Bozhandawa

The Person of Christ

2008-09-14T15:03:00.002-06:00

For the Son of God, the incarnation meant a whole new set of relationships: with his father and mother; with this brothers and sisters; with his disciples; with the scribes, the Pharisees and Sadducees; the Roman soldiers and with lepers and prostitutes. It was within these relationships that he lived his incarnate life, experiencing pain, poverty and temptation; witnessing squalor and brutality; hearing obscenities and the hopeless cry of the oppressed. He lived not in sublime detachment or in ascetic isolation, but 'with us', as 'the fellow-man of all men', crowded, busy, harassed, stressed and molested. No large estate gave him space, no financial capital guaranteed his daily bread, no personal staff protected him from interruptions and no power or influence protected him from injustice. He saved us from alongside us."

-Donald Macleod, The Person of Christ

Decide This Doubt for Me

2008-06-25T11:06:00.001-06:00

The Lord will happiness divine
On contrite hearts bestow;
Then tell me, gracious God, is mine
A contrite heart or no?

I hear, but seem to hear in vain,
Insensible as steel;
If aught is felt, 'tis only pain,
To find I cannot feel.

I sometimes think myself inclined
To love Thee if I could;
But often feel another mind,
Averse to all that's good.

My best desires are faint and few,
I fain would strive for more;
But when I cry, "My strength renew!"
Seem weaker than before.

Thy saints are comforted, I know,
And love Thy house of prayer;
I therefore go where others go,
But find no comfort there.

Oh make this heart rejoice or ache;
Decide this doubt for me;
And if it be not broken, break,
And heal it, if it be.

-William Cowper

Jesus

2008-03-25T16:46:00.002-06:00

"Those who celebrate the mighty resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, have an awesome responsibility. When we say, 'Alleluia! Christ is risen,' we are saying that Jesus is Lord of the world, and that the present would-be lords of the world are not. When we sing, in the old hymn, that 'Judah's Lion burst his chains, and crushed the serpent's head,' are we ready to put that victory into practice? ...Are we ready to speak up for the truth of the gospel over the dinner table, and in the coffee bar, and in the council chamber? Let's make no bones about it: if Easter isn't good news, then there is no good news. But if it is - if it is true that Jesus Christ is risen indeed - then Easter day, and the Easter message, is the true sun which, when it rises, puts all other suns to shame."

-N.T. Wright, For All God's Wrath

"How was I to cross it? If I were to stake my whole life on the risen Christ, I wanted proof. I wanted certainty. I wanted to see him eat a bit of fish. I wanted letters of fire across the sky. I got none of these. And I continued to hang on about the edge of the gap... It was a question of whether I was going to accept him - or reject him. My God! There was a gap behind me as well! Perhaps the leap to acceptance was a horrifying gamble - but what of the leap to rejection? There might be no certainty that Christ was God - but, by God, there was no certainty that he was not. There was not to be borne, I could not reject Jesus. There was only one thing to do once I had seen the gap behind me. I turned away from it, flung myself over the gap towards Jesus."

-Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy

Faith

2008-03-24T23:23:00.002-06:00

"Nowhere is there a perfect faith, and therefore it follows that we are partly unbelievers. Yet in His kindness God pardons us and reckons us as believers on account of our small portion of faith. Meanwhile it is for us to shake off carefully the remnants of unbelief that remain within us, and fight against them and ask the Lord to correct them; and so often as we toil in this struggle we must flee to Him for succor. If we consider aright what is given to each man, it will be very clear that those who excel in faith are rarest, those with a middling faith are few, and the most are endowed with only a small measure."

-John Calvin, Institute

"We are not saved because we have a strong subjective faith. That is to focus the matter on us, and besides our faith is not strong. It is weak and vacillating. We are saved because of the promises of God made known to us in the pages of the Bible. In other words, Christian faith is a Bible-based faith. Or, to put it in still other words, we are saved not because of our faith but because of God's word. Faith is merely receiving God's promises and believing them on the basis of God's character."

-James M. Boice, Two Cities, Two Loves

Good Friday

2008-03-21T01:44:00.008-06:00

When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God! All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe, Spreads o’er His body on the tree; Then I am dead to all the globe, And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.

The following link is to a video depicting Christ on the cross by Mars Hill Church of Seattle. It is graphic in nature; young children and those sensitive to violence should watch with discretion.

http://www.marshillchurch.org/special/goodfriday08/default.aspx

Weakening Dollar Hurts Missionaries

2008-03-19T23:10:00.003-06:00

I just ran across this article in the PCA's magazine ByFaith. A possible recession in the US would continue to affect those of us that live "by faith" through the financial support of friends, family, and churches. And while this is true, the reality is that all of our money comes from God. It's his, not ours, not to hoard, but to share.

http://byfaithonline.com/page/pca-news/weakening-dollar-hurts-missionaries

The Greatest Cause in the World

2008-03-14T00:03:00.001-06:00

"The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting their earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the treasure he is." -John Piper

Gandhi on Christians and the Bible

2008-03-10T10:13:00.001-06:00

“If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.”

Proximate Justice

2008-03-09T14:14:00.003-06:00

I've begun reading about proximate justice at Comment Magazine, published in part by Gideon Strauss and Steve Garber, and I was struck by what a reader said in response:

"Shaped as we are by a robust Kingdom vision, in which "sins and sorrows grow no more, nor thorns infest the ground," it can be tempting to become so forward-looking that we forget about the hard work necessary in the here and now."

prosperity gospel

2008-03-09T12:53:00.000-06:00

Todo en Matachi es muy grande!

2008-02-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

The phrase of the week was "Todo en Matachi es muy grande!" Everything in Matachi is very big!! In reality, nothing is... it's a tiny town of 3,000 with one paved road and 45 minutes from the nearest decent sized town. It started as a joke but ended up challenging us to view the world with God's eyes. Matachi is a small, nothing town but, Lord willing, great things will come from this town. The week has really been wonderful and I'm blessed to have been here. I look forward to returning to teach in the future.

Luciano, a student from Argentina. As I had hoped, we befriended a rancher and rode his horse this afternoon.

Susie, a family friend and my translator, Luciano, and I after eating sweet and sour chicken. Susie and I cooked the food that night and used skewers for chopsticks. A great evening.

Teaching the Arabic script to the students. I taught about 18 hours in four days; class topics ranged from communicating gospel truths through stories, the Arabic alphabet, and discipleship issues.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

Mexico to the 10/40

2008-02-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

I'm in Matachi, Chihuahua, Mexico, for the week teaching a course on evangelism at Instituto de Movilizacion Misionera. I have five students going through a two-year residential program before heading to the field, somewhere in the 10/40 window, for a minimum of two years.

I spent Sunday in Chihuahua, the capital city, with the students, the director, and a long-time family friend (also my interpreter) who works for the missions organization that founded the school. We attended 2 church services hoping to meet prospective students. The first church service, at the most missions minded Methodist church in Mexico, lasted two hours. "Es normal," I thought, we're in Mexico, church lasts longer. I had no idea what we were in store for: a 3.5 church service that started at noon at one of the largest protestant churches in Chihuahua, including a 90 minute praise and worship session and a show and tell for a 6th grade Sunday school class. We were hoping to sneak out right after the director spoke but the pastor asked us to stay to speak to people after the service.

We drove the three hours to Matachi last night and passed by the largest Mennonite community in North America. Apparently, during the 1920s a mass exodus of Mennonites from Canada arrived in Mexico. The Mexican government assured that they would be left alone. This is one of the most bizarre things I have ever encountered! To think of a group of 80,000 Mexican-passport holding Mennonites living in the middle of Chihuahua, complete with beards and long dresses.

Classes began this morning. A Mexican pastor who planned on teaching about church history didn't show up today so I might have to teach the entire six hours a day for the rest of the week. I have a lot of prep work to finish but I'm looking forward to it. I'm reading My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok and Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love by Jerry Bridges and I hope to finish both by the end of the week. I'm also planning on befriending a rancher and riding some horses. We'll see how that goes.

Missions as Fasting

2008-02-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

"...I've always thought of missions as a fasting of many of the blessings in life. When we normally fast - we abstain from food - something so seemingly essential to life - to remind us of what is even more essential - our relationship with Christ. We fast because there is urgency of some other matter - more urgent than eating. In missions, we fast the blessings of family, friends, and all the blessings and opportunities of life in the US - because there is something even more essential to life - our relationship to Christ whom we follow and seek to make known. And we fast these blessings - because there is something more urgent than even our family and friends - the Gospel going to the perishing among the 2.5 billion who have little or no chance to hear the Gospel."

-Michael Oh

In returning and rest

2007-11-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

I've been back from Lebanon for a while now. Several times in Beirut I tried to update the blog with photos, at least, but the internet was so slow. I waited one hour once only to have my session timed out.

I moved into a house with one roommate. I'm planning the trip back to Beirut in early January and praying for political peace and stability to hold tight until the trip is over, at least. I'm not as worried about going myself. But when my job turns from thinking about my own safety to the safety of 10 other people, it becomes a different story, a story that involves worried parents.

I'm learning what it means to do my job with excellence, how to live in community, and what it means to "return and rest." I'll let you know how that goes.

لبنان

2007-10-04T14:51:00.000-06:00

I leave for Lebanon tomorrow! This has been a pretty last-minute trip and the details have been hectic. I'll be updating here as I'm able.

Two days left.

2007-09-18T07:50:00.001-06:00

Past few days have been zor zor busy. Between school, the 10th grade camping trip, picnics, bowling nights, visits, visits, and more visits, there's little time for much else. Things caught up with me this morning with a bout of food poisoning or some other stomach ailment... not very convenient on my second to last day. I lasted about 40 minutes at the school this morning and when the director asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital (I had keeled over on his couch) I thought it best to go home. Here are a few pictures from the past few days.

Some of our tenth grade students.

"Camping"

We drove for a while near the cabin we stayed in to find a swimming hole. It's pretty country.

Three of the tenth grade guys; little brothers.

Pictures from the school

2007-09-12T04:54:00.000-06:00

Blessed

2007-09-12T04:02:00.000-06:00

When I was last here, a year and a half ago, I met a couple of sisters at the school who had just moved back from California. The transition back here from the West is especially difficult for girls (boys have free run of this place... girls stay home). Being back this time, I've gotten to know the younger sister more, in the ninth grade, and two of her friends, one who grew up in Michigan and the other in Holland.

They sometimes complain about what they used to have, about how different life and school are here, and about how life back "home" is easier. Today I challenged them to think about what they appreciate more about returning here, what's they've learned, and even what they like about this city.

Here are a few of their answers, exactly as they wrote them (a few of the answers are what they now appreciate, or took for granted, living in the West, not what they appreciate about living here):

Things I've Learned to Appreciate Since Returning

1. Teachers

2. Sweet and Sour Chicken

3. Being accepted as a human being without paying attention to gender.

4. Starbucks

5. Free Speech

6. I can actually read and write in my own language! (weird, how sometimes I feel proud of this)

7. Life is not only about having fun, there are more serious (and more important) things that matter WAY MORE! (like being a good person/being a better sister and daughter/thinking about what you believe/perseverance/trust and loyalty).

8. Freedom

9. Electricity

10. Every second of every minute of my life

Things I Like Here

1. Being different from most others (another thing to appreciate: IT'S OKAY TO BE DIFFERENT!!!)

2. Having my family around 24/7

3. Friends

4. Lack of English Speakers

5. Free stuff at our family owned stores

Things I've Learned

1. I've learned that I'm very blessed by having what I have.

2. I've learned it's okay to not be skinny.

3. I can understand now why my mom wouldn't let me do the things she wouldn't let me do.

4. I've learned to enjoy women's rights (where given).

5. I've learned to appreciate teachers who care.

6. I've got to spend a lot more time with my family and by doing that learned about trust, loyalty, and love.

One of the students added this at the end:

"P.S. Thanks for having us do this, it's given me a better 'view' of life here. I'll try not to compare everything with the past anymore"

About those US gas prices...

2007-09-10T08:15:00.001-06:00

When I left here in summer 2005 I was paying about $2.50 to fill up my 70 liter 1982 Toyota Landcruiser. It now costs $4.00 a gallon. Taxis and other cars line up for hours to get gas. When I was here before this post-conflict inflation doubled the price of some items each week (the cost of the school building went from $250,000 to over 1.5 million in just a year). This country, even the stable regions, are going through significant transition.

Room with a View

2007-09-10T07:56:00.001-06:00

Here's a view from my roof towards the mountains (location of many, many picnics). I'm in a new neighborhood and we're renting the second floor flat from a Kurdish family. Electricity is on for most of the night (but not the hottest part of the day) and we have an air cooler in the bedroom but I've taken to sleeping on the roof.

Here's a view south down the street. The large building is one of many recently finished or in the process of being built, including a five-star hotel "skyscraper" on a hill with it's own bridge over to it.

First Day of School

2007-09-09T11:54:00.000-06:00

Earlier this year a fire nearly destroyed the school. The school had just been painted a beautiful, subtle cream. Along with the new paint job, many books, computers and rooms were destroyed in the fire. After the school was cleaned up, the administration decided to paint the entire school pink. Two shades of pink, to be exact, with a third shade for the new vertical blinds. I felt like I was walking through a large pepto bismol bottle or a Mary Kay mansion the first day I returned to the school. I've been told you don't notice it as much over time. I hope so. Pink has become a very popular color here and adorns the facades of many homes. Families use bright colors partly in reaction to the drab colors used under Saddam's time. Color is a sign of freedom. Even older women who typically wear all black or brown after 40 or so are wearing brighter colors.

The first day of school went well, although the school decided to stagger the starting date so this morning classes began only for grades 5-10. When I was here before we had about 150-200 students in the building; now we have over 400 in grades pre-K to ten. A marked difference, though, is the level of control the teachers are able to maintain. As I walked by classrooms full of students in their seats, raising their hands, and waiting until they were called on to speak, I was amazed to see the worst kids from three years ago behaving.

I spent my morning working with the first and second grade math teacher (school for those grades begins tomorrow) helping her set goals for the year, prepare lessons plans, and go over activities she can use in the classroom. Tomorrow I begin observing some teachers in the classroom.

More later. Electricity is going off and then on again. I need to post this and head home. Hwa ha fees. Good bye.

Bakherben

2007-09-08T01:10:00.000-06:00

Bakherben, welcome. Ser chow, upon my eyes.