Somebody Who Cares

"Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." ~Romans 12:9-19

Once I accept Christ as my Saviour, I can no longer accept the fact that I am a sinner. As a Christ Follower - I am somebody who cares! I was reminded of this a few years ago, when I was in Africa working with "Somebody Cares". Cathy, one of the leaders, shared the following with us before we went to work with those living with AIDS in the slums of Lilongwe

You are not the things you do – You are a Christian, a child of God – You are somebody who cares. You are not a sinner for if you were it would be natural for you to sin. But as a Christian – transformed with a renewed mind it should become as laughable and unbelievable when you sin as it would be for a man to wear a bra. A man does not wear a bra or skirt for this is not who they are. If a man is to wear a dress we would laugh in unbelief, same too if a transformed Christians was to sin – as this would be out of character. As Christians we are kind – giving – loving – good people- we are people who care – I am somebody who cares. Believe this and live it out – say it and own it. Even when tried and tempted remember - say it even under your breath or through gritted teeth – I am a child of God – I am somebody who cares. Behave like a Christian – Love, cling to what is good, be kind, be selfless, give to the needy, rejoice, pray and be patient, bless and do not curse. Rejoice and weep with others accordingly – associate with all people – live peaceably with all.

God the Missionary

God is on a mission.  In fact, He is the ultimate missionary. The Good News – is hope for all people and we receive that hope through our personal relationship with Christ. God saves us from sin and death, but not only that He saves us for a Mission. A mission of gift giving. We are saved to continue to share with all mankind the gifts that we have received from God, to extend His gift of hope, grace, mercy & love to others.

God is a missionary. The Latin theological term “Missio Dei” actually means “sending of God”. When kept in the context of the Scriptures, Missio Dei correctly emphasizes that God is the initiator of His mission to redeem through the Church a special people for Himself from all of the peoples of the world. He sent His Son for this purpose and He sends the Church into the world with the message of the gospel for the same purpose. God is Love – God is our Hope – and was sent as Love as Hope in His son Jesus Christ, and He send us now having received this Love and Hope to share it with others. God saves us through  and  then sends us to Love.  Given the example provided by God himself and Christ His son, we are not to get caught up in the notion that people need to come to God via the church or it's buildings, but rather that God extends His hope to us, sent His Son as hope for us, and ultimately lives within us and send us out to extend that hope to others.

Here we sit as Christians the largest religion in the world. More than 1/3 of all the people on the planet profess to be Christians. Over 2 billion strong – with the power of God on our side – the hope of a Saviour and yet our world is in despair, in darkness, lost, stumbling around in the darkness looking for a glimmer of hope.

I recall sitting in a seminar  years ago, that author Michael Frost led, and at the end he shared with us this challenge to create a missional rhythm of living, a way of living that would allow us to be that glimmer of hope in the darkness. Each person would meet with two others to keep each other accountable on the following:

GENEROSITY

BLESS X3 - What 3 people or 3 ways that you have blessed someone this week -

HOSPITALITY

EAT X 3 - What 3 people did you have time to break bread with / eat with -

LISTEN X 1 - Take time to be attentive to the Holy Spirit - What did you

hear God say this week

LEARN X 1 - Take time to learn the person of Jesus -CHRIST LIKENESS

SENT - Journal ways you have done the work of God this week. - MISSIONAL

The church has always been the one called to bring life, to bring HOPE, "if we rise to the crisis’ our society faces it will be the biggest witness the world has ever seen."

St. Patrick's Day - A Call to Serve Your Enemies

After the Irish songs are sung and the pinching is done, do you really know about why we celebrate this one?

 

Did you know that St. Patrick was a slave?  He was born in Britain but captured and sold into slavery in Ireland when he was 16.  Though not very religious at the time, his faith grew as he served as a slave shepherd in Ireland.  One day he felt God tell him through prayer to escape, so he made a run for it and ended up meeting a ship as it was about to set sail.  Somehow he got on board that ship which landed him in France, where he eventually found himself in a monastery.  At some point Patrick has a dream where an Irishman beckons him to return to Ireland to share the gospel.  With no schooling, it did not seem very feasible that the church would let him serve as a missionary.  However God told him to go, and prepared the way for him to do incredible things in Ireland.  Now the Irish are famous for their tall tales, so it is hard to separate fact from fiction. We know our God is big and can do more than we can ever dream or imagine, nothing is outside his abilities, so when hearing stories about  how he drove all the snakes out of Ireland, survived poisoning, turned an evil ruler into a fox and that his fingers turned into flashlights in the dark, the best we can do is use discernment, using reason, discernment, tradition and experience to shed light on these claims.  For example Ireland is not known to have had any snakes even before St. Patrick's time, and thus it probably referred more to the various pagan beliefs that were being espoused at that time.

What is cool is that we understand that during the time of his ministry in Ireland he used the 3 leaf clover to explain the Trinity, with each leaf representing the 3 parts of God being one.  One leaf for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit. Oh but what about the elusive four leaf clover? When a Shamrock is found with the fourth leaf, it is said to represent God's Grace.

So many celebrate this day, without understanding the impact and life of the one we celebrate.  St. Patrick a missionary who went when God said go, and as a result was freed from His chains of slavery, given a calling to share the Gospel with his enemies, the Irish, who initially enslaved him as a teen. It was not an easy task, as he faced opposition.  St. Patrick shared in one letter that he was on one occasion beaten, robbed of all he had, and put in chains, perhaps awaiting execution." In being obedient however, he freed many who did not even realize that they were living in the bondage of sin, enslaved in chains that only God himself could release.

I think the greatest lesson in the life of St. Patrick, is not only did he willingly return back to Ireland to serve his captors, no longer a slave to them but a bond servant of God himself,  but he invited His enemies to join with him in the celebration that comes from a new life found in Christ.

Amongst the festivities, parades, limericks and beer, may St. Patrick's day serve as a reminder to us that we are called to serve our enemies, to love them as we love ourselves and to share with them the same, love, grace and mercy that was extended to us, by our Heavenly Father.  God helping us, may we have enough forgiveness to invite our enemies into our lives, so that they too may come to know the joy of the Lord and thus join us in the celebration that awaits all God's children. 

As proud as I am of my Irish Heritage, I am more proud of being a Christian.  Today I can celebrate and wear that shamrock proudly, knowing what it represented to St. Patrick.

EVOKE

I really appreciate the friends in my life, who know my heart and do what they can to inspire, enable and equip me to live out the passions God has placed within me.  A great friend, is someone who desires to see you fulfill the plans and purposes God has for you.  To that end, a friend posted a link on my Facebook wall to a new online initiative called "EVOKE".  I had never heard of this site, and at first glance thought it was some online 1st person game (I am not generally a fan of video games or comic books) but as I researched it more, I became increasingly intrigued. EVOKE is a ten-week crash course in changing the world. It is free to play and open to anyone, anywhere. The goal of the social network game is to help empower people all over the world, and especially young people in Africa, to come up with creative solutions to our most urgent social problems.That was enough to cause me to sign up and now I wait with anxious anticipation to be approved.

I looked up the definition of EVOKE and it means to summon into action - as Christians we are called to action. An action to love others, an action to stand up for justice, an action to care for the oppressed, and marginalized.   There are two verses that stand out to me, as I think of the word evoke; the first is my favourite verse from 1 John 3:18 - "Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth"  the second from James 1:22 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Sometimes it seems we know all to well what we ought to do, but are paralyzed in not quite knowing how to go about doing it, or even how to begin.  While I do not think this is Christian based initiative (as if that should be a precursor for getting involved in something good), it appears to provide, those with a desire to  put their love in action; to serve; to meet the needs of the poor and oppressed, the opportunity to learn how to best to do so. If nothing else it is a good place to gain knowledge of the needs in our world and how we might play our part, living out the commands God has given us.

It is obvious from the interface this is marketed to a younger under 30 crowd, their suggested age is 13+, though they say they expect most of the users to be of university age. From first glance, I believe this online game developed by world reknown game designer Jane McGonigal (Yes she is a woman) and produced by the World Bank Institute, has the potential to increase awareness, educate, equip and enable individuals all around the world to make a difference.  Not only that but it is an interesting, engaging and interactive forum.  It is intriguing that it says that what you will experience is not a simulation, instead you are provided real problems to tackle, things like Food security; Energy; Water security; Disaster relief; Poverty; Pandemic; Education; Global conflict and Human rights.  You  are challenged to establish innovative, creative solutions with the resources you have available. It may require you to get as many people involved as possible and take a risk, as you come up with new ideas to change a life, and  the world as you meet the practical needs of those who suffer.

Let me share a little of what I have discovered so far, the "EVOKE" challenge runs from March 3rd May 12th.  The three objectives of each weekly mission you receive are to LEARN, ACT & IMAGINE.  There are rewards, for your efforts including mentorship, travel scholarships and seed funding.

I have included the Evoke trailer below and would encourage you to check out their website, http://www.urgentevoke.com and consider taking the EVOKE challenge yourself.  I am not sure what to expect as of yet but I am interested in taking the challenge myself! 

EVOKE trailer (a new online game) from Alchemy on Vimeo.

God says Go

I was asked recently if I would consider coming to India to speak at a large conference as well as at a number of other events and churches from June 12 - 20.  The opportunities to share the word of God include at least 3 churches, 2 student events and 2 public events addressing non-Christians, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus.  I was humbled and taken aback but definitely honoured.  One of the students at the college in Thailand had heard me speak, and apparently was impacted by what God had to say through me.  He and His family run a church ministry in Andhrapradesh, India.  Last year they held a conference for students  to encourage them through their studies because of the great pressure they are under and preach the Gospel to them. India puts extreme pressure on it's students through the education system with overwhelming course loads, nearly 0 time off throughout the year, and not to mention its degree of difficulty barely giving students a social, family or any sort of relational life.  Put all that together and you generate a country that has one of the greatest depression and suicide rates among its students in the World.  So the students in His area are a burden on his heart.   Around 5000 attended last years event.

I often hear people say where is God in these situations, be it India, Africa, Camodia, Haiti, or New Orleans. Why does God allow these people to suffer? Why is God not doing anything to help? and I am sure God is asking us the same thing. Why are you not doing anything to help them, I have given you everything you need, every opportunity. God is for them among those He sends. But like our salvation it requires us to choose to accept it – to say yes – to Go.  God does not reside in a temple - God lives in us! The Holy spirit does not reside in the buildings we create but in the body God has created for us. I've learned that when it comes to serving, you never have to ask God –should I do this or that – should I give this or that – God has already called us to go – to Give – to extend His love, grace and mercy to each person He brings across our path, GOD SAYS GO – UNTIL GOD SAYS NO

I have agreed to go and for the first time that I can recall, I am placing all control in the hands of God and others.  Already this is a stretching experience, requiring me to grow in Trust.

I've been thinking of putting together a book with photos and devotions from my time in Africa to sell, in order  to raise funds for this and other service trips. So I've decided that for today's post to include a devotion from my time in Africa.  If you're interested in finding out more about purchasing one of the books with proceeds going towards service trips to India, Haiti and Cambodia please feel free to contact me.

May 8th - 2007 "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever" "The Lord is for me among those who help me" ~ Psalm 118:29 &7

Our luggage arrived!  This is only one of the mall blessings we experienced today!  Thank you father for the privilege of playing a small part in Your great plan.  You truly are good and Your mercy endures forever!  I see joy in the faces of those who have suffered more pain than I could ever imagine. A pure unadulterated joy.  I remember experiencing moments of that joy and i know that it comes from You.  I understand how much we take for granted - we are a privileged and still selfish people.  These children, aged 2 -12 have no mom or dad or are orphaned, many are dying of AIDS, some have been raped countless times and still they sing praises to You.  One boy maybe 10 sat near me leg outstretched, revealing the rotting flesh around his ankle - white and bloody, where once thick dark healthy epidermis covered it.  As I noticed it, he noticed me and was, I think, embarrassed - covering his wound up with his hands.  I sadly reflect on the fact that these your children are covering up much deeper wounds than those of the flesh.

I pray Father that you will use Keera and I to help heal those wounds, or at least help each child recognize they are Your child - deeply loved children who need not be embarrassed, for their Father in heaven is not ashamed.  May they know Lord - believe- experience, that you are good - that they see glimpses of you through us!  May they know that you are for them among those who come to help - those who have gone before - who continue to this day and those to come.  Jeremiah 29:11 "I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  May they know that this verse is for them!  They can bank on your promise - build a future on the hope you provide.  Continue to equip and enable "Somebody Cares" to lead this young people to their hope & future. Even when that hope and future comes in facing death knowing they will meet you face to face.

The Modern Leper

I just finished reading "Everybody Wants to Change the World, Practical Ideas for Social Justice".  It was a good book touching on a number of justice issues. It provides the reader resources for how they might get involved in implementing positive social change, from a biblical perspective.

 
Chapter 7 entitled "The Sick and Disabled", particularly impacted me.  This chapter focused on the AIDS epidemic and as I read, I learned that Worlds Aids Day falls on December 1st. This is an issue very close to my heart, having seen the affects of AIDS first hand in Africa and just recently returning from serving in the AIDS hospice in Cambodia. In fact, my mind immediately started to crunch the numbers, trying to establish when it was that I was in Cambodia.  I quickly realized that December 1st was the day my mind was held captive on the long bus ride back to Thailand, as I worked through copious scenarios, trying to establish, if and how I could continue to serve those I met in the Poi Pet AIDS hospice.  With offer and opportunity, I  felt compelled to remain in Cambodia serving at the hospice.  The connections I made there were powerful, the stories unforgettable.

Before I share a personal story, let me establish for you some facts. I looked up the UN Global report on Aids which is issued every 2 years (2008) and found the following. An estimated 33 million people were living with HIV in 2007. There were 2.7 million new HIV infections and 2 million AIDS-related deaths last year and of those 500,000 were children. "In some regions of the world entire villages have been decimated in places where parents, teachers, administrators and commerce leaders succumbed to the disease."  I witnessed this first hand in Malawi, where children living with AIDS were orphaned because their parents had succumbed to the same disease.  This left a population of the very young and very old.  Where the very old would take care of the very young, until they themselves passed on, leaving children raising children.

AIDS is not just a 3rd world issue.  In North America approx. 1.2 million people are living with AIDS. In 2007 alone, there were 54,000 new infections and 23,000 deaths.

Such a significant decimation of human life and yet since the diseases' sinister inception, many maintain the same attitudes of those in the days of Jesus who responded to the lepers  with  "unclean! unclean! unclean! "Clear the way! Don't close enough to touch them or you yourself may becoming infected! Yet Jesus held the hands of the lepers.  He touched them, soothed them and comforted them."

This was my blessed and privileged experience in Cambodia to care for the least of these. It was at the Cambodian AIDS hospice that I saw first hand and got to live out the calling that Mother Teresa so eloquently demonstrated, coming alongside those in need, the oppressed and dying. Enabling them to live with hope and die with dignity. Galatians 6:2-3 reads "Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed.  Share their burdens and so complete Christ's law.  If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived."    

While the patients could stay at the rudimentary hospice free of charge they had no food or company, unless a friend or caring person would drop some by. I only saw one visitor for one lady the week I was there.  So we would go to the market each day to get them juice and food. I  had the privilege of praying with them, sitting with them, getting a cold clothe for their head when they ran a fever, making them laugh, hugging them and loving on them.

During my week there, I made a connection with each lady.  One woman was very sick, I did not think she would live to see the end of the week.  She had contracted AIDS from her husband, a Cambodian police officer who had engaged in a number of extra-marital affairs.  We prayed for and over her and by the end of the week, she had enough strength and energy to get out of bed and walk. 

There was another young lady named Lee Lee, who I became quite close with. She is 30 years old, though to look at her you might think her much younger.  As I understood it, she came to Poi Pet when her boyfriend got work there, and either he forced her to or she felt she had to, begin prostituting herself.  She had 7-8 boyfriends which is how she contracted AIDS.  When her boyfriend found out he left her alone in Poi Pet.

Some days she seemed to have lots of energy, especially in the mornings.  In the evenings however, she was a completely different person, no energy and in such pain that she would whimper.  She could not stand on her own without my help to get her to the washroom. 

Lee Lee asked me by making a cross with her fingers if I was a Christian, to which I replied yes.  The verse  John 13:34-35 immediately came to mind “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." We prayed together and I prayed that if she did not have a personal relationship with Christ that she would come to know the love, grace, and life saving power of our heavenly Father. We continued our time together over the week singing Jingle Bells me in Canadian her in Kamir.  I taught her how to say each of our facial features in English.  I massaged her arms and rubbed her back.  I tried to bring her as much comfort as I could. The night before we were to leave we were blessed to have Selah join us as an interpreter.  She informed me that Lee Lee wanted me to stay and that she loved me.  This pretty much broke me, because that morning all my heart felt compelled to do, was stay and serve in the clinic and village churches until she and the others I had connected with passed on.  I told her I loved her too. As we were leaving that evening, a woman beckoned Selah and I aside from our group. I came to understand that she was the nurse at the hospice. She spoke to me through the interpreter, explaining  that they and the girls would benefit from my staying and serving in the clinic for 3 months, which only just continued to rip my heart open.   

The next morning we had to leave. Before we did, we stopped into the Aids clinic to say goodbye and drop off more food and juice for each of the ladies.  The doctor was in that morning and it was then that I realized just what a connection I had made with Lee Lee. The doctor was putting in an intravenous, causing Lee Lee great pain.  I could see her forearm swelling up as he forced the liquid into it and I thought something did not seem right, but I am no doctor, so I held my tongue. One of hospice volunteers came by and was fiddling with the IV, it was apparent it was not right.  At the doctors instruction he began to remove it, Lee Lee writhing in pain as blood began to spew out her arm. At this point I got up from her bed and went to the doctor, emphatically pointing towards her, speaking in a language he did not understand, wanting him to realize this is not okay.  Like a mother coming to the defence of a hurting child, I was not even conscious of what I was doing, but someone was not meeting the needs of someone I had grown to care for and that was not okay.   

I never did give much thought to the fact that she had sold herself to men. I was not concerned about the fact that she had Aids when I hugged her, when she would kiss my cheek, when blood was coming out of her arm.  Lee Lee was my friend, she was a child of God and she deserved LOVE!  I left Lee Lee, the other girls, the Aids Clinic and the villages of Cambodia that morning but they are forever in my heart and prayers.

We are advised in James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  Now that does not mean that everyone needs to go half way across the world to do it - unless God is calling you to - and He may be.  You can live it right where you are. My question is "are you?"  Who is your Lee Lee? Even here in Canada God has blessed us with Lee Lee's, people who are forgotten, dismissed, oppressed, lonely, hurting and dying.  Saved yet or not they are God's children and unless they experience the love of God through us, and  are extended the same love, grace and mercy that was graciously given to us then they may be lost forever. 

All the programs, all the Sunday morning services, all the churches in the world, mean nothing if we are not loving and serving others to God's glory.  Sermons don't save - programs don't save.  It's the word of God in action that draws people to Christ.  Love of God and Others will redeem the world.