stories: Loving and Serving Ethiopians
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
When I was applying to PhD programs, someone told me to choose a program based on the professor that I would be working with. Why? Because I would be spending alot of time with that person, and his or her way of life and thinking would surely affect my own.
After considering several different people and program, I realized that I most wanted to study under David Alan Black. One of the reasons that I wanted to work with him is because of his and his wife’s love of the people of Ethiopia.
Becky Lynn Black grew up in Ethiopia as the daughter of missionaries. A few years ago, she took her husband back to that country to show him where she was raised. On that trip, they both fell in love with the people they met. In the years since, they have made several trips back to Ethiopia, always using their own money to pay for their transportation and other needs. When people give them money, they always use that money for Ethiopians, not for themselves, not even for their travel expenses to get to Ethiopia. Furthermore, the Blacks work with the existing churches in Ethiopia; they do not try to start their own work, but work where God is already working. (You can find out more about their trips and how they have invited other believers to join them in Dave Black’s Ethiopia Files.)
I’ll simply tell two stories of many that could be told. On one of their early trips to Ethiopia, the Blacks met a family whose young daughter had been murdered because the family were Christians. The Blacks loved on the family, comforted them, and mourned with them.
As they were driving back from that village, they noticed lights in the distance. They asked about the source of the lights, and they were told that it was a prison – the very prison where the young girl’s murderer was being held. They asked to go to the prison, and through that visit and subsequent visits, they were able to meet and befriend the man who murdered the young Christian girl.
The church in the area began to provide the murderer with blankets and other necessities that the prisons do not provide. They began to show him that they loved him in spite of his sin and his current circumstances. Eventually, the murderer confessed Christ and began following him. His life changed so drastically that the prison decided to release him. Now, the murderer is training to be an evangelist. In Ethiopia, this means he plans to travel away from home, to stay in various places, in order to proclaim the gospel and build up the churches in those areas.
Last year, Mrs. Black travelled to Ethiopia and stayed for several months to help an Ethiopian woman who was pregnant. The woman had lost several babies and was having difficulties with this pregnancy. So, Mrs. Black took care of her until she delivered a healthy baby.
There are many, many more stories like these in the Ethiopia Files and many, many more lives that have been changed by a proclamation of the gospel that includes a demonstration of God’s love through Jesus Christ. Through the Blacks, God has provided Ethiopians with Bibles, blankets, reading glasses, vehicles, a medical clinic, and wells for clean drinking water.
I decided a few years ago that this was the kind of man and family that I wanted to influence myself and my family.
I walked on by
Everyone needs to read this story in a post called “walking away from church” written by Aaron at “Regenerate“. This story illustrates how far we’ve come from Jesus’ example of the Good Samaritan, and how close we are to the priest and the Levite – doing things for God, but forgetting about the people around us.
This is how Aaron starts his post:
She stood there with her head hung low and a scarf over her head as she held a sign in her hand. At first I couldn’t quite make out the words but then, almost instantly, they became clear: “Sick with cancer, no health insurance. Selling crafts for treatment.” She didn’t look homeless, in fact she was recently showered and clothed in a sun dress, but the frailness of her body showed the signs of a long bout with chemotherapy and a disease that was ravaging her life.
I walked on by.
Make sure the read the entire post.
How many times have we walked by? Its time to stop walking by hurting people, even when we’re on our way to meet with the church.
stories: I thought she was rude
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
We met “Sheila” (or rather, one of her children) the first day we met people in the Neighborhood (our name for a local government assisted housing project). I thought she was rude.
After our friend Cathy introduced us to several of her neighbors, she had to return home. We still had one bag of produce left. So, we knock on the next door. A young boy (around 11-12) answered the door. He said his mother was on the phone and couldn’t come to the door. (I thought that was rude.) I gave him the bag of fruits and vegetables and told him we were friends of their neighbor Cathy. He said, “Okay,” then took the produce and closed the door.
The next week, when we returned to the neighborhood, we had a great time visiting the neighbors that we had met the previous week… well, except for Sheila’s family. Once again, when we knocked on her door, one of her children answered – I think it was her 8 year old daughter this time, with the toddler not far behind. Once again, she said her mother was on the phone and couldn’t come to the door. I gave her the bag of produce and left.
On the way home, I talked to Margaret (my wife) about how rude it was for this lady to send her children to the door. I mean, she was only talking on the phone. She could always call back. There was only one word to describe it – RUDE!
This went on for several weeks. I would knock on the door. One of the children would open the door and explain that their mother was on the phone. The child would take the fruits and vegetables, and that would be the end of it. We knew very little about this family except that there were at least three children and the mother was rude.
One week, some friends decided to join us. So, we went through the neighborhood in two different groups – one group with me, and one group with Margaret. Our group had a great time talking to the neighbors. We were able to spend more time with each person, and (since our friends bought produce, too) we were also able to meet a few new neighbors.
Being the kind gentleman that I am, I left Margaret with the responsibility of stopping by Sheila’s house. When we met up again, Margaret was excited to tell me what happened. This time, when Margaret knocked on the door, Sheila answered. She talked to Margaret for a long, long time. Apparently, Sheila works on Saturday mornings, and when she was “on the phone”, she was actually working. (wow… imagine that… Not only did I misunderstand her, I was the one being rude by interrupting her work.)
Margaret and Sheila hit it off immediately. She told Margaret that she was divorced, and actually had four children. The daughter that we had not met was away at college. Over the next few weeks, Margaret always went to Sheila’s house, and she always talked to Sheila. If she was working, then she would ask Margaret to come back by. When Margaret came back, Sheila would be on the porch waiting for her. The thing that Margaret noticed first about Sheila was how much she appreciated the produce that we brought, and how much she appreciated that time that Margaret spent with her.
We also found out that besides working to support her family, Sheila also attended community college. She would finish her classes soon, and then would do an internship. She wanted to find a better job in order to support her family better.
Sheila has had a rough life. I’m surprised that she ever started talking to us in the first place. I imagine that it is very difficult for her to trust people, especially men. But, I will have to tell more of Sheila’s story another time.
stories: Preparing and eating meals with the hungry
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
A few weeks ago, my friend Jason shared a story with us – a true story. Jason works evenings as a security guard. On the way to work each evening, he sees a man standing by the highway exit with a sign that says he’s hungry. Jason said that God has been reminding him of that man every time he prepared his meals to take to work with him, and every time he eats his meals at work.
One Sunday, Jason asked the church to pray for him. He had decided to fix extra food and offer it to the man with the sign. On top of that, Jason was not planning to simply give the man food, but he was going to ask the man if he could join him for dinner. We prayed for Jason and the hungry man that day.
The next week, Jason share more of the story. The first day that Jason went to work, he prepared his meal, plus some extra food in another container. When Jason drove by the exit, he was disappointed to see that the man was not there.
The next day, Jason again prepared his own meal and some extra for the hungry man. Once again, the man was not at the exit when Jason drove to work.
On the third day, Jason considered not preparing extra food, but he decided to do so anyway. As he took the highway exit to his workplace, he saw the man standing in his usual place. Jason stopped and approached the man. He explained to the man that he had seen him standing by the road with the sign that said he was hungry. He explained that God had prompted him to prepare extra food for the man, and he offered the man the food.
Next, Jason told the man that he would like to come back next time and eat dinner with him. The man explained to my friend that there were actually three different homeless people who stand by that exit. They had a place under a nearby tree where they eat together whenever someone provides food.
Jason asked if he could provide food and join them. He also explained that there may be times when he didn’t have enough food to share, but he would still like to join them and spend time with them. The hungry man thanked Jason for the food and welcomed him to join them whenever he could.
I don’t know how this story will end. It is still ongoing. However, I can tell that God is moving my friend Jason to care for the least of this world. And, beyond caring, Jason is being moved to act on his love and concern for this people. Jason is not simply sharing food or money, though. Instead, he is planning to share his life with them.
What would happen if all of God’s children followed Jason’s example?
stories: The Neighborhood
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
Not too long ago, we met a lady named Cathy. Cathy began meeting with the church on Sundays, and we were able to get to know her a little more. There are many stories that I could tell about Cathy, but this story is about her neighborhood.
Cathy lives in a government assisted housing development – a project. Every Sunday, she would ask for prayer or for help for her neighbors. We would pray for them and help them as we could. We furnished her next door neighbor’s apartment when he moved.
As Cathy continued to talk about her neighbors, I realized that God was giving me an opportunity to get to know some people who were very different from me in many ways. I talked with Cathy and told her that I would like to meet her neighbors. She was excited about it and said that she would introduce me.
I was glad that Cathy was going to introduce me, because I wouldn’t be going in as a stranger. But, I also wanted some other way to demonstrate Christ’s love to the people in the neighborhood. After talking with a few people, I decided to take small bags of fresh produce with me to give to Cathy’s neighbors. I knew that some charities took food to this neighborhood, but they usually took old cakes and cookies or old food that the grocery stores couldn’t sell. Since our family had recently started eating healthier, I decided to bring fresh produce to encourage healthy eating habits.
The next Saturday morning, I stopped by the roadside produce stand and bought some vegetables and fruit for five small grocery bags – potatoes, beans, squash, apples, oranges, onions, tomatoes… probably only about $5 worth in each bag. Then, I drove to Cathy’s apartment. I gave Cathy the first bag of produce and talked with her for a few minutes. Then, she introduced me to two of her neighbors and told me about a few other neighbors.
As she introduced me to her neighbors, she simply said, “This is my friend, Alan. He wanted to meet you.”
I would then explain that I had some fresh vegetables and fruit for them, then start talking with them. It was easy to get to know them with Cathy there, because they trusted her. Eventually, they would start to trust me as well. But, at this point, I just wanted to get to know them… to listen to their stories… to learn from them.
Eventually, Cathy had to return to her apartment. I still had one bag of produce left, because some of the people she wanted to introduce me to were not at home. So, I knocked on someone’s door – someone that Cathy had not introduced me to. A child opened the door, and I told him that I was a friend of their neighbor’s (Cathy), and I wanted to give them some fresh produce. (This neighborhood is used to getting handouts, so this would not be surprising to him.) I asked if his mother or father was at home, and he told me his mother was on the phone. Each week that I came back to that house, the mother was on the phone. The children would thank me for the vegetables and fruit, then shut the door. I thought it was rude… but eventually we became very close to this family… but that’s another story.
The next Saturday, my family joined me. We knocked on the doors of the people that I had met the previous week. Most of them remembered me, and were happy to meet my family. Again, when we had talked to everyone we knew who was at home, there was an extra bag, so we knocked on another door, and met someone new.
We’ve been visiting the people in Cathy’s neighborhood for almost a year now. Over the months, another family and a few other friends started going with us. We were able to spend more time talking with the neighbors and buy more produce than when I started. But, we always made sure that people remained the most important. If someone was outside their apartment, we would stop and talk to them, even if we did not have produce. If the people wanted to talk, we would talk. If they did not want to talk, we wouldn’t talk. But, we made ourselves available.
We’ve had opportunities to drive some of the neighbors to doctor’s appointments, or pick them up when they were released from the hospital. We’ve had opportunities to tutor some of the neighbors and provide toys at Christmas. We invited friends to help us rake leaves last fall and sing Christmas carols in December. We’ve laughed and cried and listened and talked and prayed and encouraged and admonished and lived with these wonderful people for almost a year.
Through this time, we’ve seen God change some of the neighbors, and we’ve seen God change us. I have many, many more stories to tell from the time that we spend in the neighborhood. But, I will have to tell those stories another day.
Everyday Missional
As most of my readers know, our family serves people in various ways. We spend time with people in a local nursing home and government assisted housing project. But, in reality, these opportunities to serve God by serving other people are the tip of the iceberg.
What do I mean by that? I mean that primarily God uses us to serve people in simple, everday ways. Grace at “Kingdom Grace” has written an excellent post about this type of serving in a post called “Missional in the Moment“.
Grace expresses how she has learned to serve people moment by moment:
- The main thing that I learned about myself is that in order to love others, I usually have to go one step beyond what I am culturally comfortable with. I was raised to respect other people’s privacy, to be non-intrusive, to be non-demonstrative, and to be somewhat introverted about approaching others. Not that I am now obnoxious, but in order to express care to others, I have to step outside of my comfort zone and risk stepping into theirs.
- I have also discovered that I have to stay present in the moment and present to the people around me. Most missional moments appear fairly insignificant.
- Missional moments look like an opportunity to let someone know that I care about them and what they are going through, sometimes just with words, sometimes with specific actions.
- Remembering I carry within me the light, power, and life of Jesus Christ, the choice is always available to me to share that love with others or to withhold it. I try to be generous with His abundant love.
- I am sharpening my awareness that everywhere around me are people who need words of life and sharpening my sensitivity to where God is at work.
- From a kingdom perspective, every act of love and care is an investment in eternity. I remind myself of the eternal significance of even the smallest opportunities to love.
- That’s it. Learning moment by moment to hear from the Father, to follow the Spirit, and to share the love of Jesus in every imaginable opportunity that presents itself during my day.
There is alot of wisdom is what Grace has to say. We’ve found that God gives amazing opportunities to serve and demonstrate his love to others when we are aware of the people that he puts in our lives, and when we are willing to go beyond our comfort zone. What do you think about Grace’s list?
stories: Mrs. Jennie
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
My friends go to the nursing home almost every week to read the Bible and sing songs. Before they begin to read and after they sing, my friends (along with their four boys) make their way from resident to resident and pass out hugs and listen to their stories. Since I was not teaching last summer, I went with them a few times. On my first visit, I met Mrs. Jennie.
Mrs. Jennie is in her mid-eighties and rides around in a motorized wheelchair because her legs are very weak. I sat beside her the day that I met her, and I held the song book open for her when we sang. She later told me that she couldn’t see the words, but she appreciated me holding the book for her.
After my friend read from Matthew’s gospel about “the least of these”, Mrs. Jennie leaned over to me. In her New York City accent she said, “I’m not an atheist, but all this religion stuff is new to me. I only come to Story Time because of him”. She pointed at the three year old son who was passing out song books to the residents with a big smile on his face. When he got to us, he handed me a song book and grinned at Mrs. Jennie. She touch his hair and beamed back at him.
We made a connection that day, and my family has fallen in love with Mrs. Jennie. We visit her in the nursing home every week. As we got to know her, she started telling us more about herself and her family. We found out that she has a daughter that she doesn’t talk to, and that there was even a restraining order once. She told us that she had two sons (“Both of them were good boys”), and they both died in traffic accidents when they were 21. Each one left a wife and child behind – and a mother who wondered why they were taken from her.
Mrs. Jennie talks about how she’s different now than she once was. She talks about how she was once mean and angry and sad, but now she feels “blessed”. One day, when we were visiting with us, she pulled out an evangelistic tract that a well-meaning person had given her. She said, “He wanted to push me to make a decision. I told him that I couldn’t pray something that I didn’t mean in my heart. Plus, I told him that if I needed to talk to someone, I have you and your family.”
In December and January, we were out of town for several weeks, both because we were travelling for Christmas and New Years, and because my wife’s father had open heart surgery. We sent word to Mrs. Jennie through our friends, so that she would know what was going on and why we were not visiting her.
Later, the kids and I came back home and left Margaret in Alabama for a few more weeks to take care of her father. We went to see Mrs. Jennie not long after we got back home. The first thing she did as ask about Margaret’s father. Then she said, “Tell Margaret that I’m praying for him. I don’t know how to pray, so I look out my window and talk to God like he’s here with me. I think he hears me.”
Last week, for Valentine’s Day, we gave Mrs. Jennie a bouquet of roses. She barely talked for our whole visit. Finally she said, “I don’t know what to say. No one has ever given me flowers before. Not even my husband.” She half-smiled and half-cried for the remainder of our visit.
On one visit, Mrs. Jennie surprised us with a gift. She had painted a picture of a cross and had it framed for us. When she gave it to me, she pointed to the cross and said, “I’m very close”. Mrs. Jennie still struggles with the death of her sons. She still wonders why God would take them away from her. But, God is changing her. I’m glad that God has allowed our family to be part of her life and part of the process that he’s using to draw her to himself.
stories: Bill was hungry
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
Last month, on a Sunday, as we were getting ready to eat lunch together, one of our brothers walked in with a young man named Bill. Bill was riding his bicycle in the sleet, looking for food for himself and his sister. Bill told me that he was sixteen – I’m not sure how old his sister is. He told me that his mother was a drug addict and had left the house looking for drugs. Bill didn’t have any food for himself or his sister.
I talked to Bill for few minutes, then I fixed him some lunch – a meatball hoagie and some chips. It wasn’t much, but he was very appreciative. We asked if we could give him anything else, and he said, “No.” We asked him if we could give him a ride somewhere, and he said, “No.” We invited him to come have lunch with us anytime he wants to.
Since we’ve been meeting together as the church in the downtown area, I’ve been surprised at how many people we have run across who said they were hungry. We have always had enough food to share with them. Sometimes, the people will eat with us, and we are able to talk with them more – get to know them – find out about them and their situation – learn how we can serve them better. Sometimes, the people take the food we offer them and leave. For the most part, the people have always been appreciative.
I don’t know if Bill really needed food. I don’t know if his sister was really at home asleep. I don’t know if his mother was really a drug addict who had left her children alone in order to find drugs.
What do I know? I know that Bill (and others) told us that they were hungry. I know that we had food available. I know that we met their needs as we were able. I know that we offered to help them more.
Can we solve the world’s hunger problem? No. Can we help people who are hungry? Yes.
stories: Dallas Homeless
This post is part of my “stories” series. In this series, I share stories of how people live their lives in response to the gospel and as a demonstration of God’s love in order to teach us and to provide an example to provoke us to love and good works. (See “stories: A New Series” for more information about this series.)
This story was submitted by Lionel, one of my readers, who blogs at “The Gospel in 3-D“.
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On the Saturday before Christmas a group of independent believers decided they wanted to find a unique way to share the love of Christ with the homeless. But it actually started way before then. I got the idea by praying for a creative way to serve the community abroad. As I was walking through the mall the Spirit gave me a clear revelation. Steve and Barrys was having a going out of business sale where their shoes and coats would be 40-60% off. The store has really good quality clothing at a really low price so I thought “why not buy a bunch of clothes and coats and take them down to the homeless”. Well I decided to talk to a few friends of mine and a couple of them were interested.
My brother Ced decided to forward to the pastor of a house church he has been attending and they took the idea even further. They added water, sandwiches, fresh fruit and also decided to buy even more clothes, coats, and shoes. This was a blessing indeed since I really didn’t want to go there alone and due to the fact that the Lord impressed upon my heart to ask others in order to give them an opportunity to serve. Well I decided from there to post the outreach on my blog www.blackandreformedministries.com [Lionel has since started blogging at www.gospelin3d.com] and I found that a sister named Javetta who visited the blog was actually in the area and wanted to do what she could do. Javetta who blogs at regeneratedmusings.blogspot.com decided to bring some shirts and socks.
Well we started out over Brian’s house, they were making sandwiches, fellowshipping, and getting ready for the outreach. It was nice to meet other believers. Not worrying about doctrinal stuff, not talking theology, but living out theology in the way that Christ did. As we finished up and the kids came down, we noticed one problem. We really didn’t know any direct place to go. So we set out to one location, talked to a few people and ended up at a docking station. There we found hundreds of homeless men and women and all type of people from all walks of life. It was fun to laugh with them, share with them, and not try to proselytize them. No “how to get out of hell today” cards, just loving talking about Jesus and when the opportunity arose, sharing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
At the end this was a success! Not because the media was there, not because our church had checked off one more thing on the list, not because there was some program. It was a success because we only wanted to do what Jesus wanted us to. Quite a few people were excited and gave us hugs and “God bless”‘s.
I did want to highlight something. We ran out of shoes early and there was a woman in her mid 40’s or so who had on a new pair of industrial work shoes/boots, but they looked rather small for her stature. Well after talking with her for awhile she shared her disappointment about her inability to retain a pair of shoes. She said someone had given her the ones she had on but they were about a size or so too small. Our sister Javetta kindly and without a second thought, took her designer boots (not designer as in 100’s of dollars but very stylish and hip) and gave them too her. She told us a story about how she searched for those boots a couple of months and had finally found the right size, but that she was listening to a song about how God gave away what cost Him and decided that she wanted to be like God. Wow!
Well we won’t stop there. This month we will partner up with my good friend Shannon Neffendorf who owns and operates www.oakcliffcoffee.com . We will go out the next time to share some coffee and the love of Christ. We want to trust the Spirit to give us creative ways to minister to people. I don’t know what we will be doing in February. Maybe giving some roses or something like. Just want to love folks as Jesus commanded us.
There is one thing I learned. That is, we love people in spite of the responses we get back. I remember a place in Luke where Jesus heals 10 blind men. Of the 10 only one returns and Jesus asks “where are the others”. Jesus being fully divine knew and understood before He ever healed them that they wouldn’t thank Him. That they would celebrate their gift of eyesight and ignore the gift giver. However, that did not hinder Jesus from loving them by healing them. And even though many people never told Jesus “thank you” and many who were healed by Him maybe yelled “crucify Him”, his love was the determining factor not others’ response. And that is where I am today. Regardless of the appreciation, regardless of the praise or the pats on the back, I want to serve others as my Master would serve them. The entire work of redemption is a work of service on undeserving creatures – myself included – and Jesus boasts “the son of man did not come to be served but to serve”. This is not conditioned on human response but flows for His love for humanity.
Christ = The Least?
Beth at “Coffee Klatch” wrote an excellent post last week called “There Goes Christ“. She questions the wisdom and the meaning behind a phrase like “There, but by the grace of God, go I”. Here are some of her comments about this phrase:
[It] doesn’t connect people. It divides them. Even though it seems to acknowledge our similarities it says that by the grace of God that person is less than me and thanks God that I am not like him. Maybe instead of saying “There, but by the grace of God, go I.” We should say simply “There go I.” And remember that the needy brother or sister at our side is no different than us and we are no different than them. Or maybe instead we should say, “There goes Christ.” Remembering that whatever we do to the least of these we do unto Christ himself.
Last week, I saw a 16 yr old boy who was trying to take care of himself as well as his younger brother and sister. Last weekend, a man in a wheelchair interrupted our lunch asking for food. Did I see them as myself? Did I see them as less than myself? Did I see them as Christ?