The young adult ministry at New Song Community Church called Seven24 asked us to prepare a message concerning our call to missions. We did it via video since we’re about a thousand miles away. Disclaimer: If you are easily offended just remember that this video is geared toward young adults. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
We are oh so proud of this child, named for a king!
The Night Shift
Some of the worst things…rather, most embarrassing things that could ever happen to me have happened in my first few days of work. I, my friends, belong to the endangered jobs list – I am a male nurse’s aid working the night shift (quite humbling, but I’ll get to that later). Here is a quick job description for those of you who don’t know what they do:
- Take Vital Signs
- Assist nurse’s in doing everything
- Assist patients in doing everything
Here is a bit of advice based upon my recent experience:
In all seriousness, I am confident that God has placed me in this hospital, not for the sake of bestowing on me a sense of productivity during this hiatus, but for the sake of the lost and hurting.
As I placed the blood pressure cuff onto Mr. Smith’s* right arm, we made eye contact. He quickly looked away as if he were embarrassed for getting caught staring at me. By now, I’m used to the stares. It’s not that I’m a freak of nature (like my brother used to call me) or that I’m especially odd. It’s because I’m not from around here, and I’m okay with that. Throughout the night, I took his vital signs, emptied his catheter, fetched him some cold water, and cleaned the clutter in his room. Eventually we got to talking about spiritual things. I found out about his deep love for family and his fear of what was going to happen if the disease in his body were to take him prematurely. Throughout the next few days I frequented his room to do my job. Eventually, our conversations grew deeper. One night, Mr. Smith began to cry. I asked him if I could pray and he allowed me to do so. After more conversations this sweet old man transitioned from living in fear to jumping for joy at the prospect of experiencing the unfathomable happiness that comes from being with Jesus Christ.
John* had a disease that caused overwhelming pain throughout his body. It was a pain that could not be pinpointed or explained. His demeanor was calm and though his physical features tricked me into thinking he was a 28-year-old man, he was actually in his 40’s. No one had ever asked him to pray before…at least not while he was in a hospital bed. I promised to come back so that we could have uninterrupted time. As I came in and out of the room to perform my required tasks, this gentleman would light up at the thought of prayer every time he’d see me. Finally, I got to pray with him with his family in the room. It lifted up his spirits and a feeling of relief came upon him. I wish I could describe the smile on his face and the loving grip of his hand.
Little Joey* would never look me in the eye. He was embarrassed at how much care I had to give him. For a long time, he didn’t even acknowledge my presence. One night he started to scream in pain. Another nurse’s aid and myself showed up to find out what was wrong. Every time this boy coughed, his body trembled with pain. He was moaning, screaming, coughing and crying all at the same time. As we waited for the nurse I prayed that he would find comfort. I prayed hard and I promised that I wouldn’t stop until he got it. Suddenly, the other aid’s motherly instincts came in and she began to rub his chest. Within seconds, the boy’s screams went away and he fell asleep. I came back in later that night and I told him I was praying for him. He smiled and ever since then we’d been able to talk like we’ve always been friends.
I’ve prayed for every single person I’ve taken care of. Some patients take me a while to get to the point where I can ask them while others…I’ve outright asked if they wanted to start a relationship with Jesus Christ and receive Him into their heart. The nurses probably think I’m crazy because during downtimes, I don’t take a break. I walk up and down the halls. I pray for every single room and I wait for a call light to come on.
I will see miracles before my time is up in that hospital. I am confident of that. The
nurses will hear the Gospel in a way that they’ve never heard it before also. I’m not afraid to share my faith or pray for everyone I meet. I have nothing to lose. But if I live in the fear of getting in trouble or getting fired, those people may lose the opportunity to experience what life is like with Jesus Christ.
*Names have been changed for obvious reasons
We’ve always considered Mississippi to be a mission field against the fact that there is a church in every corner. But any of us who have been in ministry, for even a brief period, know that churches mean next to nothing in figuring out if an area is evangelized or not. So, here is a video to show what it’s like in the South and to give you a glimpse of the ministry we are embarking on there.
As of this post, 2 women have surrendered their lives to the Lord. One was the admitting clerk at Natchez Community Hospital. After Latoya assisted our pre-admittance process, we made a second appointment in her office to talk to her about the Lord. She received Him into her heart that day. Another woman who gave her life to Christ was the barista at the Natchez Coffee Company. It has been my new hang out. After observing my Bible and the work I was doing, Myra became all ears to hear about the Gospel. We prayed with our eyes open as she cleaned the tables…so that her boss wouldn’t think she was doing anything wrong during her working hours.
God is moving and we happened to be in the middle of His glory. Praise the Lord!
If I have the language ever so perfectly and speak like a local, and have not the love that grips the heart, I am – nothing.
If I have decorations and diplomas and am proficient in up-to-date methods and have not the touch of understanding love, I am nothing. If I am able to worst my opponents in argument so as to make fools of them, and have not the wooing note, I am nothing. If I have all faith and great ideals and magnificent plans and wonderful visions, and have not the love that sweats and bleeds and weeps and prays and pleads, I am nothing.
If I can heal all manner of sickness and disease, but wound hearts and hurt feelings for want of love that is kind, I am nothing. If I write books and publish articles that set the world agape and fail to transcirbe the word of the cross in the language of love, I am nothing. Worse, I may be competent, busy, fussy, punctilious, and well-equipped, but like the church at Laodicea – nauseating to Christ.
If I surrender all prospects, and leaving home and friends and comforts, give myself to the showy sacrifice of a missionary career, and turn sour and selfish amid the daily annoyances and personal slights of a missionary life, and though I give my body to be consumed in the heat and sweat and mildew of [the Philippines], and have not the love that yields its rights, its coveted leisure, its set plans, I am nothing, nothing. Virtue has ceased to go out of me.
~ Center for Intercultural Training, author unknown
Here is a video outlining what life is like at the Center for Intercultural Training. Notice how dramatic it is… because that’s how we live life… dramatically.
Between Amy and I, we’ve visited an uncountable number of churches that span the denominational spectrum. So it’s easy for us to look at a church name, figure out its worship “flavor” and decide whether it floats our boat. Because the both of us have been members of churches for years, we almost forgot what it was like to go church shopping. Part of our missionary training requires us to visit a church that is vastly different from the type of church we’re used to, research it, write about it, but most importantly, become part of the community. So today, we went forth – shopping for churches.
It took us a couple of days and literally up to the last minute to decide where to go. Something that I realized was that I rely heavily on websites. Though a church doesn’t need to have a great website, I have found that the website is an important tool and can convey a lot to the wood-be shopper. I like pictures. Seeing a gallery full of photos capturing the joy and community of a church can sway me. What is the church doing? What are they teaching? Let me know about the staff… Oh, and what about the worship music?
Out of all our research, we decided to go to Forest City Foursquare Church (I’ll let you figure what the Foursquare denomination believes – google it). It had lively worship, friendly people, inter-racial couples (a bonus for us!), and great preaching. The lady giving the message was so vibrant and the Holy Spirit was so evident in her preaching. There was even a barbeque at the end. The community was awesome. We totally loved it. We don’t have the luxury of actually shopping for a church. Once we pick one, we’ve gotta stick to it because we only have a summer to get to know everyone. By God’s good grace, the first one we visited is one we enjoyed. So there you go… our first church shopping adventure.
“So how long was your son tortured for again?”
“It only took me a year to be fluent in Spanish. Now that we’re headed to a new field I can’t wait to start learning Chinese.”
“The hardest thing was having my sons say goodbye to their best friends…they were devastated.”
Those were just a few memorable quotes from students and advisors today. In between classroom instruction, bouts of laughter and moments of awe, we soaked in this overwhelming feeling of wonder… wonder that comes from knowing that there are disciples in this world called to sacrifice lives of comfort to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Don’t get me wrong, when we were in Oceanside, I knew that we were proclaiming the Good News alongside “souled-out bondservants of Christ.” However, there is something to be said when you encounter individuals who are built just like you.
It’s kind of like going to a family reunion. Families from all over gather at a mutual meeting place (usually in the middle of nowhere) to meet up with relatives, most of whom you’ve never seen in your life. But you greet each other with hugs and you hang out because you all have the same genes. You have something in common and you know it the moment you say hello. Everyone in our class has sold or given away their possessions, left everything and everyone they knew, and spent years fundraising and in formal training just to get to a point in their lives where they will experience vulnerability, weakness, poverty, and fear for the sake of the Gospel. Not everyone is called to this life and this certainly is not the only way one can serve the Lord, but if it’s in your genes…you’ll never be at peace until you GO.
So what are we learning in this boot camp? Well for one, the philosophy of our training is “Though He will work through you as a missionary, what He wants to do in you is of equal importance to Him. God is concerned about the heart of the missionary just as much as what He will do through them.” God calls missionaries to tasks that are impossible because it is He that does the work. As we seek to grow in Jesus, we become more dependent on Him to do the work, rather than relying on our own power and abilities. More than giving us great techniques on outreach and evangelism, we’re learning to draw closer to Christ.
Additionally, we’re learning about ourselves and how we interact with teams. We are also learning how to handle conflicts among those who are a part of the church and the missionaries who are a part of the team. We get to learn how to approach evangelism like Christ did – incarnationally. And we also get all the other cool stuff like language acquisition, cultural training, and crisis control. We’ll keep you updated on those subjects when we get to them.
Something we were reminded of today that I’ll pass on to you – we must preach the Gospel to ourselves everyday. Grace and Peace to you all.
We are getting closer and closer to our dream each day! Currently, we have about 98% of our support pledged. We just registered for the training that is required of us. We’ll be in North Carolina at the Center for Intercultural Training from the end of May until the beginning of August. We are so thrilled to be confirming this step toward the field!
In the mean time, we are still praying for a God-filled answer to our insurance situation (all the options so far are very expensive, and we’ll be unemployed!). We do trust that God will show Himself as Provider in a very real and tangible way. The more difficult the situation, the more profoundly can we praise and glorify His Name!
Baby Samson is growing, and we find out the sex next Tuesday (April 14). We can’t wait! All seems to be good in this area of our lives, thank the Lord. Amy’s belly continues to grow!
Last night I was moved by an amazing experience. Edwin and I were worshiping God with hundreds of college students at a missions conference at BIOLA (we went to represent World Team and got blessed in the process). As the drums and bass rattled the hollowish gym floor beneath my feet, and the vibrations made their way to my heart, I connected in a moment of joy to the reality that my baby is aware of the environment his mother is in. And since he can now hear what is going on out in the world he’ll soon inhabit, he was a part of that same worship experience that was quickening my heartbeat in the awe and joy of loving Jesus through song. It was an intimate time for me, of connecting in spirit with my Lord, raising one hand high, and connecting in flesh with my child, one hand on my growing belly.
There is no joy like knowing that I get to be a nurturer of this child’s faith. He is not mine, nor Edwin’s, but the Lord’s, and we are his stewards, the blessed parents of a living, breathing creation of God. During those moments of worship, I realized that I was in the beginning moments of what I have prayed so long for: to disciple and raise up a lover of Jesus Christ. I have long prayed for my children, that they would be men and women of God. Last night my child was a receiver of that heavenly flow of the Spirit’s movement. And I was a part of giving that to him…the first of many opportunities to share God’s love with my baby.
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