This Is Missions

A young girl and her even younger brother are in the streets again today. As strangers pass them by, they are looking for any sign of hope, and any sign of food for the day, checking the ground for fallen money, and the garbage for an uneaten fruit. After all, this is Africa, and their parents are dead…

A man ducks behind a tree, the border patrol has just driven by the fence dividing Mexico and The United States of America. He is a husband, and father of three kids whom he can’t feed. He has gone without food for the past 2 days so that his wife would have the nutrition to feed their 2 month old daughter. He needs a job, and nobody will hire him in Mexico. He’s tried coming across legally, but was declined, and out of desperation, this is his last option…

Here comes Mr. Popular, quarterback of the football team, and voted Most Likely to Succeed by his Sr. Class. He has a nice smile, big laugh, and an even bigger drinking problem. Most people don’t see the stress that he carries every day. He’s living the dream of his father, also an alcoholic, and a high school dropout, and doesn’t even like football, but only plays because it’s expected of him. For the past week, he’s watched his dad beat his mom every night. He wanted so much to be loved, but now he’s beginning to believe there is no such thing…

The quiet, teen girl passes by, hair lips and fingernails are jet black, skin is pale, and wrists are bleeding underneath her black jacket. Nobody understands, and nobody tries too. She passes by them every day, and instead of speaking to her, they wait for her to pass and talk about her. She feels invisible, and she only wants somebody to talk to, somebody to listen, believe it or not, and somebody to laugh with. She hasn’t seen her own smile in years, but for years she’s just been walking by…

A woman comes out of the farmer’s market with seeds for her garden, and as she bumps into a little boy, she looks down and smiles. He looks at her for just a moment with a look of hope in his eyes, but as she starts to walk off, his eyes start scanning the ground. She hears a young girl’s voice scolding the little boy, and telling him to be mindful of the passersby. The woman stops as she realizes what’s happening. She asks the children “Are you hungry.” They reply with a nod. She tells them to come with her, for today they will learn how to grow their own food and about the One who made it… This is Missions.

A man sits on the curb with his face buried in his hands; tears are streaming from his face. As the border control vehicle drives back off, leaving him alone on the dusty streets, the deepest feeling of failure has overwhelmed him. His last hint of hope has been destroyed. His family will starve, and he has nobody to blame except himself. About this time, a stranger pulls beside him. As the driver lets down his window, the man looks up with tears washing the dust from his cheeks. The driver is new to the area, and needs help learning his way around. As they ride and talk, the driver finds a restaurant and as they sit for a meal, the man confesses that he has no money to pay for his food. The stranger begins to share with the man that if a brother is hungry, you should give him something to eat, but he wanted to do more than that, he wanted to give him a job… This is Missions

You see Mr. Quarterback and Mrs. Invisible attend your school, and they need you, to show them love, to listen, to bring them hope and joy. The same goes to you adult. You work with people every day, you pass them on the streets, and in the stores; they’re silently crying out, and they need you to show them the Way. You don’t have to be labeled missionary in order to do this kind of work. Your school is your mission field, your work is your mission field, and This is Missions!

Speckled Comfort

            In my house, there is something my family knows as “The Speckledy Blanket.” It’s simply a comforter that is made out of the most amazing, feel good year round, material that is white with the design of different colors of paint dripped on it, giving a speckled look.

Many Sunday afternoon naps have been taken, many sicknesses have been cured, and fevers broken while underneath this blanket. When my two sisters-in-law joined the family, there was many a “loving debate” over exactly whose blanket this was, is, and ever will be… Joking aside, it is, without a doubt, the most comfortable, comforting, and anything else dealing with comfort comforter/blanket that I have ever encountered. It has to be sent down from God Himself. The Bible says that God is the God of all comfort. (2 Corinthians 1)

A statement I’ve heard and believed to be true is, “If you become comfortable in a place (ministry, ect…), God will move you.” That is totally contradicted by this scripture, which made my computer of a brain (I don’t joke about it and neither should you), head spin. The random thought that came to mind is… There has to be a difference in being comfortable where you are, and being complacent where you are. I at one point believed them to be one in the same, but according to Webster, being comfortable means enjoying physical comfort or encouragement, while being complacent (or complacency)self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers of deficiencies.

Everyone loves comfort, being encouraged, and 70 degrees Fahrenheit with a slight but cool breeze, and there are times in our lives when we need to be comforted and comfortable, especially in our walks of faith. When we find ourselves feeling comfortable we must also be on guard, for complacency lurks around the corner. It’s so easy to say, “I’ve worked hard, figured it out, I’ve finally got it made. I’m comfortable here.” That’s not comfort, it is complacency.

Comfort and complacency are laying in the recliner under the speckledy blanket after a long 12 hour shift. The phone rings, caller ID indicates it’s the mother-in-law, and you suddenly remember that she wanted your help today. Comfort answers and goes, complacent stays and sleeps. The Complacent are selfish the comfortable are selfless. Someone who is comfortable is willing to leave their place of comfort to help. The complacent simply are not willing to leave their self comfort.

Check yourself. Are you not answering a call, be it from a friend, family member, or even God due to complacency dressed in comfort’s clothing (or a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing if you will)?

Moral of the Story: Don’t have your daily prayer time, while in the recliner under the speckledy blanket at night… it’s just not a good idea.

Another Day in SA

             I spent time with a little boy today that I’d only seen one time before. As we pulled up to the house, he and his older cousins were going to draw some water for their family of 6. As the truck came to a stop, and we stepped out, he ran to greet me with a hug. His little arms not even wrapping around my legs, I realize I could stand to start working out more. You see this little boy is only three years old. His family of six consists of his older sister who is 6, his 4 older cousins who are 18, 13, and twins of 7 years and him. These 6, “the six pack” as we’ve come to know them, are orphaned. The four oldest kid’s mother died not long after the twin girls were born, and the little boy and his sister’s mother is still living, but chooses not to be with them. She left them with the granny, who did not feed them, take them to the clinic when they were sick, or do anything beneficial for these kid’s lives. So now the “six pack” live together and alone in a house built just for them by a missionary family who loves them very much.

             Recently 3 “priests” from a cult entered their home. They stayed in the house and ate the food that was there for the kids. These priests believe in and probably practice witchcraft, and other things that I do not care to think about at this particular time. So today, we’ve come to talk to the 18 year old boy, the leader of the household, the one who let the 3 priests in. As a well trusted friend and area pastor talks to the oldest, the little boy sits right beside me, with his little arm using my leg as an armrest. He then starts running his little index finger over my hand, as I lay my palm out flat before him he sticks his little hand in mine makes his way to my thumb and latches on. I then close my hand around his and begin a simple but fervent prayer. I pray that God would touch this little boy, that he would come to know Him, and that these little hands that were grasping mine would one day soon turn into the hands of God. About that time he scratches his head that is obviously unhealthy do to a lack of upkeep and good nutrition, and my prayer turns to his health physically (you see he’s been sick recently) and mentally (who knows what witchcraft he’s been exposed too). About this time, while still holding my hand, he gazes up at me with those big brown eyes, and I pray that these eyes would see the world and people the same way that God sees them, and as he starts to smile, I pray that he would bring the joy of Christ to all that he comes into contact with. About this time, he stands up to push himself further on the couch, and as I look at his feet which are dirty and spotted with sores, I pray that his feet soon start walking the path that God has set out for him, that he doesn’t veer off to the left or to the right. He yawns, and leans his little head against my arm, which I then put around his shoulder. My prayer then asks that he would have the strength to carry the weight that is going to be put upon his shoulders. That he would be a God fearing boy, and would have great faith that his (or mine…or your) generation is yet to see.

             So I ask, parents, do you pray for your children? Highschooler, do you pray for that little kid that looks so passionately up to you? Sisters do you pray for your brothers? Brothers do you pray for your sisters? Husbands do you pray for your wives? Wives do you pray for your husbands? Pastor, do you pray for your congregation? Congregation, do you pray for your pastor? Employee, do you pray for your employer? Employer, do you pray for your employee? You see the power of prayer is, strong if you exercise it, but unused it’s as useful as that gym membership that you don’t use.

Moral of the Story: There’s always something to pray for, so exercise!