Serving on the Inside

The sign up tables in the narthex this week got me to thinking about how important it is to serve within the church as well as outside our own building. I asked Lisa Phelps, one of my kindergartner's teachers, to share about her experience teaching Sunday School. Her reply is wonderful! Read on:

Mark and I began teaching when our children (Katie, 24; Erin, 21; and Hannah 17) were in Preschool, and taught most years through their growing up years. We loved getting to know their friends, watching the children grow physically and spiritually, and giving our girls the message that their Christian Education and our church home were our priority. We got to know what they were learning, we made friends who are now our lifetime friends, and communicated to them that Sunday School is a place where we can trust the adults, where our family belongs and where we are each called by name and known. The rhythm of Sunday mornings being Sunday School days -- along with Wednesday choir days -- formed the sense of our family being committed to growing in our faith and being part of a church family.

And of course the real truth... we (especially me) learned so much as we prepared to teach children and as we heard their questions and wonderings. For our marriage, Sunday School prep (however brief) served as a couples devotional for us, at times the only one we were doing! We got to see one another in new ways -- I admire how Mark knows and communicates the Bible, and he gained appreciation for my ability to manage groups of children, welcome them in, and remember their names and those of their parents. It's been something we do together, and we make a good team.

After our children were out of Elementary School, we've continued to teach. We think it's the most important place to serve in our church, and having relationships with children and young families is a joy. I can't imagine arriving at church and not knowing some of the children, and I love being challenged to express what I believe in and do with the children. And another thing -- I believe that one of the ways to age gracefully is to accept and embrace change. Sunday School has changed since we began teaching and will continue to change with the culture. We try to be enthusiastic about new ways to reach kids, and help them feel loved and valued at church.

Update from Japan

Peter and Wendy Thomson continue working in Japan. Wendi is managing the home front with their four kids while Peter is working in Sendai province helping distribute relief goods. He recently posted a link to a media group sharing their base camp. The videos are pretty cool. Check it out! www.grassrootsnews.tv.

I will pray for Japan every time I see cherry blossoms. Join me?

Japan: How You Can Help

Peter & Wendi Thomson, FPCB missionaries, just posted this link on their Facebook pages, and I wanted to take a minute and get it in front of our congregation: Japan: Christian Group Putting Down Stakes in Earthquake Area Liveblog Christianity Today.

Peter says, "Pray! I leave in 24 hours with 3 other A2 staff here in Sanda to join a team setting up a base camp in Sendai to distribute relief coming in through Christian relief organizations. There is still massive need not being covered by the Japanese government. Our task is to establish the camp and begin to identify needs. I will be gone at least two weeks. Please pray for our safety, my family and God's mercy."

Wendi listed on her Facebook page how many obstacles there are to the work Peter and his team are setting out to do: nuclear fallout, more earthquakes and tsunamis, rolling brownouts, broken infrastructure, etc. However, she notes, "God is bigger than all that."

I am praising God this morning for his provision of Peter and Wendi and the whole CRASH team to Japan. Let's pray, and let's support our neighbors in Japan. Our God is the one who makes a way through the sea and a path through the mighty waters (Isaiah 43.6).

Nan

Tsunami Update

Dear Friends,

On Bruce Cockburn's new album, Small Source of Comfort, there's this line:

Each one's loss is everyone's loss, you see.
Each one lost
is a vital part of you and me.

He's referring to soldiers lost in war, but to me, hearing this song, I immediately thought of the people of Japan. I don't imagine I'm the only one feeling as though some part of me has died along with the many victims of this series of quakes and tsunamis.

Having lived in Indonesia when the 9.1 quake hit there, and seeing the devastating loss of life there following the tsunami, I remember that tragedy as I watch the updates from Japan. The feeling is beyond description, and I'm not even directly involved. I am praying almost constantly for these stranger-brothers of ours in Japan, for the shock and emotional upheaval they are forced to process.

Here's an update from Peter and Wendy Thomson Tsunami Update. Wendy grew up at BelPres, and is now a missionary, with her husband and kids, in Japan. They are safe, but are asking for prayer as they work to help in the aftermath of the quakes and tsunamis.

Also, if you are feeling led to give, as well as pray for Japan, there are a lot of really great options out there. One is our own Presbyterian Disaster Relief http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/pda/japan/. The Thomson's site has a link for giving as well.

Grieving in prayer with Japan,
Nan

Chatting with Mark Grayson

I had the chance recently to sit down with Mark Grayson. Mark grew up at BelPres, and spent several years working in the youth department before following a short-term call to Rwanda. Mark came back to Bellevue in October '10 after spending five months helping out at the Center for Champions, learning a lot about himself and what it means to live in a very different culture.

Mark and I covered a lot of mission and BelPres ground in our visit. Some of the standouts include:

We both had an overwhelming feeling that while we knew we were going to a culture unlike our own, the ways the differences played out surprised us. Like the level of contentment and joy felt by people who are living at economic levels that are unimaginable even in their own countries.

Dealing with our own Western expectations of time. TIA (This Is Africa) is an acronym Mark used a couple of times in our conversation. In Indonesia we referred often to Jam Karet (Rubber time) when we were frustrated by the non-linear time concepts of our equator-dwelling friends. Thinking through the importance of relationship versus our reliance on time is a real challenge for many westerners. It is essential both to try to get that it's actually a different way of understanding time, and to give our western-thought-driven impatience to God's timing.

Corruption is. It is in the government, it is in the church, it is in the hearts of people everywhere. In the developing world it's just a lot more openly done than it is in the "west". We try fighting against corruption in our churches, where over there it's just how things get done. What role do missionaries have in dealing with corruption among our adopted people? I wish Mark and I had come up with the perfect answer, but, nope.

People who commit to long-term missions are amazing. Specifically we were talking about BelPres' own Jean McAllister and Mark's friend Melissa, who is gearing up to head back to Rwanda long-term. We need to remember to pray for these folks who are attempting great things for God in a challenging cross-cultural context.

Perhaps most importantly, Mark talked about the need for more frequent, in-depth contact between BelPres and our Rwandan partnership ministries. Discipleship and more careful monitoring are both needed. I left my time with Mark feeling hopeful about the continuing relationship between AE (African Enterprise), the Center for Champions, and BelPres. It does seem that God is calling us into a more in-depth relationship with these vital Rwandan ministries, but I don't know what that will look like. Could we send smaller teams for longer visits? Get rid of the "field trip" aspect and really dig into discipleship with one another? Lots to think and talk about there.

What really struck me about Mark is the way he's living his life in real surrender to Jesus. He felt the pull to go to Rwanda, so he went. While he was youth leader, he took teams into Mexico and Los Angeles, working in some very difficult circumstances with teenagers who did not always want to be there. Now Mark is still dealing with having experienced a more in-depth time in Rwanda, while trying to discern God's current leading. He's also preparing to be married this spring. Thanks, Mark, for taking the time to talk missions with me! I look forward to seeing where Jesus takes you next!