, and he empowered them.”
He began to ask: “Could God use just regular people like us to really make a difference? The book of Acts is God’s big answer to that question, because everybody in the book of Acts was just a regular Joe or regular Joanne.”
What happened back in biblical times can happen again, Max believes. And so the message of Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference is simple: You don’t have to do everything, but you’ve got to do something.
Max took his own message to heart. He has been called “America’s best preacher” by Readers Digest and “America’s pastor” by Christianity Today, and his books have sold 65 million copies—but still, Max felt there was a gap in his ministry.
“It seems to me there are three legs on the stool of ministry—evangelism, discipleship, and compassion,” Max says. “Most of my life, I focused on evangelism and discipleship and neglected the whole idea of compassion. A few years ago, I thought, Where have I been? Why have I not given some encouragement and some leadership in this area? I felt like I needed to get more involved in the issues and concerns of justice and compassion.”
He tells the story of Mimi’s father, Dadhi, in Outlive Your Life, published this year—his 25th year in publishing. At first, Max first felt conflicted about celebrating his publishing anniversary. “I think it’s harder to be a parent for 25 years or love your spouse for 25 years than it is to write books,” he says. “But if we could leverage [the anniversary] into something that would raise awareness, then I thought that would be really worthwhile.”
He consulted with his publishing team at Thomas Nelson Inc., which also published World Vision U.S. President Richard Stearns’ book, The Hole in Our Gospel. Together they came up with the idea to set a goal of finding sponsors for 25,000 children through World Vision, in honor of his 25th anniversary.
Max and Denalyn have long known about child sponsorship, as they had assisted children through Compassion when their three daughters were young, and later, also sponsored children through World Vision. And by going to Ethiopia—where U.S. sponsors care for more than 60,000 children—they had the chance to see the impact in children’s lives.
The Make a Difference Tour 2010, presented by World Vision and AEG Live. (Michael Gomez)
As part of his 25th anniversary celebration, Max is headlining World Vision’s Make a Difference Tour, featuring Christian artists Michael W. Smith, TobyMac, and Third Day. The October tour in 20 cities will encourage audiences to sponsor children through World Vision as one way to do something. Max knows from experience that helping one child is a good place to start. “That’s what I love about child sponsorship—it gets us all engaged, at least on an entry level, to some form of compassion,” he says.
Back in San Antonio, Oak Hills’ congregation is also working to make a difference—locally and globally. “Our church is really taking seriously the whole idea of trying to be the church of the book of Acts,” Max says. “We’re very excited about how the church is growing and expanding.” Members are forming mini-churches, or missions, to reach out to local hurting populations—from single moms to the hearing impaired to those in prison—or to come alongside a developing-world community.
“People really do want to make a difference in the world,” Max reflects. “I think there’s something built within each one of us that resonates with the idea of making a difference, changing the world. And I think that’s just a gift from God inside of us that every person has.”
The Make a Difference Tour 2010 features Max Lucado, Michael W. Smith, TobyMac, and Third Day. For information, visit www.makeadifferencetour.com.