CQ

Three weeks ago I was in Krasang, Thailand standing in front of twenty-two hundred students. Our team of Westsiders was invited to teach English at the local public high school. Each school day begins with an assembly. All of the students stand in perfectly straight lines wearing uniforms in the front yard of the school. On this day they asked me to come to the stage to introduce our team and express our purpose to the nearly all Buddhist student body. I must admit that I was afraid and it took courage for me to speak to a large Thai audience with no time for preparation.

During the assembly a twelve-year-old boy from Grace Ministries named James was standing in the front row. He is a beautiful child with ears that could make him take flight at any moment. Before coming to Grace Ministries he lived in poverty and had few opportunities. What impressed me most about James that day was his courage. Each day the school community begins with a Buddhist prayer, as would be expected of a primarily Buddhist country. Students give respect to the spirits of the school by clasping their hands together in front of their faces in a gesture they call a “wai.”

As I watched the sea of students paying respect to the spirits, I saw this twelve-year-old Christian young man with his hands clearly at his side in respectful opposition to the beliefs of the majority. I was later told that in similar assemblies the student body kneels and bows in prayer while the Grace Ministries students remain standing.

How often are we challenged in our faith and daily lives to hold to a commitment with such conviction and courage as these young people? Matthew 5:10 states, “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.”

Courage is about more than standing strong in the minority. It is also about pursuing Christ with everything in you and making the risky choices to do so. The pursuit of Christ can be painful and challenging, yet full of growth, joy and meaning.

Acts 4:13 says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Our courage as disciples does not come from our own skill or effort but from our association with Christ. It is through our unashamed pursuit of Him that we can have the courage of a twelve-year-old boy or a group of high schoolers from Lake Oswego Oregon.

I saw glimpses of this kind of courage over the past month as I spent time living in community with twenty-one students and six adults from Westside. Our trip was incredibly stretching for all of us. For three weeks every aspect of life was different. The experience was a complete assault on the senses, requiring courage just to function. The food, language, temperature, religion, economy, skin color, transportation, toilet, bathing, architecture, and community are all very different. It was beautiful to see our students adapt and respond to these challenges.
I saw in our students the courage to seek God openly, the courage to desire a more disciplined life, the courage to suffer with those who suffer, the courage to pursue purpose each day, the courage to risk vulnerability and honesty, and the courage to translate what they believe into how they really live.

C.S Lewis describes courage as “not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” Coming home from this testing and tremendous experience I am profoundly encouraged by the next generation of leaders, both American and Thai.

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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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-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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Westside Way Article

Last week I jumped on a JetBlue red-eye for New York City. The Westside choir had the opportunity to sing Handel’s Messiah on Palm Sunday at Carnegie Hall. What an amazing privilege!

If that weren’t enough, while on the trip we enjoyed a few shows, a game, and some sights. The first night was the rhythmic experience of Stomp. The most remarkable moment was when they played a piece with paper bags!  It takes talent and gifting to transform everyday objects into enjoyable music. We also went to a Mets game, The Lion King, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Empire State Building. Two locations that were awe inspiring to me were the United Nations Building and the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. These were all amazing experiential learning opportunities.

I have found that active learning inspires and motivates me to learn more. I find that I take ownership of what I am learning when I experience it first hand. I want to ask questions and find the answers to those questions. There were a couple of moments on this trip that I will never forget.

On Friday afternoon we took the bus from our hotel to St. Paul’s Chapel next to Ground Zero. It was here that we met Charlie, our tour guide. As Charlie began to speak I began to realize the unique opportunity that this was. Charlie was on Church Street on September 11 and saw the first plane strike the World Trade Center. As he described the horrific scenes I could see the pain and the reality of the situation in his eyes. Charlie worked for New York’s Department of Design and Construction which led the recovery effort for the WTC disaster. Charlie supervised the effort and is now designing the survivor’s memorial. As Charlie spoke about the impact of the disaster, his eyes welled up with tears and he admitted that he will never be the same.  I will not forget the pain and emotion I saw in Charlie’s eyes and I will not forget how the horrific events of September 11 had a personal impact on the lives of real people. How do people who have experienced such painful trials recognize the goodness of God? 

God’s plan is a little shocking to me. We are the plan. We are his plan to demonstrate the goodness of God to those who have experienced devastating tragedy, injustice, hunger, and separation from God. It is out of the transforming power of Christ in us that we can be a light to the world.

After sensing the suffering at Ground Zero and realizing the comfort that comes in serving a God who understands suffering, I was able to appreciate at a deeper level the magnificence of Handel’s Messiah. I was overtaken by the experience at Carnegie Hall. Bob, Betty, and I were given tickets to the center box in the lower balcony of Carnegie Hall. These were the best seats in the house and I wondered about the historic figures that had been in these seats throughout the years. As the Halleluiah Chorus was sung by over five hundred voices, I rose and felt chills running down my spine. This was a tremendously worshipful moment where I could fully celebrate the God who knows better than all of us the history and suffering of this world.

The opportunity to sing in such a historic venue was remarkable and all the shows and experiences will be memories we will reflect on for years to come; seeds of interest and inquiry were planted as we practiced active learning. There is value in all of this as well as in the beginning of significant relationships between students, teachers, and parents.
Our choir has three goals that Bob is intentional about communicating and developing in our students:

• Sing Our Best 
• Glorify God 
• Show The Love of Christ

I believe we were faithful to these three goals and that we truly sang the Messiah around New York City in word and deed.

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TRIP UPDATE:

Thursday night we went to the production of STOMP. It was amazing! The most impressive part was when they were playing paperbags. Yes….paperbags! It sounded incredible. On our way back we came across a gospel group that was singing in the subway. It was uplifting to stop and praise God with them in the moment. I recorded it the best I could with my phone; you are welcome to listen to a portion of the singing below.

Listen to the subway singing - Praise God!

More Singing…

On Friday morning my guys and I took of for 5th Avenue. I stopped of at St. Patricks Cathedral while my guys did a little window shopping in Saks Fifth Ave. I made them go to the Cathedral after I saw how beautiful it was. We then proceeded down to the very tip of Central park and jumped on a subway toward the hotel. We grabbed a little pizza for lunch. It was great!

Off Fifth Ave - Rockefeller Center

After lunch and while the students were rehearsing I went with a few parents to take a tour of the United Nations. This was fascinating! Below you can seee me in the meeting room of the UN Security Council. Next to me is one of many murels on display taken from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights document. This one captured my eye.

A few of the facts I can remember from the tour:

-6.5 billion people in the world today - half of them live on $2 a day or less
-There are 30 million orphans today as a direct result of loosing parents to Aids
-191 member nations in the UN general assembly
-15 members of the Security Council - 5 permanent members - the others are voted in each year.
-The UN Budget is 2.5 billion every 2 years - the US is responsible for 22% of that budget
-The UN property is international territory and does not belong to the US
-The money ($9 million) to purchase the property was donated by the Rockefellers
-There are 85k UN peace keeping troops in the world today

There was much more, but that is the best I can do for now.

In the evening we took the subway to the Mets game. We had a box all to ourselves. They provided us with a buffet dinner, we saw two home runs, and enjoyed the game in an amazing setting. The Mets guy came to our box to visit.

More to come…

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