Good-Bye Saul

“Saul, Saul, Saul, what am I going to do with you? What do you think I can do? You look at me with those sad dark brown eyes and say, ‘I need help’. I want to help you, I really do? But it’s not possible for me to get papers so you can go back to Cincinnati and work. I know you are separated from your family and you want to be with them. I know your life is full of problems. I just don’t have the money or the means to help you in that way.

“Every time I see you, you have been drinking. Why do you drink so much, Saul? Is it because you have problems or do you have problems because you drink so much? Is this your only way to ease the pain?

“Saul, my heart goes out to you. The friendly smile from behind that dirty baseball cap and scruffy hair makes it so hard to ignore you. It would be so much easier if I could just ignore you. But I can’t. Where do you sleep at night? I’ll bet it’s in that cold house where you work to earn your five dollars a day. Do you only eat what you can buy at the corner store? Possibly a bowl of noodles, a bag of chips or a cake.

“How can we really help? Giving a few cakes or a package of soup doesn't seem too change much. It keeps you from being hungry for the night but does nothing for tomorrow. Should I feel guilty? I want to give you a Bible. Can you read, Saul? Do you even care what’s in the Bible or has a lifetime of crucifixes hardened your heart?

“Saul, I have to go. I want to be alone with God. I need His insight in order to understand you, to understand me, to understand our complicated worlds. I need to acknowledge that I am weak and need His intervention for your sake and mine.

“Good-bye, Saul. We are moving to Puebla. I’ll probably never see you again except in the faces of those whose paths we cross and whose lives are just like yours.”

* (This is a random photo posted solely as a representation)

The Big Move: Q & A

So…to start off with where are you moving? We will be moving to the city of Puebla in the state of Puebla which by the way is one of the 4th poorest states in Mexico.
When is this big move happening? The plan – which is always subject to change - is to sign the contract for our house on Saturday, September 1st and move Tuesday, the 4th.
What is your house like? All 13,000 houses in this new community are built on the same plan – 10X32 ft for each floor. It’s like living in a trailer cut in thirds and stacked on top of each other. The bedrooms are 10X9 and the Living Room/Dining Room is 10X16. It’s small but we are looking forward to having a place that we can paint and decorate. We are sure appreciative for our days of trailer living in Shady Spring.
What is everyone excited about? The girls having their own bedrooms; lots of places to play soccer; being close to teammates; the Italian Coffee Company that is going up in the neighborhood; better opportunities to know our neighbors; seeing the hand of God in new ways; not having scorpions.
By the way, what was the final scorpion count? At the moment we are up to 130 and still have a week to go. This is really quite amazing since there are people who have lived here their entire lives and have only found ten or less. I’m not sure why we rate such a hospitable welcome. PTL – no stings!
What will be the hardest? Leaving Mexican and missionary friends who have given us incredible love and support; starting over…again.
What will you do in Puebla? Initially we will continue to work on language and culture in the context of our neighborhood. Eventually we will begin to facilitate study of the Bible. We hope to bring a focus of family, hospitality and prayer in all we do.
Could you tell us about your CrossWorld teammates? Sure - Neil & Cheryl are team leaders; Debbie ministers out of a bookstore; Valerie came via Congo, Dominica & Puerto Rico; Derek & Candice (four children) arrive this week and served in Indonesia; Keith & Dawn (a teenage son) also arrive this week and are leaving two adult girls behind; Danilo & Ingrid (a newborn) are a German couple who will join the team in October; Wes & Martha are on support development (aka deputation).

What verses are on your heart as you go? The ones that were a focus when we came continue to be a guiding light, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”
1 Corinthians 2:2-5
Do you have any final thoughts? Yes, if you have other questions please send them our way. Who knows you might find your question on a future journal.

Chelsea contemplates the future

A Little Bit Funny

I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. It all started when an elderly woman stopped by the shop. Her gray hair served only as a backdrop to accent the dark leathery look of her wrinkled face. She wore a crooked pair of old horn-rimmed sunglasses along with her blouse, vest, and skirt all in bold striking patterns – none of which matched. In her basket was the fruit she was asking the owner to buy. “No thank you”, was his reply, and then he asked if I might have something for her. In a moment I was back from the van with a bag of lentils and sopa.

They were on the sidewalk talking when I handed her the bags and said, “This is for your family in the name of Christ the Lord, the Savior.” The owner was quick to explain to her that I was a “Christian” while he was a “Catholic”. I wondered how she would take this turn of events and if she would be too offended to accept the food.

It only took a moment to discover that not only was she not going to be offended and she had a few words for the owner as well. They were along the lines of:

“How can you honor the image of the Virgin Mary? She was a virgin but she cannot give you salvation.”

“They are not your friends.” (Speaking of those who encourage him to parties and drinking)

“These sins are taking you to hell.”

“You can’t change little by little, it needs to be immediately.”

“You need to listen and learn from this man.” (Speaking of me)

It was a serious moment. Her intensity caused me to listen stone faced, but I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh inside. There was no way I was going to be so bold to say these things, yet here was this little elderly Mexican lady saying them. I learned something that day. The Lord is a consuming fire…and sometimes His ways are just a little bit funny.

Stories From A Lemonade Stand

Setting up a lemonade stand on the streets of Mexico can be pretty intimidating so the selection of a spot was done with care. It took a couple of hours before I was able to set up the table and give away cups of lemonade. Imagine my surprise when I looked across the street an hour later and realized I was catty corner to a Tarot Reading Shop. What would I do if I had to encounter them? It didn’t take long to find out. Soon out the door peered a young woman and small child. With lemonade and church brochure in hand, I offered a cool drink in the name of Jesus Christ the Redeemer.

By choice our location was a bit off the beaten path in order not be too assertive or thoughtless to those who were selling lemonade. Maria and I had been there about thirty minutes on the second day when two young women stopped by and insisted we move to a better location. Not only did they insist, but they began taking down our sign and carrying our table down the street. They plopped us down right on the corner of a busy street, and they were gone. My head whirling I wondered how that had happened. Maria knew, “Dad, you prayed on the way here that if we needed to change locations that God would move us.” He moved us.

The first time I saw him I thought he may be demon possessed. He was dirty, hunched over and wore a jacket and winter cap in summer weather. His garbled speech didn’t give me any confidence to the contrary. There he was on the other side of the street just staring at me…finally he walked away. Figuring that he would be back, I determined the next time I would offer him lemonade. He did return again and again. Now he gives greetings on the street with enthusiasm and that same garbled conversation.

There’s no better way to describe it than – drunk. He sat on a ledge just up the street, bent and saliva dribbling from his mouth. As others passed him they would walk by cautiously; some crossing the street to avoid him. He got up, staggered a few feet and picked up a discarded beer bottle, then tipped it up to get out any last drops. Finally he sat down again but this time only a few feet from us. What should we do and more importantly what would the Lord have us do in this situation? I walked over to him and extended a cup of lemonade. “Thank you, friend”, was his reply.

"O Father, that these people and others like them would be rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son You love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. "

BEFORE & AFTER PIXS

Just One More Thing

We are back safe and sound in Mexico. After settling in we are now looking toward our move to Puebla and joining our teammates. Before we move on from our Oregon theme however, there is just one more thing.

When we left for Portland there were two things I really wanted to do. The first was to see the boyhood home of Jim Elliot; the second was to see the Pacific Ocean. The Lord was gracious; He gave us both.

Dr. Mary was the one who made the Elliot visit possible. We had tried at least three times to locate his home but came up empty handed each time. One day at lunch someone mentioned to Mary of our interest. She not only told us where it was located, but immediately drove Diana and I over to see it. A few days later we packed up the kids in the old beat up van of WorldView for a family trip. Once there we took some pictures and prayed together in a corner of the yard. We weren’t on a pilgrimage nor did we find special spiritual favor by being there. It was just an opportunity for our family to be connected to missionary history and a godly man in a very tangible way.

The opportunity to see the Pacific came the day before we were scheduled to leave Oregon. It was one of those “after a month of intense study, do we really want to do this” times, but sanity ruled demanding we take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. We were not disappointed. The color of the water, the cliffs and trees jutting out to the ocean, the coolness of the breeze, the rocks towering up out of the ocean, made it breathtaking. The beauty of it all pushes the words up out of the heart and into the mouth, “You, Lord, are amazing.”

He is so good to us, withholding what we deserve, giving what we don’t deserve and often showering us with what we simply want.