Feed Me

I had a conversation a few days ago with an acquaintance. A person we just met. He was talking about how he wasn’t being “fed” at his current church. That got me thinking. What does it mean to be fed? How do we go about obtaining spiritual nourishment?

In most tribal communities you have to work if you want to eat. Either you go and get the food or you help prepare it. Very seldom does your dinner just show up on your plate. There are some who go out as hunters and some that go out as gathers. They bring back meats and fruits and vegetables. They gather for themselves as well as for the good of the community. There are also those who play the role of preparation. They take what is brought and make it into meals. Everyone plays a role in the feeding of the community. If you don’t get fed it’s your own fault.

It seems to me that it’s pretty much the same with spiritual nourishment.

True spiritual nourishment doesn’t just happen. We work at it. We help make it happen. That’s how we gain the most benefit from what we take in. Maybe it’s us going out and bringing other people in. Maybe it’s us helping prepare the message or playing a part in its being distributed. Maybe it’s us simply working to help those who do the hunting and the gathering and the preparing. Maybe it’s us caring for them.

Who are the ones who can get away with being fed and not working for it? Infants. Babies. Those who can’t care for themselves yet. We care for them knowing that someday they’ll be able to feed themselves, and that someday they’ll feed their own infants and babies. Spiritually, we feed those who are new in the faith, with the hope that they will someday feed others too.

Can we simply be fed? Sure. But what happens then? Remember Little Shop of Horrors? Remember the plant? All it did was eat. And it got bigger and bigger and more demanding. “Feed me!” Its world revolved around its needs. I think that happens in the church too. It becomes about what makes us feel good. The way we like to worship. The Scriptures we like to read. The sermons that speak to us. Now, none of this is bad in itself. But… we need to contribute something positive to the process. It’s not all about us getting fed.

We can be fed without doing any work, but we can’t be truly nourished. Spiritual nourishment requires effort. It requires commitment. It requires us to be engaged in the process.

Mission ConneXion Postscript

It’s Tuesday. It was an exhausting weekend. But it was a very good weekend.

Along with the two days of hobnobbing with missionaries and other mission organizations, we got to spend time with friends and family too. While at the mission conference, we saw some friends who are probably headed to another part of the South Pacific, then up to Seattle for a couple of days to visit Andrea’s mom and my oldest son, and drop in on my best friend, then back down to Portland for dinner with my brother and his family as we sped back south. We were all pretty wiped out this morning, but it was well worth it.

We got to interact with a fairly sizable number of other mission organizations and hear what they’re doing in all parts of the world. The boys even got into the act; they got to do a Treasure Hunt through the exhibits, and each won a prize. We got to hear missionaries who’ve “been there” speaking on their ministries, their trials, their joys, what worked and what didn’t. We were validated, in that we met hundreds of people who have survived the Partnership Development process and been able to see God at work in the far flung places they’ve been sent. We got to laugh with them and cry with them. We heard gut-wrenching stories, some of them with happy endings. We got recharged.

On Sunday, we went to the Seattle Open Door Church. The pastor has invited us to come up the second week of March and share with the congregation the vision that God has given us for ministry in Thailand. That same weekend, a wonderful woman who lives in the same building as my mother-in-law has plans to host a brunch with her friends and contacts to help us raise money for our Survey Trip. And when we got home to check email, we received word that one of Andrea’s cousins has pledged a large sum towards the Survey Trip in the name of her parents.

At every stop, people have asked us what this year holds for us. We have shared that we have two New Year’s Resolutions. The first is that we make a Survey Trip in May. That’s the time that our Thailand Team has suggested, it’s when they will have time to take us around to see all that they are doing and all that they want to do. The second is to be “in country” by the beginning of the New Year. The first six months will be Language Learning; that timeline will get us through our language courses at the best time for the team to take us on.

It was a good weekend. It was an encouraging weekend. We came away energized, but exhausted. You can help us keep that momentum going.

Mission ConneXion Northwest

Tomorrow we’re heading north. We’ll be a couple days in Portland at the Mission ConneXion conference. It’s the better part of two days worth of seminars and networking. There will be a roomful of presenters at booths telling people about their mission organizations and encouraging people to become involved in missions. Pioneers will be represented there; they will have a booth set up, and some of our friends from our pre-field training will be going.

We’re going for a few reasons. The first is the available seminars. Presenters from various mission backgrounds and organizations, and all parts of the world will be speaking on a variety of mission issues. We’re hoping to gain some strategies and insights on the issue of human trafficking, on how to better go about raising funding and developing partners, and why overseas ministry is still relevant in our modern world. Secondly, we are looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. But third, and maybe most importantly, we need to be encouraged. We need to meet with people who are having or have had the same struggles that we’re having. We need to be able to talk and laugh and vent and cry with people who have the same heart for the people of another culture in another part of the world.

This is a challenging time for us. We have the call of God and the overwhelming desire to be in service overseas, but we don’t have the means to get there. We’re ready and we’re willing, but we’re still not able. So we’ll do the next best thing.

Please continue to hold us on your prayers as we continue to prepare for the next chapter.

40

One of my favorite worship songs didn’t really start life as a worship song. It’s the song “40” by the band U2. It’s the song they used to end every concert with, their official encore. It’s their musical rendition of Psalm 40. I’ve been using it in worship for many years, in various churches.

“I waited patiently for the Lord,

He inclined and heard my cry.

He brought right out of the pit,

Out of the miry clay.

I will sing, sing a new song.

 

He set my feet upon the rock,

And made my footsteps firm.

Many will see,

Many will see and fear.

I will sing, sing a new song.”

The other night we ended the youth worship time with that song. We had spent a bit of time talking about the tragedies of the past several days and weeks, and how sometimes we can begin to lose hope. We look at the world around us and wonder if God really is at work. And if God is at work, why does bad stuff keep happening? Standard questions, right?

We talked about how what we see and hear influences us; how other people and their situations can impact us and our situations. We talked about how the world can bring us down.

Then we went to the Psalm. The writer of Psalm 40 states up front that he has been waiting for God to do something, and God does. God lifts the writer out of his troubles and sets him on a new foundation. To celebrate, the writer sings a new song of praise. This song will cause people to hear about how God takes care of him, and hopefully they will put their trust in God as well.

We can relate.

We’re coming to the end of the year. A year we didn’t expect to finish in the States. We figured we’d be in Thailand by now, sharing the Good News with a people who have never heard it before. That hasn’t happened yet. We’re still hoping, praying, and waiting.

The song ends with this: “How long will we sing this song?” How long, indeed? How long until we make our support goal and are able to follow our call overseas?

Lots of folks have told us that they want to support us, but haven’t yet. We get that, it’s a tough economy. If you’ve told us you want to, if you think you might want to be part of this great thing, we would ask you to do one thing for us. Pledge. You don’t have to begin giving yet, just let us know how much and how often. This will help us set goals, and determine how close we are to meeting our needs and being able to cover our expenses.

Please, help us to help teach the people of Thailand a new song.

The Oregon Trail

In the mid-1800’s, thousands of restless people began their journey across the American continent in search of… room, themselves, a new start. It was anything but easy; many died along the Oregon Trail. Disease, fatigue, and weather conditions all conspired to prematurely end the trip for some. Many of them did make it all the way to the coast. And many others stopped at various points along the way to homestead, feeling they could go no further and were better off to stop. At various points from the Rocky Mountains west you can see cities and towns as a legacy to the Oregon Trail and the push west across America.

We’ve been on our own Oregon Trail so to speak. Back in July, when we took a vacation along the I-5 corridor, we all decided that we were being gently nudged by the Spirit to go to Oregon. And so to Oregon we have come. We have “settled” in Springfield. And we all feel that this is where we are supposed to be… for the time being.

Of those who stopped and homesteaded short of the coast, most were content. They had made the right decision. But some undoubtedly felt they should have pressed on. They believed they had fallen short of their goal, of their true destination.

Springfield is not our true destination. The trail for us does not end in Oregon. For whatever reason, God has seen fit to deposit us here, for the time being. But not to stay, we’re merely to “winter” here. It’s a time to rest, to regroup, to plan the next leg of the journey. Our trail (for this journey anyway) ends in Thailand. That has never ceased to be our ultimate goal.

We continue to work towards this. We’re still working on building prayer partners and financial partners. We’re still learning about the culture and the issues facing us. And we’re continuing to press in to God so as to not miss whatever comes next.

Perspective

Honestly, it took me about an hour to admit the value of this episode.

Last week we took our car to the shop for the 150,000 mile check. The brakes were good, the serpentine belt was fine, the shocks were good. Everything checked out fine. Well, almost everything. I had a screw embedded in my right rear tire. The mechanic where we took the car didn’t do tires, so we headed to Les Schwab for their Free Flat Repair. (Note: This situation has been resolved, but it’s still a good object lesson story).

They pulled the tire. The mechanic came to me: “I can’t fix your flat. There’s not enough tread left and the patch won’t hold.” I knew the tires were close to needing replaced. “What I can do is sell you a used tire. It’ll get you along for a few days.” $40. I told him to go ahead. He came back a few minutes later. “I can’t sell you one tire. You have All-Wheel Drive. I have to sell you four matching tires. I only have one used one.” We went to look at prices. Now, when we bought the vehicle we didn’t realize that: 1) it has 17 inch tires, and 2) 17 inch tires are expensive. Four tires, mounted and balanced: $908.20.

As calmly and as pleasantly as I could, I told him to put on the donut spare.

As I drove away from Les Schwab, I was angry. Furious. Livid. I was supposed to meet the rest of the family at a small mall for coffee. I was not in the mood for that, but I had no choice. Sitting, drinking coffee, I was like a little black storm cloud. I was not at all pleasant to be around. We got up and went to look at a decorative fountain while Andrea did some window shopping. As I was standing, seething, drinking my coffee, a homeless woman walked up.

“Are you having a good day sir?” Making only limited eye contact I answered, “No, quite frankly, I’m not.” I had hoped that would deter her from sticking around… it didn’t. She proceeded to chat with me, telling me some of her life. She was pleasant and articulate, but I was simply not in the mood. I didn’t even really pretend to listen. But then our eyes met. She smiled at me and put her hand on my shoulder. She said, “But you love God, don’t you. And you know that God loves you, and that God is going to take care of whatever you need.”

Seriously, God? I thought. Really? You decided to send a homeless woman who has almost nothing but her faith to remind me of mine? For the past forty five minutes or so, I had been telling myself (unconvincingly) it could be worse. I was hard pressed to define how, but I suppose I was trying. Then, I was offered perspective from a woman who has far less than I do.

Throughout the journey of the past year, God has repeatedly found ways to provide for us when we needed it most, and it’s usually come from unexpected and unlikely sources. But I suppose that’s where God does the best work; in those times and those areas where it’s obvious that we have nothing to do with it. Those times and those areas where we can’t claim any credit.

I look at where we are and what we need to make it to Thailand. I look at where we are and what we need to make it through the next few days and weeks. And I have no idea how that’s going to happen. But for some inexplicable reason – no… it’s not inexplicable, it’s from experience – I know that we’re going to get what we need, when we need it. And like it always happens, we’re probably going to receive a new perspective from an unlikely source.

Mannaroni and Cheese

During our small group this week, we were talking about our progress with preparations for going to Thailand. We talked about our financial challenges and our looking for work and for housing. We were talking about how we feel like we’re moving, but we’re not always sure it’s forward. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we’re going anywhere. One of our friends made the comment: “You’re wandering your own wilderness. Macaroni and Cheese is your Manna.” I don’t mind Mac and Cheese, especially if it’s the good stuff. Not a fan of the three-for-a-dollar version. I like it with real grated cheese and little hot dogs chopped up inside. Not so sure I could eat it every day, but it is kind of symbolic.

In a way, we are kind of going through what the Children of Israel went through when they were in their forty year desert time. We know where the destination is, we just can’t seem to get there. We know we’ll get there eventually, but we don’t really know when or how. And sometimes, we’re guilty of doing the same kinds of complaining. “Have you forgotten us, God?” “This isn’t what we had in mind, God.” “I know the perfect solution to this, God.”

I hope God is more patient with us…

It’s hard to keep focused on a promise that doesn’t always seem to be in reach. It’s hard to keep focused on the future when it feels like you can barely get through the here and now. It’s hard to wait for something you feel like you’re ready for. I really can’t find fault with the Israelites for nagging God. Honestly, we’re been doing our own nagging.

Towards the end of their roundabout Palestinian tour, we get a few glimpses of the depth of their frustration. They are so done with wandering. And the people let their anger out pretty dramatically. So does God. It’d be nice if it were gentle reminders that everything is under control, but it’s not. It’s a really irritated parental “quit pestering me!” Again and again. We’re getting the same thing from God; thankfully it’s much gentler. Frequent reminders that we really are heading toward our call - toward our Promised Land - and that God really is going before us.