Giving Up Everything

Often when we hear people marvel about how we "gave up everything" to move to Zambia as missionaries, we kind of shrug it off, almost feeling bad that they think that. This isn't sacrifice! I mean, we love so much about life here. We love how on a given Sunday we may be worshiping with people from as many as 10 different nations. Getting to a recipe calling for lemon juice and we just grab the fruit from our tree. How the air drops from a hot, sunny 100+ degrees to 60 and stormy in seconds during the rains. How everyone in our growing town, from the post office to Shoprite to the marketplace, knows when we've been traveling (and asks what we brought them). Walking everywhere at all times of the year. The friendly, relaxed pace of life. How Luke and I have been forced into a stronger relationship because sometimes we're all we've got. Seeing genuine change from things we've taught. And how when you're where God wants you, there's just a peace about life.

But then there are times when we long for life stateside, feeling the "sacrifices" just aren't worth it. Being a target for lewd comments and demand for handouts wherever we go. Not being able to take a peaceful walk through the neighborhood holding my husband's hand. Power cuts, plumbing problems, and frightening roads. Lack of quality healthcare and screening, especially as we try to start a family. Pouring ourselves out spiritually without a fountain from which to drink. Injustices and inefficiencies in policies and policing. The inability to use reason to solve problems with processes, bills and the above inefficiencies. Times when there seems to be zero fruit from all the ministry efforts. And missing important milestones, family events, weddings, funerals, reunions, and all our friends and family back home.

Usually the good outweighs the not-so-good, but as we've noted in our last two prayer letters, sometimes the bad just mounds up in a giant pile of stink (like the trash in one of the compounds we walk through each week). Those are the times when we find ourselves thinking maybe it's not worth it. Life would be "so much easier" back home. We tried and that's enough, right?

But what if Jesus had said that? When he didn't feel like his disciples were "getting it." When his own mother made selfish demands of his time and ability. When the need around him was too much. When everyone wanted to take, take, take and his strength waned. When one of his best friends betrayed him. When the stones were thrown. What if Jesus had given up and gone back to life as a simple carpenter, because it would be easier?

I for one am glad he didn't. Think of the pile of stink we'd all be in if Jesus had given up on the road to Calvary - turned around, and gone home - because saving us from the debt of our sin wasn't "worth it?"

And so we remember why we're here. Not for some romantic, idealistic aid project. Not for the accolades of others (though the affirmation is certainly nice sometimes). Not because life is easier or inherently more enjoyable in this hemisphere. But for God's glory. Because of Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection for our forgiveness. Because many millions of people haven't heard this Good News of forgiveness. He said we were worth it. He also said to take up our crosses and follow him - not because it would be easy (in fact he says it may be downright difficult) or because we would receive earthly treasures - but because He's worth it.

So we may have given up a lot to serve Him here. You may be giving up a lot by supporting us in that work (thank you thank you thank you!). But, it's all so little compared to what he gave up for us, and all so worth it.

"What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8 NIV)

Greater (than) Expectations

Sometimes we find ourselves at a loss for how to best minister to our Zambian brothers and sisters – how to strengthen the church and empower believers here to share the gospel within and outside of Zambia.  (Read Luke’s post on the church in Zambia here )

Yesterday our friend Kit shared a devotion from Acts 3 that has since had me contemplating the goals, methods, and motives of modern missions, and I’ve realized it’s about going back to the basics.  We can look at the book of Acts and the growth of the early church – where it wasn’t about black and white, rich and poor, haves and have nots – but about the power of God and the Redemption through the blood of Christ.

 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.  Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:1-10)

Just the other day I was walking through town and had the following conversation:

Young boy: How are you madam?

Me: I am fine. How are you?

Young boy: Christmas.

(typically this sort of conversation involves something specific, like “give me money” or “I want 10 pin”, but apparently I was supposed to infer that by simply saying “Christmas” he was asking for a gift)

Me: Excuse me?

Young boy: Christmas!

Many times when money is demanded of us from young children or even adults, I get frustrated and say something to the effect of “just because I have white skin does not mean I have money to give away.”  But with this boy, I realized I had an opportunity.  So I told him the meaning of Christmas.  I told him it’s not about packages and gifts, but about the ultimate gift.  I told him if he accepted the gift of our Savior, he would one day have great riches in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Not sure if he got it.  I think he was just frustrated his demand fell through, so he simply said “okay” and walked away.

Reading back through the story of Peter and John and the beggar, I noticed a few things.  First of all, the beggar was “put” outside the temple gate each day.  We don’t know if he would have chosen that for his own life.  Perhaps those community members who looked after him wished to take advantage of his disability to their own benefit.  So many of the children here are put on the streets at a young age as professional beggars.  There is a young man named Clifford that Luke has been tutoring a bit, who has to work his tutoring schedule around his “job.” His job: standing outside Shoprite ready to help people carry their groceries to their car and unload their carts, hoping for a cash tip.  He has not been hired by Shoprite, but rather we think his family expects him to bring home a certain amount of money each day, and he knows what times to go to catch busy crowds and more business.  But like the beggar – is this what he would choose to do if he had that choice?

Second, the beggar “expected” to receive something from Peter and John.  After all, he was outside the temple, and it was part of the social and religious structure to give alms to the poor – he was just making the giving easier for those expected to give.  Sadly, it’s become expected here as well. Even the well-dressed and well-fed see us and say, “give me money.” It’s not what can you teach me, but what can you give me?  Sometimes we feel we are asked to speak in churches not because they want to hear what the Lord will speak through us, but because they hope we’ll empty our pockets into the offering plate.

I ask when the gospel got so convoluted, but even in the time of the early church there were expectations that involved riches on earth over riches in heaven.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (Acts 3:6)

In verse 8, we see that the beggar realized the gift he was given was so much greater than silver or gold.  He was empowered.  He no longer had to sit at the temple gate begging, but could walk – jump – into the temple and praise the living God!  And the light in him shone in a way that many others were amazed and the door was opened for Peter to share the truth of Christ with the crowd. 

So how do we really share the joy of the gift we’ve been given?  Handing out money to a street kid isn’t going to teach him about Jesus – or give him the freedom that is possible only through the healing hand of God.  But like Peter, we can give what we have.  An awesome gift.  A glimpse of light as we walk and jump and praise the Lord.  A message the child can take to his family and they can be amazed as the crowds were.  As one local Zambian leader said recently in a discussion regarding his church’s Christmas celebration (or lack thereof), the wise men didn’t come to Jesus looking for gifts, but to bring gifts to the King. When we bring our gifts of praise to the King, and spread the news of His forever reign, the focus turns from black and white and rich and poor to His glory, His grace, His purpose.

There are expectations to break – but the end results are greater.  Who needs silver and gold when you can have the unending joy of eternal life?

New Opportunities; Renewed Vision

So I am crazy impulsive and have a crazy awesome idea that I should probably flesh out before I dig a giant hole of crazy. (How was that sentence for quality English?)

Anyhow, here’s a little background… When Lusa Home-Based Care was under the guidance of an organization out of South Africa, money was sent from the US to build dormitories and other facilities. We’re talking upwards of $70,000. As is so often the heart-breaking case here, that money never made it to Zambia, and we have no dormitory. The same organization apparently promised many community members around Lusa that their work (cooking, gardening, teaching, and other jobs that are considered voluntary right now) would be paid. When that money never showed up, the people didn’t see a reason to show up either. So now, Mama Yoba and Regina are running the place with a handful of volunteers – mostly women who are benefitting from the work we’re doing at Lusa. Our (unpaid) teachers are ready to throw in the towel, and apparently many people are still bitter about the money thing and blaming Mama Yoba. (Learned all of this today)

That said, we’ve started to see things turn around. One by one, people from the community are learning that it truly is better to give than to receive, and have a desire to get involved. Through donations and hard work, we now have fish in our fish ponds, maize in our maize fields, and will soon have chickens in our chicken coops. Two big craft markets at local mines in the next two weeks promise some serious income generation as our expat friends will be in Christmas-buying mode. Using Dave Ramsey’s Money Matters teaching on budgeting via envelopes, the organization actually has money when the water bill comes or other needs arise. We have weekly Bible studies and the handful of people who are coming are now taking turns leading through a book on the women of the Bible. But our efforts to help the children – what Lusa is really about – are falling short.

In recent months, we’ve restarted weekly feeding programs for the 30 or so kids (of about 80 we have on a register) who are coming for school each day. But school has turned more into a loosely run day care. The kids show up at 7. When the teachers show up, it’s usually by 8. Then they finish at 10. We have kids ages 2 to 15 all in the same “class” and there is little structure or anything by way of a lesson plan. And, Lusa has been serving the same kids for several years. Some are single or double orphans; some are sick; many are vulnerable; and some just come to Lusa because their parents would rather send them to us for free than put forth the money to get them into school. We’ve discussed raising the funds to provide first term school fees and uniforms to put 40 or so of the kids into the public school system (about $15 each). Assuming we can get these kids into school, here’s where the idea comes in…

The purpose of Lusa is not just to provide a helping hand to the community, but also to share the love and grace of Christ. The purpose is hope. We don’t have the man-power nor motivation from the community to run Lusa as a school – but what if we go in a whole new direction? What if our efforts at Lusa get people excited about working there, and allow them to forget the bitterness they might have from the previous problems? What if we stop trying to be mediocre in an area (school) where the kids would be better served in the local school system, and focus our efforts on being awesome and glorifying to God with something that’s definitely a need and not one that’s being met elsewhere?

So here’s the idea. Similar to what Child Evangelism Fellowship does with Good News Clubs, turn Lusa into a community center – an outreach center – a place where kids and teens can come to hear about Christ, play sports and games, hang out with each other off of the streets, and realize that people care about them. Rather than run a school for 3 hours in the morning for 30 or so kids, we could have club meetings throughout the day or with different ages every day and be open to the entire community. For example, the grade 1 kids in the community might get off school at noon, and then come to Lusa for activities; and then the grade 9 and 10 girls might come at another time or on another day. We would still help the most vulnerable community members through our income generating projects – helping supply food and school fees and visiting and caring for them – but we would also be able to reach, minister to, and love on potentially hundreds of kids each week. And, hopefully, inspire and lead these kids to be Christ-loving, God-fearing, generous, loving adults.

Would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear your thoughts and have your prayers. We are discussing the idea with a local pastor whom we respect and admire (and happens to be the chairman of the Lusa board) tomorrow. Also (NEWS FLASH!), Luke will be going to Ethiopia in early December for training in an SIM ministry called Sports Friends, which would be a huge part of the new focus if we go that way.

I personally haven’t been this excited about the potential at Lusa in a long time. We were actually quite discouraged with the state of things when we first came, but ever so gradually have been able to see a way moving forward. Will you pray with us as we continue to seek the Lord’s direction in this?

to give a man a fish

How many times have we heard the proverb, “if you give a man a fish, he eats for a day; if you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.”? Not sure where it came from, but it’s always seemed a pretty good principle to me. It screams empowerment and equality – good western ideologies. And with ministry in Africa, trying to empower people to be self-sustaining in their work and not depend on financial pipelines from overseas, it just makes sense, right?

That’s where I’m having a hard time. The above proverb is certainly not from the Bible. Jesus never tells the disciples to go teach people how to catch fish or harvest their fields or bake bread – he tells them to teach, but to teach about Him. Jesus himself doesn’t teach tricks of the trade, sustainable agriculture or the like. He feeds the multitudes and tells us to do the same. He says we should sell our possessions and give to the poor. In 2 Corinthians 8:13-15, Paul writes,

‘Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.”’

Whether it’s on the street or at our door, we have people asking for food and money on an almost daily basis. At Lusa, there is a dire need for money to get the center running to its full potential. Kids need sponsorships to go to school. We’re by no means rich, but the Lord has blessed us with plenty. How does He want us to use it? We’re trying to teach money management and develop income-generating projects at Lusa – and let me tell you – it’s exhausting. We often offer piecework to people who come to the door. Sometimes we give a loaf of bread or money to buy mealie-meal. But we also find ourselves saying “no” a lot. We really struggle with what we should do – where we should give.

The country of Zambia has benefitted from a pipeline of charitable funding for so many years that it seems to have crippled much of the country. People have gotten so used to having the fish given to them that they’ve stopped casting their nets themselves. Many parents don’t seem to even try to pay their kids' school fees – they’ve learned instead how to ask for sponsorships. This is by no means everyone. There are people who work hard, tirelessly, to provide for their families and manage money wisely. But (please excuse any bitterness here) there are also a lot of people who wander the streets waiting for someone with white skin to give them money, regardless of actual need. Kids seem especially “trained” in this. We see kids who are well-dressed and clean, coming from school, who see us and walk up and say “give me 5 pin” (equivalent of a dollar), just because they’ve apparently learned it might work.

So I’m grappling. What would Jesus do? Would he teach a man to fish, or just give him the fish? It seems that in his parables about himself, he also teaches about farming and fishing and bread-making and so on – but were those just examples the people would understand, or was he intending to teach about Himself while teaching how others are to sustain themselves? Are we supposed to give everything to the poor, essentially becoming poor ourselves, or do we teach in a way that enables the poor to escape poverty? Do we give to anyone and everyone, or try to discern true need? Is it up to us? Even Jesus drew a line here. After teaching and healing many in Capernaum, the people tried to get Jesus to stay, but He knew He was to preach the good news in other towns as well. There may have still been physical needs among the people, but He had taught the Word and knew it was time to move on.

I’m still wrestling with this, especially as we look at our purpose here. Do we give as an open door to sharing the true gift of life? Do we teach with the same intent? To meet a physical need without meeting the more important spiritual needs would supersede the Gospel message. The greatest commandment is to love God; only after which comes the mandate to love others. But as I heard once in a quote, people won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. What is the balance of giving and teaching and sharing Christ? How do we respond in love? To what extent does love include tough love and accountability? Most of all, we find ourselves constantly asking, what would Jesus do?

We would love to hear your thoughts.

Refocusing My Heart

2%

Of the earth’s population, it is only 2% who leave all they know and move to a completely foreign land to live and work.

We’re not talking about moving across the country, or even from one country to a similar country, such as the United States to Canada.  No.  We’re talking about New Zealand to India, Germany to Peru… or the United States to Zambia.

If it were easy to move cross-culturally, more than 2% of people would do it.  But it’s not easy.  And we have been reminded of this truth almost every day since we arrived.

People come by at all hours of the day, and we have needed to learn to give up our food, time, and even sleep to adjust to this open-door culture.  When we do laundry, it takes up to 5 days before we can wear those clothes again; if we put them on sooner, we may have fly larvae burrow into our skin.  Sometimes you can get milk, or cheese, or eggs, or bread; sometimes you can’t.  Sometimes you have power, or running water; sometimes you don’t.

Life is different.

And we knew it would be when we came.  But we were compelled by love.  And as we continue to adjust to the culture, I have been confronted with what the focus of my affection truly is.

As a missionary, we need to love the people to whom we minister.  In our case, this includes a love for the orphans and vulnerable children, as well as the sick and dying, the elderly, the poor, and everybody else in Solwezi.  Christ says that we need to love our neighbors, and we do.

But if it were love for our neighbor that brought me here, I can say that it is not love for our neighbor that keeps me here.  After somebody broke into our home while we were at church, it was not love for our neighbor that kept me here.  I felt little love for my neighbor at that point.

It is love for Christ that keeps me here.

Isn’t this the compulsion we saw demonstrated by Paul?  While on his first missionary journey, the people of Antioch and Iconium stoned him until he was nearly dead.  His response?  He returned to the city.  Why?  Because His passion for Christ compelled Him to bring the Gospel (see Acts 14). 

And so this is my prayer for me, and my prayer for you as well.  May a passion and love for Christ drive you in whatever you do.  For it is only through Him that you can overcome the trials and opposition you face along the way.  

RELEASE THE SKEETERS!

I woke up to an email from my beautiful wife with a link to an article about Bill Gates. Basically, he was speaking to a bunch of people with a ton of money about malaria, and, to make his point, he opened a jar of mosquitoes, releasing the biting little buggers into the auditorium. I guess the people laughed, but you can bet that most were pretty uneasy with the whole thing. Sure, these were "malaria-free" mosquitoes, but the point was definitely made.

While in America malaria is seen as nothing more than a tropical disease found only in areas where people run around naked and sleep in huts, it is a reality for millions of people worldwide. As Tiffany and I prepare for our upcoming trip to Zambia, we are looking at our options for malaria medication to prevent getting the disease, but as we do so we are struck by the situation. Here in the States we have a variety of possible drugs to choose from, but many in the parts of the world affected by malaria cannot afford these drugs, nor do they even have access to them.

I find it interesting that this article was brought to my attention a day after my comments on Salma Hayek increasing awareness for mothers and infants suffering around the world. Here we have another celebrity (with a whole lot more money) increasing awareness in the States of the suffering of others in the world and donating huge sums of money to help meet their needs. He's even helping develop a malaria vaccine.

But, as good as all this is, the needs of the suffering will never be fully met unless their spiritual needs are attended to as well. The Bible tells us that all have sinned (Rom 3:23), and therefore all are subject to eternal death (Rom 6:23), an eternity of torment and despair separated from the love of God. But, in His love God has provided the way to spend eternity in His presence. He sent His son, Jesus, to become sin on our behalf that those who trust in His sacrificial death may be declared righteous before God. Providing the medicine for the disease that causes physical death is only part of the goal; providing the message of the remedy to eternal death should be the aim of those desiring to truly help the world.

So, thank you, Bill, for releasing the skeeters, but let's not forget that more work is still to be done.