Our mission
From the USA to Ecuador, reconciling barriers into bridges as brothers and sisters in God's family.
We are family
“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”
Barriers To Bridges is about turning barriers into bridges by discovering, through relationship with Jesus and one another, the reality that we are all brothers and sisters in God's family.
It's all about family.
We can all be bridges
“For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing barrier, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end.”
In his love that bridges heaven and earth, Jesus turned the barrier of the cross into the bridge for restored life, to bring us all together as brothers and sisters in God's family. I've had my own experience of transformation, of becoming a bridge, and that's how all this began. And God's family is for all of us.
We can all be bridges.
Love Already
““I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.””
Through our life and who we are, we present the person and love of Jesus wherever we go, and invite all into relationship with him and with us. We focus on the good that we each already are, that we already have, that we already know, and that we already can do - not on what is lacking. So, we don't look to change others, or provide or teach something foreign, or give a new skill - or create dependencies. We introduce the love and mercy of Jesus and facilitate the freeing relationship with him. We aim to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in assisting individual people and communities to recognize, claim, and treasure their own inherent value, the relationship with God already near, by coming to recognize where the hidden life of Jesus is already present in their own lives and in who they already are - and to allow that life to come forth from within.
Start at the Bottom
““The last will be first.””
The cross is the foundation of unity and depth of the love of God, and that means we start at the bottom, where we find Jesus. We come first to be with and - through our own love and sacrifice - bring the good news of the intimacy of God to people at the "bottom", in places where people typically don't want to be: those among us who are at the margins or outside of community, who may be poor, disabled, sick, very old or young, without family, or incarcerated or left out. These people are the most special to God and to us. We introduce Christ by presenting the closeness of him to them, of his life to theirs - most especially through ourselves and our own lives - and assist them in discovering for themselves their own inherent value and relationship with the One who created them. The bridges that form lasting and satisfying community always start at the very bottom!
Local and global
Local bridge-building helps to solve local problems - and global ones, too!
Global bridge-building helps to solve global problems - and local ones too!
Barriers To Bridges is both local and global
Short and long term
B2B has three principal aspects to its mission, and integrates short-term and long-term vision:
Local pastoral ministry and community development in both the USA and Ecuador, turning barriers into bridges locally
Facilitating relationships between individuals, groups, communities, and institutions into bridges between the US and Ecuador, turning barriers into bridges globally
In cases of extreme poverty or emergencies, B2B may seek to facilitate relief within the context of existing relationship bridges
“By transformations through local pastoral ministry and community development in separated communities, “footings” are built to eventually support a bridge in between.”
Barriers To Bridges works for both short and long term
We can all be the solution
“People and relationships are always first. A simple love of people through God is the source and the purpose of everything we do.”
Whatever economic, technological, or material development we may assist in bringing about, it's all always in the context of coming to know and love people more and more through the depth that relationship with Jesus gives, and to grow our relationships with each other in the love of God.
That's what solves problems, from the house to the whole globe.
We are the solution
Check out a simple video about what Barriers To Bridges is:
And the relationship between communion and mission:
