Mission Safari: The Next Chapter(s)

God Bless America

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit my in-law's church. On Saturday night, they had a special Memorial Day program at the church. It was a wonderful tribute to the men and women who serve us - sometimes with their lives - and it was a strong reminder of the impact that Christianity has had on our country.

As either the choir or the audience sang these patriotic songs, I was amazed at how many songs make clear reference to Almighty God as the source of freedom and liberty in which America has been blessed. Take for instance the first two stanzas of America :

My country, ‘tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring.

Our fathers’ God, to Thee
Author of liberty
To thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King!

Home School Conference

We're off to the North Carolina Home Educator's conference. It is one of the best in the Southeast. I am particularly excited to hear Dr. Ted Tripp, author of Shepherding a Child's Heart. If the conference is as good as I expect, I will post some updates of "lessons learned."

May the Nations Be Glad

Psalm 67

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah 2 that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples justly
and guide the nations of the earth.
Selah
5 May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.

6 Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

First Responders

Wow - we have an awesome support team. Yesterday I wrote (see below) an email requesting "First Responders". This is a term I have used to describe those folks on our support team who we could send out more frequest prayer requests. I figured that we would have 10-15 folks willing to faithfully pray for our short, frequent prayer requests. But obviously I have (once again) underestimated what God is doing in the lives of the folks who support us. Within the first 24 hours we have had over 40 folks respond positively. Praise God. I am so encouraged to know that I have such excellent back-up in the war in which we are fighting. To God be the glory.

Oh, before I forget, here is the contents of that letter.

This past year as I have transitioned from my medical practice to missionary, I have worked more in our local Emergency Room. It has been a great experience. Besides paying the bills, it has given me an opportunity to learn more about emergency medicine. One of the things I have really seen is the importance of having good paramedics in the field.

No Need to Worry

Many of our friends have heard that the U.S. issued a travel warning to Kenya. It is not a new warning, just a renewal of one from several months ago. Please read this link from the East Africa Standard for more details. We are not worried, but it wouldn't hurt to pray for this situation.

God's Presence

As we enter the "home stretch" of raising support, Marti and I are feeling the "heat of the battle". We have really sensed the spiritual warfare that is going on that causes disagreements, frustrations, fear, and discouragement as we get closer to leaving for Kenya. We sense and recognize the toll this is taking on our family. And we have really sensed the need to ask for our support team to really pray for us.

This afternoon, as I sat down for a time of prayer, I felt drained and without energy. I knew that I needed to pray but not exactly sure where to begin. So, as I often do before I pray, I read my Bible. The passage I read was found in Exodus 33, verses 12-17. Here is what it read.

12 Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, "Bring up this people.' But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, "I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.' 13Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people." 14And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." 15Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. 16For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth." 17So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name."

I was struck by this incredible passage. Moses goes into the tabernacle to meet face to face with God. The Israelites have just blown it in the previous chapter by building a golden calf. God is not happy. Moses is not happy. But Moses goes to plead his case. He does not excuse Israel. He does not remove himself from their wickedness. He goes into to intercede. He pleads with God to remember the Covenant.

I particularly emphathised with verse 15 when Moses says "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.". That is the way I feel. Lord, if Your Presence does not go with us from here on to Kenya, please don't send us. Be with us. Be our constant companion. If you have set us apart for this work, then, please do not be distant.

Amazingly, God does not rebuke Moses in the following verses. He doesn't say "I am always the same. If you feel distant, it is your fault. It is your sin that puts distance between us." Instead, He lovingly responds in verse 17 "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name."

What an amazing Father. He loves us. Yes, we are the ones who put distance between ourselves and God. We are the ones who get to busy to remember our Father. Yes, we are the ones who worry and try to fix things ourselves. But, He reminds us who He is in chapter 34:6 "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,".

He is merciful. He is gracious. He is longsuffering. He is abounding in goodness and truth. He does keep mercy and forgives iniquity. He reminds me, "I know you by name."

It is incredible how these verses and a time of prayer have given me encouragement and peace. Read the verses yourself. Go before your loving Father. Check out these claims. They are real!

Baseball and Life

If you haven't figured it out by now I am an avid baseball fan. I love the game. It is a thinking man's game. I also love World Magazine. It has been a great source of news and commentary for the past 8 years. I read most magazines cover to cover. Well, I now have another reason to love them - they "get" baseball. Read this incredible article by Gene Veith entitled, Spring Training.

I Wonder

As I sat in my La-Z-Boy, sipping coffee, I read the following passage from Luke chapter 7.

“11Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out--the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."
14Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" 15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." 17This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea[1] and the surrounding country.”

I wonder what would have happened if that event took place today, May 22, 2004. I wonder if ABC,CBS, or NBC would have picked up the story. I wonder if they would have bumped there regularly scheduled programming. I wonder if CNN, FoxNews, or MSNBC would have reported it live. I wonder what analysts they would get to interpret and explain this occurrence to us.

I wonder if the disciples would have hired a handler to try to help project a better image on the morning and evening talk shows. I wonder if they would have coached him with some slick sound bites. I wonder what clothes they would have suggested that he wear while talking to Katie Couric, Paula Zahn, Sean Hannity, and Bill O’Reilly. I wonder if Andy Rooney would have some satirical piece about this healing at the end of 60 Minutes. I wonder if Larry King Live would have been the first to have Jesus on his show.

The Ice Cream Truck - Again

As I drove up to our friends house (our friends from Kenya no less), Sam said, "Daddy, this is where the Ice Cream truck came." I was surprised that my 3 year old would remember this from over 8 months ago - especially given the amount of travelling we have done in that time. Nonetheless, I reassured him that indeed this was that special house where the ice cream truck came.

Once inside, I shared this story with my friends. They told me that since that visit last September, the truck had not come around the neighborhood. Well, guess what. Later in the day, the kids come screaming in the house "THE ICE CREAM TRUCK IS HERE!" We all laughed, got out some money, and went and enjoyed ice cream on a 90 degree day in May in South Carolina.

It reminded me of the story I wrote for our newsletter last September. It was so refreshing (the story and the ice cream!) I decided to copy it here.

I had the pleasure of taking the boys over to Dr. Gitu’s house.....

The Shot Club

"Gimme five, you're in the shot club!" we said to a tearful Sam today as he came back into the 10x10 exam room. Although he still had a few tears in his eyes, we all slapped a few high fives in the room, being careful not to hit one another in the arm. All 5 of us were "initiated" today into the Exotic Foreign Travel Shot Club.

Definitely one of the least pleasant aspects of going to the mission field is getting our "set" of immunizations. At first, I thought it would be only a few shots for each of us. However, the more I researched the required and recommended shots, I realized that I was going to be an unpopular guy in the house. Fortunately (odd as it may seem), I have had to receive some vaccines as well - it goes a long way in saying I can "feel your pain". Still it hasn't been a particulary fun time for all involved. But hey, what other 8 and 11 year old kids can say "Hepatitis A+B", "Meningococcal", "Tetanus", or "Yellow Fever"? Between the 5 of us we took 13 shots - all for the Glory of God!

Pray for us - we still have a series of pills to take (and the kids can't chew or crush them) , the Hepatitis A shots (one each for all), and a three shot series of the Rabies vaccine (which is good in case any of us bite you, you won't have to shoot us!). I don't think trying to pump the kids up with "hey, let's join the Shot Club" will work the next time.

You Ain't From Around Here Are Ya?

Travelling and speaking a lot, I get asked this question quite frequently- "where are you from?". The easy answer is "Newberry" or "South Carolina". The response of the questioner is often telling. If they are not from the South they answer "I thought so." But if they are from the South then they'll ask "Who's your daddy (pronounced 'diddy')!"

I have been pondering this question a bit lately. I have noticed that people think I speak with a bit of an accent and that I use some Southern expressions such as "y'all" or "I have a coke" (meaning any fizzy drink) or "cut the light on" (turn it on) or "I need to carry Sarah to her lesson" (I need to drive or take her). So, I was real curious when I came across The Yankee or Dixie Quiz that claims that it

is based on results from the Harvard Computer Society Dialect Survey of 30788 respondents.

My score? 67% (Dixie). A definitive Southern score!

My conclusion? It obviously was written and conducted by an "arrogant" group of Yankees because everyone in the South knows that you are either 100% Southern or you are just another D--- Yankee!

Am I a Liberal?

I recently had the opportunity to give a lecture at the residency program where I trained. My lecture was entitled Perspectives on Global Health. My goal of the lecture was to remind the residents that there was more to medicine out there than what they saw on a day to day basis. It was also my intention to remind them that there are opportunities to make a difference.

However, several times during the lecture, I found myself making comments that might make stiff conservatives bristle. I talked about the fact that most of the top ten diseases (diarrhea, malaria, HIV, malnutrition) in the world were NOT the top ten diseases here. I made the point that many of the world wide diseases resulted from poverty. I made some "critical" remarks about the pharmaceutical industry that sells drugs (antimalarials) at prices that most of the world could not afford even though very few Americans actually contract malaria. As the talk continued I found myself talking about world hunger, genocide, and AIDS. I found myself criticizing US humanitarian aid as often being more about politics than real help. I protested that sometimes little of the aid actually makes it to the people suffering because a lot of the money gets tied up in bureaucracy. At the least it was a sobering lecture but more likely it was depressing.

Not that there is anything "wrong" with being liberal (see, there I go again), but I was surprised by how the lecture impacted me. Part of that comes from the fact that at times it seemed that I was really pressing the point trying to get across the facts of the problem. The sometimes blank looks of "how does this affect me?" from my audience bothered me. Now, there were some folks in the room who were right with me, but for the whole, most were trying to figure out the big deal.

And I guess that may be the other part that affected me. I realized while verbalizing the magnitude of the problem that it seems hopeless. I realized that nothing that WE do is effective. No big government aid project, no big charitable program, no 24-7 effort on MY part will even come close to changing the problem.

And maybe that's the ANSWER. WE are not the ANSWER, HE IS THE ANSWER. Only the grace of God, the forgiveness of sins, and the power of the Holy Spirit can change lives. Only the love of Jesus in the lives of hurting, helpless, downcast, and forgotten will result in healing of the broken lives and communities.

Maybe it doesn't matter if I am labeled "liberal" or not. Maybe all that is important is that I am broken by the brokenness and crazy enough to put my energies into making a difference. And maybe since I realize that we as humans are bankrupt to make effective change unless the Lord is in it, just maybe, I'm not a liberal after all!

The Wild, Uncontainable Love of God

I recently finished reading The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. It was a great read and really challenged my thinking (and my heart). I was struck however by this passage:

Faith means you want God and want to want nothing else. When God's love is taken for granted, we paint Him into a corner and rob Him of the opportunity to love us in a NEW AND SURPRISING way, and faith begins to shrivel and shrink. When I become so spiritually advanced that Abba is old hat, then the Father has been had, Jesus has been tamed, the Spirit has been corralled, and the Pentecostal fire has been extinguished. Evangelical faith is the antithesis of lukewarmness. It always means a profound dissatifaction with our present state.

In faith there is movement and development. Each day something is new. To be Christian, faith has to be new, that is, alive and growing. It cannot be static, finished, settled. When Scripture, prayer, worship, ministry become routine, they are dead. When I conclude that I can now cope with the awful love of God, I have headed for the shallows to avoid the deeps. I could more easily contain Niagra Falls in a tea cup than I can comprehend the wild, uncontainable love of God.

If our faith is going to be criticized, let it be for the right reasons. Not because we are too emotional but because we are not emotional enough; not because our passions are so powerful but because they are so puny; not because we are too affectionate but because we lack a deep, passionate, uncompromising affection for Jesus Christ. pages 161-162.

Amen and amen. We need to have a passionate love and desire for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Jon, Welcome to the Blogosphere

My brother-in-law has a blog. He is an emerging science and technology buff. Although his blog may be a bit technical at times, it is cool to see the things coming down the pike. Visit it often, and when you see the everyday use of these things in 5, 10, 15 years from now, you say you saw here first.

Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Apollos

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

I had the opportunity to eat brunch with Mr. and Mrs. Apollos (not their real identity!) today. I have only known them for a short while (4 years max) and have only spent a few weeks with them during that time- and most of that time was just spent working along side of them in their ministry in the Pacific Northwest. But as I drove up to meet them for brunch, I realized that they had acted as Apollos to me and my family.

A few years ago, Marti and I realized that we really wanted to involve our kids in purposeful service oriented activities. So, we decided that we would spend a week of our vacation time serving together as a family, ie we wanted to do a short term mission trip. It was an interesting process to find a ministry that would allow us to bring our kids and INVOLVE them in the work. Many groups were interested in my skills as a physician, but every agency had a age guideline that excluded my family. They were knocked off the list. Finally, we came across Mr. and Mrs. Apollos.

Mr. Apollos runs a youth ministry geared towards Native American teens; this ministry is associated with North American Indian Ministries. When I explained my desire to come and serve and I also explained my stipulation that I wanted my whole family involved. Without hesitation, he invited us. As they say (and by the way, who is "they"?) "the rest is history".

Historical Christianity - the Rest of the Story

Last week when we visited Seattle, we had the opportunity and privilege to participate in the evening worship service at Green Lake PCA. I don't usually "name names" about where we visit, but this experience was pretty unique. Before I spoke, we spent time together in worship - singing and praying together. As we sang, I noticed that although the music was "contemporary" the words to the songs were not. ALL were written before the 20th century - hymns by Horatio Bonar (I've always wanted to write a post with that name just to register a Google Hit!), Martin Luther, and Charles Wesley.

I was so impressed by this that I took a few moments at the beginning of my presentation time to comment on this. I congratulated the congregation on placing value on the words of praise written so many years before. I noted that in a congregation made up of Baby Boomers, Baby Busters, Gen Xers, Gen Yers, and Milleniums it was important to connect with the truths of historical Christianity. I pointed out the trend of the modern church to devalue these hymns for the sake of being "Contemporary". I reminded them that the truth of the gospel has remained the same through the Early Church, the Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Age, the Modern Era, and now the Post-Modern Era.

The congregation nodded and smiled in apparent approval at my comments.

Rained Out

My eight year old wakes me today with these words, "Daddy, guess what? We have a ball game today."

Struggling through school assignments. Thinking about the game tonight.

"Daddy, can we go to the batting cage today?"

The rain starts mid-day. No hesitation. Game preparation. Hopeful optimism.

"Daddy, they didn't call to cancel the game. The sun is coming out. Let's go to the game."

Sun shining. Field dry. EMPTY stands. Empty parking lot. Empty ballfield.

"Daddy, don't worry. Maybe they're just late. Maybe they'll come."

Disappointment. Sad eyes. Maybe a tear. Unrealized dreams. Unfulfilled anticipation.

But only momentary...

"Daddy, look at the cool rainbow!"

Rapid recovery. Laughter!

I Can See

Poor Ben! The child could not see. We took him to the eye doctor before we went to Seattle. We picked up his glasses today. All he could say was "I CAN SEE DADDY!"

Take a look at his new specs!

For more pictures of Ben and (Sarah and Sam) check out the photo album on the left.

The Lord Speaks

Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you will answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? Tell me, if you understand...

- God to Job in chapter 38

I have another confession. I found myself "complaining" about the apparent "slow down" in our support raising. Although WE have been busy with many church visits this past year, it seemed that "nothing" was happening lately. I was wondering what GOD was doing. Doesn't He know that we really need to raise our last 30% in support to get to Kenya by September? Why wasn't He "answering" our prayers to bring in the final third?

This morning, during my quiet time, the Lord "spoke" to me about this attitude. I was sitting on the sixth floor terrace of my brother-in-law's condo. The terrace has a spectacular view of downtown Seattle. It is on the waterfront, overlooking Elliot's Bay. The skies were clear, the morning air comfortable. To the west I took in the view of the distant Olympic mountains. To the south, I saw the impressive snow capped Mt. Ranier. Sitting on the ledge of the balcony was a gorgeous sea-gull. As I opened my Bible, I read those words above. "Where you there when I laid the earth's foundations?"

Interesting that God tells Job to "brace himself like a man." The NKJV says "gird up your loins". God is speaking to Job (and now me) and says, "I am going to rebuke you - take it like a man!" God then goes on in chapters 38-39 to describe His unspeakable, uncomparable work of creation. Nothing happens that He does not cause to happen. He is in control of every aspect of life - from the smallest atomic particle to the largest mountain top. He is in control! This is good news!

I stand corrected before my Lord. Of course He knows what we need in regards to support. Of course He knows how it will be raised. Of course He has all the plans in mind. If He can sculpt the beautiful, glorious, splendorous views that I took in this moring, then of course He can raise the small amount of support we need to get to Kenya.

What are the Chances?

We are in Seattle this week; a combined "business/pleasure" trip. We are visiting with my brother-in-law who lives here. We are also visiting some churches and raising support. It has been an interesting trip where we have experienced a bit of the Lord's good humour.

For instance, what are the chances that the first few days here the weather was warmer and sunnier than South Carolina? Or what are the chances that one of our supporters from SC is a former MTW missionary to Kenya who planted a church from which some of the pastors we will be working along side of were members of his church? Or better yet, what are the chances that one of the churches we "just so happened" to be visiting this week was this missionary's home church and that he was their first missionary that this congregation sent out? Or what are the chances that this same missionary has a nephew at this church who is a former medical missionary?

What are the chances that we would run into a friend from our residency days out here in Seattle? And that another friend of ours (from the same church as the missionary mentioned above) encouraged us to "look up" this friend in Seattle? Better yet, what are the chances that this friend would walk out onto the terrace where my brother in law lives while I am grilling some burgers? Or that this friend lives in the same building? Or that she lives exactly one floor below our guest room? And that she is considering going into missions?

What are the chances that during a visit to another church out here that we would run into another family from Marti's hometown? Or that the man we "ran into" was a physician who knew my in-laws? Or that one of his partners delivered my brother in-law? Or that this man was visiting his daughter who just had a baby? Or that this daughter was visiting this church for the first time?

What are the chances? Do things happen by chance, coincidence, luck? I am reminded of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Right after the man is beaten and left for dead, the religious leaders (and finally the Samaritan) came across the man "by chance".

What is God getting at when things seem to happen "by chance"? What is our reaction? Do we search out the message God is sending? Do we wonder at His good humour, His providence, His divine and intimate concern for the details or our lives?

The next time something happens and you exclaim "wow, that is a weird coincidence", or "wow, I'm lucky to have found this" pause and think about the Creator and Director of life. He is involved in your life. What are the chances?