community

I wonder what our world would look like if we shared? I wonder how many things would be different if those who had, gave to those who didn't? If those who had the great fortune of friends, contacts, stable families and financial resources gave to those who lacked in those areas? What if we opened up our homes, our lives and our wallets for those around us (our neighbors) that we see struggling? I wonder what our world would look like if we really lived that way?

I read yesterday about a distraught family of 7 ending their lives because they couldn't find an answer to what they were going through.

According to police, Tony Lupoe took out a handgun and shot and killed his
eight year old daughter, his five year old twin daughters, his two year old twin
sons, his wife Ana, and himself.

Tony Lupoe had faxed a suicide note of sorts to a Los Angeles television station saying that he and his wife recently lost their jobs as X-ray technicians because they were under investigation for possibly trying to
obtain child-care benefits fraudulently.

So Lupoe believed no one else would hire him and his wife, and they wouldn't be able to support their family.

"In reading the letter," Ross said, "from what I gathered from it, there
was a sense of, that he was reaching out for help. And that reach
for help just couldn't be returned. A feeling of hopelessness, not knowing what to do."

The answer for this family was community. It doesn't really matter if there were other extenuating circumstances, like the father's mental health. The question for me is... where were his friends? Where was his family? Why didn't they have a support system, at least emotionally?

And then I read this today:

Police say a couple and their two children found dead in a suburban Columbus
home are likely the victims of a murder-suicide. Whitehall police say the victims were a husband and wife, their 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. Investigators would not say how they died.

The children were home from school Wednesday for a snow day. A neighbor says the father recently lost his job, and investigators say that may have been a factor in the deaths.

They come a day after police in Wilmington, Calif., found the bodies of a couple and their five children. The father was in debt and had recently been fired; police say he killed his family and himself.

Obviously, there are other issues. And the lack of community can be just as squarely placed on the backs of those who are so distraught. But that really doesn't matter does it? The lie that has been perpetrated more than any other in the States is this one: We don't really need one another.

But we do. We do. We do.

We recently had one of our close Guatemalan friends go to the United States for the first time in his life. We anxiously waited for his report when he returned. "How was it", we asked? "Aren't the streets amazing? Isn't it clean? What did you think about all the big homes, and nice yards? Wasn't it great to be in a country that didn't smell like garbage or diesel? Didn't you feel safe?"

Well, he was nice enough to express an appreciation for what he witnessed, but he also seemed quietly bothered by something. And then he finally said it...

"Everyone there seems so separated. Nobody was walking the streets. No open storefronts and families sitting on porches. Nobody playing outside together. Everyone there seemed like they had everything, but had nothing."

We survive in community here. It is the way we must live. Our community is our Bible studies, our church services, our combined mission events, our caravan trips, our safety and alert communication system, our relay service for goods and services. And we would surely die without one another.

It seems like here in Guatemala, we have nothing, but have everything.

Some of you are completely and authentically living communally with those that God brings into your lives. Not just people from church. But the people around you. God bless you for that. I pray that more people will join you in these hard times.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be
trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one
another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our
meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now
that the day of his return is drawing near.
Holy Bible : New Living Translation.
Heb 10:23-25

threat level elevated

We were awakened 3 nights ago by a call from a Mayan friend who warned us to not drink the water. Our friend told us that the water had been poisoned and that someone in town had already died. We felt relatively safe because we knew we were on a different water system, but it was an uneasy night of sleep all the same.

We heard the entire story the next morning.

It seems that a couple of young men who had been involved in kidnapping children for extortion purposes were captured by the Mayans, and burned to death. (It's called Mayan justice)

The family of the young men then retaliated by poisoning the water coming into our town of Chichicastenango.

We survived the scare, but were again reminded of what a dangerous and mysterious place we have been called to minister as a family.

Things are getting worse here. Fresh gang graffiti has begun appearing locally. Mexico is dangerously close to destabilizing into a "narco state" as much of their problems have filtered down here to Guatemala where they find it easier to control the turf. You can read more about that here or here if you would like.

You should know that we actually feel pretty safe, even though we are very aware of the dangers here. We would like for you to continue to pray for us. And we want you to know what we think about as we minister in this setting day to day.

It's almost like Guatemala is a broken window. The sun and fresh air blow through easily. And we have been blessed to witness God working here in a way that seemed impossible in the States. We feel close to God and His Spirit has given us hope and purpose in an amazing way. Your support and prayers have not only changed our lives, and the lives of many here, but have enabled us to be hopeful Christians experiencing reliance on God once again.

But a broken window also allows all the flies, bugs, dirt and rain to come in as well. And Guatemala has a full share of yuck blowing in along with the Light.

As we listened to the whistles, bombs and screams bouncing around the mountain villages a few nights ago during the "Water Scare," it was almost as if I could sense an invisible but present Godly army surrounding our home. Angels diligently protecting our hill.

Thanks for helping to send them our way. Keep the prayers coming!

new year

Hello everyone,
We're back.
We have been thinking about our lives recently...why we are here, for how long, the things we have witnessed God accomplish around us and through us, etc.
It has been quite a year...2008.
I won't bore you with the details of what we have considered to be blessings in our life the last year, and the ways in which we have grown as Christians. But will you permit me a synopsis of my sermon this morning to our missionary community?
As our family enters this new year, we are commited to these 3 ways of thinking.

I. We look forward by walking with God.
Abraham was credited as having amazing faith because, among other things, he was willing to go to a place without knowing where he was going. He was highlighted in the "Hall of Faith" in Hebrews 11 for that very reason. God never gave him a full map; He just kept asking him to say yes all along the journey. Yes to going into Egypt. Yes to circumcision (at 99!). Yes, to even killing his own son. Abraham was never shown these destinations beforehand.
I have noticed in my own family's life that we get most anxious and stressed when we have a certain destination in mind. A certain road. A date. A place to go. A certain goal to accomplish. We then cease to follow God, and we start to ask Him to bless our way. What a stressful way to live!
We are commited this year, as last year, to keeping our hands open to hold His, and to follow Him to places we don't even know about.

II. We look back by commemorating special moments with God.
I built an altar with my son this week. A Biblical altar. We made it with rocks we found on the mountain on which we live. Abraham was good at this too. He built an altar after God first spoke to him in Genesis 12. He bowed and marked the moment. He built one again before he entered Egypt because he was afraid and knew his life would never be the same again. He built one again after he entered the land God had promised him. He decided to remember the moment. The next time he built one he was preparing to kill his only son, Isaac.
I've never been good at this. I made a commitment this year with my family to mark moments along the way so that we can remember God's faithfulness, even as we struggle to be faithful. We want to remember the times in our lives when we knew we would never be the same again. We've had some of those moments in the last year. I'm sure God has more to come. And I want to honor him by marking them as a family.

III. By living this way we open ourselves to God's blessing.
Abraham was promised a lot of great things by God. Great nation. Multitudes and generations of followers and children. Protection.
But Abraham was not promised an easy life. He was not promised a life with enough money to make ends meet. He was not promised a 401K, or a retirement plan. He wasn't even promised health or happiness.
He was promised legacy.
He was blessed with a life that mattered. And isn't that what we all want? Don't we all want our lives to mean something? That people will look back and say about our expired lives, that if we had not said yes to God, the world would have been a worse place for others?
I sooooo want that for me and my family. I want my life to count.
This is our journey.
God bless you for going with us.
God bless you for the journey you are on with the Great and Loving Creator.