A Royal Christmas

This was our last week in Cebu working with Cebu Mission Foundation, and many of us have mixed feelings about leaving.  We find it hard to say goodbye to these amazing people, but at the same time, we are excited to see what God will show us in Manilla.  A mentor from our DTS once told me that it's important to know the time; is it time to plan, or time to enjoy the party?  I think God made our transition easier by giving us a party of noble proportions.

We have been blesseed to see God's love at work during these past three weeks.  We saw grace in a prison, dance parties in a church, families living in tombs, schools in the garbage dumps, and children born in our homes.  CMF does an incredible job of showing Christ's love in a holistic manner, but we could tell they wanted more.  They kept refering to "the annual Christmas party" with excitement and anticipation; reminding themselves that it was quickly approaching.  I expected the kids to be excited, but was astonished by the way adults would glow when the topic was brought up.  What kind of party were we going to?

We woke up early on Wednesday to drive over to an old gymnasium, surrounded by vendors selling everything from t-shirts to popcorn.  We realized this was no ordinary party, but nothing could prepare us for the festival awaiting us.  There were over a thousand children filling the bleacher seats in the building, and the roar of laughter was filling the spaces in between.  As the party began, we felt mixture of joy and honor dancing with kids who woke up that morning in a cemetery, a garbage dump, or in a family without parents.  We felt honored, because we respect them so much.  We have been treated like royalty while visiting Cebu, because they wanted to brighten our days.  How could we not respect people who treated us like royalty even though they were battling hunger, poor living conditions, and disease?  They gave so much in exchange for one smile.  I began to ask myself while writing this: if one smile could change a person's day, why didn't I smile more?  Why didn't I spend more time dancing, and singing and loving the them the way they loved me?

So for one day, we returned the favor by treating them like royalty.  We served them food, we gave them presents, we pulled out our best dance moves, and we called the girls princesses as we twirled them in our arms.  Our prayer is that they realize that they are in fact princes and princesses.  We hope they see themselves as sons and daughters of the most High King, because many scars can be avoided by living out that identity.

It was a tangible example of another party that I will attend one day.  A party that has been talked about for over 2000 years; a party that will have joy and laughter filling ever crevice, a party that will leave me frozen in wonder as i walk through the door.  Looking back on our three weeks in Cebu, i can't imagine a better way to celebrate the one who was born in a stable and will be married in royal palace.

Redemptive Perspective

This week we left Belize and started on our week long journey to the Philippines.  As we boarded a water taxi on Monday morning, I realized something was wrong with my foot.  I had about 10 bug bites that became open sores, and were beginning to show signs of infection.  It was too late to do anything by that time, so I climbed aboard the taxi, hoping that I'd have an opportunity to stop and get some medicine at one of our layovers.  Unfortunately not.

The first couple days were fine, but on the 6th hour of our 14 hour flight to Tokyo, my foot started swelling and became very red due to infection.  I found a gas station once we landed, and bought rubbing alcohol to treat it.  As I was sitting in the lobby of the hostel, a few of the ladies started asking me about my foot and offered some ointment.  I gratefully accepted, but failed to see the opportunity at hand.  I think I mentioned something about being a missionary, but I quickly changed the topic to muffled crying once they applied the ointment.

I woke up disappointed the following morning, because as painful as the ointment was, it didn't do a lot for my foot.  Luckily, we still had another day of traveling from Manila to Cebu, so I decided to lay around sleeping off the jet lag and dodging worries of amputation.  "mission work doesn't start until we reach the Philippines, right?"

I suddenly felt a conviction about my earthly perspective.  "An infected foot is going to stop you from spreading the gospel, Josh?  Do you remember Tom?"

Tom is a guy from my church who loves Jesus, and has a heart for evangelism.  He also has a bad case of diabetes, and lost both legs, an ear, fingers, and experiences weekly appointments at the hospital for check-ups.  Do you know what he does when he goes to the hospital?  He asks the nurses if they have a relationship with Jesus!  That's dedication.  How about Paul?  The guy was hardcore for Christ.  2 Cor 11:16-33 is a section dedicated to him boasting of his suffering.  Philippians 1:12-18 catches him rejoices, because his imprisonment has advanced the gospel.

So, there I was, disappointed about bug bites while the Toms and Pauls of the world lose limbs and freedom to advance the gospel.  Am I a failure as a missionary?

In the end, I realized that I'm not a Paul.  I'm not a Tom.  I'm just another kid, who is blessed to serve a merciful God.  I'm not as faithful or dedicated as those other guys, but my God loves me all the same.  He has made me a son, just the same.  At the same time, I'm also going to reveal my weakness to encourage you.  I blew that opportunity, but God works all things for the good of those that love Him.  Plus, He gives second chances (Peter, Jonah, David, Moses, etc), His mercies are new every morning, and He is redeeming my failure.  He is reminding me that my perspective needs to remain on the fact that I can rejoice in my trials, because they are an opportunity to share the good news.  

P.S.
Praise god that my foot is starting to heal.  We also started working at
www.cebu-mission.org this week, and it's been great!  Please let me know if you have specific questions, or would like to partner with me.

Perspectives

Today we had a time of sharing our testimonies again, and I have to admit that certain testimonies really bore me.  I found myself struggling to pay attention to the lives and stories of my incredible new friends, and I didn't really understand why.  I mean, I love these people, and thoroughly enjoy talking with them about their lives, so why was this morning any different?

I think there could have been a few reasons for it.  For example: some people are just bad at telling stories.  Other times I’m just not in the mood.  But I realized today that it was something else altogether.

Perspective n: view of the relative importance of situations or facts

Perspective.  I can't begin to tell you how much I’ve learned about that word.  Over the past months, I’ve begun to realize that it's one of the most important words in the English language.  One of my heroes said that attitude is everything, and in my experience, perspective has shaped that attitude.  Perspective helps you overcome the horrible situation you are in today.  Perspective helps you let go of control.  Perspective helps you see the beauty in life.

I don't completely grasp the importance of perspective, but I was given a glimpse this morning.  It happened while listening to a testimony that had all the annoyances of a bad story.  I was trying so hard to pay attention, but after about 3 minutes of saying, "I don't really know what to talk about," the leader interrupted and said that testimonies are a time of sharing how God has worked in your life.  She restarted, and explained that she never felt God's presence until just recently.  That's when my thoughts snapped into focus, and I realized that people aren't as concerned about what you did or went through, as they are about how you were redeemed.  I mean, that's what makes any story great: finding yourself at the end of your strength, and being forced to rely on a miracle. And that's what God is all about; redemption. 

I loved realizing that today, because it caused me to reevaluate my perspective.  What do I love about my story?  Do I love presenting myself to the world as a perfect little Christian?  Not really.  It's a lie, and a hard one to maintain for any length of time.  Do I love the attention I get when I do something amazing?  Not really, I can't bear the responsibility of heroism.  Do I love being a success?  No, because sometimes I learn more through my failures.  Instead, I love being able to say that my identity is found in the fact that my Father defeated death to bring me home.  I mean, that's the making of a good story, and I’m excited to share that story with the Philippines.

P.S. We leave for the Philippines tomorrow morning, and will arrive on Friday.  I don't know when I’ll have internet availability, but email me if you would like details on our ministry over there, and I’ll get back to you when I can.  Take care!