Do they know?

There is a hymn that we sing at church titled, “They Will Know We are Christians By our Love“.  For some reason, that song keeps playing over and over again in my mind.

If you click above, on the title of the song, you will see a video showing people on international missions trips – working on construction sites, feeding the poor, as well as hugging the orphans.  Of course, for those of you that know me, you know my heart draws close to those opportunities and life experiences.  However, my mind does not keep playing that song over and over again because of those types of moments.

It is the holiday season – family, busyness, vacation, shopping, reflection, gift exchanges, food, music, cards, photos, picturesque landscape, parties, sledding, preparations, late nights, early mornings, concerts, celebrations, hustle and bustle, remembrance.  Yes, it ALL comes together during this time of year.

This morning, my children were all excited about the first snowfall actually sticking to the ground.  What a joy to see flakes falling as the wind pushed them side to side.  How clean and fresh everything looks.

Then my mind turned again to that song – “They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”  There are so many people just 3 miles away in the inner city that did not feel joy at the sight of snow fixed to the ground.  There are many sick and elderly that did not jump up and down with excitement at the picturesque view out the window.

And then other thoughts came rushing in:

I hope the waitress will sense Jesus’ love flowing through me

…and the store clerk

…and my neighbors

…and the toll booth worker

…and the maintenance man that comes

…and my children’s schoolteachers

…and the shopper that cut me in line

…

 

“God, show me what I can DO, but even as I wait for that revelation, help me to BE a radiant light that shows Jesus’ love every moment of every day.”

Colossians 4:5 (NIV)  Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

 

Oppression

I just read this paragraph that came from our denomination’s weekly world missions online newsletter:

[Our] Asia Area Director called from India on Tuesday, November 4, to report that a Free Methodist pastor was recently beaten to death in front of his family because he would not renounce his faith. Also, five other Free Methodists were badly beaten and had to be taken to the hospital. The doctor’s life was threatened if he treated their injuries, so they were refused treatment. These attacks took place in a state which neighbors Orissa State where Christians have been facing severe persecution. Please pray for the victims’ families. Also pray for 300 refugees from Orissa who have fled…

I try to stop and imagine but I just can’t.

This is not a story from centuries ago – it’s not the retelling of the Biblical story of Stephen or Paul.

This is happening today.

Please be in prayer… even right now.

 

“Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”

John 15:20 (NIV)

 

Debating with God in the Church Pew

Yep… that’s what I was doing while attending church yesterday.

(Just to give you a little background: This past weekend, my daughter and I were out of town for a special reception. We were not flying home until Sunday afternoon, so we were able to go to church with a group of friends in the morning.)

Okay, back to the story…

It came to the part of the service where we, as a congregation, read the section of Scripture that the pastor was going to be preaching on later in the hour. I realized that one of my Spanish-speaking friends, whom we were sitting with, was not able to follow along because it was an English-speaking service. Since I had my parallel, bilingual Bible (one side of each page is in Spanish and the other side of each page is in English) with me, I decided to hand it to him to use and read from. My friend is not a Christian (YET!) so I wanted to be sure that he had the opportunity to, at the very least, read the word of the Lord.

And that’s when the debate began.

 

“2-4-6-8, VBS is really great!”

Last week, a fun time was had by all at our church’s VBS program. I had a great time being “music lady” and singing with the eighty-five children that attended.

Each morning, it was always such a joy to see the happy, eager, and excited faces of the children as they arrived with great anticipation and enthusiasm to sing songs, do crafts, eat snacks, play games, and listen to a Bible story.

It is with that amount of anticipation and enthusiasm that I hope to wake up with each morning as the Lord reveals what is in store for the new day ahead.

I pray that each child saw and felt the love and joy of Jesus in each one of us that served Him in this way last week. May He work in each of their precious, little hearts and continue to draw them to Himself.

Mark 10:14 (NIV) When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Your turn to share: Have you had the opportunity to serve in a ministry program this summer?

 

We did it together!

If you know my father-in-law, then you may have heard these words come out of his mouth at one time or another: “We can do together what we can’t do alone!”

Well, that definitely is true when it comes to what we did as a SK community last week –

Praise the Lord!!

Just last night, Max and I returned from a wonderful, week-long visit to Santiago, Chile, to attend our friends’ wedding (in which we both had the honor of participating – I sang a song and Max officiated in part of the liturgy) as well as had wonderful reunions at two of our FM churches.

Because of your many prayers, clothing donations, and financial gifts, we were able to give away more than 80 Bibles, hand out about 30 blankets, give children’s reading books, and share pants, sweaters, coats, scarves, and gloves with our Chilean friends. They were so thankful (as you can see from the photos in the slideshow below)!

Thank you so much for the incredible outpouring of support for this SK missions opportunity! Friends have continued to give. Once we tabulate all the expenses, we may even be able to send an additional blessing to the work of our churches in Santiago. What a joy it is to work together for His glory!

Ephesians 4:16 (NIV) From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

 

MOPS Meetings

I should have taken the time before this to let you know what I have been working on this past week so you could pray with and for me.  Sorry about that.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), I will be speaking at two different MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) meetings – one in the morning and one in the evening.  I have been praying that the Lord would give me the words that He wants me to say and also asking Him to prepare each of our hearts – mine as well as each mother’s that attends the meetings.

Would you please pray with me?

Thank you, friend.

 

SK Missions Opportunity

About four weeks from now, Max and I are headed back to Santiago, Chile, for a quick visit.  We are looking forward to attending the wedding of our dear friends, Kay Stotts and Leo Godoy, as well as having multiple opportunities to visit some of our Santiago churches.

In preparation for our trip and visit, I have been working on a few things:

• I have asked a few friends to work on gathering some winter clothes that we can pass on to our pastors’ families in Santiago.  They will be so excited to receive some nice, warm clothing during these winter months!
• I have been searching for Bibles that we can order and take down with us.  Books, in general, are expensive in Latin America.  We are so blessed here in the United States to have opportunity to purchase reasonably-priced books as well as have the library system that we have.  That is not the case in Chile.  It is VERY unusual to see a family have enough books in their home to need even a small bookshelf.  For some reason (maybe it was the teacher in me), that really saddened me.  Even more so, I wanted to see children and young adults be able to have the opportunity to read God’s word daily.  Because so few have a Bible of their own, this is not possible.  I am excited about the possibility of ordering these specific Bibles that I have found through the International Bible Society:  Mi Ciudad, Mi Dios: My City, My God (a spanish NIV New Testament with urban teen testimonies for older teenagers) and the Biblia Devocional Juvenil: Youth Devotional Bible (a spanish NIV Bible with devotionals for young teens)
• I have prayed about the idea that the Lord gave me to take money down with us to purchase heavy blankets (once we arrive) to pass out to our Chilean brothers and sisters in our churches

Calling all interested SK friends!!

 

A Little Update

Thank you so much for all your comments and prayers for us as we presented at the retreat last weekend.  We had a good time meeting new friends as well as catching up a bit with long-time friends.  I am still praying that each one of us continues to wrestle with this concept of simplicity; I think it is a daily decision to live that lifestyle, don’t you?

It is already the beginning of another month – can you believe it??  That means it is accountability time for me with regard to Scripture memorization. I want to confess that I was not able to memorize both passages that I had listed on the Memorizing Scripture page.

 

Missionary Debriefing

I was laughing at myself a few hours after I had posted my last entry on Sunday.  The last sentence of that entry says, ” … but then again, it has been kind of nice these last few weeks not to live out of suitcases.”  Why was I laughing at myself?  It is because I had forgotten that the very next day, Max and I would be packing up and flying to Indianapolis for a couple of days.  Oh, well… so much for not living out of suitcases:-)

 

Reverse Culture Shock

According to Wikipedia, culture shock is:

a term used to describe the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within an entirely different cultural or social environment, such as a foreign country.  It grows out of the difficulties in assimilating the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not.  This is often combined with strong disgust (moral or aesthetical) about certain aspects of the new or different culture.                     

Because of the strong effect of culture shock, overseas work teams and/or mission groups do not typically visit another country for more than 2-3 weeks.  After you have been away from your home culture for more than that amount of time, you begin to significantly sense the differences of the new culture and, oftentimes, will go into shock because of those cultural contrasts.

There is also what is referred to as reverse culture shock.  This occurs when you return back to your home country after living in a foreign country for an extended period of time.  Click here to visit a website that gives good information about this topic.  Reading that web page may also help you to understand a little more of what we are mentally and emotionally feeling in these days of re-entry and cultural transition.