Jul 22, 2013
Today I got to visit a Bridge of Hope center in a slum. I walked into a room full of kids nicely studying. That ended pretty quickly when I got my camera out. I was swarmed and surrounded. Laughing off language barriers, we became friends quickly.
Despite their background of poverty and slum life, the children are now receiving education, medical attention, nutritious food and school supplies through Bridge of Hope. They learn a new English word every day at the Bridge of Hope center. And soon they started practicing the language on me.
One of their phrases was “What is your favorite…?” We discussed favorite colors, countries, cricketers and more. When they found out I was from America, they started telling me excitedly, “My sponsor’s in America. His name is so and so,” or “My sponsor’s from Canada and her name is such and such.”
I was reminded of just how meaningful it is to sponsor a child like this. These kids are experiencing the love of Christ because of people halfway across the world. The children have never met their sponsors, but they know their names. They correspond. They connect.
What a beautiful relationship.
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Jun 21, 2013
When I was growing up in Michigan, I loved the changing seasons. I loved summer’s vibrant blues and greens, fall’s leaf-strewn paths, winter’s snow shimmering in the moonlight and the freshness of spring.
Now I’m living on the other side of the world and have gained another season – the monsoon. This is the bring-your-umbrella-everywhere time of year. It can be inconvenient at times, but I do like the fact that I can break out into “I’m Singing in the Rain” as I slosh through the puddles.
Life is full of seasons. Some are fun and some are challenging; some are encouraging and some are hard to understand. But one thing never changes. “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.” His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is great. In the midst of shifting seasons, He is constant.
Let’s look to Him no matter what season we’re in. And even if it’s a dreary day full of puddles – just twirl that umbrella and sing!
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Jun 14, 2013
“You do not have to be Superwoman.” That was the lesson of the day.
I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to this week and was kind of discouraged last night. That’s when the Lord started the super hero lesson.
First it was through a message Pastor Chuck Smith gave from the book of Job. “Hey, you’re not Superman, you’re not Wonder Woman; you’re dust,” he said. “You’re not the super saint that you’d like to be–and sometimes think that you are. You’re dust! And God remembers that.” I was encouraged to remember that the Lord understands my weaknesses.
Then, on a completely different track, I was reading First Things First by Stephen Covey. He explained that the goal is not to cram as many activities in our schedule as possible. “We’re not trying to be Superman or Superwoman,” he wrote. Lord, I think you’re trying to make a point.
But He wasn’t done. This morning, Brother K.P. Yohannnan gave a message on the importance of thankfulness. Can you guess what he said in the middle? Yep. We don’t have to be Superman.
So, it’s settled. I am not Superwoman. But what does that mean?
God knows my limitations and failures and He loves me anyway. In Psalm 103, David says it this way: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” This removes a lot of pressure.
God is so good and His grace does not depend on our output. “We are not on a perfomance contract with God,” one Gospel for Asia leader often reminds the staff. I am thankful to have a Father who loves growing, struggling, less-than-super people.
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Nov 28, 2011
Ok, so there’s this proverb that says to go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise. (Proverbs 6:6) I’ve been “blessed” to have much occasion to practice this. I’m overseas right now and often entertain the little critters.
Did you know that there are ants in every continent? In fact, the only way to escape them is to go to certain parts of Antarctica (ironic, right?). 😉 As one brother here pointed out recently, the above-mentioned proverb is addressed to sluggards, and God knew there would be lazy people all over the world. So He used the ant as an illustration that all could see! I’ve actually been learning good stuff from their principles of work and discipline. But this evening I gleaned a different lesson.
I’ve been having a problem with a strange-looking bee in my bathroom lately. He started building a nest behind the hot-water heater. When I would get up to get ready for work, he’d already be up and working. You can laugh at me, but I’d go to brush my teeth and then run out and shut the door fast when I heard him buzzing. I’d finish brushing in my bedroom, pop back in to spit and then hurry out again! (Wondering what in the world this has to do with ants? Just wait.)
Finally I got around to telling someone who could help. They came while I was gone for work today. When I came back to my room this evening, the nest was effectively destroyed, but the place was crawling with hundreds or thousands of tiny ants! Some of them were after the prize of what I think was the remains of the dead bee. I’m not sure what the rest were doing. So I started sweeping, focusing on getting the treasured bug-remains out of the way. (In my dealings with ants, I’ve learned to remove what they’re attracted to. Then they’ll leave on their own.) They scattered and things calmed down. I was pretty happy with myself. And since I was already into it, I decided to clean the bathroom.
All of a sudden I realized that the stubborn little things hadn’t actually left. “Aiyo!” I said, using the local exclamation roughly translated, “Oh man!” The ants had migrated to a corner connecting two walls and were all concentrated there. They looked like they were strategizing about how to react to my original attack. Now what? I didn’t want to sweep them to the floor because it was now wet since I was cleaning. (Besides, I really don’t like them crawling on me with their ticklish feet!) I thought about drowning them (sorry to any insect fans out there), but was a lot of ants to send down the drain. Too many. Again, laugh if you will, but I started blowing in the direction I wanted them to go (out). The airstream scared them and after the ensuing chaos, they eventually all left.
After all that, here’s the lesson. It has to do with something I read yesterday in a chapter of Incredible Christian by A.W. Tozer. He writes, “The devil’s master strategy for us Christians then is not to kill us physically…but to destroy our power to wage spiritual warfare.” In other words, the enemy doesn’t necessarily want us to be dead, just out of his territory. Like I didn’t care so much about killing the ants – I just wanted them OUT! So, I removed their motivation and put pressure on them to leave. The devil uses similar tactics. He makes us think that there’s no reward. We feel dry spiritually so we considering quitting. We don’t want to keep trying. Or pressure comes; circumstances discourage us and make us want to leave.
Unlike those pesky ants though, we do have a reason to stay in the battle. Glory and honor await those who do. Keep going, it’s worth it! I will conclude with Tozer’s closing thought; “the cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation. We sons of etenity just cannot afford such a thing.”
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Apr 25, 2011
I had some trouble sleeping last night (too much caffeine last night, I think!) and it made me think of the women who went to Jesus’ tomb so early in the morning. I can just picture them restless through the night, wanting to get to the tomb as soon as they could. Their last chance to do something for Jesus, so they thought. So when it was still dark they made their way to where His body was laid. But it wasn’t there anymore. Tired and grieving, all Mary Magdalene could do was cry, overwhelmed with it all.
But in a beautiful picture of the nature of Jesus, this was the moment He came to her. What a shock! I can imagine thoughts going through her mind. He’s dead. At least He was…I saw His body wrapped up in the tomb. But He knew her name, He was standing right there! He really was alive.
I always get so excited on the morning of Resurrection Sunday. After the weekend, thinking and meditating on His death, it’s seems like fresh news that He’s alive. The most wonderful part is that He’s just as alive and present every morning. And He knows my name, just like He knew Mary’s. When I’m overwhelmed and everything seems to be at it’s worst, that’s when He comes, saying “Corie Anna.” And He knows your name too. What a wonderful Savior!
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