A Grace-Filled Day

June 17: I had an especially grace filled day and thought I would share it with you all. The day began with me not having an especially good night's rest. That concerned me since I am working on my own and would have to lead all day. It is hot and humid, which can also make one feel droopy. Fortunately, the book of Philippians generated enough discussion and thoughtful consideration that the day did not give me a chance to get sleepy. The truths from the text, mostly on Christian attitudes towards suffering between believers, struck a chord with the ladies and they opened up about some of their struggles. They even asked for my opinion on the expectations on them as pastor's wives. It was a good discussion and I felt we were good friends sharing something we have in common. I was thankful the Lord allowed me to foster some healthy, principle-driven discussions that felt honest and safe.

Now I hope I can get a bit of a nap before heading over to a pastor's house for dinner tonight. Oh yes, teaching knitting is going better than I thought and I think the ladies are enjoying it, though it is a challenge.

Rejoicing today!

Edie

A Pebble in the Shoe

We are on our way to India as I write. It has been a good 6 weeks at home, although it has been a little odd to adjust to being at home for that long in one big chunk. We both got a lot done (house work, yard work, etc). I finished the backsplash in our kitchen, which had been sitting unfinished for about 6 months. I also got a lot of writing done and got caught up on lots of office work. Edie had tons to to do including getting ready for three different trainings with women on this trip. We also visited two of our children’s families as two grandchildren graduated from high school. In short, we had a pretty normal May. But for us it is not normal; really nothing is normal, or perhaps normal is being abnormal, if that makes any sense.  

We are in the Atlanta airport with a flight delay. As we prepared to leave yesterday, I was struck with how odd it seemed to be heading off for several weeks on the other side of the world. I came to the conclusion that our two lives, the one at home and the one on the road, are so different that it always seems odd when we switch. About the time it seems to feel normal we switch again. I am not complaining, just reflecting on how it feels to do what we do.  

I remember something my good friend Ritch Trca said about living in the Czech culture after many years of serving there. He said it was like walking around with a pebble in your shoe; nothing that stops you from doing what you need to do, but still a feeling that there is always a bit of an irritant or that things don't feel quite right. I feel we have the same pebble in our shoes, we just switch which shoe it is in depending on whether we are at home or on the road.  

Edie has been working on the book of Philippians for her study with the ladies in southern India. Of course one of the most significant statements in the book is Paul’s exclamation, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” It is a hard statement to fully grasp in life, at least for me. In the context we get some help understanding what Paul meant. He says in 2:19 that he is confident that through the Philippians' prayers, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, that he would be delivered. But it is clear he does not mean deliverance from prison or from the possibility of death. For him, deliverance is “not being ashamed” and “Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or death”. That is what it meant for him to say “for me to live is Christ.” Prison, death, circumstances, and anything else is of little consequence; what matters is that Christ is exalted.  

For us, living is full of odd circumstances, not necessarily always bad, just odd feeling. But that is okay. We do not need to be delivered from that. What we need is to have Christ exalted in our bodies, whether in an airport delayed, or at home in the office, or training nationals to study the Bible. Would you pray with us about that for this trip? We are confident that through your prayers, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, Christ will be exalted in our lives, in spite of circumstances, even sometimes in spite of us.  

Al

Challenges in the Field

I know it has been forever since I sent in a blog. It has been a challenge and a lot has happened. Let me retrace the last three weeks. Edie and I were only home from India and Thailand a few days when we left for Berlin to attend our ReachGlobal leadership meetings. We were set up to take a train from Amsterdam to Berlin. It was cheaper and had better connections than flying, and we thought it would be fun. It was, but ended up being costly. We had to change trains before entering Germany. We did not think we had much time to get off the train with all our baggage for three weeks (in two climates). I was in a hurry. I grabbed two bags and Edie got one and her backpack, but I forgot mine. My computer, iPhone, headphones and some cash and sundries stayed on the train, and haven't been seen since, at least not by us. People all over have been praying, but it looks like the Lord wanted someone else to have it. So that has made it much harder for me to communicate. I am on Edie's iPad now so I can send this. The rest of the train ride was great until we discovered the loss a couple of hours later.

I had been dreading the team meetings and needed to pray that the Lord would help me with my attitude. There were so many meetings scheduled, and we were so tired after all our travels. But as it turned out the time was really encouraging. We had a lot of meetings, all day every day for a week, but they were so good that we ended up energized and refreshed. We made a lot of connections with other leaders that may lead to future opportunities to train. We were happy we went. Berlin was fun to explore for the very few hours off we had. It was amazing to see parts of the wall that are still standing.

After Berlin, Edie and I went to Athens to visit some missionaries. The husband teaches in a college there, and it was fun to discuss the possibilities of training in Greece. We spent a day and a half exploring Athens. It was something to see where Paul preached and to imagine what it might have been like. I spoke at chapel and taught a bible study. 

One interesting little event happened that I thought I would write about. The cook for the school was out of town, so we helped our missionary friend cook lunch, the big meal of the day. As the time drew near there were set backs as usual because none of us really knew everything we needed to in order to cook the meal. The kitchen became chaotic as about 6 Greek ladies started scurrying around chattering back and forth in staccato Greek. I think most of the time they were all talking at once. It was just like in the movies. I had to stand back and wonder at how privileged we are to experience such things first hand in so many places. 

Edie came home from Greece and I came on to Kenya. I found the situation in Kenya to be a mess. There is a major division taking place and lots of turmoil. My trainees are involved so I cancelled the training and devoted the days to working to develop biblical attitudes and actions. I spent three days with the pastors and we made what I thought was good progress with a lot of changed attitudes. I then met with the Bishop, who is on the other side. We had a good meeting during which we worked out a way forward. We decided to hold a meeting on Thursday between him and the pastors. That was Tuesday night. I was very optimistic. Wednesday morning he sent me a note canceling the meeting and reverting to his original position like we had never met. It was so disappointing. I am waiting to meet him now, it is almost 7 and he is 2 1/2 hours late. I hope something can be salvaged because I leave tomorrow, Friday, for home. Five years of effort may become largely ineffective if he will not compromise.

I am sure there are many other things I could and should write about our travels and ministry, but it is all fading together now. I will try to keep a hold of my computer next time. Please pray for me as 5 days after I get home I am off to Colorado to train, to Arizona to visit my Mom, and then on to Tennessee for more training. That will be the end of an amazing but tiring three months of travel with only a couple of weeks at home in between, and somehow in that 5 days I need to get our taxes done. With jet lag and all it may be a challenge.

Al

Lahu Training

We finished our workshop with the Lahu pastors yesterday. It was a great week and I think they made great progress. Wednesday was a tough day, but also a productive day. I tried a new approach to teaching what we call the Biblical/Gospel Story; the unfolding story of redemption as it occurs through the course of scripture. As I was speaking, I was gaining new insights myself and forgot that I was supposed to be training and spent the whole time teaching. I didn't realize until later that none of the pastors were going to be able to pass that information on, it was too complicated. So, yesterday I had to spend some time presenting a simpler version that they all seemed to understand. I am still learning, both how to train and about the subjects I am teaching. I think that the insights I gained will help me develop a better workshop in the future, and I learned some lessons on training as well.  It was good for the Lahu to see that we make mistakes and are learners as well.  

In their last preaching presentations, 3 of the pastors spoke about the need to stop just following their traditions and start following the Bible. This is something that we have been concerned about, but have never really addressed with them. What they were doing was responding to the new insights they are gaining as they learn to study better. That really is the only way to kill stale tradition. If you cannot study the Bible you cannot address tradition or change. But if you can study well, you have a basis in the authority of the Word for making difficult changes. I was excited that they were learning that on their own.

Today we had a debrief with the Lahu leader, who is our main translator. It was a good meeting and we learned a lot. One surprise was that he had no idea what we meant by "Biblical/Gospel Story. He had never encountered a "/" before and so he translated it "the redemptive story in the Bible", which might actually be better. It made me recognize once again that what seems so normal to me as an educated American can make no sense to nationals. That is why we try so hard to simplify our terms. Now, this is another one to work on. We asked him to tell us this sort of thing earlier. He is still learning that we can be questioned or even disagreed with. We are making good progress in our relationship.

Our host missionaries, the Callahan's, recently visited a remote village church that had a new Burmese pastor. As they were getting to know him, he asked about their ministry at the school. They mentioned how excited they were about the training we were giving the pastors. When they described it he said, "Oh, I am getting that training. Charli, one of our students, is training some other Burmese pastors and they are teaching me." What a blessing to hear that the training is being passed on in ways we could not imagine.  

We are going to go up into the mountains to visit some of the Lahu villages this weekend and I will have a chance to visit Charli's church and hear him preach. I think he is a little nervous but that he also really wants us to come. It will be a good chance for me to hear how he is really doing. I rarely get to hear our students preach in their own churches. I am sure he will do well, he is one of our best students. Doing this ministry has helped me learn to appreciate progress in people's lives and grow in real patience. I think that is a good side benefit of what we do; we continue to see the Lord causing us to grow.  

Al