June 10, 2008

Peaceful beginnings of a very cool day…

I’m sitting out on the balcony of our apartment. It’s early. Roosters are crowing, the sun is peeking over the mountains behind me, the ocean is pounding away on the beaches, the air is cool, and the coffee is hot. The bells of the Greek Orthodox Church on the hill are tolling the six bells of the hour.

A local dish that fed us.

Jim and Sue de Vries left last night at midnight to pick up friends at the local Pafros airport and take them home to their house in Kiti. These friends had been at a family event in the UK. Sue’s explanation for why they accepted a sleepless night and a three hour drive was, “well, they’d do the same for us. They couldn’t afford the other options.”
Last night this missionary couple took the professional couple out to dinner. They wanted us to savour the local Greek taverna fare. When we were finished with our two plates, they offered us food off their one plate which they had shared. It was a different dish, tender, local. Just like them.
They spoke of their years in Africa, the Philippines, Costa Rica, and here. We felt like Ruth gleaning in the fields of their cross-cultural experiences, hoping to learn to be as patient and wise as we move around our planet. We hope to be as respectful of clans and families who choose severe loyalty to our more western value of “independence.” We hope to be as enduring to give from our table and home, even in the face of misuse… in other words, living out the motto: It’s more important to be related than to be right. Becoming Christ-like…giving more than we receive, blessing though cursed.
They spoke of wondering why God would plant them in Costa Rica for almost two years of language training when their three girls were little, only to be assigned to the Phillippines. They spent all that time learning Spanish so they could turn around and learn another language? No fruit; all plowing? Jim said it was only recently that it became clear to him while watching his missionary daughter, now an adult, effortlessly speaking Spanish and Portuguese and French, ministering beautifully and fruitfully, in those cultures that he saw that his time had not been wasted. It was for his children, not for him or Sue, that they had been moved to Costa Rica.

Do I want to have rights or relationship?

Their hearts are eager to serve. They don’t seem to look for reciprocity. Wuz up with this selflessness? When I give I want something back. Parity, fairness, rights, justice. I’ve got that part down. Yup, I do. Jesus didn’t. “In the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord took bread and broke it. This is my body, broken for you….” He was interested in obedience, not his rights.

I don’t think I “get” that kind of Offering without expectation of Return On Investment. My ROI radar is always on scan. Perhaps one reason for this little trip was to have the life of Christ embodied up close and personal so I could get it. So my entitled heart could be prepared with the plow of kindness. I speak of wanting to give away my time and money from now till sunset, but those hi sounding words are rooting themselves in actions here and now. Somehow that feels different. God’s mercy is fresh every morning. He’s getting me ready. He’s getting us ready.

New horizons over the oceans…

Later in the day….. We drove about an hour to meet with the personnel director for a middle sized mission agency today—he helps to administer about 800 workers with 150 support staff. They have no psychologists on staff. We talked about possible areas of common interest and left agreeing that we would each pray about the possibilities of working together, working with this agency and others as well, to further Jesus’ interests. The talk felt freeing, good, mutually respectful… indefinite.

Now I am reading a small devotional book, My Daily Meditation. On today’s date John Jowett says, in part, “Mystery is part of our appointed discipline. Uncertainty is to prepare us for a deeper assurance. The spirit of questioning is one of the ordained means of growth….. We need the mysterious, the overwhelming, the floods… If we had no endless seas to face we should never become robust. We should remain weaklings to the end of our days. That’s why God takes us out into the deeps…” Cha-Ching! You rock, John! Right now at sunset, as I sit looking at the same sea as I did at sunrise, it appears to be trackless, endless. Faith doesn’t grow in the house of certainty.

Comfort for the comforters…

Bethyl’s comments on the day…. I’ve woven some of my thoughts into Vance’s writing above. In addition, I would like to say, “thank you for praying for us.” As we drove to our luncheon today my sense of being overwhelmed bubbled to the top. Throughout the trip I would have moments of really missing my brother Jonathan. He’s been gone almost a year. So whether at home or abroad I carry an awareness of him not being in this world anymore.
I do know my heart is being enlarged. Our territory is being enlarged, by God’s hand. But I would appreciate your specific remembering of me as I continue to grow ground under my feet in this process. The Lord reminded me today from Psalm 1 that He watches over the way of the righteous. On June 2nd, in Tiberias, Psalm 25:8 was a help to me: “show me your ways, oh Lord, teach me your paths, guide me in your truths and teach me, for you are my God and Saviour, and my hope is in You all day long.

I’ve also drawn strength for Psalm 32:8—“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.” As a counselor I find great comfort knowing that Abba counsels and watches over me. The day has ended peacefully. The sun has gone to bed and the moon is up. We’re enjoying left-over spaghetti on our balcony. Night-night. Shalom.