"...it is this human instrument that our churches lack; that is why, when the gospel is preached its message no longer reaches the world. The channel through which the gospel should reach the world - and does not - ought to be the 'layman' living the tension...as the point of contact between the ideologies of the world in which he lives and theology - between economic realities and the forgiveness of Jesus Christ for those realities..."Just as the Cross placed Jesus at the "point of contact" between the economic realities of the world and the forgiveness of Christ for that reality, every Christian is called to be a "point of contact" by taking up positions that place him- or herself between two forces, two"currents": the will of the world and the will of God.
If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2 Corinthians 5:13-15
Monday, August 2, 2010
The Electric Christian
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Inception
I've been home for exactly a week now ~ with everything that's happened these last few days, I'm only now getting an opportunity to reflect on the mission in Brazil...
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Almost home!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Christ the Redeemer
Monday, July 19, 2010
Life is full of choices: Sleep or coffee; learning the Samba or mowing the grass; Rio or Cleveland?
This morning the team was up early at Robson’s for a breakfast of a variety of breads and jams, cheeses, ham, juices and good Brazilian coffee. I find that the ratio of sleep-to-coffee is 1:1 (as in, 4 hours of sleep at night requires 4 cups of Brazilian java to get moving in the a.m.)
Several members of the church came over to say some final goodbyes and others to help drive us to the airport. On the way to the airport I rode with Robson and we brainstormed about what kinds of projects the Brazilians from IPMB and the Americans from Binnerri might partner with FPC to accomplish in Guymon. We are thinking of possibly having a week-long series of daily projects: A workday at the Oaks and Loaves and Fishes, working on the community garden or other things we haven’t thought of yet, followed by praise and worship each evening for a week led by their musicians. This is something that we will consider in more detail at home and then plan in detail during the coming year.
At the airport we were met with the typical looooooooong line of folks waiting to check in. Robson ran interference with the gate agent and our group was allowed to check in ahead of time, so we didn’t miss our plane. The flight to Rio was only an hour, and we arrived in the late morning in time for lunch.
We stopped in Rio on the way home partly because the plane fare to DFW is less expensive from Rio than from Belo, and partly because most mission ventures end with a respite of local fun if it can be arranged. Our hotel is the “Copacabana” in Rio – it’s in a safer neighborhood so we can come and go with less worry. Our guides are our friends from Belo, Robson’s niece, Ana Carolina and her friend, Vivian, an English teacher. They were already in Rio for a professional conference, so it was convenient for them to stay a few days longer to show us around.
One of the things we drove by on the way to the hotel was the Samba school – it had a campus as large and spread out as some American community colleges! Yes, I mean a dance school where people come from all over the world to learn just one dance: The Samba. Ana said that the school was so busy that she was able to substitute as a teacher almost every evening that she’s been in Rio for her conference. Yes, friends, there are people out there making money having fun!
This afternoon we visited “Sugar Loaf”: Two islands in the bay that are apparently submerged mountains. One island is a shorter mountain than the other, so there is an interim stop on the way up where you can take some great photos of the city, eat and shop a little and the taller mountain is the destination, with parks and trails.
A famous gondola-phobic, I made it successfully to the first stop, then opted to stay there while the rest of the group took the longer, higher route to the top. It was really rough sitting on a bench in the sun, enjoying the breeze with my feet up, overlooking the city of Rio, eating a scoop of chocolate ice cream with mangoes on it. Darn it all, why does it have to be Rio and not Cleveland?…J
Casey, Mike and Sooman are heading back to Dallas on the overnight flight this evening; after taking them to the airport, we’ll go out to eat and try to hit the sack before midnight ~ some of us for the first time during the whole trip. Tomorrow we plan to rest and visit the beach (it’s winter here, so it’s actually a bit chilly ~ with the ocean breeze, you have to find a sunny spot to keep warm). If we’re able to arrange transportation and find the money we’ll also try to go see the giant Christ the Redeemer statue on the mountainside overlooking Rio.
Even in Rio, the group has a pretty well-developed sense of homesickness: the thing is, we’re missing two homes: our Texas/Oklahoma homes and our Belo homes…
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Ciao for now, Belo friends!
We can’t believe how the week has flown by!
IPMB’s Sunday services are scheduled around Sunday School for adults and children at 10:00 a.m. and worship at 7:00 p.m. Rev. Kye, Rev. Andrew and I taught the three adult classes and other members of the team taught the children and teens.
I actually find it easier to teach with an interpreter than I do without an interpreter – how weird is that? When I speak by myself I feel the need to fill the empty spaces with more words, and am thinking while I’m talking. With an interpreter, I can speak in short sentences and while they are being interpreted I have the luxury of thinking of my next sentence without talking at the same time! The team reported that in all three classes the adults were very engaged, responding to questions and participating in the discussion. The people of IPMB love the Bible, and some were moved to tears as they took their turn reading.
The regular adult classes at IPMB are 1) Reform Doctrines; 2) Formation of the Canon and how to study the Bible; 3) Church History. The church is blessed to have three pastors – one with a degree in Church History. The expectation is that one works through the three classes, and then takes the knowledge acquired and uses it to study topics and books of the Bible in their weekly small groups that meet in the evenings in peoples’ homes. I think this is a great way of systematically developing a group of spiritually competent learners.
The pastors met with the Session while we waited for lunch to be served. We were introduced to all of their (six) session members, and the moderator of the Deacons, and we were given an opportunity to discuss the possibility of future partnership with the three congregations. One important point was that all of us felt that doing mission in partnership with an indigenous congregation was far superior to trying to send missionaries out to learn a culture, followed by a team to “deliver” a service. Money is spent more sensibly, projects are more relevant and the relationships formed are deeper.
The church prepared a great potluck lunch for us and then we went to our host homes to pack for our departure on Monday. We then spent the night with Pastor Robson and Juliane Gomes at their home so we could be picked up in a van for the airport.
Evening worship was a special time. The praise band from Binnerri led the praise songs in English and Portuguese, and then Pastor Kye preached a wonderfully powerful sermon on Hebrews 12:1-3. Once again, I was privileged to administer the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
After worship, the church presented us with gifts that they had made. One of their members is an accomplished artist, and she designed special photo frames with our names and photographs of us engaged in mission tasks from the week. They are very sweet mementoes.
The mission team had purchased gifts with a Texas/Oklahoma flavor for our hosts: a bottle of BBQ sauce, a box of pecan pralines, a Southern Living BBQ cookbook and a regulation football!After exchanging gifts, the American team lined up near the door to say goodbye to the congregation with hugs and tears all around. SO many people said, “Next year in America!”
Back to Robson’s and Juliane’s home for a late meal of pizza and then the team de-briefed on the mission experience outside under the stars. After we had a chance to share our impressions, Rev. Kye performed a gracious and powerful service of foot-washing.
Did we change the world? Not that you could see with your eyes. Did we change anyone’s life?Absolutely ~ especially our own.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Play ball!
This morning was the Big Game between the Lions and the Tigers - an excellent time was had by all! Couldn't tell you who won, but it was recognizable baseball and as far as I could see they kids played by the rules. Hard to believe that 4 days ago most of them had never held a bat, but that's the truth!
After the game, the kids gathered 'round for a pep talk from Coach Sooman. He praised them for their faithfulness in showing up, their persistence and hard work, and their general good behavior - he told them he was proud of them, and they cheered. One of the parents (not from the church) made a lovely speech about how much they appreciated the program and how it was a wonderful thing to do for their children. This was exactly the point of the trip: "WHY would Americans travel all the way to Brazil just to teach our kids baseball?" This comment from the parent gave Sooman the opportunity he needed to explain to the children that the point of this week had not been baseball - it had been RELATIONSHIP - we had become friends, and that God had sent us to do that. They were invited to church tomorrow and given souvenirs with the name of the school and church on it; and everyone received a baseball cap and a certificate of completion with the names of the churches on it.
There were almost twice as many unchurched kids there as church kids, because the church children had invited their friends. One of the Jr. High girls told me that her best friend's parents were Spiritists, and they were present to watch their daughter play ball today. Another man came because he saw the banner on the side of the field fence - he is a real non-conformist nature guy - dreadlocks, sandals, plenty of tattoos. He said he'd just moved to Brazil and had been looking for someone to play baseball with! Whoda thought? He came every day - turns out he's a great player who played ball in Sao Paulo with the Japanese community there (baseball is very big in Japan), and today he came back with his little boy. There was also a very nice Korean gentleman with his 10-year old son who came because his son saw the banner. The little boy came in without his dad at first, and told the registrar at the gate, "My name is Pedro and my dad will come and sign me in soon. You'll know him because he has eyes like mine," and then he made an exaggerated Asian-eyed face. He was certainly surprised to find that his dad had eyes like the 12 coaches! His father said that Belo had no culture of sports for children and he was thrilled that we'd come. He went on for quite awhile about how "one must be smart to play baseball" because one has to think ahead and think quickly. This turned out to be another unchurched family; they left their email address for more information about the future of this program.
So there we have it - a successful mission! We collected names and addresses for about 100 children and their families; the children had interaction with "real" Americans; they learned a new sport well enough to play with some skill; they have made a first contact with the church and they have learned that our motivation for coming was because the Love of God Compelled Us. I'm sure we planted seeds that others will water and harvest.
WEIRDEST BRAZIL FACT: It was my job to create the Excel spreadsheet with the kids names and info on it and take attendance. When it came time to use the list to create the certificates for the kids, we'd begun to suspect that we had some duplicates. The thing was, that every day the kids would come they had a different name. The first day, on their registration sheet, their name might be Eduardo Henrique Castro de la Cruz, so we entered Cruz as his last name. Day two, he gave his name as Eduardo Henrique Castro, so he would get entered under Castro. Day three, he's in a hurry and just gives his name as Eduardo Henrique - now he's under "H."
But it was only MY problem. I thought I should file under their last names. If I had done it the Brazilian way everything would have been filed under their FIRST name. Yep. Everything in Brazil is filed under first names. The phone book is alphabetized by first name - really. Medical records are filed under first names. EVERYTHING is first name ~ first. Wow. Do you realize how many "Maria Luizas" and "Maria Beatriz-s" there are in Brazil? "Hi, I'm Maria Luisa and I'm here to have my operation." "Oh, are you Maria Luisa Silva?" "No, I'm Maria Luisa Silva de Souza." It's incredible that they can make that work, but they do, and they aren't changing.
Turns out that May-July is "country party" season in Brazil. There are lots of parties where people dress like country bumpkins, eat simple down-home foods and dance to local music. So the church put on a country party for us this evening, and BOY was it fun! Everyone had to dress like a bumpkin - mismatched, patched clothing; but the girls could wear country dresses if they wanted to. If anyone arrived without dressing up, they were met by young women who dragged them off to have freckles and beards painted on with makeup, teeth blacked out (ew!), kerchiefs tied around their necks and patches basted on their clothing, and also received a palm leaf hat. No one escaped!
The food was corn on the cob, cornbread, soups, and homemade candies for dessert. The children had games to play with prizes. After dinner, they began to play Brazilian dance music (sort of like salsa) and then people formed a big circle and began to dance around the room. There was a "caller" who called out simple movements (like a square dance) to change partners, ("fly like a bird"), cover your head ("it's raining!") - everyone joined in, including little children. They made circles-within-circles, and then made "bridges" with their hands and the line of dancers went "under the bridge" for the length of the room (under 30 or 40 bridges made by couples). GREAT fun! Then they taught the Americans how to Samba (I just watched, but it's a lot like country swing ~ only better music). Not having any "native dances" to teach the Brazilians the Americans opted to teach them a hip hop line dance that very simple and a lot of fun (and apparently it was a hoot to see "la pastora" boogeying down ~ who am I to spoil their fun?)! The Brazilians really liked the line dance, so we had to do it a couple of times - everyone was very worn out.
I LIKE this party! I think we should do one at home in Oklahoma - ("Okie-Fest"?) - for a fall celebration when it cools off...start practicing your "moves!"
Tomorrow is Sunday school in the morning at 10 - then everyone goes to lunch, then rest, then back to church to worship at 5 (interesting pattern, eh?) All 3 pastors will be teaching adult Sunday School; then Pastor Kye will preach, Pastor Andrew will lead the music part of the worship, and I will do communion. Let's be sure all our churches pray for the other two churches as we worship tomorrow.
Have a wonderful Lord's Day!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tudo bom! (It's so good!)
Thursday, July 15, 2010
You Were In God's Dreams
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Day 3 - Belo Ball, Worship in 2 languages and Death by Pizza
Monday, July 12, 2010
So what does she know about baseball?
So, you ask: "Where is she?" Good question. I didn't have the proper adapter for my computer and the battery died...then we were too busy to get it charged, but now I am up and running. In spite of a long day, I am posting late at night because at 4 pm I had some of that great Brazilian coffee that I like so much - I could probably write this at 3 a.m. just fine!
Ah, traveling - it never changes...arrived at DFW gate 12 and was sent by the gate agent to meet my connection at gate 40...but the plane was at gate 18...suitcase arrived in pieces (I knew it was too good a price...) BUT it is wonderful to see the friends I made here last year :) We (and 17 bags of sports equipment) were met at the airport, carried to Pastor Robson's home, and we've rested, showered and eaten an enormous meal with a fabulous dessert. I do not overstate. "Enormous" and "fabulous" are the right words!
As usual there are plenty of English-speakers, or people who are learning English, and it has been easy to communicate. Our hosts really appreciate it when we try to speak a few phrases in Portuguese - they are kind to correct us and applaud us when we get it right...it's very encouraging to learn language this way (I still can't complete a sentence longer than "thank you for the meal")...we make learning language such a chore when being friends can make it so easy - so I guess the trick is to make friends first and then you will care enough about what your friend has to say that you will try harder to understand!
Binnerri Church from Dallas has sent 12 young people - mostly young professionals who have taken time from work and families to make this trip. I don't know everyone's job, but there is a high school chemistry teacher, a kindergarten teacher, a software designer, a writer, an SMU student who is on their golf team, a med student, 2 staff pastors. Several of them have young children. No one considers it a problem to take off time from work, use vacation time or leave their children with one parent or friends to make this trip - it is a privilege to be able to come. Not only have they come, but before coming they studied about mission, studied Portuguese and even about how to properly teach sports to young children. They are a wonderfully dedicated group of young Christians.
I have written each day's morning devotional - we meet at the church before beginning work to sing, read the Bible, discuss the devotional (in two languages!) and then lift up special prayer concerns. It is a wonderful way to start the day - the world would be a different place if we practiced this more than a week at a time!
Today we went to the school for an assembly. The children sang the national anthem for us, and gave us a thank-you card signed by the students. A 7th grader prayed aloud for the group, thanking God for our presence. Then the youth pastor from Binnerri spoke to them about not letting love for things and people crowd love for God out of their hearts. Afterwards, we all sat in a circle on the floor and each child was allowed to ask one question of the visitors: "What do you eat in America?" "How do you spend your days?" "Tell us about the children in your church." All of the questions posed showed a mature interest in who we were as people and friends.
One of the Binnerri missionaries (the med student) was taken to the hospital by a church member who is a surgeon married to an anesthesiologist. They practice together and he was allowed to go into the operating room with them and watch the operation! It was a great thrill for him.
This afternoon was the first day of the camp - we had around 70 children on the first day! The sports equipment purchased by FPC is great - they were very careful with our money, and got many items (such as bats) used, along with some new things. There are hats, gloves, bases, bats, Ts (as in T-ball), Frisbees, kickballs, whistles, and even a ref shirt ;) The children range in age from 6 to 16. Today and tomorrow they are learning skills: how to throw, how to field, how to hold the bat, how to follow the ball. Friday they will learn the rules of the game and Saturday we will form teams and play a real game.
The children from the church and school are great evangelists and have been very intentional about inviting their unchurched friends - one young girl from the church who was ill today even left her sickbed to go to the camp because her friend said she wouldn't come unless she was there.
So what does she know about baseball? Um, nothing? But I make a mean spreadsheet, so I made a roster on the computer so the church can take attendance, form the teams and follow up with the campers afterwards. Just one of those ways that God shows me what I can do while all those baseball players are doing their thing.
So that's 3 days in 1 post - hopefully the others will be shorter, timelier and a little less like being hosed with information. Thanks for sending me - and we prayed for you all this morning.Saturday, July 10, 2010
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
We who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God – who are children of God the Father and brothers, sisters and co-heirs with Christ - are also being sent into the world with the gospel message. Like Jesus, we too will be known by our works, and our purpose in going is so the world may believe that God the Father sent Jesus and that Jesus sends us.
The Holy Spirit is at work in diverse places, among them Guymon, Oklahoma, Dallas, Texas, Haiti, Brazil, and Zimbabwe – all places that have improbably touched our congregations in the last year. Paul tells us in Ephesians that we are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We don’t have to invent ways or find places to carry the gospel – God has already prepared these tasks for us and we need only to respond in faith when we are called.
Wherever we go, we reinforce our “family ties” to the existing church and work to expand the Kingdom of God through new relationships. We carry the gospel in various kinds of “buckets”: construction projects, feeding projects, health ministries, Bible studies and sports camps.
We will not be able to change the world with a few mission projects in our lifetime. But the mission will change us – and the landscape of Heaven - forever.
Friday, July 9, 2010
So this week be prepared for the question, “Why are you doing this? Why would you spend so much money and come so far and spend so much time teaching children how to play a ball game?” The answer you should give is, “Because Christ’s love compels us.”
It is our identity in Christ – and our focus on Christ – that keeps us from just being a civic club doing volunteer work. We are a chosen, called-out and privileged people who are doing what the church does through the power of God and not our own strength.
In Christless Christianity, Michael Horton writes that the Kingdom of God is not something we do, it’s something we are receiving, not something we are building. The risen Christ did not say, “I’m leaving now, but you will take my place and extend my work by following my example.” What he said was “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [So you] go…and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold I am with you always, to the end of the age!” Matt. 28:18-20
So let’s go out and be crazy for God.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Why would she go and do that?
This is my first attempt at a blog, but it seems like the best way to stay in touch with my own congregation in Guymon, Oklahoma while their pastor wanders around the world.
I went on my first mission trip with Grace Presbytery's Youth Committee (Hi, Rick and Wes!) in 2002 and have since traveled in mission to Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky, New Mexico, South Dakota, Russia and Brazil. I have traveled (not in mission) to Syria, Jordan and Israel.
If you have not yet experienced domestic or foreign mission, I hope this blog will communicate a little bit about how it feels to recognize the same Holy Spirit residing in others who resides in your own heart in a place where you recognize no one and nothing else...how you can enter the home of a stranger and feel in your own spirit that you are entering the home of another Christian...how you can feel safe among people you've never met...how only in a place you've never been can you know how it feels to truly let God direct your steps.