Posts
Upside-Down & Rightside-Up
August 17, 2003
Dear Loved Ones!
Thanks so much for your prayers & support. How so very much I needed it during my tour "down under" in New Zealand & Australia!
Indeed, there I found their seasons mixed, people walking upside down, cars on the wrong side of the road, & everyone talking in this strange accent (though they claim I was the one with the accent). Just getting into cars & crossing the street were often a confusing & even hazardous experience! (Which way do you look first?)
This letter I'm going to make uncharacteristically short (I hear sighs of relief from many of you), as I need to get to bed to start work again in the morning.
I'll stick to the items on the prayer list from the last letter.
1. Thank you for praying for the time with extended family. This was the most amazingly wonderful part of my trip, both in New Zealand & Australia. Without going into embarrassing detail, let me just say that not only was I the recipient of great love & hospitality, but I was also given the opportunity to serve & be served in the midst of a family (like all others I suppose, in their own way) that needs Christ's daily miraculous work. Continued prayer is needed & appreciated.
2. Thank you also for praying for my preaching August 10. I preached at 2 sister EFCs (Evangelical Formosan Church) in the Sydney area. The Lord clearly gave me the words to say, & even though it was a sermon I'd delivered before at different churches, He helped make the message come out with a freshness I'd not expected. (I suppose sharing the Gospel & helping the poor never are stale topics for the Christian.) I got to meet several young adults who were excited about the Gospel, & one uncle (a pastor at one of the churches) told me that the sermon was timely in that these churches are embarking on their first mission experience this December. Though I hardly consider myself a mission expert, I was blessed by the barrage of very good questions during the ~1hour sessions after each service: "What's the hardest thing you've experienced on mission?" "How do you feel when people reject you or the Gospel?" "How do you choose between trying to reach many versus trying to reach a difficult few?" "How did you know you were called to fulltime missions?" "How do you prepare for missions?" These were but a few of the questions, but they gave me a sense of great hope for these congregations. I'm sure they appreciate your prayer for continued growth in these areas.
3. Thank you for praying for my future in ministry/career. Well, it's only been 2 weeks since that request, so not much has changed as far as I can tell, although an abundance of relatives & friends seemed to think that my future ministry & career will include a wife! I'm not sure how they got that idea... Anyway, please do continue praying for this (the career, not the wife). I do have a bit of anxiety about this, as things have not cleared up too much in the last 6 months despite much footwork on my part. God is good, I know. Please pray that I'd be faithful in following Him each day. Specifically, in the next 2 weeks I will decide whether to attend a large missions conference in Urbana, Illinois this December.
4. For those of you who prayed for less long-windedness in me, Amen! You got it!
Indeed, I am so blessed to know each of you & experience God's goodness through you. Yes, our God is so good. As I begin to settle back into "normal" quieter life, I thank Him for His goodness in everything, even in such things as being able to pet a kangaroo, see beautiful landscapes, milk a cow, & bottle-feed a lamb. Even the viruses which decided to throw a farewell party in my throat have settled quite
a bit.
Praise the Lord!
Please let me know how I may pray for you, too!
By His Grace,
Sid/Steve
PS: If you're receiving this kind of letter from me for the first time, it may be kind of disorienting. If you'd like, I'd be happy to send you the 2 preceding letters from my time in Guam.
Sunday, August 17, 2003
Sunday, August 03, 2003
When Ya Got Something Good, Ya Gotta Share It!
When Ya' Got Something Good, Ya' Gotta Share it!
August 2, 2003
Dear Loved Ones: I write to you (by hand 1st) from aboard a plane for New Zealand, & it's amazing to think that my time in Guam went by so quickly. It isn't possible to share in one letter all the neat things that've occurred in the past few weeks, but let me please share a few highlights with you.
WELL DADDY CHECKS & THE GOOD NEWS
Just over a week ago I had gotten up while it was still pitch black outside in order to see the sun rise over the ocean. I drove over to the east side of the island thinking it'd be easy to find a good place, but as the sky grew brighter & brighter I realized that I had to go further & further north in order to avoid having the horizon blocked off by some land. Every turn I made either led down some spooky-looking deserted dirt road or was part of the air force base that was off limits to non-military personnel. Finally the sky was bright as day, & I realized I'd failed to see what I wanted.
It was my day off anyway, so I decided to just keep roaming around exploring the island in my "all-terrain" Mazda Protege. (Besides, the dirt roads weren't so spooky anymore.) I drove & drove & finally came across a beautiful sandy beach, the most beautiful I'd ever seen on Guam (& that's saying a lot! The beach, I learned later, is called Ritidian Point.) Waves were crashing on the coral reef about 100 yards out, & the water over the coral was quite invitingly flat. Right then & there I wanted to tell my friend & snorkelling buddy Dr. Shepherd about what I'd found, & perhaps come back & snorkel with him there.
It was still relatively early though, so I thought I'd just take some time to drink in the beauty & thank our wonderful God for His creation. As I sat, it began to sprinkle a bit, & you know what I saw then??? A full-length rainbow – extending from the sea all the way inland!!! "Thank You, God!" I exclaimed. Lacking my high-tech 2-way pager from back home, I sped back to the clinic, cackling & chortling with excitement over what I'd seen & over how Dr. Shepherd would certainly be just as excited as I over the news.
As I raced back to clinic, I was reminded of an experience on the streets of Philadelphia related by Tony Campolo (a sociology professor & fiery spokesman for social activism in the church). He shared how he learned a deep theological truth from a homeless man who cheerfully offered him a sip of his coffee when Campolo walked by on his way to work. When Campolo asked him why he was in such a generous mood, he replied, "Well, when ya' got something good, ya' gotta share it!" Campolo was struck with new fervour to share the spiritual & material riches God bestowed on him.
You see, what made me excited as I zoomed back to clinic was the sense of God's richness to me not merely in showing me a beautiful landscape, but also in rescuing me from sin & condemnation. What wonderful news I have to share with others every day! Just the day before seeing Ritidian Point I was in clinic seeing one particular patient for a well-child check. Knowing that a child's health is greatly affected by his parents' relationship, I asked the 5-year-old's father my routine question, "How's the marriage going?" He flatly replied, "Terrible." It turned out that he & his wife had been sexually unfaithful to each other, on top of serious financial & relational problems. It was clear the man was hurting & was looking for answers, even to the point of becoming religious. Borrowing the question from one of my mentors, I asked him, "So what's your 'glue' in life? What keeps you from falling apart?" He answered, "My children & my love for my wife." After getting an OK from God, I quietly said, "It sounds like you need some better glue."
After getting his permission, we went through the basics of the Gospel message & issues of the heart, including parenting with an eye for the child's heart. We agreed that it couldn't be done without divine help, a personal relationship with God through Jesus. After the exam & the usual anticipatory guidance (to wear seatbelts, go to the dentist, etc.) we talked to God together, asking for His help. It was a beautiful day... you couldn’t SLAP the grin off my face as I thought on God's goodness. Believe it or not, there were other similar (yet not as striking) conversations with other dads in my time on Guam.
WILD PARTIES & BROTHERS IN CHRIST
Ever been to a PITY PARTY? I've been to some pretty wild & crazy ones, complete with long-faced violinists & all-you-can-use Kleenex. Some even come with flavoured pacifiers & complimentary security blankets for all guests. A party is not a true pity party, however, without decadent international cheeses. The cheese, of course, is always served with great goblets full of fine 'whine.'
It's strange: even though I've hosted many of these pity parties, nobody else ever shows up. Thus I'm left alone, with nobody to see me in my new grey suit... made, of course, of 100% pure 'sulk.'
OK, OK, I'm taking the analogy too far. What I mean is that even in Guam for a while I had these pity parties about how I was alone & how nobody understands me. Of course, what I needed to do was repent (which I did a few times), but God showed Himself faithful in providing brothers to bless me in unique ways while on Guam. Despite having great brothers in Christ back home, I felt the truth of Proverbs 27:10b "Better is a neighbour nearby than a brother far away." Let me tell you about three of these blessed 'neighbours':
1. Nathan Wiebe is from Canada, a young youth pastor serving in the Church of God in Guam for a few years. We actually met when I "happened to get bumped" into the same scuba class as his, so we did some diving together. He seemed a friendly chap, so we went out for meals, bowled with other friends, & drove around the island together (it only takes a few hours). Most blessed to me, though, was that we could share our thoughts on ministry, women, & direction in life, as well as past experiences (quite similar actually) & struggles we were going through. Thank You, God, for Nathan, & thanks, Nathan!
2. Marcelin Charles is a Haitian-American family practice doctor I met when I sat in his Sunday School class at a local Baptist church. Our time together was actually quite brief, but I was deeply blessed when he took me out for lunch with his family after church. In our conversation I learned his story of faith & ministry (earlier he too had a sense of calling to the Arab world); his fervour for loving service to God inspired me. I was also tickled to hear of how God unfolded the romance between him & his wife Marian. Thanks, God, for Marcelin (& thank you also, Marcelin)!
3. Allen Shepherd (I mentioned him earlier) is a surgeon from Michigan who was also on short-term assignment at the Seventh-Day Adventist clinic. He served as a missionary for many years in Africa, & worked in recent years in the American Midwest, but God called him to be a full time pastor, so he's now retiring from medicine. I also enjoyed talking with him about ministry & overseas service, & he enjoyed ribbing me about my singleness. Something that impressed me about him was his easy laugh & sense of wonder as we snorkelled together & saw all kinds of life we'd never seen before. Thanks, Dr. Shepherd, & thank You, God!
God is so good, Dear Reader. I don't know if you too have the sense of deep need for brothers & sisters nearby for encouragement & reflection, but that's a need that God put into all of our hearts. I hope we all let Him show Himself faithful in providing for that need.
PRAY (er...please)!
Of course there are heaps of other things I could tell you from my time in Guam, but I think you've got enough eye-strain for one day. Please do pray for...
- time with extended family until my return to the U.S. August 16
- preaching in Sydney about missions August 10
- guidance for post-residency life (a very short 11 months to completion)
- less long-windedness in future letters (Believe me,I do try to be concise! Ha!)
Thanks so much; your support means a great deal to me. Please also let me know how I may pray for you.
Love,
Sid Steve
August 2, 2003
Dear Loved Ones: I write to you (by hand 1st) from aboard a plane for New Zealand, & it's amazing to think that my time in Guam went by so quickly. It isn't possible to share in one letter all the neat things that've occurred in the past few weeks, but let me please share a few highlights with you.
WELL DADDY CHECKS & THE GOOD NEWS
Just over a week ago I had gotten up while it was still pitch black outside in order to see the sun rise over the ocean. I drove over to the east side of the island thinking it'd be easy to find a good place, but as the sky grew brighter & brighter I realized that I had to go further & further north in order to avoid having the horizon blocked off by some land. Every turn I made either led down some spooky-looking deserted dirt road or was part of the air force base that was off limits to non-military personnel. Finally the sky was bright as day, & I realized I'd failed to see what I wanted.
It was my day off anyway, so I decided to just keep roaming around exploring the island in my "all-terrain" Mazda Protege. (Besides, the dirt roads weren't so spooky anymore.) I drove & drove & finally came across a beautiful sandy beach, the most beautiful I'd ever seen on Guam (& that's saying a lot! The beach, I learned later, is called Ritidian Point.) Waves were crashing on the coral reef about 100 yards out, & the water over the coral was quite invitingly flat. Right then & there I wanted to tell my friend & snorkelling buddy Dr. Shepherd about what I'd found, & perhaps come back & snorkel with him there.
It was still relatively early though, so I thought I'd just take some time to drink in the beauty & thank our wonderful God for His creation. As I sat, it began to sprinkle a bit, & you know what I saw then??? A full-length rainbow – extending from the sea all the way inland!!! "Thank You, God!" I exclaimed. Lacking my high-tech 2-way pager from back home, I sped back to the clinic, cackling & chortling with excitement over what I'd seen & over how Dr. Shepherd would certainly be just as excited as I over the news.
As I raced back to clinic, I was reminded of an experience on the streets of Philadelphia related by Tony Campolo (a sociology professor & fiery spokesman for social activism in the church). He shared how he learned a deep theological truth from a homeless man who cheerfully offered him a sip of his coffee when Campolo walked by on his way to work. When Campolo asked him why he was in such a generous mood, he replied, "Well, when ya' got something good, ya' gotta share it!" Campolo was struck with new fervour to share the spiritual & material riches God bestowed on him.
You see, what made me excited as I zoomed back to clinic was the sense of God's richness to me not merely in showing me a beautiful landscape, but also in rescuing me from sin & condemnation. What wonderful news I have to share with others every day! Just the day before seeing Ritidian Point I was in clinic seeing one particular patient for a well-child check. Knowing that a child's health is greatly affected by his parents' relationship, I asked the 5-year-old's father my routine question, "How's the marriage going?" He flatly replied, "Terrible." It turned out that he & his wife had been sexually unfaithful to each other, on top of serious financial & relational problems. It was clear the man was hurting & was looking for answers, even to the point of becoming religious. Borrowing the question from one of my mentors, I asked him, "So what's your 'glue' in life? What keeps you from falling apart?" He answered, "My children & my love for my wife." After getting an OK from God, I quietly said, "It sounds like you need some better glue."
After getting his permission, we went through the basics of the Gospel message & issues of the heart, including parenting with an eye for the child's heart. We agreed that it couldn't be done without divine help, a personal relationship with God through Jesus. After the exam & the usual anticipatory guidance (to wear seatbelts, go to the dentist, etc.) we talked to God together, asking for His help. It was a beautiful day... you couldn’t SLAP the grin off my face as I thought on God's goodness. Believe it or not, there were other similar (yet not as striking) conversations with other dads in my time on Guam.
WILD PARTIES & BROTHERS IN CHRIST
Ever been to a PITY PARTY? I've been to some pretty wild & crazy ones, complete with long-faced violinists & all-you-can-use Kleenex. Some even come with flavoured pacifiers & complimentary security blankets for all guests. A party is not a true pity party, however, without decadent international cheeses. The cheese, of course, is always served with great goblets full of fine 'whine.'
It's strange: even though I've hosted many of these pity parties, nobody else ever shows up. Thus I'm left alone, with nobody to see me in my new grey suit... made, of course, of 100% pure 'sulk.'
OK, OK, I'm taking the analogy too far. What I mean is that even in Guam for a while I had these pity parties about how I was alone & how nobody understands me. Of course, what I needed to do was repent (which I did a few times), but God showed Himself faithful in providing brothers to bless me in unique ways while on Guam. Despite having great brothers in Christ back home, I felt the truth of Proverbs 27:10b "Better is a neighbour nearby than a brother far away." Let me tell you about three of these blessed 'neighbours':
1. Nathan Wiebe is from Canada, a young youth pastor serving in the Church of God in Guam for a few years. We actually met when I "happened to get bumped" into the same scuba class as his, so we did some diving together. He seemed a friendly chap, so we went out for meals, bowled with other friends, & drove around the island together (it only takes a few hours). Most blessed to me, though, was that we could share our thoughts on ministry, women, & direction in life, as well as past experiences (quite similar actually) & struggles we were going through. Thank You, God, for Nathan, & thanks, Nathan!
2. Marcelin Charles is a Haitian-American family practice doctor I met when I sat in his Sunday School class at a local Baptist church. Our time together was actually quite brief, but I was deeply blessed when he took me out for lunch with his family after church. In our conversation I learned his story of faith & ministry (earlier he too had a sense of calling to the Arab world); his fervour for loving service to God inspired me. I was also tickled to hear of how God unfolded the romance between him & his wife Marian. Thanks, God, for Marcelin (& thank you also, Marcelin)!
3. Allen Shepherd (I mentioned him earlier) is a surgeon from Michigan who was also on short-term assignment at the Seventh-Day Adventist clinic. He served as a missionary for many years in Africa, & worked in recent years in the American Midwest, but God called him to be a full time pastor, so he's now retiring from medicine. I also enjoyed talking with him about ministry & overseas service, & he enjoyed ribbing me about my singleness. Something that impressed me about him was his easy laugh & sense of wonder as we snorkelled together & saw all kinds of life we'd never seen before. Thanks, Dr. Shepherd, & thank You, God!
God is so good, Dear Reader. I don't know if you too have the sense of deep need for brothers & sisters nearby for encouragement & reflection, but that's a need that God put into all of our hearts. I hope we all let Him show Himself faithful in providing for that need.
PRAY (er...please)!
Of course there are heaps of other things I could tell you from my time in Guam, but I think you've got enough eye-strain for one day. Please do pray for...
- time with extended family until my return to the U.S. August 16
- preaching in Sydney about missions August 10
- guidance for post-residency life (a very short 11 months to completion)
- less long-windedness in future letters (Believe me,I do try to be concise! Ha!)
Thanks so much; your support means a great deal to me. Please also let me know how I may pray for you.
Love,
Sid Steve
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