Encounters Along the Way

 I met a man, a big burly guy.  He was 78 and in a wheelchair.  He was hard of hearing, and so used a big burly voice to talk with me.  Harsh sounding.  He was homely, unshaven, with one disfigured eye, the whites of which gazed at me through a slit.  

His legs were useless, he said.  He was trapped most of the time in this wheelchair. He was helpless in many ways, but said he and Jean were making it work.

And then he told me about the women he has loved: a wife who had died, another good woman he was living with, and when I asked him about his faith, he told me about his grandmother.  "As a child," he said, "I went to her house almost every day before school or work."   Now there was a tear in that disfigured eye.  "She taught me about Jesus, and to read the Bible."  His voice had become soft and gentle, as he remembered this love of his life.  She died when I was 17.  Now I had a tear in my eye.

As I reflect on this encounter, over and over again, I am reminded of Isaiah 53:2 where Isaiah is describing the coming suffering servant.  "He had no beauty or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him."  

Lent is a time of reflection, a time to look at ourselves and seeing what is inside us.  At the beginning of this encounter I just wanted to move on.  I had no desire to really look at this man.  But as I listened to his story he became real to me, and then he became an image bearer of God, as we all are.  I recognized in myself the tendency to look for God in people who look like me, and this man was ,"the other."  

"The Other" can be caused by many things: they may be from a different socioeconomic class, a different race, ethnicity, gender identity,  value system, disfigurement, disability, etc.  We gravitate to those "like us," and so are missing what God is doing in the world, and what he would love to do in our lives in so many ways.  God calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves, but how can we love them unless we get to know them?  How can we understand them, unless it becomes a priority to expand our world and discover a little more about theirs?  It takes effort.

I was also challenged to ask myself, when my grandchildren are 78 what do I want them to remember and cherish about me?  Isn't is interesting, two challenges: One about how I interact with the world, and one about how I love my grandchildren?  

Trying to keep up with God

What an incredible summer this has been!!  In the last month we spent a week in Haiti, three weeks with our kids and grandkids, including time in WI, and at Cran-Hill Ranch.  I'm exhausted, but so very thankful!  In the midst of all the good times there was the awareness that there are so many struggles in this world, including a family member struggling with an illness, and a friend of our youngest son dying of leukemia. We are also aware that we live in a lost and broken world, but it is so loved by God, and we need to find our role in being the presence of God bringing hope and healing. 

Like I said, I'm exhausted!  But thankful!  As I write this I am reminded of all our Haitian friends who pledge their love and prayers for us.  Like most trips we met with the elderly of the village of Neply.  Men and women who have lived all of their lives in a country of incredible needs and faith.  Seems an odd combination, but it is real. 

We met and shared a Scripture passage with them. We sang Amazing Grace, and they sang along in Creole. We broke into pairs and prayed for each one of them, and I asked them to pray for us.  In unison they responded, "We pray for you every day.  We pray much, much, much!!"  It is so humbling!  When I fear, they are praying for me.  When I am discouraged, they are praying for me.  When I recognize the blessings God has bestowed, they are praying for me. 

Even as we are enjoying our families this summer I ask that you send up a prayer for these dear saints.  Pray for them, and for their community and country.  They are afraid for their country and economy.  Cost of food keeps rising, as do the costs for everything.  They literally live day to day, praying for the resources to keep their families alive. 

The Haitian community knows and understands the covenant promise that as God's people we are "blessed to be a blessing."  Please join us in the flow of God's blessings!!

Believing God Loves Us, Even When...

Sometimes we wonder, "What can I do?  Am I making any difference in the world?...for the kingdom of God?"  There are times when I wonder that, even in our work in Haiti.  Does it matter that we go down three or four times a year?  Is it a good use of resources?

One of our partners in Haiti, Pastor Antoine was visiting with us here in MI last fall.  We were introducing him to our partner churches in the Midwest.  In some ways it is heart-wrenching to see the 2 worlds collide.  One evening we were at a church and Antoine was sharing his testimony and the story of what God is doing in Haiti.  He was so nervous, working hard to explain, in his second language the essence of that story.

At the end of our Q and A time I asked, "Pastor, why is it important for us to come down to Haiti?

He opened his heart and bared his soul with passion as he said, "In Haiti it is hard for people to believe that God loves them.  They don't have money to buy food for their family.  They can't send their children to school. There is no work for them. In situations like this it is hard to believe God loves you.  The people of Haiti feel like they are living in hell.  When YOU think about hell it is a place some people go after death.  You go to heaven or hell.  But in Haiti the people feel like they are in hell now.  When you come to Haiti and let the love of God flow through you, then they can believe that God loves them."

Once again I was so humbled.  Simply by coming: being their brothers and sisters in Christ, helping to make it possible for children to go to school, to get training for a trade, by worship with them, laughing with them, praying and eating with them, in all these ways we help to bring the love and kingdom of God.  This is why we go, why we send, why we care.  People living in hell can see that God is real and loves them.

This is the challenge, my friends:  to carry the love of God to our family, addressing the poverty in their life, but also in our lives: for certainly they are rich in ways we don't realize and we are in poverty in ways we don't realize. 

James 2:14-17 says:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds?  Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, "Go in peace: keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Tiny Seeds

Recently I led worship on a Sunday afternoon on "6 West," the inpatient Psych ward at the hospital in town. Going in it is easy to wonder what good it will do.  Does it change anything for those who come?  How does this 45 minutes impact those who, with such deep needs, show up?

On this particular Sunday I began our time together with a verse from Psalm 17,  "Guard me as the apple of your eye.  Hide me in the shadow of your wings." Do you remember how hard it is to believe this when you are at the lowest of your lows?  Really? God sees me as the apple of his eye? 

Then I told the parable of the Mustard Seed.  If we have only a tiny seed of the Kingdom of God planted inside us we will grow.  There will be movement.  That seed is a living, active thing.  It pushes through the dirt, the asphalt, the rocks.  It reaches up to the air, the sunshine, the rain, to God.  Jesus didn't say plant a grain of sand.  A grain of sand won't grow a beach, but a seed.is living.  A seed of faith grows day by day.  It doesn't turn into a great bush overnight.  Sometimes we have trouble telling that it is growing, but it does.  It is a process, and eventually we begin to perceive that God notices me...God is with me...God does guard me as the apple of his eye: and then sometimes we forget all over again.  But God persists.  He wants us to know in the depths of our being how precious we are in his eyes.

It was a good word for those who have trouble imagining that kind of love and acceptance.  It seemed to make a difference.  The Holy Spirit can do that, even in the most challenging situations. I'll never really know if there was lasting impact, but that afternoon I planted seeds. That's what I can do. 

As I was signing out the staff told me that one of the guys had never been able to sit through anyof the previous session of counseling, group therapy, etc.  But I believe that the quiet gentle way of telling the story, like we do in Children and Worship created fertile soil for the kingdom seed.  And maybe faith grew a little bit, and we believed a little more that just maybe we are the apple of God's eye, even in our most distressed state. Maybe we can huddle in the shadow of God's wings until we can grow a little more faith and can face tomorrow.

What good can come out of ????

For those of us with much biblical awareness we recognize that just about everything is upside down in Jesus' Kingdom perspective.  The first shall be last, and the last shall be first.  The wisdom of God is foolishness in the world.  The least is the greatest.  The poor are blessed and the rich are brought down.

God took me down one of those roads last week as I have been working on fundraising for Haiti.  I was scheduled to speak at a Mother/Daughter banquet at my aunt's church.  It is a little Presbyterian church in the little town of Cambria, about 400 people.  I wondered what God might be up to in this little, off the beaten path village.

I had traveled home from Holland, MI earlier that day, which is about a six hour trip. I showered, changed, gathered up my projection and computer equipment, plus brochures, jewelry I was selling, etc. and dashed off to Cambria, a 2 hour trip west, picking up my mom on the way.

I was weary, and thinking, "What good can come from Cambria?"  much like Nathanael asked when told by Philip, "We have found the one that Moses wrote about in the law, the one the prophets foretold, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph!"   Nazareth, that little podunk village?  You are talking about the Messiah here! God wouldn't let the Messiah come from that scrappy little village, that nowhere.  Everyone needs to know that he is here...a little fanfare would help. Nazareth, ha.

I know better, but sometimes I get sucked into thinking I need to find people with lots of money, discretionary funds that they would be willing to invest in Haiti.  And there may be those people out there, but in my wiser moments I also realize it is usually the humble, the "nobodies from nowhere"  that have hearts open to God's spirit of generosity.

And so wearily I arrived in Nazareth...I mean Cambria, and met with about 35 wonderful sisters in Christ. We shared a meal, a potluck, with tables overflowing, and I shared my story of what God is doing through Help the Youth and Beautiful Response in Haiti.  Humble, compassionate, generous hearts were opened and the people of Haiti were blessed.  Three students will be able to go to school next year because people who have never met them care, people who had never met me before that evening opened their hearts and pocket books.

Once again I learned my lessons in the upside-downness of the Gospel.   My heart was warmed and I hope and pray that they will welcome me again.  Cambria is a good place for Jesus to show up and blessings to flow.

Ice chips! So Yummy!

Last week I had a nasty bout of stomach flu.  Very possibly the worst episode of activity leading up to dehydration I've ever hard. (Wasn't that nicely worded :)  At 2:00 in the morning I wanted to guzzle glasses of water, but knew that my system wasn't ready for that. So I made Al get up and get me a glass of ice chips.

Oh my goodness! It tasted so good.  I would eat a spoonful of chips and then force myself to wait about 20 minutes to eat some more.  As I relished these delightful chips of cold clear water I thought, "If I never eat anything again but ice chips I'll be fine. I"ll never put anything in water again to change the taste, no tea, no coffee, no gatorade, nothing but cool clear water!

I know, a little overboard, but it was real in the moment.

My thirst led to thoughts about Jesus, the living water.  Jesus, the one who quenches our thirst.  I thought about what makes me spiritually thirsty.  How much do I long for more of Jesus?  What sets Jesus apart from from all other spiritual nourishment and refreshment? What wakes me up to my need for Jesus, the living water?  Do I long for what Jesus offers me?

Often I drink most deeply when I'm also weeping most deeply.  Perhaps tears of sorrow, but also tears of awe for the fact that Jesus is present, real.  For me it happens through worship times when the words of a song or hymn just connect with my spirit to nourish me, or the Scripture speaks into the longing of my heart, or convicts me of sins I need to deal with.  Sometimes in prayer with others the community is so strong and Jesus presence is so sweet it feels like fresh rain. And sometimes the chaos in the world is so overwhelming I long for the Living Water to flood over me, to lift me out of the fear and muck I feel mired in.  Living Water...always available to wash us clean, set us free, nourish our souls, quench our thirst.

I'm wondering when it happens for you?   When do you find yourself longing for the Living Water?  

Looking Ahead

This is a big year!  Our son, Cory, turns 40.  I turn 65. I know, those of you who know me can't believe it :)  and neither can I, and Al turns 70; even harder to believe...but all true!  How does this happen?

So we are acknowledging that, even though we are still working hard, we are in our "golden years." Multiple trips to Haiti each year, visits to our kids and grandkids in Australia.  Life that is full and rich, even in the midst of the current chaos in the country.

Then there is the reality that we need to plan ahead...without knowing how much "Ahead" there is; 10 years, twenty years, thirty years, tomorrow?  As we contemplate this our thoughts run to Haiti. How can we ensure that the work that is being done through Beautiful Response and Help the Youth continues.  We are not in this for the short-term!  The needs are long-term: and we have children who will need assistance to become all God has created them to be for many years.  We are in for the long-haul.

When God first turned our hearts back to Haiti we realized it would involve raising funds.  Our first response was, "But God, you know we are not good fund raisers!"  (Yep, God knew, and assured us he would be the provider we needed.)  Today we look back on God's faithfulness, and ahead realizing that we need to set up a trust or foundation to provide a base for the fundraising that will need to continue.

On the one hand that is very intimidating for us. Again, WAY out of our comfort zone!  On the other hand it is very exciting.  How will God provide?  Who will come forward to give?  What will this need to look like?  Where are the "cattle on a thousand hills" that God has reserved to help his children in Haiti?  Where will we get the boldness to invite people to be a part of something life changing for so many people?  How much, Oh Lord?  How many people will be blessed in the giving and receiving?

We are also mindful that we need to watch for the next generation of leaders to take on this ministry 5, 10, 15? years down the road.  Who will God raise up?  Who will find their calling in joining this partnership with our Haitian friends?  Who will fall in love with God's leaders as well as the children of Haiti?

Big questions...big challenges!  We need your prayers!  We need your eyes and ears.  Please join us in the quest for big hearts and the ability to invest emotionally, spiritually and financially in the work God is doing through Beautiful Response in Haiti.  So many of you are dear to our hearts.  We thank you for your love and support!