CQ

In a number of different places in my life I am finding things are more complex than I care for them to be. Today I spent the day going through files, binders, and piles in my office that have accumulated over the past year. I am not a neat freak at all, but not knowing where something is, that I should be able to find, drives me crazy. I also get distracted by piles of papers. I wonder if there is something in that pile I have forgotten about. I fear that something will come back to bite me. I think about this until I go through the pile which distracts me from what I am currently doing, and what I am currently doing is much more important than anything that could be in the pile. That is why every once in a while I must stop and focus on reorganizing. This time I am determined to not just reorganize, but find a way to simplify. To function with less complexity and a more intentional focus on the essential priorities.

We are doing the same thing in our home. Every time our kids are in their play room they are forced to wade through the McDonald’s happy meal toys to get to the real stuff. When it comes time to pick up the mess we swim through the room for twenty minutes in order to put things back in their “proper place.” The other day I just about screamed and said to myself, “We must simplify and refocus on the essential items”… or something like that. The same goes for our garage. It is filled with plastic riding toys. Most of these were gifts that have now accumulated into a plastic mass in the middle of our garage. Forget parking real cars in the garage we only have room for the twenty plastic ones. It makes me spin when I attempt to navigate from one side of the garage to the other, getting tangled and thrown to the ground by scooters, plastic fire engines and a blow up dinosaur swimming pool.  Before I blow my top we must change things!

When we were in Thailand we put all of our essential items into a backpack that could fit into the overhead bin of an airplane. We survived for 14 days with only four outfits and a few personal items. We visited homes in Thailand that had no furniture except a straw mat in the middle of the floor. We took cold showers and ate food that had been collected fresh that morning from the market. I realize there are amazing benefits that come with being born in a fully developed country, but I must admit that I am wondering if my life is over developed. I need to learn some lessons from my Thai friends. I have made choices that add stress, confusion, anxiety, and distraction to my life.

It does not end with stuff. I wish it were that simple. In the same way that all the stuff can complicate and distract us from the core things that matter, I believe that I have complicated my inner life. I observed a deep, yet simple faith in Thailand that was very attractive. Its primary focus was on seeking to obtain a deep relationship with Jesus Christ. Does my leisure, pleasure, comfort and ease distract me (like the McDonald’s toys) from the things that are truly core. 

Am I captivated by Him? 

Am I willing to sacrifice for Him?

Am I numb from the privilege in my life, not willing to respond with a Christ-like response to the hurts in this world.

Am I self absorbed?

Am I average?

If Jesus is who he said he was, and I believe He is, then who should I be?

If Jesus did what the Bible says He did, and I believe He did, then what should I be doing?

If Jesus is so captivated by, and willing to sacrifice for, you and me, and I believe He is, then…  

Lord, help me to peal away that which is not essential.

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COMPASSION QUEST

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Our first day in the hill tribes of Thailand took us a few hours from Chiang Mai to an obscure tribal village. We were on our way to a dinner that was being provided by the pastor and a few from his congregation. The meal would cost them the equivalent of a month’s wages. Before we arrived at the dinner feast we stopped for what later would appear to be a divine appointment. Sarah our interpreter was aware of a desperate situation and she thought we might be able to help. We were traveling with Charles Harvey who runs a home for children at risk of exploitation (Grace Ministries), typically children coming from extreme poverty who are abandoned or orphaned.

We stopped our vans at Sarah’s request to meet a woman dying of AIDS. Her husband gave her the disease. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to contract AIDS from my spouse. In this situation it was likely that he got the disease from drug use or visiting brothels. The situation was sad enough, but what put it over the top was that this woman had a little girl. She was also caring for three other children (a girl and two boys) whose parents had already died of AIDS. Sarah brought us here so that Charles could meet the children and determine if he could take them in. The children were in school and Charles asked Sarah if she would be willing to bring them to the house. She left for the children while we waited with the woman. Our students walked around this very simple stilted bamboo home. Chickens walked around picking blades of grass from the ground. A humble garden was in the front of the house and a very basic kitchen with a cement floor and few amenities was separate from the two-room home. The woman was sitting on the raised bamboo porch making simple crafts to sell. Our team bought everything she had made and some partially made items as well.

It was at this point that one of the students from our team collapsed on the street near one of our vans. As she fell she vomited and hit her head so hard that it made a sound I could hear from fifty feet away. We rushed to her side and began caring for her. This created a little commotion within our team and the village. We put her in one of the vans and had to make a decision. At first the plan was to pack all of us in the vans and go back. Then we remembered the dinner that had already been prepared and the children we had not interviewed. We sent one van back. Miraculously the student had no head trauma – hardly even a bump. Within a day she was back with the team.

When the woman’s children came, our team gathered around and listened to the interchange between Charles and these precious children. Charles asked one of the girls, who was about nine years old, what she wanted to do when she grew up. The girl replied, “I want to do what you are doing, I want to take care of orphans.” This brought us to tears. After Charles was done speaking to the children a few of the adults spoke to the mother. Marta walked over to the woman and asked Charles to translate. I am sure she was empathizing with her situation. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to know you will never get to see your children grow up.  The mother said that she was at peace knowing she would be going to heaven, but she was worried about her children.  Marta spoke to the woman and said, “In the Bible it says that we should rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15), and I want you to know that I rejoice with you because you know you are going to heaven and I mourn with you because you have to leave your children.” Marta stepped forward with tears and gave the woman, also teary, a hug. Our students are observing ALL of this. All I can say is – LIFE CHANGING!

Charles said that he would probably take these children into his home next spring. One of the boys jumped in the van with us and escorted us to the village dinner. Before dinner and on the way back, Marta and I got a chance to talk with him. His English was basic yet he was courageous in trying it out on us. He also had a brightness in his eyes that I interpreted as hope and resilience.  Now that he is connected with Grace Ministries there may be hope for this little man and the other three children. I pray that when we go back to Grace Ministries we will see these four children. Grace Ministries is a place of hope and a place where God touches lives and makes them whole again, we saw proof of this.

I am thankful we had people praying for us and that we did not leave before God’s work was done. When I got home I learned that our “send team” of prayer partners met close to the time of the these events. They prayed specifically against spiritual warfare. I am convinced of God’s faithfulness. We experienced a moment when four children were saved from an uncertain future and now have the opportunity to become Christian leaders who can change the history of Thailand. Watch and see. 

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-WESTSIDE WAY ARTICLE-

At four o’clock in the morning on June 20th, Marta and I got up, showered, grabbed our carefully packed bags, kissed our sleeping kids good bye, and jumped into my father’s car to head to the airport. As we pulled away I looked into Marta’s eyes and saw tears streaming down her cheeks. It was hard to leave our precious children for fourteen days, but what we found in Thailand was a new expansion of our family.

Our first major destination was a small rural village in Northeastern Thailand. The village is Krasang and it is the home of Grace Ministries. The passionate focus of Grace Ministries is to take children who have little hope, because they are poor or orphaned, and develop them into Christian leaders. I can testify to the fact that it is working. These children understand much clearer than I the power of God to rescue and redeem. For them, life with or without Christ is a stark contrast between a life of hope and purpose or a life of despair and simply surviving.

At Grace Ministries I observed a young woman who had come through the program and is now one of two “house mothers” in the girls’ home. Ewe is her name and she is beautiful inside and out. She is the embodiment of the term ‘servant leader.’ When Ewe was seven years old her mother died and her father abandoned her. Her circumstances left her vulnerable and an easy target for exploitation and abuse, but God blessed her with the opportunity to come to Grace Ministries.

Some of the adults and students from our team had the opportunity to interview Ewe and hear her story. It was powerful. Because her father abandoned her and her siblings, she said that she did not trust men for many years. She said she rarely smiled during her early years at Grace Ministries. Over time God has placed a passion and burden in her to help children who have come from life circumstances similar to hers. Today she beams with Christ’s love.

At the end of the interview one of the most beautiful moments of the trip occurred. We asked Ewe if she had any questions or thoughts for us. She paused and looked at us, then looked down. She began to well up with tears and said, “You are all my family.” She was weeping, we were weeping and we just looked at each other weeping. It felt like a long time to look at each other weeping, but it did not feel awkward. I felt honored and responsible to fill that role.

We used a lot of family language on this trip. Our students came back with new Thai and American brothers and sisters. I don’t know that in the United States we understand as clearly the depth of meaning of this kingdom bond as much as those in a country where less than two percent of the population are Christians and where you often lose your biological family when you become part of the family of God.

Our team became close and committed to those we met in Thailand, but also incredibly dear to each other. I have never prayed more for people than I did in the fourteen days of this trip. It was life changing. Since we got back ten days ago, we have met with members of our team four times. I think we honestly love each other, are seeking to encourage each other toward Christ, and are committed to making the time to build into one another.

I am discovering that developing a strong family or community is rooted in a love of Christ and a desire to seek Him as our source. I am seeking to give myself wholly and completely to Him. I am talking about a love that is willing to sacrifice and walk humbly with God. To join him in a movement that is not ordinary, but extraordinary. It is not defined within a culture or family, but by His kingdom. Secondly, I am learning to love others out of the overflow of love and strength Christ infuses in me. This also requires sacrifice.

I truly believe that while on this trip we worshiped God when we loved the poor. We loved God when we played with orphaned children. We loved God when we listened to each other’s hurts and prayed. We loved God when we responded to his leading to do something tangible to meet a need.

In Matthew 22 (NIV) Jesus said that the greatest command is this, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The second is this, “Love your neighbor as yourself. All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

In John 13:34 (The Message) Jesus says, “Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples – when they see the love you have for each other.”

This kind of community does not just occur on an overseas vision trip. In fact, this value is something our school community has expressed as being an important part of our identity. Our three core values are EXCELLENCE, GRACE, and FAMILY. As a Christian school community I pray that we can be intentional as staff, students, and parents to seek to live out Matthew 22 and John 13. After getting a taste for rich and deep community this summer I am hungry for that to continue to grow and develop in our school.

The past couple of years we have focused on each of our core values as a point of emphasis. Two years ago it was a focus on developing a results-oriented process for continuous improvement (Excellence). Last year we put energy toward developing initiatives to promote the development of our student’s hearts as well as minds (Grace). This year our focus is on our community and seeking God as we attempt to model a loving and open Christ-centered learning community (Family). Our community is larger than the walls of our school. When Ewe said we were her family she was speaking of the kingdom of God. We are all one in Him, we truly are one family in Christ.

I will not forget the scene as we left Grace Ministries. The night before we left our girls and the girls from Grace Ministries had a slumber party. The morning we left our girls and the Thai girls were walking in mass to the train station. They were all weeping as they said goodbye to their new sisters. It was a glimpse of the fulfillment of God’s kingdom. My concept of family is much too small. We have a lot to learn from each other. I can’t wait to see what God will do as he draws his family toward Himself and toward each other.

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We are back from Thailand and God has multiplied our passion to include the 24 people that went on this trip. A friend of mine asked me if I was ruined and if we ruined our students as a result of the trip. He meant this in a good way. My answer is, I think He did. When you experience and share in the despair and pain of others at such a deep level and see so clearly that hope is found only in Christ it ruins your ability to be easily distracted from seeking the God solution. The Holy Spirit plants a passion in your heart to be his hands and feet and you are compelled to move out. It was clear as day again on this trip that Christ is the solution.

It is late and I need to try to get some sleep. Our body clock is still operating some place between Asia and the United States. For the next few posts I will share stories and character descriptions from the trip. I think that making the trip personal will allow you to share more deeply in our experience. Maybe God will call you to respond.

Please continue to pray as our team transitions back into our culture and processes all that God did. Pray for our amazing students that are moving out in a courageous way for Christ. Pray for the students at Grace Ministries that are doing the same. We are also praying about how God would call us to respond now that we are back in the states.  Thank you all for the tremendous support. More to come.

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