.:. The Harer's live journal

Around the House and Around the Neighborhood

2009-12-18T20:41:00.004-05:00

I was sitting in the van when I heard the familiar whistle. The knife sharpener was coming down the street on his bicycle. Thankfully we needed some knives sharpened, but even if we didn’t I wanted the experience of seeing this guy do his craft. So out of the van I came to strike the bargain and go inside for the knives. Three knives - $5 – and sharp too – not a bad deal.

After two policemen were shot and killed last week on a major street near our home, we were a bit leery when the riot police showed up on our street corner five days later. “What’s up?” we wondered then settled in to watch. They remained though the night and into the next day armed with their riot gear. Finally, things began to take shape as a chain link fence went up on a vacant lot near the cemetery. We learned that there’s a little………..mmmmmm…………disagreement. New housing is being built, but the community wants the cemetery expanded instead. Now that was a new Christmas adventure for us.

Last night we kept a Mexico Christmas tradition alive. First we went to the Christmas program at Puebla Christian School and then on to Costco for big berry sundaes. We sat in the outdoor food court, enjoyed our ice cream, shivered, then went back to the van and turned on the heat. That’s as close to winter as it gets. Can’t wait to try the same thing next year at the Dairy Queen in the driving snow.

Today is an end of an era – Daniel’s last day of school. What started out as A,B,C….1,2,3 ended in logic and worldview. I’m sure he is thrilled to have completed this leg of his education…I’m not so sure about mom. None-the-less we celebrated with a round of pizza and frappuccinos (or in my case a toffee nut latte) to commemorate the rite-of-passage.

Check out the girls in the video below:

"The Offering"

2009-12-12T11:35:00.003-05:00

The fireworks began exploding around us at 12:00 midnight and continued off and on throughout the night. It’s a celebration of Day of Guadalupe. On Tuesday evening a group of about 30 backpackers were walking by our home. I asked if they were on a pilgrimage, and they said yes, they were on a three day walk to Mexico City. What resolve. What dedication. What merit.

It all started in 1531 when the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared here in Mexico in the form of a young native girl bearing the name Guadalupe. Today millions of pilgrims will converge on the exact spot where the visitation happened.

Once there the pilgrims will enter a huge court area with both the old and new basilicas, the chapel built on the hill to honor her and a path that winds its way along the “sacred” grounds to “The Offering” of Mexico to the Virgin. This arrangement aptly depicts the spiritual climate almost 500 years later.

“The land upon which you walk is sacred…”

“Continue walking with attention and a joyful heart…”

“ ‘The Offering’ of Mexico to her virgin…”

“two perpetual waterfalls sprout, symbols of the valiant roots of the Aztecs…”

“…and of the missionary Spain…”

“…that join at the feet of Mary”

“…mother and forger of the fatherland of Mexico.”

A Lot Like Christmas

2009-12-04T18:56:00.006-05:00

It is feeling a lot like Christmas, but I have to tell you that palm trees and flowers in bloom against blue skies with fluffy white clouds always manage to foul me up. Somehow those things just aren't associated in my mind with Christmas. However, we are still managing to follow many of the traditions we established over the years.

It all began with the day after Thanksgiving decoration bonanza. Diana and I decided in our first year of marriage that we would always decorate on the Friday after. Our reasoning was that when children came along, went off to college and returned home for Thanksgiving they could join in on the festivities. Now that that time is just around the corner you’ve got to wonder if they’ll really find their way home or instead end up on a beach in California or a ski resort in Utah. So much for long range planning.

We actually started out our traditional day of decoration in a very non-traditional way. We drove over to Home Depot and purchased a real tree. Our first one since the winter of ‘88. Gracing it is a beautiful new talavera ornament. Of course the stockings were hung by the entertainment center with care, and afterwards we took the girls out for ice-skating. (How’s that for a white Christmas celebration?)

Having people in our home is part of the Holidays too. We’ll have a Christmas party on the 17th for our small group and then entertain family from the US. We have a huge pile of “gozo” rocks to give to those who come though the doors. And what’s having guests without a bit of Christmas music playing which is more often than not supplied by Mannheim Steamroller.

Of course there is the meaningful side of the Christmas holidays for us as well which includes the daily advent reading and filling up our Jessie Tree with reminders. Then there are gift boxes for orphans and Saturday evening carols. It all adds up to feeling a lot like Christmas despite the palm trees and sunny skies.

[Editors Note: With the World Cup draw today placing the US in a group with England, Algeria and Slovenia, a first round win over England would be a very nice belated Christmas present!]

Skies Of Mexico: 2010 Calendar – A Photo Journal

2009-11-28T13:52:00.006-05:00

January – New Beginnings

February – Magnificent Sunset Over Cuernavaca

March – Winds of Spring

April – Celebrating Resurrection Day

May – Blue Ridge Mountains

June – There’s a Volcano Hiding Behind These Clouds

July – “Signs Of The Times”

August – Good-bye Summer

September – Mountaineers Always Free

October – Big Orange Country

November – Thankful For His Beauty

December – Glory To God In The Highest

Reconciled Children

2009-11-20T22:17:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we packed up and headed out to Atlixco for a “Reconciled Children Retreat.” It was situated in a villa area and led by Phil, Deene, Diego and Claudia from Medellín, Colombia. Here are a few bullet points and photos of what turned out to be a very beneficial weekend for us.

* “When you think, ‘I can do it on my own; I can be independent from God’, you believe the greatest lie of your life.”

* “Accepting the truth about my real state is the beginning of my freedom.”

* The cross not only frees us from the penalty of our sins and the power of sin in us, but also from the past sins against us that have mis-shaped our lives.

* “As long as we fail to leave something at the cross, we won’t have embraced the cross.”

* “Healing takes place when we meet with Jesus at the cross and exchange our sorrow and sin for his forgiveness, mercy and truth.” J. Williams

Our House

Deene - Phil

A great place for small group discussion

Last Evening Together

The Cross was central to the teaching

The table was set for a feast

Lies That Mis-Shape Us

2009-11-13T11:10:00.004-05:00

Over the last few months I have been thinking about how lies mis-shape us.

“I am worthless and unwanted.” “God does not care.” “Life is of no value.” “I have to give sex to get love.” “I am to blame; life is hopeless.”

Lies like these put us at a real disadvantage by creating a life of bondage and pain. When embraced as true they create in our mind a distortion about ourselves, others or even God. Often they are formed as a result of a painful circumstance that creates deep wounds and strongholds. It’s possible that we have lived with them for a long, long time, and we don’t even recall exactly when they started.

“I deserve this small indulgence.” “It’s wrong but it’s worth it.” “God understands I’m only human.” “No harm done and besides no one will know.” “There won’t be a cost.”

Lies like these give us a perceived advantage, but the outcome is living in sin. The temptation is strong, our thinking is clouded, and we rationalize the truth, deciding for one reason or another to go for it. And there at the bottom of every sin is that little lie that stokes it all. It starts out as a perceived advantage. It ends up in a distant relationship with God.

Whether we are talking about lies that create a painful disadvantage or lies that create a perceived advantage we have to ask ourselves, “Where are these coming from?” We don’t have to look far for the answer to that one. Jesus said, “When [the devil] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” He, in fact, is such a masterful liar that he can have us lying to ourselves in a jiffy – for a lifetime.

So what do we do about it? Well, you can be sure of one thing. There are not pat answers for years of piled up lies. On the other hand, you can be sure the answers are directly linked to God. And that it has a lot to do with Psalm 51:6 “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.”

Your Family Was Attacked! - IDOP

2009-11-06T18:20:00.003-05:00

(I’m going to let The Voice of the Martyrs do the talking for me today but please be mindful that they are describing what happened to your family, not strangers in a distant land.)

“On Oct. 18, a radical Hindu group, Rashtriya Swayam Sevaks (RSS), viciously attached three pastors, one women and one child while they were having a prayer service in Hyderabad, Andra Pradesh state. About 40 believers were gathered in Siluvai Kumar’s house for the prayer service, according to Voice of the Martyrs’ contacts. At 9 p.m. RSS radicals barged into the house and began beating people. Pastors Phillip, Timothy and Siluvai Kumar were badly injured. The radicals also beat Pastor Phillip’s pregnant wife, Kezia, and their 18-month-old daughter. Bibles were destroyed; musical instruments, and metal doors and windows in the house were damaged.

“Pastor Timothy was dragged to the police station where the radicals lodged a false complaint against him alleging he urinated on idols in a nearby temple. The police detained the pastor, but he was later released.

“RSS activists had warned the pastors against having prayer meetings in the area.

“Please pray for a rapid recovery for those who were injured in this attack: not only the injuries they sustained physically, but also psychologically and emotionally. Pray that the testimony of the believers will lead RSS members into fellowship with Christ.

“Churches across the United States and around the world are preparing to “remember those in bonds” (Hebrews 13:3) on Nov. 8, the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP).”

(Learn more about the persecuted church at Open Doors or The Voice of the Martyrs)

Compelling Facts
* Over 200 million Christians around the world suffer persecution.
* The world’s worst persecutor of Christians in the world is North Korea.
* In Saudi Arabia, practicing Christianity can result in death by beheading or stoning.
* Over 90% of China’s Christians worship in hidden, underground house churches to avoid government regulations and restrictions.
* Open preaching in Sudan is punishable by beatings or imprisonment.
* Christians make up less than 1.7% of the population in Pakistan, and over 70% of them are the poorest of the poor.

Grappling With the Darkness

2009-10-30T11:51:00.008-04:00

I have long been a non-fan of dark supernatural intrigue. I don’t find role-playing games or video games with dark themes intriguing. Horror movies and horoscopes are abhorrent. I have no interest in dark music, psychics or the vampire culture. As a matter of fact I don’t even particularly care for Christian literature and media when evil is overly portrayed.

Diana and I have always tried to steer our family toward living an evil free life even though we sometimes feel “old fashioned” because of it. Here are some thoughts that have led to this approach in our lives: 1) Partly it’s a reaction to some brushes with darkness in my childhood 2) Our own parents put their foot down when it came to “innocent”,”funny”,“dark” sitcoms 3) It’s rooted in Scripture – “I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” 4) We don’t want our family to be unnecessarily susceptible to its influence.

Living above the fray is easier said then done. When we lived in the States, life was more predictable or at least more controllable. Here we find ourselves having to grapple with the darkness. At the moment the country is beginning preparations for Day of the Dead which means it is impossible to escape the “dead” theme. We watch people stream by our house on the way to the cemetery carrying gardening tools and flowers, we see skeletons sold at traffic lights and watch venders come out of the woodwork to sell paraphernalia for building altars.

If only it ended there. It doesn’t. When we go in a bookstore it’s there (exhibit A), walk down the street shopping on our anniversary and we are confronted by the gods (exhibit B), we go on a church retreat to plan for the coming year and we are being watched (exhibit C), or to visit Cortez’s palace with friends (exhibit D) and of course it’s the center piece at the pyramid of the sun in Teotihuacan (exhibit E).

The girls have been attending craft class for over a year now, but only recently have they had to call us to come for them because horror stories are playing on the TV. And…think about this, we do have to spend money right? So here in my pocket I’m usually carrying an Aztec calendar stone imprinted with the gods. This is not exactly what I was envisioning for my family.

While we don’t look for demon gods under every rock, there’s no denying their presence. So where does that leave this family who has tried so hard to provide a shade of protection? Well, it doesn’t leave us untainted or unscathed. We’ve learned we are not as strong as we think we are. There are no easy winners. It does leave us humbled in our desperate need for Christ. Thankful that the cross trumps it all. And we are left grappling with this present darkness.

Exhibt A

Exhibt B

Exhibt C

Exhibt D

Exhibt E

If You Don’t Mind Hodge Podge

2009-10-23T23:12:00.007-04:00

When’s The Last Time…?

Q. When’s the last time someone came to your door selling rabies vaccinations for your dog? (A. Today)
Q. When’s the last time you stepped in a cow pile just outside your garage door? (A. A few months ago)
Q. When’s the last time you squeezed 14 people into your van? (A. Last summer)
Q. When’s the last time you saw someone going car to car to sell bubble making toys at a traffic light? (A. Today)
Q. When’s the last time you crossed 18 speed bumps to get to your local Wal-mart? (A. Today)

Better Than A Theme Park Ride

I have been a little cheated when it comes to taxi rides. I always seem to get a reasonable, thoughtful, considerate driver. No longer. This week I got the real deal. We snuck under red-lights, jumped in front of the line, beeped at slow drivers, and raced down straight-aways. Now I can say I’ve experienced real Puebla traffic.

Three Gems

We have a friend back home who accuses Diana and me of having conversations in the deep end. She says that even when passing us on the road she can tell we are having a serious conversation. Guess what? Things haven’t changed. Today we were talking about how correct a person has to be in their overall theological understanding before we could learn a valuable truth from them. Here are three gems from my wife:
* “The key is holding a healthy skepticism without becoming cynical.”
* “Today it’s called being real; twenty-five years ago it was called ugly and mean spirited.”
* “We have become more sure of foundational absolutes and more tolerant of preferences.”

One More Thing

What does it mean when the police come up behind you flashing their lights? Absolutely nothing. They’ll pull up beside you and wave you over if they want you to stop.

Bathroom $700

Used Coffee Grounds or Pizza Supreme

2009-10-16T19:49:00.004-04:00

I met with Pastor Steve this week. Actually we meet together most every week. We laugh, talk about what God is up to at El Puente, and share our joys and frustrations. This week he told me this story. “A king wanted to be more closely associated with his subjects, so he set a weekly time when they could make their requests. During one of those times, a long line of people came. Person after person approached the king asking for one small favor after another. Each one was refused.

“Finally an old farmer came, ‘Your sovereign,’ he said. ‘I am a farmer. I have been a farmer all of my life. I have a small parcel of land on which I have planted and harvested just enough to make ends meet. This is my life; it will always be my life, and I am satisfied with it. But I also have a son, and my request is not for myself but for him. My son has the soul of a farmer. He loves the land and has a special way with it. He has a far greater capacity than to just eek out a living. My request is that you give him land in keeping with his giftedness.’

“‘Done,’ replied the king. ‘It is yours.’ The king’s advisors were amazed, and when the old farmer left they approached king and asked, ‘Why did you turn all these other people away but gave this man what he asked?’ ‘Because,’ replied the king, ‘he was the only one who made a request fit for a king.’”

It makes me wonder if I’ve settled into asking for piddly things unfit for the King of the universe. Maybe instead of used coffee grounds, I should be requesting pizza supreme. If I have the confidence to ask, that is.

Ken’s On First

2009-10-09T16:20:00.002-04:00

Something you should know is that if you ever intend for your child to live in a Spanish speaking country do not name them Ken. In Spanish the word quien (which means “who”) is pronounced pretty much like Ken. You can imagine the possibilities. It’s the Mexican equivalent to “Who’s on first?”

I had one of those conversations just the other evening when someone called the wrong number and reached our home. The conversation went and usually goes something like this…

“Good evening”
“Who am I talking to?”
“Who” (Ken)
Who am I talking to?”
“Who”
“Who am I talking to?”
“Who”
“You”
“Who”
“You, who are you?”
“Who”
“You, what is your name?”
“Who, who is my name”
“You, what is your name?”
“Who, who, who is my name.”
“Who?”
“Who.”
“You.”

A couple of years ago when we went out to Houston it seemed to be a big deal to a lot of you when Maria got her ears pierced. Well since that day Christina has been dreaming of her chance. Problem is that girls get their ears pierced in hospitals at birth. So that leaves only tattoo and piercing parlors as an option for her. I’m glad to announce that some friends recently sent us a piercing gun and that Christina after 11 long unbearable years has pierced ears.

I saw another first the other day. I was painting at our new meeting location and saw the gardener’s wife scrubbing clothes. It’s common to see women scrubbing their family’s clothes. As a matter of fact many sinks have an old time washboard built in. But this lady had her clothes soaking in three large water buckets and was scrubbing them in a wheel barrow. I admire the ingenuity. Our lives are forever change by this experience.

This is what we have to work with

Daneil's early morning photo after a 5:00am airport run

It All Happened In A Day

2009-10-02T19:18:00.007-04:00

A lot of big events converged on September 27th for us; the most important being Diana’s birthday. After meeting with the church, we headed out with a few friends to celebrate at a rib place we have recently discovered. Frijoles, rice, tortillas, ribs and pollo, a meal fit for a king……………………..uh, QUEEN.

Later at our place while we were all eating our second piece of blackberry cake, the phone rang. It was Kate’s mom calling from Texas. “We are hanging out with the Harers” I heard her say – not “we are visiting the Harers” or “we are spending some time over at the Harers” but “we are hanging out with the Harer’s.” Now that made us feel good.

Let me say for the umpteenth time that I have a special wife. It didn’t take the compliments around the table or the notes or the phone calls to know it, but they were all good reminders. I am blessed to have a companion with whom to hold hands and walk through life. Someone special with whom to sip afternoon tea and gain perspective. The wife of my youth, my helper and keeper of our home. "She is worth far more than rubies."

Between ribs and cake we made a run to the bus station. After living with our family for two months, Sarah from Chicago started her journey home. We will miss her cheerfulness and insight. We met Sarah three years ago in Cuernavaca, and she has remained in our life as a friend and a source of encouragement. Thanks for coming and being a part of our family, Sarah. Check out her blog for more: Sarita In Mexico 2009.

Sandwiched in there as well was a move to a new location for El Puente. We have moved to a festival garden. These gardens are plentiful in Mexico as a place to rent for wedding receptions, quincenaras (a girl’s 15th birthday party), first communions, confirmations and the like. The location is within a two minute walk of our home, but as is always the case the first meeting required a ton of extra work.

And it all happened on a special day of the year. It was a little crazy, a little squished together but definitely a lot of fun.

Don't pave it and they will come - the sheep and cows that is.

What ministry tool is a necessity even in a shelter with big yellow tarps?

PowerPoint

You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Friendly greeters are a must

Murals Of Mexico - A Photo Journal

2009-09-25T15:47:00.004-04:00

Recently one of our guests said that the thing that stood out to her was all the graffiti. It’s true we do have plenty of graffiti, but Mexico is filled with murals as well. Historically they have been painted as political and revolutionary statements by famous artists and muralists such as Diego Rivera. (see his work) Today the concrete of the city has become a canvas for budding artists to display their work, brighten up a myriad of structures and for some to make a statement.

Breaking Free From...

Christina's Favorite

Ancient Aztec Warrior

Contemporary Psychedlic Urbanite

Maria's Favorite

You'll Find Them At The Metro Mexico City

On Walls In Veracruz

Under Bridges In Puebla

And At Mercado Zapata

You Tell Me

The Mask of La Lucha (Professional Wrestler)

You Know You’re a MK When

2009-09-19T01:21:00.004-04:00

Just the other day Daniel sent me a list a friend’s friend had posted on Facebook. It was entitled You Know You Are an MK When…and went on to list 202 characteristics of MKs (Missionary Kids). They were down right true to life and left you thinking uh huh, nodding your head and laughing out loud. Then we begin to realize that these things are true of our kids. This IS their experience. The last three and a half years have changed them. It’s given them different lens to look at their world. Sometimes that’s been good, sometimes bad but regardless it is. They identify. Maybe it will let you enter into their world just a bit. Here’s a sampling:

1. You speak two languages, but can't spell in either.
2. You have a passport, but no driver's license.
3. You'd rather never say hello than have to say goodbye.
4. You know what real coffee tastes like.
5. A musical instrument can be anything-- even a tambourine made from bottle caps nailed to a board.
6. You get upset when people don't finish their food, and feel worse when they scrape it into the trash.
7. Someone in your passport country has to explain to you that the double yellow line means only oncoming traffic can drive on that side of the road, even when there isn't any oncoming traffic... and you don't understand why.
8. The same individual also has to explain that red lights mean stop, every time, without exception, and you must stay stopped until they turn green, whether or not there is cross traffic... and you still don't understand why.
9. You are accused by your friends of being a maniacal driver, and you're driving just like your dad taught you to.
10. All Hispanics do not look even remotely alike, nor do all black people or Asians... but Europeans and North Americans are kind of hard to tell apart at first.
11. You used to hate hand-me-downs clothes, but when an old friend leaves a shirt at your place that happens to fit, you wear it often because it reminds you of your friend and your childhood.
12. You don't know whether to write the date as month/ day/ year, day/ month/ year, or some other variation.
13. You honk your horn at an intersection to let people know you're coming through, and everyone gives you looks that could kill.
14. Seeing a shriveled-up mango in the grocery store makes you yearn for the real thing, along with other tropical fruits that are unknown to the Americans.
15. You still hesitate before drinking water straight from the tap.
16. You know a smattering of more foreign languages than you can remember, but you cannot fully express yourself fully in any of them.
17. You are thankful for hot running water.
18. You were given a map of the U.S. to fill in, and marked several places "Destroyed by nuclear bombs" just to fill all the white space.
19. You're amazed at how empty U.S. city buses are.
20. You know not to joke around at border crossings.
21. You tell time using a 24 hour clock.
22. People leave the table when you start telling stories of things you have eaten while on the field.
23. You have to make a conscious effort not to kiss Americans when you greet them.
24. You have never called a 1-800 number in your life.
25. You think someone is drunk when they are driving in a straight line instead of swerving to miss the potholes.
26. You hear people complaining about potholes in the roads, and you can't see any.
27. You tell the clerk at the shoe store that your shoe size is 38, and you don't know why he laughed so much.
28. You claim no place as home, but you do home-schooling.
29. You can't understand why people are so upset when you're 15 minutes late.
30. People in America have never even heard of your favorite meal.
31. "Weather forecasting" means looking across the valley at the approaching wall of rain and knowing you have less than five minutes to get the clothes off the line.
32. The road says "bump”, and five miles down the road you become curious as you haven't felt anything.
33. People simply don't understand.

The Secret Place

2009-09-04T15:11:00.005-04:00

Do you have a secret place where you meet with God? A tranquil, peaceful, quiet place to settle down for a few minutes and be alone with Him undisturbed. A place where you have a heightened sense of God’s presence. I grew up in the mountains of Tennessee beside my aunt. She was always on the lookout for a new place to have her quiet time – on the deck overlooking the mountains, in a little attic room, behind the house near a flowering tree, down beside the creek, in her bedroom where she had set up a reading corner, in a wooded area.

The idea of finding a special place to meet with God has been engrained within me. I read recently of someone who had an oversized bathroom and used the extra space to create a “prayer closet”. She hung artwork in that corner, lights candles and retreats there for the sole purpose of prayer.

Certainly we can’t say this idea is strange or foreign to the Bible. Peter went to the roof-top to pray, Moses went to the mountain to meet God, Daniel went to his upstairs room and opened the windows to Jerusalem, and Jesus Himself went out to the mountainside to pray.

While I seldom ask for comments on this blog (though I appreciate them greatly), I would be interested to hear from you. Where is that place(s) for you? If you don’t have such a place I encourage you to look for one, and if you can’t find one create one. God is waiting to meet you there.

We Are El Puente

2009-09-04T10:11:00.005-04:00

I just want to take a moment to introduce you to El Puente, an international, multicultural and bilingual gathering of the body. When we first started meeting with the believers there, we had no idea that we would eventually end up being a part of the team. We were looking for soul refreshment and backed into a ministry. God is full of surprises that way.

For us El Puente has been a gracious community. A place where admitting a struggle does not bring judgment but an understanding assurance and an encouraging word. Our pastor and his wife set the tone for this atmosphere as they shepherd the wide variety of people who make up El Puente. Some are retired missionaries, others are new to the faith, some have a Christian heritage, and others are not yet counted among the children of God. Most are thirsty.

Diana and I play a role that is pretty common to us – jack of all trades, master of none. When we started out we said that we just wanted to help in whatever ways we were needed, and if that meant sitting up chairs that was fine. Well, we have had that opportunity since we meet in a hotel on Sundays. There have been other things along the way. Administrating, teaching children and adults, hosting a Thursday group, leading meetings, cooking, writing worship challenges, and mentoring have all fallen to our lot at one time or another.

One thing that is on the radar screen of El Puente this fall is having two pastors and their wives to visit from Colombia. They will be coming up to lead a weekend prayer retreat with the idea that we in turn will lead others in the future. These retreats are designed for us to wrestle with issues like wounds in our upbringing, forgiveness, and living as beloved children all in the context of prayer. It promises to be good here at El Puente.

Drinking some eye popping Burundi coffee

Ignorance Keeps Us Innocent

2009-08-29T12:43:00.003-04:00

Daniel’s thoughts on the 1993 Burundi geneocide:

One epic event forever set in stone. There is no escaping the reality. No one can forget. No one will forget. Now haunting never ending horror. Cruel, miserable, torment encased in time living on in the wildest fears. Living in darkness only waiting till the day history repeats. The Cycle of Life continues without hope. They cry out to us. They beg us. They plead with us. Wailing mothers. Dead fathers. Children’s bodies fill the streets. This is just the beginning. Crushed spirits, destroyed minds only the body lives on in agony. Hear the crying orphans, the screams of women raped, the suffering husband helpless. All dignity has abandoned them. All trust is dead like lost loved ones. All love is lost in ash.

Will we every truly understand...

The African Journey - A Photo Journal

2009-08-28T15:43:00.007-04:00

The team from Houston, Louisiana, and England

"It's the song of the redeemed, Rising from the African plain..."

Hanging out with Wallace and Joseph

Camp was at the Pan African Christian University in Kenya

Dennis was in Daniel's small group

Good news bringers: beginning with tennis shoe - Gabe, Mary, Samantha, Josh, Daniel, Josiah, Melanie, Blake

Street kids receive their first Bible

Night on Lake Tanganyika

Diana was a mentor for the campers

Providing shade for the children

Samantha has served God for the last three summers in Africa...

...and she served the girls by painting their toes

There was worship and teaching time with the women of Burundi

The Project Center gives young widows training

Crafts made from the heartwood of the D. Crassiflora tree

Josiah and Wallace

Angel lives up to her name and believes that everyday she fights for the children in the slums

A final stop in Amsterdam on the way home

Never Safe To Assume

2009-08-21T21:39:00.004-04:00

I don't know his name, but there are dozens like him around the city. Night falls and he starts work at the traffic light with gasoline in a 1 liter coke bottle. Match in hand he pours some gasoline into his mouth, lights the match and blows, sending out a flame like a fire breathing dragon. This is repeated three or four times before he weaves between cars collecting change. I wonder if he uses the money for drugs, if cancer is forming in his mouth and if someday there will be a horrible accident. As he approaches my van I smell the fumes, see the red cheeks and his distant gaze. I have a few short seconds to do something....if I'm going to do anything at all. I hand him $3 pesos (25 cents), a coin inscribed with John 3:16, and a gospel tract. "Do you have hope? This is hope!” I say. The light turns and I drive off into the night……..assuming the worst.

Of course all my assumptions could be wrong about this guy. As I recall when I first met Carlos washing windows at the traffic light, I assumed that he was trying to make some extra pesos to have a few beers with his friends. To my embarrassment I learned later he was working to support his wife and one year old daughter whom we met a few months later.

Then too I am reminded of this assumption danger from Phil Yancey in his book, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference. In it he writes of an encounter he and his wife had in Nepal:

“I have seen evidence of God’s presence in the most unexpected places. During our trip to Nepal, a physical therapist gave my wife and me a tour of the Green Pastures Hospital, which specializes in leprosy rehabilitation. As we walked along an outdoor corridor, I noticed in a courtyard one of the ugliest human beings I have ever seen. Her hands were bandaged in gauze, she had deformed stumps where most people have feet, and her face showed the worst ravages of that cruel disease. Her nose had shrunken away so that, looking at her, I could see into her sinus cavity. Her eyes, mottled and cover with callus, let in no light; she was totally blind. Scars covered patches of skin on her arms.

“We toured a unit of the hospital and returned along the same corridor. In the meantime this creature had crawled across the courtyard to the very edge of the walkway, pulling herself along the ground by planting her elbows and dragging her body like a wounded animal. I’m ashamed to say my first thought was, She’s a beggar and she wants money. My wife, who has worked among the down-and-out, had a much more holy reaction. Without hesitation she bent down to the woman and put her arm around her. The old woman rested her head against Janet’s shoulder and began singing a song in Nepali, a tune that we all instantly recognized: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’

“‘Dahnmaya is one of our most devoted church members,’ the physical therapist later told us. ‘Most patients are Hindus, but we have a little Christian chapel here, and Dahnmaya comes every time the door opens. She’s a prayer warrior. She loves to greet and welcome every visitor who comes to Green Pastures, and no doubt she heard us talking as we walked along the corridor.’

“A few months later we heard that Dahnmaya had died. Close to my desk I keep a photo that I snapped just as she was singing to Janet. Whenever I feel polluted by the beauty-obsessed celebrity culture we live in – a culture in which people pay exorbitant sums…to achieve some impossible ideal of beauty while nine thousand people die each day from AIDS for lack of treatment and hospitals like Green Pastures scrape by on charity crumbs – I pull out that photo. I see two beautiful women: my wife, smiling sweetly, wearing a brightly colored Nepali outfit she had bought the day before, holding in her arms an old crone who would flunk any beauty test ever devised except the one that matters most. Out of that deformed, hollow shell of a body, the light of God’s presence shines out. The Holy Spirit found a home.”

The Discovery Of Beauty

2009-08-14T22:54:00.007-04:00

Recently Diana and I went to the Italian Coffee Company for a lazy Sunday afternoon cappuccino and conversation. We talked about our shortcomings, about love without expectations and how to avoid living lives of criticalness, among other things. It was a very surface and shallow conversation.

On the the way out Diana made on off-handed remark about how pretty some flowers were that we were walking past. For some reason in that moment I felt struck with a burst of inspiration. Beauty, art, creation - our lives have been devoid of it for a long time. We have walked in a wilderness of gray and have been beauty starved to the detriment of our souls. I said to Diana, "We need to make it a point to be enjoying beautiful things together."

That led us into conversation on the drive home and to a new way to perceive our world. We realized that when we surround ourselves with beauty and soak it in we give our souls a chance to rise above the mundane, trivial and the gray. Seeing beautiful things lets us consciously and sub-consciously, remind ourselves of Wonder, of Perfection, of Good, of our Creator. And in those moments our souls are being renewed and refreshed as we brush up against the Fountain of Beauty (check out Psalm 27:4).

As we reached home and sat in the driveway we talked about forms that beauty take for us - nature, art, music, photography, poetry. We talked about how barren our lives have been and how we want to take walks to enjoy the autumn colors, a fresh snowfall, and the scenery on our travels.

Then we drove out to the end our our road, got out, and lingered over Mount Popo and the sunset sky. The next day we went to a local nursery to purchase some plants and flowers for our home. But the first few minutes was reserved for a stroll together just to enjoy, to appreciate the colors and to feel the tranquility of the garden. We didn't necessarily think about it, but the touch of the Creator was upon us as we discovered beauty.

Too Late To Say Goodbye

2009-08-07T13:12:00.004-04:00

Posted by Daniel the day before leaving for Africa:

So maybe Hotel Rwanda wasn't the best movie to watch right before heading off to Africa. I think I came to realize this while we were in Wal-mart getting some last minute shopping done before our flight. Josiah asked me what my biggest fear was, so I answered that I'm most scared of dying.

I guess all of us have fears of the "unknown" but maybe just maybe God uses those fears to create a drive in us to seek Him. So that we may come to a fuller reliance on Him.

Can any of us say we are totally surrendered to Christ?? Couldn't our doubts and insecurity be used by God so that we might surrender greater depths of our lives to Him.

Sometimes I think we in America live somewhat sheltered lives. We have no fear of not coming back from work alive. But for me and a group of young people headed to Kenya and Burundi this will be different. Will we not ask ourselves will we be ok?? While we pack our clothes and cameras will our minds not drift back to the horrible genocide in Rwanda.

God let this be my prayer that in everything I would serve You. God take the fears from my heart and help me fully rely on You.

Young People In Africa is a blog of five young people traveling to Kenya and Burundi in order to spread Christ's love to those in need. It's a window into the minds of these young people. Take time to read it regularly, comment and most of all pray for their journey.

Happenings & Happenstance

2009-07-31T20:49:00.007-04:00

I have discovered when a people leave a place they have called "home" for much of their lives they cannot only miss foods, activities and family but also sounds. I was reminded of that recently when Diana and I heard a train barreling down the track behind the wheat factory near our place. The shrill whistle and clacking on the tracks was a unexpected and welcome delight.

Smells bring back those strong memories too. Recently I picked up a bouquet of nine small gardenia flowers at the traffic light. A young guy was selling 9 of them for .90 cents US. One good whiff and I was transported back to my grandpa's house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was summer and the gardenia plant in front of the house was sunning itself. The grass was freshly mowed and just to the left I could see the old cistern that served as my lookout, ship, fort and a jail from one time to another.

We have been in lots of language and translation situations since we came to Mexico, but Saturday evening took it to an all new level. When we were invited by Ariana to attend a choir concert, we never expected that the announcements and devotional would be given in Korean and then translated into Spanish. It was the first time in my life when Spanish was my stronger language.

Here's another first, today I was sitting at a traffic light when a Volkswagen Jetta pulled up beside me. It was packed with eight people, three in front and five in the back. That's not all that unusual; I mean I have seen five people on a motorcycle. What took me by surprise was the guy who lifted the trunk to get some fresh air.

Momoxpan is know for their fireworks. We can attest to that! They are loud, unpredictable and untimely. Like our first night here when they went off at five in the morning. Boom........... boom............. boom................... boom.................... boom.................. boom.................. boom. Then boomboomboomboomboomboomboomboomboomboomboomboomboom in a cluster. We later learned this early morning pattern was to announce that a death had occurred in the community during the night and we could expect to see a procession to the cemetery later in the day.

To answer the person who asked about the photo below: I guess all I can say is that this much junk welded to the top of a car fascinates me (probably my upbringing) and that taking time to snap it caused our entire group to miss the next bus.

Their Impressions

2009-07-24T16:44:00.005-04:00

Last week I wrote the team asking for their insights. First impressions are interesting since it’s easy to overlook some things after you’ve been here for a few years. Here are some of their impressions:

Something that surprised me in Mexico was...
…the food. It was surprisingly bland-their flavoring seems to be hot!!

…the fact that sickness due to lack of sanitation was a way of life for many living in Mexico. It is hard to think about living daily with stomach issues like that.

…all the graffiti that was everywhere.

…that diarrhea became such a common and comfortable word for us while we were there. Who would have thought!

…the massive size of the speed bumps... they are very comparable to the size of the hills of WV.

Something that broke my heart was...
…the darkness especially felt in the first cathedral we visited and leaving!!!

…all the lost people living in darkness who don’t know the Lord.

…small children begging for money, a corrupt and careless government, and the great deal of idols and images that they so blindly worship.

Something I really enjoyed was…
…getting to know the Harer children, adult conversation with like-minded Christ-seeking Christians.

…fellowship and worship with Mexican believers, bilingual and multicultural church service, trying new foods, and last but not least toilet tongs!!!

…being with the Harer family, worshipping with them and praying with them!

…worship with the Mexican people, worshiping and proclaiming the true and living God in front of the temples and alters of false gods, conversations with Ken

Thanks Guys

2009-07-17T19:42:00.002-04:00

We enjoyed having the youth group with us last week. They were a huge encouragement. We found the team to be considerate, accepting of us and one another, kind, helpful, open, passionate for God and thoughtful. They came with an attitude to participate whether that meant riding a crowded bus, eating some strange food like grasshoppers, leading the Sunday service or cleaning up around the house.

The group came with a heart of a servant and God honored that. Thursday was particularly memorable as they connected with Mexican youth in a three hour jam fest and praise service. It was good enough for the young people from El Puente to ask if they could get together again on Saturday.

If they had come for nothing else but to encourage our family, it was worth it - late night conversations, thoughtful gifts, letters of encouragement or that Saturday evening challenge; all meant a great deal to us.

We also appreciate the parents who overcame their fears of influenza, travel, health, safety and all the unknowns that lurk in the shadows of Mexico to trust God. They must have taken a lesson from Mr. Beaver who reminded Lucy, “Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” These parents gave their children the gift of a lifetime. Not only in learning a different culture but encouraging them to be open to God’s leading in their lives…..and that is invaluable.

Jason and Angela are a quality couple and have a unique gift to minister to teens. They have the balance of having fun (like playing the beat box, nailing our son with an airsoft gun and using the toilet tongs) and taking the Word of God seriously. Their lives reflect what they believe; no plastic Christianity for them.

Oh yes, there was the little matter of a birthday this week

It’s All About The Group – A Photo Journal

2009-07-13T00:50:00.003-04:00

DBC Youth at Cathedral Square

Mexico meets Appalachia

Children of the Burning Heart – On tour in a city near you

Peering out over the pyramid

Authentic Mexican food at El Balcón

Enter the Worship Circle for Sunday morning service

A young couple who know how to have fun…

…and get serious about the Word

One teen was apprehended