Visiting the Coastal Desert, Puerto Supe

In the past few weeks, routine halted. It started when we had our annual conference here for 3 days and no school. Immediately following the conference, I traveled to Puerto Supe with a friend and two people from the home office. We went to spend time with three missionaries there and see their lives in action briefly.

I went without much of an agenda in mind. I didn’t expect to see their church dedication and baptisms. I loved seeing the dedication of a church building they’ve been working on for over a year. A recent team finished up some painting and construction so the local church can begin using the building. The two women baptized seemed so joyful about their new declaration that they’re God’s, made new, and devoting their lives to Him. In the dedication of the building, again, the church seemed freshly committed to following God as His body and inviting others to join. In what looks like a barren town (a desert), newness sprang forth.

We four girls spent time by the coast as well. It felt refreshing to get out and have breakfast by the lighthouse and walk around the shoreline!

Tough Mercy

James reiterates several times the idea that mercy “triumphs” (2:13) over judgment. What does that mean for someone whose weakness is judging rather than extending mercy? It’s a kick in the rear end.

 I often see people who have less than I. Do I show them kindness or do I look past it? This makes me uncomfortable… But perhaps I’m experiencing a Godly discomfort. At market one day, I had to decide whether to give money to someone who asked, saying she wanted to go visit her family in the hospital. Another time, a woman asked me to purchase items from her so she could take her son to the hospital for his stomach pains. A student asked for extra time to write an assignment since that person struggles. Where’s the line between mercy and judgment? When am I enabling something negative and calling it “mercy”? When am I “refusing to be naïve” or “sticking to the law” and crossing the line into judgment?

Jesus chose mercy to “the least of these” (Matt. 25) and spoke more sternly to those who judged. How do I choose mercy in those situations when there’s not a clear answer? When is mercy tough love? Perhaps in the difficult situations, the Holy Spirit leads and utter dependence on Him will guide me. The only thing I have settled is that a revelation of God’s mercy for me and for His people will propel me into showing mercy to others.

James 2:13 – “Mercy without judgment will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Discipleship: The Joy and Cost

God commanded his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). What does making disciples involve? Luckily, some mentors in my life demonstrated what that could look like. Jesus modeled discipleship in the calling of his disciples and in his mandate to them to make disciples, baptizing them and “teaching them to obey” (Matthew 28:19-20). The goal of discipleship, then, is to teach believers to obey God, to imitate Christ and love like he did (Ephesians 5).

Is it possible that we most effectively make disciples by simply inviting them to be part of regular, daily aspects of life? Jesus asked his disciples to simply follow him, becoming part of his entire life. If discipleship aims to point believers toward relationship with Christ, then what better way than by allowing those people to witness the living relationship fostering obedience in the routine grind we call daily life?

Recently, God took me through a time of reflecting on how I ended up working at SAM Academy. Through participation in various things, from camp and sports to coaching and teaching, people took the time to mentor me, and I was then given the chance to mentor others. Reflecting back on seasons of growth and dreaming forward into future desires, I see God planted in me a love for discipleship.

Now I get to teach MKs in Peru. I love the discipleship I get to be a part of here as I spend a lot of time with the students I teach. The idea of discipling, having the chance to become more like Christ myself and to encourage others in becoming more like Him, energizes me and excites me! If God puts just one student in my life this year who I encourage to imitate Christ, I praise God for His work in that student’s life. It’s often through everyday life that I see God open doors to get to know students more and to grow in becoming imitators of Christ together. While swimming with students, for instance, one teenager told me about what God was teaching her and how a particular Bible passage had come alive to her. I rejoiced at how this young heart thirsted for relationship and yearned to obey! The family-oriented atmosphere in this community has enabled rich discipleship when desired.

Christ’s discipleship, an intentional time with specific followers devoted to Christ, did and does come at a cost. Jesus asked his disciples to leave things (Luke 5:11) and leave people (Luke 9:60) to follow him. Jesus even called those who “hear God’s word and put it into practice” his mother and brothers at the expense of leaving those family titles exclusively for earthly families (Luke 8:19-21). Following Christ as a disciple, he said, means this: “’If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it’” (Luke 9:23). God calls us all to relationship, which inspires obedience. May our discipleship ignite such uninhibited obedience.

With joy and at some cost, I want to be a disciple and I want to take up the cross of discipling others. I pray God might teach us as believers how to daily, moment-by-moment take up our crosses and follow him as one body of Christ.

Faithfulness

Deuteronomy 28:1,10 – “If you fully [faithfully or diligently] obey the LORD your God and carefully obey all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth…Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.”

While reading Deuteronomy 28, I saw, once again, that God, “determined to reveal Himself to the world through Israel,” wanted to bless them so that others would see the God of Israel and receive that blessing also (Guzik).

As I thought through what I can focus on at the start of a new year, I pondered God’s faithfulness and my need to remain faithful to Him so that I can bless others through Him, much like Israel. Fully, with diligence and in faithfulness, I want to serve God. I love the simplicity God offers us: follow Him. This year, I trust God will grow us in diligently serving Him no matter where we find ourselves. As a response to God and His faithfulness, through His Spirit, we bear the fruit of faithfulness (Galatians 5:22-23). 

Guzik, David. "Commentary on Deuteronomy 28:1". "David Guzik's Commentaries on the Bible". "http://www.studylight.org/com/guz/view.cgi?bk=4&ch=28. 1997-2003.

Missionary Lives from the Students' Eyes

In Bible class, we’ve been studying the book of Acts and talking about mission work. As part of that discussion, we watched End of the Spear, a movie about Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, and three other missionaries who served in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador.

-- Caution: Spoiler Alert -- J

The missionary men who serve in the Amazon make a seemingly astounding sacrifice: their lives. They make a pact that they will not, under any circumstances, shoot at the Waodani tribe with whom they’re trying to make contact. The violent, unreached tribe may not be ready for Heaven, but the missionary men are. Thus, defending themselves by harming the Waodani simply is not an option. When the time comes and the men finally not only make contact but meet the tribe members, things go unexpectedly well. They seem to form a small friendship. But then things turn bad. The Waodani spear the men. Nate, in his dying breath, whispers Waodani words his son taught him: I’m your sincere friend.

Years later, the wives of the missionaries return to work among the tribe. The Waodani still need to learn about God. God miraculously transforms the tribe as the women live among them.

What a testimony of service, forgiveness, and love!

As our class processed what we saw and considered the testimonies of Stephen, Paul, and others we had read in the Bible, we realized a few things.

Christians are missionaries. Whether you work a full-time job at “home,” volunteer part time for a ministry, disciple, evangelize, or move into a remote, unreached tribe, you are a missionary as a Christian. Although the students live as “missionary” families overseas, they felt that any Christian lives as a missionary.

With that in mind, we considered this question: What decisions do missionaries have to make? My students’ answers challenged me:

We must love regardless of whether others deserve it or earned it. Nate Saint and the others loved the Waodani without knowing them.

We are called to serve with our lives daily.

Sometimes we have to make sacrifices in order to help others even when it’s risky. The missionary men’s service meant giving up their lives.

We must forgive others no matter what. The wives of the killed missionary men forgave and loved the Waodani simply because they needed to know God and God does not hate.

We need to trust God in every circumstance.

We need to be genuinely involved in others’ lives since that’s how God works through us.

We should live each moment with kingdom character – character after the heart of God’s kingdom.

Some New Norms

Gradually, some "new" things have become a norm here. What has started to feel "normal?"....

Iguanas: I see or hear one scurry off almost every time I go outside.

Homemade: Most things in the kitchen = time consuming and homemade. Thankfully, someone else cooks lunch for us teachers 3 times each week. I'm holding homemade pumpkin pancakes. Yum!

Homemade Pizza: The pizza isn't the hand-tossed Italian pizza shop pizza from home, but families make really yummy homemade pizza quite often. :)

Chifles: Instead of potato chips, I like salty, yummy chifles. (from platanos instead of potatoes)

Produce Prep: After market, we bleach and prep everything. No baby carrots, prepared lettuce, etc.

Purified "Sisley" Water: simply the only option.

Fresh squeezed juices.

Mototaxis: Okay, I'm still getting used to this one. We wear sunglasses when we go on them to help keep some dust out of our eyes...but it's almost always dusty. It just makes me appreciate a shower even more at the end of the day!

...and (no picture)...Ants: Little sugar ants like to invade everything that's remotely sweet. I've learned to never leave something sweet sitting out or not completely sealed. I also check my water before drinking it (because, yes, they get in our water cups too). This past week I learned this the hard way, and ended up with a mouthful of ants. :(