Storytelling

Everyone loves a good story. In fact, we seem to be infatuated with stories. We read stories in books, see them on TV and in movies, and listen to them on radio. Most of us grew up listening to stories told by a grandfather or some other elder relative. We tell our own story over and over (especially those of us who write blogs) and often even tell the stories of friends and acquaintances (some even take it as far as gossip). When I think about it, I realize that a good amount of our time is spent in story telling or in reading, watching, or listening to stories. The rest of our time is spent living out our own personal story.
Today, as I drove from Manteca to Santa Ana, I began pondering why we are so taken with stories. Perhaps it is because we were made by God to be story livers and story tellers. The best story of all is the story of redemption and forgiveness that Christ lived out for us and that every born again believer continues to live today. As we live out the story that Christ gave us, we have even more reason and opportunity to tell of the One who gave his life so that we might live.

Thankful

You all know that Thanksgiving is this week. What do you have to be thankful for? I am thankful for life and health (especially after coming home from work tonight). I am thankful for the time I got to spend with my brother this weekend and for the opportunity to drive home this Wednesday for Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for awesome roommates and for the protection that God has given us in spite of some tension with neighbors. I'm thankful for the privilege of being God's hands and feet to those who He places in my path.

Hurting People

I am beginning to realize how many opportunities I have to minister to people that I pass up. In the midst of being unhappy about my current job, I have been dreaming of working in a clinic with low-income families or the homeless. I figure that it would be a great opportunity for ministry and it would prepare me for some of the health problems that I am likely to see overseas. However, I forget that I have amazing opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus in my current position. The emergency room cannot be rivaled as a place to find hurting people. It is a unique environment filled with those who have recently and suddenly been thrown onto a physical and spiritual roller coaster. Lord, please help me to minister to the hurting people that I meet every day.

Visions of Mayos

I got an email from my friend who is visiting Mayos (the Baka encampment that I frequented when I was in Cameroon). She told me of how she is enjoying her time with the missionaries and with their precious children. She described a little of the Sunday worship service (they are really having weekly worship services!). And she mentioned meeting some Baka whom I have fond memories of. Though I really wish I could be there with her, it is neat to see Mayos through her eyes. I think tonight I will fall asleep with visions of Mayos dancing in my head.

Unprepared

A few years ago, I decided to become a nurse, because I felt that was the best way for me to gain some of the skills that I would need to be a missionary. When I finished school, I had hoped that I would be able to get a job that would prepare me for the kind of nursing that I would be doing on the mission field. The emergency room seemed to be the perfect choice. Working in an ER has proven to be a huge learning experience for me, just not the kind of learning experience that I had hoped for. You see, we, as a society, have learned a vast amount about the human body: how it works, what can go wrong, how to know what is going wrong, and how to treat it when it is not working right. Of course all of this knowledge is of great value. The problem is that there is so much that a nurse in my position needs to know. I have to be prepared to care for every patient, from the teenager who cut her finger in the kitchen to the middle aged man who collapsed in a shopping mall for no apparent reason and has been receiving CPR. I have found, time and time again, that I can not be properly prepared to handle every emergency that will come my way. In fact, I've been told that I could be an ER nurse for 30 years and still come across situations that I am not prepared for. I have also found that I am unprepared for some of the things that I should have already received training for. Thus, I am in a situation where I frequently experience "baptism by fire" or feel that I must "sink or swim."
I say all of this, not to complain about the stresses of the ER or to evoke feelings of sympathy from you all, but to draw some parallels with ministry, to write a parable of sorts.
I hope to be on the mission field in a couple of years, but am I prepared? Do I know about the ministry: how it works, what can go wrong, how to know what is going wrong, and how to treat it when it is not working right. Can I handle every emergency that comes my way? Have I learned as much as I can of the Bible? Do I have access to the vast amount of knowledge we have gathered about the human condition? I trust that God has given me the ability to bandage up some of those spiritual bumps and bruises, but what about the person who is teetering on the edge?
There's so much yet to learn in the next couple of years. "Baptism by fire" and "sink or swim" are not phrases that I want to use to describe my first couple of years on the mission field.

Lord, please cause me to be prepared for the ministry that you are leading me into.

Wasting Time

Sometimes I feel as if I waste so much time on silly, unimportant things, like television or surfing the internet. It's as if I know in the very core of my being that I was created for something so much more fulfilling and important. It takes me a while to realize that the one most important thing is my relationship with the creator of this universe, who, strangely enough, wants to spend time with me. Anselm, a eleventh century philosopher and theologion, said it well.

Up now, slight man! Flee for a little while thy occupations; hide thyself for a time from thy disturbing thoughts. Cast aside now thy burdensome cares, and put away thy toilsome business. Yield room for some little time to God, and rest for a little time in Him. Enter the inner chamber of thy mind; shut out all thoughts save that of God and such as can aid thee in seeking Him. Speak now, my whole heart! Speak now to God, saying, I seek Thy face; Thy face, Lord. Will I seek.

-Anselm

A Trip to Mayos

A dear friend of mine is spending some time with the Baka this week. As I wonder who she will meet in Mayos and what the reaction will be to the visitors, I am reminded of how much the Baka need Jesus. Please continue to pray for the Baka with me. Pray for simple things, like the availability of food when they go out to gather it tomorrow and for healing for the multiple illnesses they suffer because of their environment and because of malnutrition. Also pray for more spiritual things as they continue to hear about Komba (their name for God) and His plan for this world. Pray that they would listen and hear what Komba is saying to them and that many would come to a solid belief in Jesus Christ, who is the only way to be saved from sin. Also lift the Abbots, the Conrods, and Pierre up in prayer as they continue the work of sharing the Gospel with the Baka. Pray for Dan, Lisa, Rachel, and Sharon as they travel to Mayos to spend time with the Baka team, that their trip would be safe and beneficial to all. And pray for my own parents as they prepare to take a trip to Cameroon in January to encourage and help the Baka team.

The Last Battle

I just reached the end of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles Of Narnia. The last book is entitled The Last Battle. In the final few chapters Lewis describes Aslan's world, which is meant to represent heaven. Once again I found myself homesick and longing for the day that we go to heaven. What a joyous reunion that will be. We will be utterly amazed and awestruck at what we will find there. Lewis' rendition was amazing enough, but the real thing will be beyond our imagination or our wildest dreams. Wow, I just can't wait!!