i am quite often
surprised and amused by some of the things our church's band of 4 year olds can
come up with to say. very often it's right at (or after) the point where i am
tempted to give up in frustration. but just
as often it's a well-timed word that guarantees a good day no matter what comes
because it's just too sweet to have anything spoil it.
this wednesday was
no different. one of our most faithful
Cubbies entered the room went to his seat but instead of sitting down just
looked at me shyly while i organized papers and whatnot. his mother gave him an encouraging cue-
"what did you want to tell your teacher?" and he opened his mouth and
said, "you have beautiful feet!"
now, i've heard
compliments on hair, jewelry, shirts, smiles, eyes, nails and you name it, but
this was a new one. after another encouraging cue, he helped his mother explain
that it was related to Isaiah 52:7 which says, "how beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him to brings good news."
good verse. it wasn't our memory verse for that week so i don't know
what inspired that conversation, but it made my day.
what made it even
more fitting was that our section of Bible stories covers the first Pentecost
and the international spread of the early church. so that night the 15 Cubbies who came heard
about how Philip's "beautiful feet" took him for a nice jog through
the desert to explain to a stranger from Ethiopia the gospel, because the good
news is international and worthy of any level of confusion and exhaustion and
persistence and passion that it takes to bring it to those who are ready to
hear it. and that means we go wherever God says. God told Philip, "go to the absolute
middle of nowhere, and then run." so he did, and he found one guy. but that guy went to Ethiopia and told
others. one of our Cubbies shouted out,
"hey- i was born in Ethiopia!" and indeed he had been. his family is also scheduled to move to Paris
(the France one, not the Tennessee one) because God told them,
"go." another Cubby is about
to head back to China, because God told his parents, "go." the rest of them were not quite sure who they
could tell here, but they will learn.
where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more- here, there and
everywhere.
several promotional
videos for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering feature Pr Jorge, who is now
back at his hometown of Comerio, Puerto Rico, because God said, "go."
the home he ran away from is where God sent him right back to. the people he stole from he is now giving to
and preaching to. the very same drug
dealers he used to associate with for illegal reasons now see a man changed,
free, happy, confident- and they want to know why. and so he tells them. 4 months after moving back to PR, a hurricane
wiped out all resources for the isolated Comerio. Jorge and Rebeca felt led to buy a washing
machine… even though they had no electricity.
immediately, they received a generator from NAMB's SEND Relief division-
and just like that, they had the only electricity in the area, and a way to reach
the whole town. within 6 months, they
had an active house church. within a year, a group of SEND volunteers moved
them into their permanent home, and set up their church building for the newly
ordained Pr Jorge. all because of their
obedience- and the obedience of everyone who gave to the AAEO that provided the
generator. that money generated a lot
more than electricity.
it's all exciting to
us, because places like Puerto Rico seem foreign and distant to us. guess what.
they are neither. on a map,
maybe. but in every single other
respect, not at all. the
"exciting" part is because of the gospel, not the place on the globe
where it is being told. true, after a
number of weeks or months or years the excitement wears off, and "new
mission" feels "normal," not like a new field ripe for harvest
with new converts every day and rapid church growth.
i'm thinking that's
why the North American Mission Board uses Pr Jorge for these videos. it's easier to get north american churches to
give money to people "over there" in cool places with palm trees and
iguanas than it is to get them excited about cities like chicago or denver or
boston. but chicago and denver and
boston are other pastors' mission fields, too.
God is doing big things in North America, too. not often as explosive as in Puerto Rico, but
just as important.
i had the privilege
of working with Jorge and Rebeca last february and then again this past
summer. their joy is contagious, their
passion is obvious, and their faith is inspiring. their kids are adorable. their God is big.
that same big God is
changing lives all over north america, too.
pastors, church planters, families, individuals- all those who have
heard and responded to their Master's call have uprooted their lives and joined
His work in SEND cities across the nation.
(and canada. Jesus loves them,
too!)
in addition to
contributing, and more importantly, pray.
every trip i've been
on, every place I've been, God has proven repeatedly that He doesn't really
need your money. He wants your
obedience, faithfulness, trust. giving
is one way we obey, but the dollar figure is not the point at all. it's praying
that puts us in direct contact with the One who does more with $5 and a few
faithful followers than any celebrity could with $5,000,000.
i can't say with any
degree of certainty where i will go next, or how long i will be there, or what i will do. but i can say that wherever
it is, Jackson or Jamaica, America or Africa, i want to be as faithful as people
like Jorge, Rebeca, Timothy, Haley, Ben, Tabitha, Andy, Laura, Emily, Aimee,
Casey, Bob, Melissa, Derek, Tony, Karen, Betina, Marcus, David, Nekayeh, Tom,
Vijay, and a growing list of people who, just like Philip the Fleet-Footed
Philosopher, have beautiful, beautiful feet.
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