The Story behind...

Silas West of Waypoint Church

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Silas West - The member care catalyst

Golatz, Romania

Chisinau, Moldova

"Chennai, India

Katmandu, Nepal

Calcutta, India

Salt Magazine wasblessed with an

opportunity to interviewSilas West from Waypoint

Church. When we conducted theinterview in 2011, he wastransitioning from a leadershipposition in the ministry Word MadeFlesh into anAssociate Pastor role forWaypoint Church, so we are excitedto share about BOTH ministries.Word Made Flesh is a missionorganization that serves the poorest ofthe poor, striving to serve them andpoint them to Jesus while buildingcommunity and reconciliation.Waypoint Church focuses on livinglife “Up, In, and Out.” “Up” meansloving Father God with all of yourheart, mind, and soul (seeDeuteronomy 6:4), receiving God’slove intoyourheart, and trusting Jesusto heal you from all of your sin andhurts. “In”means loving the church asthe body of Christ. “Out” meansloving thosewho do not knowGod, asguided by the Holy Spirit.

My name is Silas West. I have a wife,Kimberly, and my four kids are ages10, 9, 7, and 5.My wife and I met at Asbury Collegein Wilmer, Kentucky (a Christianliberal arts college), and both of ushave a heart for missions.I grew up as a missionary kid inKenya, Africa, and I thought I wasgoing to go back and do communitydevelopment work in Africa. Ienjoyed the bush and the ruralatmosphere.I always said IwouldNEVERwork ina slum, NEVERwork in a city among

the poor, among street childrenparticularly, and another funny onewas that I would NEVER work inAsia. God used a circumstance in mylife where I was back visiting myparents who had been relocated to theoutskirts of Nairobi—a place I reallydidn’twant them to be—to exposemeto an associate pastor who spent hisdays living and working in a slumnearby. I started spending some timewith him and met God in a way that Ihad not experienced Him before.God broke my heart for the pooraround the world, but particularly, Heused that time to leadme toAsia. Thatis howIgot involvedwithWordMadeFlesh,whichwas justgetting startedatthe time and needed staff. I ended upfulfilling all those “Nevers” in theopposite way—I worked in Asia,worked among street children in aslum, and lived in a slum (not justworked in one!) from 1997 to 2008 inthe inner city of Katmandu, Nepal.

What is Word ade Flesh?It comes directly from John 1:14where the bible says, “the Wordbecame flesh and dwelt among us”—the idea being that we are anincarnational ministry serving Jesusamong the poor. Plus,when Jesus firstspoke openly in public about who Hewas, He said, “I come to bring goodnews to the poor, bring sight to theblind, and make the lame walk.”

We must recognize that His kingdomisone that brings freedom to those thatare living in oppression, who aremarginalized, and who are outcasts.He seeks to bring wholeness to Hispeople by bringing those who are onthe outskirts of society back into the

SilasWest

from parents who had the disease.

That children’s home was theflagship ministry of Word MadeFlesh in 1991, and it continues tothis day.

Tell us about yourWMFJourney

I came back to college from the tripto Africa where I was in the slumwith a pastor. I was praying in myapartment by myself when Istumbled upon a passage in a bookby Oswald Chambers, My Utmostfor His Highest. It said, “Weslander God by our eagerness toserve Himwithout knowing Him.”I felt likeHewasusing that to speakto me. I was in college at the time,and I hadn’t yet had a lot of one-on-one experiences where I heardGod’s voice, but that was the firsttime I very clearly heard His voicesaying “Go to India.”I asked Him, “What does thatmean? I don’t knowyou? I grewupin a church, my grandfather was apastor, and my dad was amissionary! I went to a Christianschool, a Christian missionaryboarding school in Africa, and aChristian college. I spend timeprayingand readingmybible everyday.What elsecan Ido toknowyoumore?”My first reaction was revulsion; Idid not want to go India. Asia wasnot onmy to-do list, but I knew thatI had to do it. I looked aroundcampus for what missionorganizations were sending peopleto India, and that is when I firstcame across Word Made Flesh.The director, Chris, was takingstudents to intern at the children’shome.

Bangkok, Thailand

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Lima, Peru

El Alto, Bolivia

worked in Asia... and livedin a slum for 11 years from

1997 - 2008 in the inner city ofKatmandu, Nepal."

...Silas West

"I

center so that we can meet theirneeds, and that is part of what itmeans to be the kingdom of God.That is whatWordMade Flesh is allabout: building communities andnurturing those communities inthese places of poverty, so that thosewhoarepoorbecomeavital, integralpart of the life of the community.The poor are not just being served.The truth is that we are servingAMONG the poor, not justproviding service TO the poor. Astheir needs are being met by thecommunity, they are also invitedintomutual relationshipswhere theycan alsomeet the needs of thosewhoare serving beside them.

Synopsis of WMFThe founder of Word Made Flesh,Shane Clark, spent a year travelingthe world with the vice president ofWorld Vision at the time, Dr.SamuelKamaleson. Experts sayDr.Kamaleson had more face-to-faceencounterswith pastors than anyoneelse in the history of the church.God used that time to really breakShane’s heart for the poor.Shane went to Chennai, India andput together a board of directors andgot Chris Heuertz, fresh out ofcollege, to help him start the firstchildren’s home for AIDS patients.

This was the first care home thatfocused on the AIDS epidemic andhow it was making orphans due tothe many children who were born

suggested Katmandu. Chris then asked me to pray about it for aweek for a confirmation. After I finished praying for that week, Iwas feeling even stronger to go to Katmandu. I told Chris, and heresponded thathehadalwaysprayed thatWordMadeFleshwouldsomeday have a presence in Katmandu—he didn’t want tomention that earlier and influencemy decision to go there. So,mylove for mountains was my calling. I became the regionalcoordinator for all of South Asia.

I came on staff in 1997 with Word Made Flesh, and at the time itjust had a children’s home in southern India, and it wasn’t asending organization like it is now. The director who had startedthe children’s home, Chris Heuertz, and his wife, Phileena, hadmoved back to the United States. They felt God opening doors ofWordMade Flesh to use the way God has transformed their livesto do service among the poor. Theywanted to replicate that in thelives of other young peoplewhowere looking for a similar way tolaunch into the calling God had on their lives.

Your role in WMF involves member care. What ismember care?In2003, ourCommunityCare (member care)Department first gotstarted, and it has been growing ever since. Our department is keyin the selection/candidacy stage of someone applying to join themission, and then as they are accepted by the interviewcommittee. It was a result of people burning out and large-scaleattrition happening, and we did not want to see that happenanymore.Our department (me and one or two others) does the training, getsthem ready to go, and makes sure they have their support in (partof that is the administrative department).We also equip themwithtools they need to raise their funds and to get them into the field.

We realized that some of our new staff were just sinking orswimming, so we really needed to accompany them well. Wedeveloped a new staff process for the first three years where they

So, Iwent and spent6months in India, in thatchildren’s home. They would send theinterns up to one ofMotherTheresa’s homesinCalcutta toexperienceworkingamong thepoor there, the destitute, and one of thehomes for the dying.I had the experience ofmeetingwithMotherTheresa the year before she passed away. Ihad a couple times tojust sit and talk withher. It was prettyamazing—I felt likewhen Iwaswith her, Iwas in the presence ofChrist; you couldsense her dependencyon His spiritualleadership. She said,“Youarehere to servethe poor right? Sowhat are you doinghere talking to me?Get out there and find Jesus among thepoor.” Shewas very humble thatway, like “Ireally don’t have anything to say to you; justdo what God called me to do—serve andencounter the face of Christ in that way.”That was how I really got shaped andmentored in my early involvement in WordMade Flesh.When I moved back to the United States,WordMade Flesh was not asking for peopleto join, but they tookme anyway. I had donemy internship with my best friend, Seth,from college. I didn’t know it, but God wasdoing the same thing in his heart as in mine.Sethwent to theWordMadeFlesh office theday before I did and said he wanted to go toCalcutta, and the director, Chris, agreed thatit sounded great. The next day, I showed upand asked to go to Calcutta also (and at thetime, Word Made Flesh had no concept ofsending people in teams yet, like we wouldnow).Theydid notwant to put all their effortin one place, so they asked me to gosomewhere else in South Asia.

I did not even know where South Asia was,so I looked on a map and saw Calcutta, andreally close to it was Katmandu, Nepal. Ithought, “Oh, I like mountains!" so I

are walked through the field with a veteran staffmember and accompanied really well in areas ofspiritual formation as well as personal development.Of course they are called to serve here, but what aretheir values and true calling? At the end of that three-year period, they are asked to make a more long-termcommitment to thecommunityorgoback to theStates.It is sad but no surprise that the leading cause ofmissionary attrition is that missionaries cannot getalong with one another. We look at marriages, and wesee the same thing in our society.Marriageswithin thechurch as well as outside the church are falling apart.A lot of it comes down to a break down incommunication.People joinWordMade Flesh because they are drawnto our value of community. There can bedisillusionment for awhile because people think thatthe community of Word Made Fleshwill be great, but community is onlyas great as those who are a part of it;we all come to community with ourown brokenness. Our owndysfunction can come from familydysfunction or not ever being taughthow to relate to one another in ahealthy, whole way. It’s not going tobe a magic fix if I join a community—I am going to bring that samebrokenness into it.Some things we do that are fairly new for us aremediation of conflict, when one of our areas/fields hasa conflict that has escalated to a place where it isbecoming dysfunctional. I’ve had to come into thefield a couple times to work through conflictresolutions skills and basic communication skills—the same kind of thing I would do for marriagecounseling, but on a team scale. After those times, Iwould develop ways to get the information used tobring resolution out to our entire staff and also toolsand resources that can equip them to better deal withconflict.

How did you transition into the staff atyour church, Waypoint?I had beenwithWordMade Flesh for 14 years; I lovedit there and had no intention of leaving. In April of2011, I did a one-month visit to the Asia fields. I wasalso invited to speak at a conference in Malaysia onmember care. It was a really good time for me toreconnect with the communities I had been a part of

when I left Asia in 2008.I got back and met with Matthew and Josh, the Pastorand Associate Pastor of Waypoint, but I thought theyjust wanted to catch up on how my trip went. I caughtthem up on my travels, and then Matthew said, “Let’sget to what we really want to talk about.” I had a senseof immediate panic thinking, “Did one of my kids dosomething bad in Sunday school?” Everythinghappens when I am gone.They outlined how Josh was planning to leave thefollowing year (in 2012) because he and his wife werecalled to plant a church in Sicily. He had beendeveloping this new Waypoint drive for churchplanting on an international basis. They neededsomebody to replace him, but also somebodywho hadexperience in caring for, sending out, and trainingmissionaries, and that is what I do with Word MadeFlesh. They also knew it would be a long shot because

of my commitment to Word MadeFlesh.Originally I said, “I don’t think so…It sounds great, but I feel reallycommitted toWordMade Flesh, butI am taking the offer seriously, so I’llpray about it for a fewweeks.” Itwasa roughmonth, butultimately Iheardfrom God that Word Made Fleshcould go on without me, and I hadthis strongdesire to step into this roleat the church.

What are your prayer points?ForWordMade Flesh:We have done very well overthe years developing a networkwherewe individuallyraise support, but when we leave the organization oursupporters go with us, so people are not supportingWordMade Flesh, they are supporting the person. It isgood, and I thinkwe need to continuewith that, but weneed a base of people who are just giving to themission.We are entering a phase of development as anorganization, as a mission, as a movement, where weare seeking out a new model of fundraising that doesnot just rely on individuals raising money, but peopleare giving gifts for the mission itself.In the future, we would love to hire more minoritystaff, but their communities are not always able to helpthem raise the support they need to maintain salary.We are limited to bringing on people that have funds

or churches that can support them. That is hurtful forus, because we are missing out on a huge part of thebody of Christ within our own country.We would love to see African-American or Latin-American missionaries sent into the world, but theyboth lack access to funding. If we could build a biggersupport basewithinWordMade Flesh itself, wherewehave funds that are freedup,wecouldbringpeople intothe mission who have a vision and a calling but do nothave access to funds.How can a person give to Word Made Flesh? Thesimplest and preferred way is to visit our website:www.wordmadeflesh.com. There is a link to give toWord Made Flesh. You can also call the Word MadeFlesh office at 1-800-CRY4KIDS.ForWaypoint:As I transitioned in,wewerebeginningthis new phase of sending people out. We have a teamin Scotland under Pastor Tom Fraley. They have beenreally gracious with us as we try to figure out how tosend people out and to support them well in both careand infrastructure.As we get ready to send out these next few teams toAfghanistan, Thailand, and Sicily, it is on me in thisnew phase to really develop the support structure thatthese teams and the future teams will depend on.A big prayer request for me is that I could quickly getmy head around what is already in place and all thework that Josh has done, and that I would be able tohonorwhat he has done and then also take it to the levelthat it needs to be.Overall, we are also praying into getting a piece ofproperty so that we could have our own building andnot be mobile anymore like we are now. As we look atbecoming this hub of sending people out into theworld,we reallywant a homebase of operationswherethese missionaries and church planters that we aresending out could also have a sense of having a placeto come home to.They will be nomadic in some ways and not have asense of home. Many will be selling their homes andbecoming “homeless” when they come back to theStates. We want to be the support bases for all thesepeople, but we don’t have a home base ourselves. Weare just praying that the prayer strings of heaven areloosed, so please join us!

Your Favorite Bible Verses?John17:21–23:When Jesus prayedover his disciples“that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in

me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that theworld may believe that you have sent me. I have giventhem the glory that you gave me, that they may be oneas we are one—I in them and you in me—so that theymay be brought to complete unity. Then theworldwillknowthatyousentmeandhave loved themevenasyouhave loved me (NIV).”

I love that one, because it speaks to the unity andcommunity of being in the Trinity and that in thatmoment, Christ invites us all to participate in that sameform of unity with Him and the Father. Through that,theworldknows thatwebelong toHimand thatHesentus.John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and made hisdwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the gloryof theoneandonlySon,whocame from theFather, fullof grace and truth (NIV).”

What do you wish you knew as anew believer?

I think that it soundscontradictory toyourquestion,butwhat I would like to tell myself is, “Take in all of thisnew, exciting faith that youhave nowas a child inGod,and pay attention to it. When you get older and a littlemore cynical, you will need that child-like faith.”I love being a father and looking at the simple faith ofmychildren,whoknownothingelsebut a faithfulGod.They have seen His provision. They have been friendswith children who have eaten out of the garbage, butthey know that our home is one where needy kids andadults arewelcome. They think that is what it means tobe a Christian.Their faith is simple, and they know that if they have aneed, they pray to God. He may or may not meet theneed, but the first place you go is to pray—not todepend on yourself.I think that even as a 38-year-old Christian, who hasbeen abeliever formost of thoseyears, I tend todependon myself a lot because “I know how to do it.” Then Ilook at my kids and I remember, “I need to be SOdependent on God.”

Final vision for your life?

I love the idea of accompanying people who arewalking the path that I have walked, and maybe insome ways they are struggling.Whether it is in their marriage or ministering thegospel in a cross-cultural setting, they are burntout. I love the idea of caring for them and being acounselor.I am earning my master’s degree in counselingright now because I am drawn to be a spiritualdirector or counselor to those people.I would love to see a ministry center here inOmaha developed, where—maybe it would be justa home with an apartment in it—where people cancome and find restoration. That is somethingmaybe 10 or 15 years down the road.At the end of my life, I would like to look backand see a life of one who took the experiences Ihave had, and then used them to walk with peopleand give them an opportunity to find restoration inthe places where they are broken so that they canbe restored and sent back out into the harvest field.I have seen a lot of fathers who are pastors ormissionaries sacrifice their families, their children,or even their marriages for the sake of theministry.I pray that my family always comes first, thatwhatever my kids see me doing, they see me firstand foremost being a present father to them—onewho is attentive, one who teaches sacrifice andthat sometimes we make sacrifices for each other,for the sake of others, but never at their expense.I want them to always know a father who cares forthem and points to the true Father.

To learn more about WordMade Flesh,please visit :www.wordmadeflesh.org

To learn more about Waypoint Church,please visit : www.waypointomaha.com.

Silas West