Pictures (finally!)

It appears to be beyond me to post a large number of photos here, and I’m really not able to edit down this amazing experience to just a handful.  So, I’ve posted some 200+ on Facebook, and whether you’re a “friend” on Facebook or not, and even if you have never visited Facebook before, you can view my album by clicking this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150627150201456.384209.640761455&type=3&l=2739a76719 

Hope you enjoy the pictures.  I’m sure you’ll get a sense of just why I so very much loved my time in West Bengal.

Here we are to worship

Last dinner in Delhi

Inspired by: Mom & Dad

There is no question in my mind about the origin of my desire to go out of this place I live in and serve others in need.  My parents taught by their example that this is what one must do.  When they were in their early 40s (as I am now), they took their first short-term missions trip to Columbia.  There were many other trips that followed, and ultimately, in 1990, they sold their farm so that they could spend 2 full years working and serving  poor and homeless people in Tuscon, Arizona.  In the years following, they took on projects with Mennonite Disaster Service including a project to rebuild burned-out churches in Alabama in 1996 that landed them in the June 24, 1996 issue of the US News and World Report:

Cornelius Driedger and his wife, Elsie, from Manitoba, will stay in Boligee until the work ends; he’s overseeing the project and she’s cooking for volunteers.  Says Elsie Driedger: “It doesn’t matter what race or what church, but that people are in need and you are able to help.” … The diverse volunteers are a reminder that, sometimes, all that is necessary for evil to fail is for good people to do something.

With that kind of example before me, the only thing that puzzles me is why it’s taken me so long to get going on this!

Holding lightly that which I’ve been given

Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.              Luke 12 :33-34

I started on this post nearly 2 weeks ago – with little more than a title and a quote, I saved it as a draft and forgot about it.  Then, a few days ago, I got a glimpse into what this is really all about.  It’s a bit of a  longish story, but here’s the elevator version:

Lazy morning in our pjs.

Rachel smells something odd.  I do too.

I scan the house to see if anything is melting/burning.

Smoke in the basement.

Get dressed fast.

Call 911

Grab a few “essentials” and get out of the house with child & dog.

First Responders, Fire, Ambulance, Police.

Fire in malfunctioning furnace is extinguished.

Cleanup begins.

 As we were exiting the house, not knowing exactly what was burning, nor how long until it would be extinguished, I briefly considered what I needed to carry out.  I grabbed my cell phone, my purse and my laptop (not sure about that choice but it is the tool of my work).  I wondered if I should take something else but I honestly couldn’t think of anything so precious it needed to be saved.  I knew Rachel was safe, Regis was safe and I would be safe.  (Anthony was at work and therefore not on my list of immediate worries.)  I knew we had appropriate insurance in place.  There was nothing in the house I thought was irreplaceable or that we couldn’t live without.

Rachel felt differently, of course, and worried about her many possessions – toys, stuffed animals, treasures and dolls.  Even the house itself.  It’s the only home she remembers and the thought it might burn was deeply distressing to her. 

Fortunately for us, the fire was soon out and we didn’t have to deal with replacing anything other than the furnace. 

But this whole event got me thinking more about how I need to hold lightly the many material blessings around me – for it all can easily vanish in just the blink of an eye.  If I am holding too tightly to the things that surround me, then those destructible things have become my treasure and the focus of my heart.  And at the end of my life, I don’t want to be found clinging to the moth-ridden, rusted and chipped bits I’ve accumulated when there is so much of obvously greater and eternal value that I might have otherwise set my heart upon.

 

The least of these

…for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.  ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clotheYou? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’  – Matthew 25:35-40

The season of Advent is  upon us and we at Whyte Ridge Baptist Church are marking the season with a series of sermons on the topic of “The Least of These.”  Perfectly timed for me, I’d say.  Thanks Pastor Terry!

As I begin to share with others about my plans to join the mission team with Far Corners Ministries, I find myself explaining the why.  There are so many passages in the Bible I can point to as a reason for going abroad to serve and assist others, but this one really resonates with me.  Our Christian brothers and sisters in India, and their leaders in particular, are among the least of these.  Those serving the church are typically very poor;  some are hungry and thirsty.  They may lack the necessaries of life – like clothing or healthcare.  Their children are often going without education.

Far Corners Ministry is focused on delivering mercy to those in need, as well as providing permanent church buildings and training in  the foundations of Christian faith.  This ministry feeds both the souls and the bodies of those it serves.

Why am I going to India?  Because I have been called to go.  Based on this passage alone, it couldn’t be more clear to me that I must go.

And as I am preparing my heart for this journey, I am also looking ahead to my return and seriously considering how I will follow this call to serve the least of these here in my home community.  Because the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the sick and lonely, the naked are here among us.  I know there’s really no need to travel halfway across the world to find or serve them.