We Had No Idea

Our journey as missionaries began in the early days of July 2005 when our family arrived in Kingston, Jamaica. Just a few sleeps in, a hurricane barreled its way toward the island. Stuart and I anticipated a week of training and orientation in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, what we got were hammers and nails to board up the children’s home. A night of 100 mph winds shook more than the palm branches off the trees and the shingles off the roof.

Our little family had no idea what we got ourselves into.

As mudslides delayed our departure to our children’s home in Christiana, we kept company with the dozens of children, dedicated staff, young missionary associates, as well as veteran cross-cultural servants at the City of Refuge Children’s Home (with the added bonus of no electricity or hot water). Our daily ritual consisted of peering over our mountain vista to measure the progress of the work trucks as they made their way up washed-out roads and nature-made mud barriers.

Finally freed one mid-afternoon, we began our two and ½ hour turned five-hour trek to the center of the island to greet our children at New Vision Children’s Home. Arriving bleary-eyed and a bit shell-shocked, our small staff greeted us surrounded by a smattering of pajama-clad children and teenagers with a battery of inquiries. Our minds whirred from all the recent events and our newfound responsibilities. We desperately needed a good night’s sleep; more than we realized. In just a few days, another hurricane would hit the island.

Seriously, our little family had no idea what we got ourselves into.

We had no idea that in the next few years we’d face island-wide flooding that would close down schools and businesses, hear heart-rending stories of those we cared for, manage a chicken pox outbreak that would keep us knee-deep in Calamine lotion, and hunker down for a few (a lot) more hurricanes (all with the added bonus of intermittent electricity, water, and internet). And that’s just Jamaica.

But hear me now: that’s not the end of the story. That’s not all we faced. That’s not all we got. We also got an ear-full of laughter and a face-full of smiles. We got stories for days and friends for a lifetime. We got buckets of hope and oceans of love. And we got food, people. We got really good food.

Long ago when our journey began, our little family had no idea what we got ourselves into.

But we’re sure glad we did.

Missionary Monday . . . Christmas break

It's the most wonderful time of the year . . . 

when you get to pick up your university student at the airport :)

Olivia wasn't camera ready, so we use a photo from last year.

Not that you would know better.

She looks the same today.

Just a little travel weary.

Last week, IPFW Chi Alpha pastor, Laurie Atz (below), honored me with an invitation to be a part of a panel discussion on relationships with her students.

Check out their Facebook group for more details of this great ministry.

Sophia sang a solo at Leo High School's Yuletide concert.

Bright lights make for washed-out look, but her voice is still beautiful.

Our Schnauzer, Captain Jack and newcomer, Atticus, show you what friendship is all about.

NUEVO CORAZÓN

This past year, our friend Manolo Pacheco in Mexico City, asked Stuart and I, and many others in our church, to be a part of an evangelistic music video he was creating. Just recently, after months of production, the video is ready! As you will see it is professionally and creatively well-done.

So take a look, share it on Facebook and Twitter, and let me know what you think of our acting debut :)

*disclaimer - the Speed the Light (STL) vehicle we drove in the video was not actually harmed.



http://daysofdeliverance.com/nuevo-corazon/

I am a foreigner

I am a foreigner.

I know the anticipation and excitement of living in a foreign country, as well as the accompanying culture shock and bewilderment. I have experienced the joy of expressing myself in a new language, as well as the unease of not understanding the joke. Since I have lived outside of the U.S. for most of the last 10 years, being a foreigner has become my new normal.

And then recently I realized, I am a foreigner in more than one respect . . . continue the story on Tortilla Press

I am a missionary. I tell stories.

"Stories matter. Many Stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign. But stories can also be used to empower and to humanize." ~ Chimamanda Adichie

Recently, a missionary friend shared the following video of Nigerian-born novelist Chimamanda Adichie on Facebook. Her presentation, The Danger of Telling the Single Story on ted.com captivated me. "Show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become," warns Miss Adichie.

And therein lies my dilemma.

I am a missionary. I tell stories.

But I do not want to misrepresent the people, the culture, or the nation God has called me to.

In John 8, we read a well-known story. And if your Bible is like my Bible, the title of this excerpt is, The woman caught in adultery.

As Jesus was teaching near the temple, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees bring a woman before him. They blab her story to Jesus and to the crowd gathered to hear him: "This woman was caught in the act of adultery," they say. "The Law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?" The religious leaders exploit and expose this woman by telling her story with an ulterior motive: "They were trying to trap [Jesus] into saying something they could use against him."

But Jesus does not take the bait. He does not allow them to tell her story for their purposes. If they wanted to tell a story, they would have to tell their own: "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!"

Have you ever wondered why Bible translators titled this story the way that they did? Are we guilty of telling the single story – the woman caught in adultery – the only story the religious leaders wanted everyone else to know?

What if we told the story from Jesus' perspective? What if we called it, The woman protected, restored, and redeemed by Jesus? Or why not, The men who got caught throwing rocks, as Renovatus pastor Jonathan Martin did in a recent series, and really turn the story around.

I am a missionary. I tell stories. I have a responsibility.

I don't want to exploit or expose, like the religious leaders.

I want to restore and redeem, like Jesus.

As missionaries we believe God has commissioned us to tell His story, the story of Jesus – his life, ministry, death, and resurrection – to the nations. As missionaries we also share the stories of the people God has called us to – to the people who have sent us. We share them because we want you to know and cherish the people of Mexico (or India, or the Middle East, etc). We want you to know their culture, their beauty, their families. We want you to hear their stories because we love them.

But we have a responsibility to let you know, our stories are not the only stories. We share from our perspectives and experiences. But I trust most of us do it with sensitivity, care, and sincerity.

Jesus, I hope I do.

Stories are powerful. This Sunday your church will tell the most powerful story of all time. Pray for us as we share His story in Mexico. And pray also, that we share the stories of the people we love and serve with the dignity they deserve.

(I encourage you to watch Chimamanda Adichie's presentation. She is a powerful story teller. Her video is less than 20 minutes long, but I believe it will captivate you as it did me. And for all my Connecticut friends, Miss Adichie graduated summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2001 and from Yale University in 2008.)

Spring 2013 newsletter