Living Life with the Sirens Blaring

Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? Had to give way in the last few days to a passing ambulance? I am amazed at the number of ambulances that go by my office on any given day. An ambulance tears around town with its siren blaring. It is always going to a crisis or leaving a crisis. It is built for emergencies.

Many people live the same way. They run their lives with the siren going. Every day is desperate and every moment a crisis–or preparation for one. Such a harried existence leaves no room for smelling the roses or enjoying sunsets. Even worse, it leaves no time for sharing friendships and building love.

Each day is an emergency, a crisis, or a matter of great urgency. Stress builds and strain overwhelms. We call it “living in the fast lane” as though we admire such a lifestyle. Students with complicated schedules, families with countless demands, and workers with keen competition–all face life with sirens blaring. One writer described the top stress factors in urban living as “traffic, travel, tie-ups, temper, time, taxes, and tensions.” Coping has become a national pastime.

Some people add to their personal problems by taking on the world’s problems. I read of a lady who became very disturbed when scientists announced that the sun was burning out and would one day cease to shine.

Many of the things you are tearing around to do will not get done despite your best efforts. Suppose you substituted a quiet walk around the block or time off to call a friend or time out to read a book? Suppose you wrote an encouraging note to someone who really needed it? Would your world fall apart? Or would it perhaps get back into perspective? “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

One of the great things God does for us, if we let Him, is make us realize how temporary some things are and how important it is to give our spirits the food they deserve and need.

[This article, along with several recent articles on a variety of subjects, is available on my Articles Index Page].

The Shack

Just finished reading The Shack over the past weekend–Wow!  This 2007 book is a delight–but the real word to describe it is phenomenon.  Theology, narrative, novel, spiritual reality–all rolled into one.  It doesn’t qualify as superb writing according to the general standards of the literary guild, and there’s no reasonable explanation of the impact it has had on countless readers, but just over a year after it was first published as a paperback, it debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times trade paperback fiction best-seller list on June 8 and has stayed there ever since. It is No. 1 on Borders Group’s trade paperback fiction list, and at Barnes & Noble it has been No. 1 on the trade paperback list since the end of May.

 The Shack, a paperback novel by an unknown author, is about a grieving father who meets God in an unlikely place in unlikely forms.  An appealing story of redemption and God’s love, the book isn’t short on theology and explaining how and what God is up to in the world today.  In some ways, I found it a difficult read (because I kept comparing the message of the book and the Scriptures).

The author, William P. Young, a former office manager and hotel night clerk, has given us a surprise best seller.  He spent some time in seminary and theological training, thinking through some of the more difficult questions God brings into our lives.

Highly recommended, and worth the read.  Get it, and read it!

Missional: Working on the Definition

About a year ago, I began hearing and reading the phrase, “Missional X”. Shorthand for “Missional Experience.” The question keeps surfacing in different ways and forms: What is missional? What does it mean for a church to be missional? We who find ourselves in typical, historical churches tend to look for another institutional tweaking. OK, if this missional thing is so good and works so well, what do we have to do to be missional?  What does it mean for a person to be missional?  How does such a commitment change our lives?

Missional is not a model, a strategy, or a tool. One cannot move from an internal maintenance focus to an external missional focus by following five steps. (Bad news, since many of the people I deal with really like steps.) Missional is a way of living and being. The basic idea is that missional means “making like a missionary.” What would happen if we were to adopt fully the idea that we are the “living sent” in our communities and world? How would we act? What would we do? What would our priorities look like? How can we discover this way of discipleship that fully lives out the reality of Jesus in our daily lives?

Friends around the world….

This has been a good trip.  This weekend in Tegucigalpa, we have visited with brothers and sisters from several different congregations in the metropolitan area. There are 25 congregations of churches of Christ in the city.  Friendships and brotherhood in Christ renewed, prayers strengthened, opportunities to reconnect.  Another  elder appointed at La Vega, updates on the prison work and the congregations at El Pedregal, Guanacaste, and Kennedy.  A reception honoring Luis Garcia as he retires from Baxter and returns to Nicaragua.  Updates on some of the work in Nicaragua in a good visit with Eric Garcia.  Opportunities to meet students from Baxter and reconnect with some who remembered me but whom I did not remember.  The list goes on and on, as I consider the immense family we are in Christ Jesus.  Praise God!  May we never forget that he has called his children to expand the family.

Over the last few days I have also received the updates from the campaign group in Guatemala.  there were 395 people present for the Saturday sessions, lots of children, connections, prayers for special needs, relationships established.  The church in the San Lorenzo/San Antonio/Santa Catarina area will certainly receive a boost from the efforts expended.

I awoke this morning about 5 a.m., thinking and praying about the group we will meet today, knowing they were already on the road or sitting in an airport somewhere waiting.  This is the first day Continental resumes flights to Tegucigalpa–what a coincidence? (special blessing from God!)  that this was the planned travel day.  After spending the morning at Baxter, we will meet the group at the airport when they arrive about noon.  Then we will head for Catacamas.

Pray for our efforts.  In addition to my work at Predisan in the evaluation, we will work in a mini-campaign at Las Casitas.  This is a relatively new work and this will be the first campaign ever conducted at Las Casitas.  We hope to establish and good footing for the church and its influence and impact in the community.

All things working together for good…

This has been an incredibly good day on this mission trip as many uncertainties have become clear.  After I visited the airport here in Tegucigalpa to change our tickets for the return trip out of Tegucigalpa rather than out of San Pedro Sula, we received news that the Oklahoma group we are meeting on Monday will be able to fly into Tegucigalpa and will also leave from here.  As Randy Hughes wrote in his e-mail:  praise the Lord!

After several previous efforts by Internet, it was amazing how easy it was to change our tickets for the departure from Tegucigalpa.  The airport was relatively deserted on this Saturday morning, and the Continental agents were very eager to help us, since the change also represents a return to normal for them and the airport.

The bus trip was long yesterday.  We left Antigua at 3:30 a.m., then departed from Guatemala City at 5 a.m.  The crossing at the Guatemala-Honduras border was relatively easy, and I disposed of a few more $Q. (Guatemalan quetzales) for some refreshments.  At the brief stop in Copan, I visited with two Guatemalans (one from Solola and the other from Guate City) who were on their way to work in La Ceiba, Honduras on a 3-month contract.  Interesting!  One was Catholic, the other Christian attending Shalom church.  When the locals learn one can communicate even a little in Spanish, they are usually interested in knowing more about what you are doing, why you are in their country, and what you think about a variety of subjects.  I have had many interesting conversations during the last few days, especially during the campaign work in Santa Catarina.  What a blessing to be able to communicate!  [Incidentally, the latest emails from the campaign group we just left indicated continuing success and contacts in preparation for the great Fiesta Day today.]

We left Copan about 10:30 a.m., then started the last leg of the journey from San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa about 2 p.m.  The traffic was horrendous, it rained hard for some of the trip, and we were late getting into Tegucigalpa.  In fact, Gloria had been waiting for us for over an hour, but we made the trip to the comfort of Noe and Gloria´s home with no problem and were immediately relieved at the opportunity to relax with friends and share faith.

We will spend our time through Monday here in Tegucigalpa, visiting with friends, some dinner appointments and meetings, of course church and fellowship with the brothers and sisters tomorrow.  Monday morning at Baxter will end too quickly as we must be at the airport shortly after 11:00 a.m. to meet the group and head toward Catacamas.

Hasta la proxima vez!  Dios le bendiga!  (Until next time, God bless you!)

Travel Day

Today is a travel day, so we are up very early.  We have to catch the bus at 3:30 a.m.  From Antigua to Guatemala City to Copan Ruins to San Pedro Sula to Tegucigalpa–they say it is 11 hours on the bus; it all adds up to about 14 hours.  On trips such as this, a travel day a time to reflect.  We have been gone from the U.S. for 16 days.  It is incredible to think how much has been packed into those days!  But more incredible is to think about where God has been and what God has done during those days.

God is at work in our world in ways we cannot know and do not see.  As we respond to him, he invites us to join him in a work that was in progress long before we arrived on the scene.  He is at work while we are at rest.  He is preparing us and preparing those whose paths we cross for encounters capable of spreading his word and influence.  He is building bridges and preparing hearts.  He is using us even as he changes us.

I pray that we might be instruments in his hand, to do his will wherever he leads.

Juan Carlos

This week I have been visiting and helping the church in San Lorenzo (formerly in Santa Catarina, but recently moved to a better location in San Lorenzo).  San Antonio, Santa Catarina, and San Lorenzo are three adjoining communities that virtually touch one another, and we have been working in all three of the villages.  The local preacher, Juan Carlos, is a Honduran, now working with the church in Guatemala.

His is an interesting story.  He came to Guatemala courtesy of the Catholic church when he was young.  He came to Guatemala to study to become a monk.  In the monastery he learned the doctrines of the church, but also continued reading his Bible.  He asked the priests why church leaders in the Bible were married men with children (referring to the elders in 1 Timothy 3).  The priest told him he asked too many questions.  He asked about specific teaching and doctrines.  He kept reading and studying and asking.  Eventually the priest came to him, told him he did not love the Catholic church, and told him to leave the monastery.

After he left the monastery, he was baptized into Christ and later he married his wife.  Today they have three beautiful daughters and he is a faithful leader in the church.  He began working in the church by teaching the youngest children, later he taught the youth, and eventually he began delivering adult Bible classes and sermons.  He went to the Bible institute for more training.  He sacrificially serves the Lord, living in very small quarters with his family, and joyfully encourages the brothers and sisters in Christ as they attempt to reach out with the message of Jesus in a very difficult area where Catholic and traditional Mayan religious influences present great challenges.

I ask you to pray for Juan Carlos and his family.  Pray also for the church in San Lorenzo and its efforts and faithfulness.  There is a VBS for the children during this week, and the major outreach conference and fiesta is this coming weekend.

An Antigua Argument

I walked down the street on a quiet Saturday morning. I was in Antigua, Guatemala, a few minutes before 7:00 the streets were almost deserted. A lone runner loped down the middle of the cobblestones. Here and there a few individuals or couples were walking. No car was in sight on the street where I was, nor on the first cross street. I was alone with my thoughts and my God.

The quietness of the morning was broken by an approaching couple–a young couple, speaking English, arguing in Antigua as they walked on a Saturday morning. I could not help but overhear. They were playing the “blame game”, trying to decide whose fault “it” was.

Perhaps there is nothing unusual about a couple arguing in public in Antigua on a Saturday morning walk, but it struck me as incongruent. Many would describe Antigua, Guatemala as a place of love and romance, charming, encouraging caring and relationships. They are in a place where they could easily enjoy the early morning quietness and share a very special time. They are in a place of beauty—volcanoes, flowers everywhere, the quaintness of the cobblestones and repeating paint colors, the smell of fresh-baked bread wafting through the air.

I wonder how God sees us. I could see the inconsistency because of the surroundings. He sees the inconsistency regardless of where we are. What does it really mean for me to be a follower of Jesus? How am I going to live that out in my life today?

Reflections of Guatemala

It hardly seems possible that a week of cultural studies is drawing to a close.  I have a growing appreciation of the unique challenges faced by Guatemalans, especially those in the rural areas.
For one week, I have had the opportunity to spend extended time every day with a Guatemalan, a nurse who serves as a liaison for several Canadian medical mission groups. We have discussed culture, religion (she is Catholic), and the needs of the society. A part of our time each day was spent discussing articles from the newspaper. I have had the opportunity to read the daily newspaper through the eyes of a Guatemalan.  I have been amazed at how many of the articles touch the economy and economic challenges.

Allow me to share some of what I have learned.  Consider what it would be like to live in a country where….

  • 1% of the population is very rich
  • 99% are very poor [you are in the poor category, due only to the overwhelming percentages, and you have no way of escaping]
  • The middle class has slowly disappeared over the last 25-30 years in the difficult economic environment
  • Workers in the fields and rural areas [campesinos] make $10Q per day (less than $1.50), and have a very hard life
  • The minimum wage is $1300Q per month, about $175
  • The unemployment rate is about 70%.  If you are over 40, your chances of being hired diminish significantly because there are few legal protections against discrimination.
  • Even for the youth, there are few jobs, little hope, and no reason to go to school.
  • For many in the society, the only way to get money is to resort to robbery.

Such is Guatemala I have come to know in these few days.

In the midst of such challenges I asked about where God fits into the society and how God is perceived in the society.  My teacher responded that serious doubts exist about where God is in the midst of such difficulties, and that religion is generally for the older, but not for the younger.  Then I asked myself, “How does one take the hopeful message of Jesus to such a country?”

Antigua, Guatemala: Casa de Cony

We are “at home” in la Casa de Cony in Antigua, Guatemala where we will spend the next two weeks.  This is our second time to stay at Cony’s house–a delightful experience with the best hostess in Antigua!  Very convenient, delicious meals, wonderful times of  sharing, and many opportunities to practice Spanish.

This morning I met Angela who will help me this week with understanding more of the Latin American culture, some of the unique aspects of the language, and the world view of the Guatemalans.  She is a native Antiguena, a nurse who has worked with several international medical and benevolent organizations.   The campaign group does not arrive until Friday, so this week I will also have some time to finish my sermons for the campaign in Honduras later in July.  [This afternoon, I have already succumbed to the temptation of the granizada de mora (a flavorful, blackberry slush).]

Always, one of the delights of my time in Antigua is the opportunity to immerse myself in the word of God in Spanish.  Last year I completed the Psalms during the two weeks I spent here–this year I have begun in Proverbs.  We appreciate all who are including us in prayer–we also are praying that our efforts might continue to bring glory to God and souls to the kingdom.

Hasta la proxima vez (until next time), que Dios le bendiga (may God bless you).  Bob and Jan