Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Fight

Location: Dining Room, Sighisoara, Romania (nearly 10pm on the 15th of December)


Where to start? So little time and so much more to come!

Today was a rough day. Not because of the work, though it was hard, but because of my attitude. I was extremely frustrated about the way things were being done, or not, and about the help, or lack thereof. But it snowed today, a beautiful, first real snow of the season, and it snowed all day long. Which means that twice, in the midst of my work, I was able to have snowball fights with some of the little neighbor kids, and the Lord used that to lift my spirits!
So, are you curious about these pictures and the hints from my last post? I told you about the excellent beginning to my week last week, in the town of C. Wednesday morning we headed in the direction of Brasov, and I lived in the village of A. all week. The first picture above barely shows the room I lived in--it was the living room, kitchen, and guest bedroom of the small house I called home for the week. My hosts were wonderful, and having seen other houses in similar villages, I knew I was blessed to be living "high on the hog" for a week, even if I was sharing a two-room house with a married couple and two babies. At meal times, there were 6 or 8 of us there--eating in my room, often in two waved. No indoor plumbing (the outhouse was behind the house), no heat except a wood stove (it's in the photo above, back in the corner), a bed that twice fell off the fire-logs propping it up, no privacy, no internet, etc., made for an interesting week of counting my blessings. You can also see the buckets I used to fetch water from the pump down the road that gave us access to spring water from the hill, and the next two photos are from a quick, twilight hike up that hill my last night there. I wish I could describe the mountains we saw from our vantage point in the dimming evening, my sixteen-year-old guide and I moving quickly to stay warm (he is the brother of my fellow intern).


Yes, it was a difficult week, but a good week. You get used to waiting for the flocks of sheep or the horses and carts that are blocking the road. You get used to washing your hands and dishes in buckets. You get used to entering the house quickly so the heat does not escape. You even get so that you enjoy the trip to the outhouse because it is your sole instant of privacy during the day!
And like I said, my hosts (a young family) were super, and really taught me how hospitality is supposed to work! But I did not just live in that community, I worked too! From Wednesday through Sunday, we put on six "Sunday School" programs and gave out hundreds of pairs of socks and boots to anywhere from 100 to 700 people at a time. Our team joined the team presenting the lesson, and we added acrobatics, juggling, puppets, dancing, pyramids, clowns, balloons, and more to their already high-energy program. I often had to pleasure of being crowd control at the door, which was certainly an interesting experience.


It was fun to worship with their team each morning, a team comprised of a two generations of Sunday School workers, the teens being fruit from the first programs started several years ago in that area. I was the only American, and it was an honor to live as they did--without the amenities as aforementioned, eating baby food, TV dinners, and other items which had recently expired and had been sent from other countries to help the "poor people of Romania," and working hard with hands and heart in the cold days of early December. I also had the honor of watching my hosts open a box of clothing and food and other gifts sent from Switzerland or some other Western European wealthy nation; it was an honor to see how appreciative and generous my hosts were regarding what they received. It made me realize that when I have packed similar boxes, I have not done so in vain.


Speaking of which, yesterday we unloaded shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse "Operation Christmas Child" project. That is another blessing, for several years of my past included days where I bought items and filled and wrapped shoeboxes for this same charity. Now, instead of sending them, I am on the receiving and distributing end of the work, which is really neat!


That, of course, is only a drop in the bucket of the work we are doing right now. We are still dealing with our thousands of pairs of boots and socks. We are preparing to host more than thirty people from France and Switzerland just after Christmas when we do our blitzkrieg of outreach programs (today I cleaned and made beds all day!). We have a program tomorrow for the parents of our kindergarten, and the following day is our choir concert. Friday is a city-wide program sponsored by several of the churches to reach out to all of the children, and we are the emcees. Friday might include a quick visit to Targu Mures before Sunday finds me on the way to B. for four days of package distribution before Christmas.


Emotionally, this is an interesting time, and your prayers are greatly appreciated. Not only is Christmas approaching and my internship wrapping up, but all the American students in town finished their semester and left today to begin their journeys home. My best friend in Romania flew home to the States today, and thus is no longer only a phone call away. I am excited to welcome two American friends at the end of this week, which will help me make it through the stress of the people around me and their conflicting commitments. Some of my family is visiting in nearby Ukraine, though at the moment it does not look like we will be able to meet up. I am eagerly looking forward to God's plans for my January, but there are a lot of unknowns included in them, from my perspective, at least. And I have heard from many of my friends in the States, and you are dealing with deep prayer issues involving babies, health, work, following God, the Church, family, and so on.


All this to say, I am praying for you, and thank you for your prayers for me. Not only am I spending a lot of time in prayer, but you can see that my schedule is leaning toward "busy," too. So you know why if I am slow to return an email or a phone call--thanks for your patience. Meanwhile, I have been very conscience of my attitude, and grateful when God steps in to change my heart, like He did with these little girls delighting in His snow today. Or when my heart was not ready to do a program last week and mobs of people were pushing against me, and He led me to start singing peacefully to them.


Is your heart right?
Are you ready for Christmas?
Would you be ready if Jesus came today?

Don't let other people's stress pull you down. Don't let them push you around with their desire for more. Don't let the material things around you cause you to worry. I assure you that life can be happy without hot showers, toaster ovens, and pizza delivery. Friends may come and go, the weather might change, and the work situation might go from bad to worse, but God can renew your heart moment by moment. Let Him.


Some people are fighting to survive. Others are blessed by snowball fights. I bless you in the Name of our Christmas Jesus!














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A Rose From Home

A Rose From Home

My Story (As prepared for my church congregation this spring--2009)


I have a story to tell you. I am the main character, but the story is not about me. I have traveled several parts of the world, but my adventure has been closer to home. I am twenty-six years old. My story begins like many of yours…

I grew up going to church. I had been born into a family who labeled themselves “Christian,” in a country that labels itself “Christian.” Every Sunday found me attending a worship service and Sunday school in a mainline denomination church. I served as an acolyte, attended Vacation Bible School, helped my dad count and record the offering money, sang in the youth choir, was a leader in the youth group, and occasionally served as liturgist. Baptized as an infant, I was confirmed at the age of twelve, thus becoming an “official” member of the church. Then, hurt by the church, my family left to find another.

Have you ever been hurt by the Church?

After months of searching, we settled into a very large independent church. Things were different there, and I was quickly welcomed and at home among new friends that truly had a passion for Jesus. The Word of God was taught boldly from the pulpit, and I was introduced to a missions-aware lifestyle. So it was with regret that I said goodbye only a couple of years later to move with my family to another church. I purposely remained aloof, not wanting to make new friendships before I left for college a year later. Besides, I was loosing my faith—or so I thought—and I didn’t want anyone to know. I was asking scary questions like “Is there really a God?” and, if so, “Is He the Christian God?” and “Would I be Christian if I had been born in another part of the world?”

Have you ever asked yourself unsettling questions about what you believe?

So I headed into college under a cloud of confusion that only worsened for the next two years. Though I didn’t know what I believed anymore, I continued to go to church every Sunday, and to help lead worship in chapel. Most importantly, even during this questioning, I continued my morning habit of daily study of the Bible. I had begun at age twelve, reading at first a chapter per day, then ten minutes each morning, then an half-hour, and so on. So, only by the grace of the very God I doubted, I remained anchored in His Word and in His community, though I felt like a fake most of the time. Since then I have learned that “fake” is the worst insult the world can give us; that is why the label of “hypocrite” is so offensive.

Have you ever felt like a fake?

Six weeks with missionaries in South Africa followed by a year in France began to teach me what life with God is all about. I began rebuilding my faith, this time it belonged to me, in contrast to me borrowing the faith of my parents, church, or anyone else. In my parent’s basement in 2003, on either Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, I invited Jesus to live in me; perhaps I had done so before, but I didn’t recall—but since 2003, I have never forgotten that moment. Unfortunately, nothing changed. I continued to do my best to act like a Christian, as I had done for so long.

Have you ever found yourself “doing your best” to be a good person, or to act like a Christian?

Though I did not realize it at the time, I was quenching the Spirit, even though I had welcomed Him into my life. During the next few years, the LORD continued to nurture me, and slowly things began to change. Several tough months in Idaho birthed my prayer-life. I spent three years being humbled in a job that was my informal seminary training. In 2007, a short stint in Mexico helped me to see things as they were, and not long afterward, I was baptized by immersion. No baptism of any kind can save a lost soul—only Jesus can do that. However, this baptism was an important covenant between me and God, symbolizing not only my death and resurrection with Jesus and my public profession of faith, but it also my life change, the beginning of my bearing fruit. “For each tree is known by its own fruit…”according to Luke 6:44. During the past year and a half, the LORD has provided me with an informal pastoral internship in my church, teaching me every aspect of discipleship. Simultaneously, I have been studying unceasing prayer and worship. I am now very different than I was five years ago.

In the Book of Acts (which tells the story of the earliest years of the Church) every time a person decided to follow Christ, two things took place—though not always in the same order. Each person experienced a life change, which I call the “baptism of repentance,” as well as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which I call the “baptism of the Spirit.” Looking back, I realize that the Holy Spirit was living in me in 2003, but it wasn’t until I surrendered everything to God, as represented by my immersion, that I allowed the Spirit to have His way in me and transform my life. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)”

Have you invited Jesus to live in you? Have you allowed the Spirit to transform your life?

I tell you this story for two reasons. First, I tell this story in order to boast in the LORD! May God our Father get all praise and glory forever! Second, I tell this story because it is relevant to you. Likely you have heard that I am leaving the country: I have let my light shine before you; please let your light shine within the Church, too! This congregation is in revival, and as each of you allows the Spirit to revive you, the entire Church will be revived and utterly transformed, to the glory of the Most High God. And for His glory is the reason He created us; the reason He sent His only Son to reveal Himself to us; the reason He became Sin for us and died for us on the cross—while we were still sinners; and the reason that He conquered death and offered us eternal life with Him.

It will cost you a lot—in fact, it will cost you everything, your very life. But if you have never surrendered your life to Christ Jesus, if you have never invited Him to send His Spirit into you and to transform your life, then do it right now. Just let go of everything to which you are desperately clinging; stop trying to do it yourself! This is the very reason you are still breathing in this physical life—God has been delaying His judgment of this sinful world because He is waiting for you—2 Peter 3:9 says He wants none to perish!

If you have already invited the Spirit into your life, then live like it! Bear fruit! Anyone and everyone who meets you or knows you or sees you or hears you should know immediately and clearly that Jesus the Christ lives in you and loves them! That is how stark the contrast should be between your life and the world around you!

Have you immersed yourself in God’s Word and in prayer in the last twenty-four hours?

If you call yourself a follower of Christ, then there is no excuse for not communing with Him daily! Anchor yourself in the Word! God has revealed Himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Bible is a complete and accurate record of that revelation. And prayer is humbly letting Him love us. Let Him love you! God doesn’t need us, but He wants us! God doesn’t need us to live for Him—He wants to live in and through us! Let us love and fellowship with one another, even when you disagree! Pray for each other—the names in the church directory are a great place to start! Church, we are not only the Body of Christ, but we are the Bride of Christ. We have allowed ourselves to get bedraggled and stained—now let us stand to the glory of God! Let’s let Him purify us, restore us, and love us!

My dear Brothers and Sisters, if you have ever once been blessed by God our Father at work in me, then I urge you, please, take seriously His desire to love and work in you, beyond anything you can ask or imagine! I have told you the beginning of my story—may it end in glory to the Father, in the Name of Jesus, by way of His Spirit.

Now, what is your story?