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Thursday, October 28, 2010

for real grace

lives are books In What’s So Amazing About Grace? (which I read several years ago) as well as in The Jesus I Never Knew (which I am reading now), Philip Yancey relates a story a friend of his had told him:

A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter – two years old! – to men interested in kinky sex. She made more renting our her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story. For one thing, it made me legally liable – I’m required to report cases of child abuse. I had no idea what to say to this woman.

At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naive shock that crossed her face. “Church!” she cried. “Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.”

Yancey remarks on the contrast from women Jesus came into contact with: “What struck me about my friend’s story is that women much like this prostitute fled toward Jesus, not away from him. The worse a person felt about herself, the more likely she saw Jesus as a refuge. Has the church lost that gift? Evidently the down-and-out, who flocked to Jesus when he lived on earth, no longer feel welcome among his followers. What has happened?”

When I read this story maybe 5 years ago or so, I was horrified. Horrified by this lady and the choices she had made. But maybe more horrified by the fact that I knew she was right about the church. And I also couldn’t help but wonder, “What would my response be?”

Last week, a 5 year old girl from the Oriental Market who had attended our NiƱos de Vida services died. On Tuesday, Chase, Katie and I went with Pastor Antonio to her mother’s house to pray for her and give them a financial gift to help with the costs of the funeral. While there, we met this girl’s baby sister, and learned that her mother is a prostitute (as are many of the mothers of our kids). She shared a bit of her story, telling us that she had tried to have her baby girl dedicated to the Lord in several churches, but was rejected by them all. She was broken. We stood in their house, which wasn’t much bigger than most people’s bathrooms, and Pastor Antonio prayed for this family, for their loss, their desperation, and that they would trust Christ despite the difficulties in their lives. After he prayed, he took their baby girl in his arms and raised her up to the Lord, dedicating her to Christ. In that moment, I couldn’t help but praise God for grace, and how truly great it is. And for the church, who doesn’t always get it right, but sometimes they do, and when they do, it is beautiful. I don’t always understand it and I don’t always know how to (or choose to) give grace, but Christ is faithful to offer it and his supply of grace knows no end.

Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues. – John Stott

Monday, October 18, 2010

Christmas…in October…in Nicaragua

IMG_6025 I have come to expect this sort of thing from stores in the United States. But really, you too, Nicaragua? Christmas is over 2 months away! I guess it won’t be long before they are selling wicker reindeers at stoplights.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Pillar on the Rock (again)

A little more than a month ago, I (Chase) wrote about children’s ministry for our friends’ blog.  I finally have my second article posted, and will eventually follow it with a third and final article on the topic.  Check it out below:

Why Prayer Matters (For Children Too)

Friday, October 1, 2010

It’s not wrong, It’s just different

As a missionary in Nicaragua (or anywhere really), this is a phrase you learn early on, and have to constantly remind yourself of, especially when you are getting cut in front of in line, or someone walks out in the road right in front of your car. Although, when you use this phrase in instances like these, you might actually be thinking that the thing is, in fact, wrong, but you are trying to convince yourself that it’s not. The pictures below are of things that genuinely are not wrong, but they definitely are different!

 IMG_5336Condimento, or “condiment”, also translated as “seasoning”. As for what’s inside, who really knows?

IMG_5158It is quite common to see two men riding a motorcycle together here. It’s no big deal.

IMG_4956Do you want some relish on your ice cream? Sure, that’s okay! McDonald’s will serve you that.

IMG_5335I wonder what he keeps in that box. Ohhh, “things”! (cosas means things)

IMG_5390 Sometimes the road masquerades itself as a river

IMG_5440And here in Nicaragua, cockroaches can be the size of your fist. (Not wrong, just different, not wrong, just different…)