Monday, July 25, 2005

Recess!!!


As the beginning of the school year draws near, I've been thinking about the new group of first graders who will be filing through my door in a few short weeks. And the one thing I'm dreading…"When, When, When??????"
See, first graders can't tell time; at least not yet. It's one of the skills we work on as part of the math curriculum. So until we get to that point, I am the official timekeeper of the classroom. And it drives me crazy! Let me explain.
The pivotal point of the school day is recess. You remember,- don't pretend you don't. Even thought we act all educated and academic now, as kids the only thing we really wanted was one half hour of playtime nirvana. And the same holds true today.
So while I try to establish a routine with my students in the first weeks of class I am bombarded with question after question after insanity inducing question!!!!!

"What time do we have recess?"
"Is it time now? "
"I see the kindergarders at recess? Why can't we go to recess? We're older we should go first."
"Last year we got to go to recess 2 times. Why can't we go 2 times this year?"
"Is it time for recess?...In the afternoon? …Is it afternoon yet?"

It drives me bananas. What they don't realize is that the only thing better than a being a kid sent out to recess, is being a teacher sending the kids out to recess. We look forward to seeing them go. I just want to tell them, "Listen! I want you to have recess too! And when it's time, I'll tell you. Don't worry. I won't let you miss it!"
But now I have to confess. In life, I tend to be a first grader. When my pastor once asked hypothetically, 'If you didn't know how old you were, how old would you be?' I immediately answered '6!' I like words that rhyme, glitter, kittens, and giggling. And I can't tell time. Like my students I can't see the eternal time that God has laid out. And on my insecure days I know I pester him about 'When, when, when."

"When am I getting married? Is it time yet? What about now? She's getting married. Why not me? I'm older,- I should get married first. When, when, when?"

The thing is, I know God is pulling his hair out when I act like this. I know he's thinking, "Listen! I want you to have this too! And when it's time, I'll tell you. Don't worry. I won't let you miss it!"

He wants to bless us. Don't believe me? Check out the Message version of
Jeremiah 29:11:
I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out,- plans to take care of you, not abandon you. Plans to give you the future you hope for.
Yea! I love it! So my role is PATIENCE (not always an easy thing to do.) As hard as it might be to imagine, God is never late. Unfortunately, he's never early either.

Monday, July 18, 2005

My response:


Reading about the crisis in Zimbabwe is hard for us all. The suffering of those left homeless is unimaginable. I sat numb at my laptop for a while and simply cried. No praying, just crying so that I might grieve with them if only for a moment. I cannot wrap my mind around this whole ordeal, so I have tucked it into my heart.
While I don't question why God has allowed it, I know some of you have. My only response would be…it's only the middle of the movie.
Some of you have heard me use that expression before, but the rest of you are puzzled by now. Remember when we were kids, and every movie we watched had the same format? In the middle of the movie, the villain always appears to have the upper hand. If we stopped watching then, the story seems pretty bleek. But in the end, the hero...well, he's the hero. Good conquers evil.
I feel the same hold true today when I watch the news, or read the online headlines of the suffering in Zimbabwe. Men, women, and children have been abused, neglected, abandoned by their government, raped, murdered, and evicted, - yet it's only the middle of the movie. We serve a God who will be victorious.
God says in his word that there will be trouble in life, however he does not abandon us. He knows each of his children by name. He has fashioned their bones together in their mother's womb and numbered the hairs on their heads. He stands beside them even now, in the midst of their suffering, - even those who don't welcome him. And he consistently conforms those who call out to him.

"For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help." Psalm 22:24

"For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men" Lamentations 3:31-33

Reading the report from Dave Ohlerking this morning left me stunned. It is inconceivable to me. As the tears flowed, I realized I didn't even know how to pray for them. So I did the one thing I knew to do in situations like these, I began to praise Him. I praised Him for His goodness, His unending love, and His righteousness. I praised Him for being
The Deliverer, The Judge of the Earth, El Roi (the God who sees), El Shaddai (God Almighty) the Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor. But most of all in the midst of all the suffering, I praised him for his promise to be victorious at the end of the movie. Love wins.
God conquers evil.

"I have told you these things, so that in me, you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Zimbabwe in Need


I know this article is long, but please take the time
to read it and pray for the children there and the
mission efforts. It'll be very hard to read, expect
some tears, but know that it's okay to greive with
them. The graphic part is forewarned so you can skip
that part if you need to.
If you haven't heard, Zimbabwe has been going through
some political chaos resulting in homes being
demolished and 250,000-1.5 million people being made
homeless. ( That was the estimate I heard a month
ago.)
The government has order the distrucion of urban
areas. Either you can tear down your own home, or
they will do it for you and charge you a fee. The
govenment claims it's because "crimials and riff-raff"
live in these areas and it will make the the cities
safer. However outsiders recognize that is was these
urban areas that had the highest voting for the
opposition in the last election. And the government
might have ordered this as punishment or to prevent
the organization of a revolt. Either way, hundreds of
thousands of men women and children are homeless,
suffering and dying in the winter weather.
This is an article written by Dave Ohlerking, head of
Children's Cup International. (the group I'll be going
to Africa with in the spring.) They serve in
Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Veitnam.
thank you
christy






Read on only if you can open your heart
to know about some unthinkable
human suffering.


-Dave


For two decades Zimbabwe has been a profoundly
emotional part of my life. People close to me feel
like in my mind I live there. And now the grief is
even deeper than tears.


Following are some excerpts from the secular press
that tell part of the story.


From the Sunday Telegraph (UK) 19 June 2005:


“It (Zimbabwe) is a wasteland. Street after street
razed in a scene that looks like a natural disaster.
The hundreds of thousands who have been left homeless
call if ‘Zimbabwe’s Tsunami’. But man, not nature, is
to blame for the destruction enveloping this country.”


At a time when inflation is 500% and unemployment is
80%, tens of thousands try to get money for food by
informal street vending. A government crackdown has
bulldozed vender stalls and shacks where thousands of
unemployed displaced persons seek shelter. The article
continues:


“Veronica is an elderly widow who is critically ill
herself, she has three young grandchildren from her
dead daughter. Her home is destroyed.


“Some people came to Veronica and said, ‘Sister, there
are two people who are dying. Please come. One of
them, Mary, who is out in the open all night (in
freezing temperature) lying on an old damp mattress
can’t move with pain, she has [wounds] which are open
and bleeding. What is worse—her tears or her bleeding
wounds? [A paralyzing thought.]


“Anne had delivered a baby a week ago, she is
critically ill and is on the verge of death. What is
going to happen to her baby?”


From the LA Times by Robyn Dixon


“At dawn, Gatawa, 27, sat amid the chaos and panic
cradling her dying baby, with not the vaguest idea how
to save her. At 8 in the morning, Nyasha’s eyes closed
and no amount of rocking, hugging or nursing would
bring her back. It is winter in Zimbabwe, and the
mother believes she died of cold.


“Roads across the country are packed with homeless
people pushing handcarts filled with their
possessions. Once they arrive, they are greeted by the
chronic hunger and unemployment that plague rural
Zimbabwe, and village chiefs often tell them to go
back where they came from.


“Dominican nuns were ordered to tear down a day center
they had set up for 120 orphans. The nine-room center
had a clinic where anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS
were administered. The patients, many of them
children, are now scattered.”


My soul-deep commitment to Zimbabwe began in 1985.


HISTORY


In the mid-eighties I watched as the number of
refugees fleeing into Zimbabwe to escape the war in
Mozambique grew to more than 250,000. I directed
programs that moved as much as 65,000 tons of food and
commodities into the five refugee centers set up by
the government. In those years I applauded the
Zimbabwean government for being a “good neighbor” to
the hurting Mozambicans. And maturing government
policies were allowing the nation’s production and
economy to recover dramatically from the war that
changed Rhodesia into Zimbabwe. The first time a staff
member and I went into the camp called Tongogara they
assigned a government agent to go everywhere with us
to be sure we didn’t give people Bibles or talk about
Jesus. Over the next few months our projects saved
thousands of lives with food and medical care. We
watched the general security and health of the
refugees improve to the point government officials
commended us and even relaxed restrictions on overt
Christian ministry to the people. One very effective
ministry arose from the need for crowd control during
the clinic operations. Hundreds of people would be
milling around trying to be the next ones to get into
the clinic for treatment. There was obviously a need
for crowd control. We got permission for staff members
to settle the crowd by teaching them songs. Africans
love to sing. Hearing a crowd of Africans sing is
thrilling and soul-stirring. You’ve already guessed we
taught them Gospel songs. They sang the Gospel into
their own hearts!

Earlier we had asked permission to build a church in
the camp. “No way,” the officials responded. “When you
build a church that’s when the fights start.” (Isn’t
that a sad indictment on Christians?) But those same
officials had noted how our ministry had calmed the
camp and solved many matters of inmate discontent. “It
might be good if you did build a church—we’ll even
give you a place for the pastor to live.” Are you
remembering Jesus’ declaration, “I will build my
church…”? Carpentry, masonry, fabric dying, and
garment-making training projects gave thousands of
refugees skills that would let them earn a living.
Then when the war ended in Mozambique our team helped
truck the refugees and their possessions back to their
former home areas. Please note and rejoice with us: So
many refugees had come to Christ in the camp that when
they resettled back in Mozambique they instantly
formed into 16 new churches and preaching points! But
just as soon as the refugee crises was over a new and
even more sinister wave of needy ones came to the
former refugee centers for shelter and help—AIDS
orphans and vulnerable children--OVC in United Nations
parlance. Since 1996 the number of OVC that Children’s
Cup provides for has risen to as many as 1500. Food,
education, clothing, shelter, skills training, and
most of all the Gospel have changed these young lives.
In the late 1980’s was being called an African success
story. It produced enough food to export. Commerce
matured. Churches flourished. Hope was building.


PRESENT


Now everything has changed. Laws and policies were set
in place that deconstructed the society and its
economy. If you have access to the Internet I
encourage you to read newspapers of Zimbabwe. Go to
the UNAIDS site and read what is happening. And the
plight of the OVC only worsened. New laws and policies
are trying to close all avenues of humanitarian help
for the OVC. Zimbabwe has become one of the most
dangerous places in the world to live or travel.
Travel is mortally risky. A fellow missionary and
three other humanitarians have been murdered at
roadblocks. Ben and I had our truck disabled and we
were robbed by a gang of thugs. Attempted break-ins at
our staff housing in Harare occur almost every
night—if the intruders make it into the house
unthinkable things happen to the women and children.


Stop reading now if you are squeamish:


A favorite terror act of the intruders’ final deed of
rape is to use a gun barrel. It is an ongoing struggle
to keep finding legal ways to get help to the OVC.


For most of our 1500 kids we are their only source of
food or medical care. If we are stopped from reaching
them, many will die. You can read the statistics.


FUTURE


We will not abandon Zimbabwe. We will do everything in
our power to keep at least our 1500 precious little
ones—most of them we have hugged and many of them we
know by name—alive and as healthy as possible. Too
many times we come right up to the end of the month
and do not have the $4000 (that’s $2.67 per month per
child) it takes for Zimbabwe for the next month. Will
you consider carrying a bit of this load with us by
taking on a one-year commitment for monthly
support—you choose the amount as God leads you—for our
Zimbabwe OVC’s?


We can’t believe God will walk away from Zimbabwe.


Neither will we walk away.

 

 







©Copyright 2005 Children's Cup

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Extra grace required

I have friends in my life who are "extra-grace required" kind of people. I know you do too. It's hard to love them. Sometimes you want to ring their necks. There are times when I wish to myself that I could walk away and not be friends with them any more. But look at this great quote I found yesterday:

"When we despise something we reguard it lightly. We take no notice of it and count it as nothing. We do not take
care of it. If we don't take care of what God gives us, we lose it."
-Joyce Meyer
Now, Ms. Joyce wasn't talking about friends, but it certainly applies. When I'm angry, frustrated, or judgemental with my friends I reguard them lightly,- as if they are unimportant to my life, or worthless to the world. However I know that God loves them with all their flaws just as much as He loves me with my one or two....okay, my millions of flaws! More importantly, I have to confess the awareness that he put these people in my llife for a reason. Sometimes in my arrogance, I think it's so that they can learn something from me, but in my humility, (and in reality) it's probably so I can be sharpened, challenged, and refined. These relationships are often lessons in love, patience, endurance, self-control, peace, joy and kindness. Difficult as they are, I need them more than they need me.
So I thank you ornery friends! You mean a lot to me!

Monday, July 11, 2005

Here's to JJ and Angela...

Congrats to my friends JJ and Angela who were married on Saturday! I wish you all the best.
I think the best part of the ceremony was a quote from the groom's father, Jackie Cooper: "Love God, Love Life, and love each other as much as we love you!"

Saturday, July 02, 2005

It's a Miracle!


Sometimes I think to myself, "Why doesn't God release his miracle power more often? If he really wanted to impress people, and win lots over in faith, why doesn't He just send more of his children out, curing all kinds of diseases, and prophesies over non-believers, and part the Red Sea again and burning some bushes or that kinda thing. That would really impress people and they would have no choice to believe!"
While I know that healings and prophecy still exists, (I've seen them) they are rarely covered by the media and are often explained away by non-believers. I just think if God sent a worker with a strong anointing on TV, and lots of people witnessed it… they couldn't help but believe. Right?
Well…er…no. Sometimes I talk myself out of my own good ideas
Many non-believers view ministers like these as quacks or frauds, and parts of the church teach that some gifts no longer exist. But even in the event of a major revolution of our American ideology, I see in scripture (sigh) that it still wouldn't be enough.
In John 12 we see Jesus riding into Jerusalem and the crowd comes running to greet him:
The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A huge crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, "Praise God! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hail to the King of Israel!"
…Those in the crowd who had seen Jesus call Lazarus back to life were telling others all about it. That was the main reason so many went out to meet him-because they had heard about this mighty miracle. (12-18)

They'd heard about his miracles and wanted to see him for himself. They waved their palm branches, and sang songs, praised him, and called him the Messiah. Sounds like they were believers to me!
But when I read on, I see:

But despite all the miraculous signs he had done, most of the people did not believe in him. This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted. (V.37)

The hype of the miracles was enough to capture their attention, but without the personal encounter with him, it was not enough to hold it very long. The crowd who hailed his arrival in the city is the same crowd who turned against him a few days later. It almost seems as though miracles made no difference to the witnesses at all. But upon close examination, I see a very different story unfold in the same book of John, just a few pages back.
In the story of the woman at the well, Jesus prophesized over the Samaritan woman, who then went and told just about every one in town. The people of the village came out to see him, and "They begged him to stay at their village." Similar beginning to the Jerusalem story, but…

So he stayed for two days, long enough for many of them to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe because we have heard him ourselves, not just because of that you told us. He is indeed the Savior of the world." John 4:40.

What's the difference? They weren't just caught up in the hype and the excitement, the gossip or TV cameras, - they had a personal encounter with Jesus himself.
I'm seeing that the same hold true for mankind, 2000 years later. It is within the hearts of those who have had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ where faith grows. No amount of media hype, testimonies, miracle witnessing, or movie watching, will touch the spirit within us until we have experienced him for ourselves.