Fruit of the Spirit in the Pandemic

"Can you find any good in the pandemic and social isolation and world shutdown?"

I made the following list after my friend Kelly posed this question. I'm putting the whole list below but the one I want to highlight for this Front Row blog is the fruit of FAITHFULNESS. A year ago we didn't know with certainty that we'd have the ministry funds to make it through the year (and that was before the pandemic arrived!). But God is always faithful and the need is great, so by faith we started out 2020 by increasing our formula distribution to provide for sixty babies (up from the fifty babies that the previous budget anticipated). 

Now, looking back on 2020, we know the rest of the story: ministry funds never dried up. Even in a pandemic. Even in the uncertainty. Even with the increased need. AND we launched a new ministry that has fed displaced people for six months. AND seventy-eight babies came to the last formula distribution. There was enough formula for all seventy-eight babies even though the budget numbers say we can provide for sixty.  

*Insert pause to let that soak in.*

Without a doubt, I have seen the faithfulness of God in the faithfulness of our ministry supporters.

Here are my other Spirit finds in the pandemic:

LOVE: The neighbors who pulled out their holiday decorations last spring to boost neighborhood morale. Those neighbors who put stuffed animals in their windows for the youngest generation to go on bear hunts.

JOY: Finding new ways to connect like cross-country family Zooms or international video greetings

PEACE: Learning from those who have always lived this way

PATIENCE: The kids giving up a year of summer camps and extracurriculars

KINDNESS: Church elders calling to check in, a neighbor bringing us meals during virtual school

GOODNESS: SGN by John Krasinski

FAITHFULNESS: Supporters (as mentioned above) who continued to give and even launched a new ministry

GENTLENESS: The community-wide compassion on missed deadlines

SELF-CONTROL: Choosing not to "panic buy"

What about you? Where have you seen the fruit of the Spirit this past year? As Kelly said, "The pandemic is not good. But God redeems everything if we look to see where He is working." 

There and Back Again: The January Trip

 

You may already know, Philip spent some time in Africa earlier this month. It was a unique trip as his time was dedicated to missionary care. There was some attention given to a missionary sick with both COVID and malaria, but the bulk of the time was focused on launching a new missionary family well. For eleven days, Philip served as their translator, culture coach, and spiritual director. How fun that another family can learn from all the mistakes we made and those hard lessons learned.

There was one overnight trip in which he got to follow-up on a request made back on his trip this fall by holding a trauma and attachment workshop for some aunties (caretakers) at an orphanage.

Overall, it was a strange trip because he spent most of it in the missionary community, but anytime his feet are planted in that red dirt is a good time.

Sending Out 2020 in West African Style

I know this is a little late notice, but it just dawned on me that with 2020 being a non-traditional year, there may be an interest in a non-traditional way to see it out. 

A New Year's Eve party in West Africa lacks the hype of its American counter-part. There are no televisions, no visible countdowns, just a group of people having a late night worship service at the church. As the minutes approach the big new year, a time of prayer begins.  Everyone prays aloud at the same time for several minutes. When the prayer time ends, the new year has come. The big moment passes without any attention as each person present is speaking with the Lord. As an American, it felt anti-climatic at first. A moment of reflection later, I thought, "That was so good. That was so right." The West Africans tangibly act on what all of us do...walk into a new year with the Lord our God.

Given all that is disrupted this year, I thought I'd offer talking with the Lord as a fitting way to send out 2020 and welcome 2021.  You won't be alone, as your brothers and sisters in Africa are doing the very same thing when the new year hits their time zone. Maybe this is the year we all say, "I don't need a ball to drop. I don't need party hats and confetti. I need You."

Tea Time Friday

In Philip's role as Missions Director, he spends his days assisting missionaries. Sometimes that means talking with current missionaries about decisions or projects, or guiding new missionaries through preparation and training, or keeping up with security trends, or transferring money around the world where there are ongoing ministries.  All good work, but it is Fridays that are my favorite.

Friday mornings he pulls his charcoal and his African tea set onto the front porch, much to our North American neighbors' amusement. As the tea brews over the span of a couple hours, he calls African friends and co-workers just to check-in, as is their culture. (In Africa the phrase "no news is good news" does not apply.) These mornings are decidedly inefficient and unapologetically relational. They are the rhythm in the week that make everything else make sense. 

I liken what Sabbath is for Christians to what tea time is for Philip's work.  It doesn't make the to-do list disappear, but for that day or that morning, we live by the rules of another place. When Christians set aside Sunday to worship and laugh with the Father, the rest of the week makes sense. When Philip laughs and chats with his friends who are sitting under their mango trees across the ocean, the rest of the work makes sense, too.  I just love Fridays.

Tea, anyone?

While the blog was quiet

Phew! It has been quiet on here for a while. The one thing I wanted to talk about, which I couldn't mention, was Philip's nearly four weeks away. 

The objectives of the trip to Africa were simple enough: resolve a banking situation and host the fourth annual Host Family Workshop. In theory, these could have been accomplished in a blazing fast journey, but the Africans taught us to make time to linger and let God unfold his plans. We are so glad they did.

Philip had time to share tea and meals with African friends, to come alongside other missionaries in their work, to coach a new missionary in entering the culture well, to photograph a formula distribution, to worship with our local church, and to watch as a sweet little girl joined her forever family while saying goodbye to the ones who loved her as their own for three years. All of that was unexpected! All of that was worth the risk, worth the distance.

We never know at the beginning of a trip what the real point of the trip will be. Regardless of what plans we make ahead of time, it takes watching God's plans unfold to know why Philip is there. This time, despite all he was able to "do," I would say the reason for this time in Africa was to LISTEN. He heard stories of people whose trauma is making international headlines, and he heard stories of those whose trauma never will. He heard a story of God showing up with healing in a place where there is an insufficient medical system for Him to work through, and he heard the everyday talk of friends. He heard the blessings of co-workers. He heard the tears of a family's goodbye and the laughter of babies with tummies full.

Someone (I wish I could remember who) once said, "Go to the place where you are not enough, and you will find out that He is." This quote sums up what was happening while this blog was silent. Stay tuned. I want to catch you up in the next few posts.

Book Recommendation: Your Turn

On my birthday, I committed to reading twelve books in the next year that have been translated into English. Why translated into English? So that I know I was not the intended target audience. I already know what people like me are saying and thinking. I want to listen in on the conversations the rest of the world are having. The problem is, I'm getting near the end of my reading wish list with 5 more books to read. Yes, I could pick any of the books of the Bible to fit the bill, but if you have a recommendation, it could be a peek into your world and a gift into mine. One of the books on my list was recommended by my sister and another was handed to Philip by a preacher friend. These are treasures! So, what book recommendations do you have for my year? Particularly books originally written in a language other than English.

(Note: A couple originally English books snuck onto the list. I am so glad they did! Even though the authors share my common language, they both reflect worldviews and conversations that needed to stretch me and humble me.)

So, here is where the project started. Where would you have it go from here?

1. The Murmur of Bees (Spanish)

2. The Bookseller of Kabul (Norwegian)

3. Things Fall Apart (English, African literature)

4. The Alchemist (Portuguese)

5. The Cross and the Lynching Tree (English, Black theology)

6. The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius (Latin)

7. A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (Spanish)

8. *your recommendation here*

9. *your recommendation here*

10. *your recommendation here*

11. *your recommendation here*

12. *your recommendation here*

Book Recommendation

 

Last night our family finished listening to The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected. I am left speechless. I don't know what to tell you but that I hope you read this book. If you have older kids at home, I really hope you read it together.  The audiobook was available through our library, and after each chapter we would hit pause so that each of us could say what stood out to us in that chapter. Most of the time, the youngest ones surprised us with a meaningful word or phrase to revisit. Our teens' reflections were a priceless companion to the story. Come join us as faith is wrecked and rebuilt in pursuit of Jesus.