Love Lived Out

 

"We cannot obtain the blessing of maturity unless our faith takes seriously the human experience of the tragedy and pain, and unless it bears that experience without belittling it with facile religious comforts. Mature belief is patient dwelling in the night of mystery.
    ....Mature faith is always faith wounded by the world's suffering. We recognize it by its scars - in the same way that the resurrected Christ identified Himself to His apostles with His scars. Yes, only in this way and at this cost can we acquire a new name, a name denoting the chosen people: the one who contended and prevailed."
-Patience with God, Tomas Halik

A couple of weeks ago, Emily and Titus returned to their school building. Immediately after that, Philip returned to West Africa. We have done this for so long, I was utterly unprepared for how hard this particular trip would be. Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely wonderful he was there. He took great risks to go "home" and was rewarded with such depth and treasures of sharing in the laughter of our team and meeting the thriving babies in the ministry. But here at home, this trip was harder than most. When I read Halik's words above, it made perfect sense. We have been wounded by the world's suffering. As the Messiah's little siblings, he has contended for us and prevailed. We come into this holiday season with those scars from the human experience of tragedy and pain, but also with the hope that comes from seeing love lived out, both near and far.

Death's Days Are Numbered Too

In Lauren Daigle's song "Rescue," there is a line that says:

I will send out an army to find you in the middle of the darkest night

These are exactly the words I would use to describe that first week after the school attack, and I want to share it with you. When evil is so bold, it really does take an army of goodness to overcome, which is exactly what we had.

The first wave of the army were, of course, the teachers who placed themselves between their students and the hallway, the school staff who risked their lives to run through the hallways checking that the classroom doors had locked properly, and the police who "did not hesitate" in stopping the violence.

But that was just the first wave.

In the hours and days that followed, there was more. 

Mr. Jeremiah came over and built puzzles with Anne, who had more playdates in a week than she usually gets in a month.

The first two nights friends dropped off dinner. Then one of my sisters had thirteen bags of groceries delivered, not only feeding us but filling us with special treats as well.

Friends sent messages of wisdom, encouragement, and funnies to Emily and Titus. 

I printed and hung them as a visible reminder of how loved they are and of all the people who were praying on their behalf.

There have been multiple healing events in the community as well.

There was a lament and prayer service at one of the churches 

and then a vigil in front of the school.

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, there was a picnic gathering in the park. Community businesses donated tons of food and the park pavilion so that families and staff could be together. It was so good to talk to the teachers in whose classrooms Emily and Titus had been, to talk to other parents and process the tragedy, and to see our kids laughing and enjoying their friends.

Finally, this past weekend there was a healing event outside the school which, according to the organizer, was inspired by a vision from God. Again, community restaurants donated food and all the gear to bring the school community together, including the families of those who did not make it out that day.

At the end of the night was a lantern release with a choir singing of Jesus's promise to never leave us.

Throughout these two weeks, we have carried the words of Matthew McCullough:

"The more we carefully number our days, 

the more joyfully we'll hear that death's days are numbered, too." 

When normal life stops

Today is the last day of the annual Hungry Months Challenge. My passion for this work, however, is just now kicking into gear.

This week a gunman came into our children's school shouting, "You are all going to die!" Thanks to the heroes we call teachers, administrators, and police, almost everybody made it out. The entire community grieves for those who did not. In the days following the event, we were loved from near and far. Normal life stopped so healing could be the focus. A week later, there is still no plan for when school will start back up. In the meantime, we flooded our lives with comforts we usually say "no" to: eating at restaurants, Philip returning early from Africa, a two night getaway at a cabin to reconnect as a family with God and each other, buying trinkets in the gift shop. All of this feels reasonable when our hearts are hemorrhaging.

And then there are our friends in West Africa. They have gunmen, too. They have surprise attacks on their daily lives. Women and children see their men be shot. And their aftermath? They run for their lives. They leave home, belongings, and the bodies of their husbands and fathers behind. They are not flooded with creaturely comforts like we were; they lose their livelihoods with everything else.

In this week of understanding the threats, the violence, and the trauma, I want to step up the care for displaced people living without comforts and margin. Can we at least give them their next meal? Of course we can! We have the team on the ground. Will you be the team in the States?

GIVE TO THE FOOD CRISIS HERE

Thank you!

He Will Rescue You

Do you know Lauren Daigle's song "Rescue"? 

It came on the radio on a Wednesday morning as I drove past my children's school. This was two days after a school shooting that rocked the community and our lives. The police cars were gone, but the news crews remained. The makings of a flower memorial had begun. 

And Lauren Daigle sang about innocence stolen. 

The buckets of tears that hadn't yet fallen just kept coming.

When I hear these lyrics, a slideshow of images scroll through my brain. Since I can't (and wouldn't want to) share those images, I am posting Lauren's lyrics below in bold with a few notes. The italics are my addition, some application for this week. One verse about Emily and Titus, one verse about Philip, one verse to me, and finishing out with the whole community. The slow pace of the song fits perfectly with a single week that seemed to last forever.

I realize not everyone wants to go to these hard places with me. That's okay. Keep on scrolling. We'll return to updates from Africa soon, but for now, we are in this.

Rescue

You are not hidden

    Though Emily and Titus and 700 of their peers were in hiding, they were not hidden
There's never been a moment
You were forgotten
You are not hopeless
Though you have been broken
Your innocence stolen

    *tears*

He heard them whisper underneath their breath

    when making any noise at all was too dangerous a risk
He heard their SOS, their SOS

    huddled with their classmates against the classroom wall

I will send out an army to find you

    This army looked like teachers as pillars of strength in their classrooms, school administrators executing the practiced intruder plan, and a swarm of officers who "did not hesitate"
in the middle of the darkest night
    otherwise known as first period on a Monday morning

It's true, He will rescue them

There is no distance
That cannot be covered

Over and over

    He says to the father 5,000 miles away
You're not defenseless
I'll be your shelter
I'll be your armor
I hear you whisper underneath your breath

    Trying to hold it together on a plane full of strangers
I hear your SOS, your SOS

I will send out an army to find you

    There will be friends in West Africa to meet you, co-workers who bless your quick departure, and a board who supported the decision to return home 
in the middle of the darkest night 
it's true, I will rescue you
I will never stop marching to reach you
in the middle of the hardest fight
It's true, I will rescue you.

I hear the whisper underneath your breath "I don't know how to do this."
I hear you whisper, my faith has nothing left
I will send out an army to find you 

    They will bring dinner and send groceries. They will call, they will text, and they will email words of encouragement and wisdom. They will pray, and they will not let you fall.
in the middle of the darkest night or the longest days
It's true, He did rescue us

    With weeks or months until the school reopens
He will never stop marching to reach these 700 kids
in the middle of the hardest fight
it's true, He will rescue you

Books to Enjoy

Are you doing the Hungry Months Challenge with us? 

Are you doing the Hungry Months Challenge with kids?

If you answered yes to either of those questions....or even neither of them, I have a book recommendation for you!

This is the Anna Hibiscus series. Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa. Amazing Africa. Even though the series is set in a different African country than the one we lived in, the books are filled with stories that are so relatable for our family.

We loved the whole series, but if you were only going to chose one book from the series Love from Anna Hibiscus introduces the young character to the food insecurity of her friends in the village. Reading about her wrestling with inequity is a gentle way to bring the background of the Hungry Months Challenge into our young children's world as well.

Enjoy!

The One About Enemies

The defining disappointment of our summer trip was not being able to go all the way "home." We crossed an ocean, but were unable to make the final leg to our ministry site due to a recent increase in terrorist activity along the route to home. In watching the country's security deteriorate and the people suffer there is anger, frustration, disappointment, "the feeling of utter helplessness, the acute sense of injustice, the irrationality of it all."

Last night my small group addressed these very emotions by using the language of the Psalms to address our enemies. 

"Praying these prayers is a matter of honestly naming our experience of enemies - the rage, the sorrow, the feeling of utter helplessness, the acute sense of injustice, the irrationality of it all - in order to entrust one's enemies to God." (Open and Unafraid)

I used Psalm 58:7, 10 in this way:
"Let the terrorists vanish like water that flows away;
when they plant IEDs, let their
explosions fall short...
The righteous will be glad when they are
avenged,
when the displaced people dip their feet in the blood of
the ones who killed their husbands and fathers."

How does it hit you? Is it a relief to put raw anger out there for God? Or are you afraid lightening will strike me for using words like dipping feet into the blood of the terrorists? In our discussion, both reactions were represented. Ultimately, the goal is not revenge, but healing. A God who knows the whole story can be trusted to make things right. He is on the side of wholeness. Even His wrath is working towards redemption.

On my best days I can perceive the terrorists' violence within their pursuit of holiness. On my best days I can say, like their countrymen whose lives are impacted by the terrorism much more than mine, "Everything God does is good." On my best days I can set God free to bless their pursuit of Him. And on the days I pray they would vanish like water? A God who knows the whole story can chime in with me or can shake his head at my short-sightedness. Either way, He is not offended. Either way, He scoops a hurting child into his lap. Either way, He invites you and me to relinquish our enemies to the One who gave his life for them and for us.

Mission Accomplished

I had two big goals for this trip in West Africa. One was briefly mentioned in the last post: to listen. Serving as a bridge between the church on two continents, I wanted to hear the stories of people not like me, which happened naturally with no effort on my part.

The other goal was simply to enjoy Africa. Because our work is with families in crisis, so many of the stories we tell are full of tragedies. (See the last post, for example.) We don't want this country to be known for its hardships but for the greater story of its friendship and laughter. 

To enjoy Africa and to listen to their stories: both of these hopes were realized with no effort on my part. Both are the natural overflow of life there, and I am thrilled to get to share them with you....

Titus brought his own fun with this portable ping-pong set that can turn any table into a tournament.

Here he is playing with our language teacher, who has been a close friend since 2014. 

When visiting with the friend pictured below I said, "If the whole trip was for this one afternoon, it was worth it."  Even stuck with extra days in the capital, it wasn't enough. 

We left wishing for more time to visit friends.

We ate as many mangoes as we possibly could.

Anne's actual words were, "Can we move here and eat riz gras at this restaurant every day?"

Daniel had friends cheering for him as he read his book in Braille.

If we boiled the trip down to a chance for me to listen and to enjoy Africa, then the whole story can be said in two words: Mission Accomplished.