CQ

-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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