• Who I Am

The Task At Hand

~ A little of this, a little of that, all relating to the Task At Hand: reaching the world for Christ.

The Task At Hand

Monthly Archives: October 2009

God of the Fatherless.

25 Sunday Oct 2009

Posted by Brian & Lisa in Peru Stories, Soapboxes

≈ 1 Comment

There is little that touches my heart more than a child. I’ve known since I was a child – 13 years old – that God has called me to work with children. That’s one of the main reasons we were so enthusiastic about joining Bible Centered Ministries International – because their goal is to “Reach Children and Plant Churches Worldwide.”

When we were still in South Dakota, there were two organizations that I wanted to get involved with. Unfortunately, we weren’t there long enough for that to come to pass.

The first was an organization that works with the police. That area of South Dakota (or, the mid-West, actually) is known for high rates of meth abuse. So, there’s an organization that was developed that worked with the police. When the police knew they were about to bust a home that had meth inside and there were children known to be present, they contacted this organization that would bring in volunteers to go with the police and take care of the children who would be removed from the home.

The second organization I wanted to volunteer with was a Christian Pregnancy Center. They not only helped out the women, but they also spoke in schools about abstinence. The best thing I think they did, on top of the free ultrasounds, was that when a girl came and said they wanted help, they had them come for classes every month until the baby was born. The things they gave the girls weren’t necessarily “free”; the girls had to sit through classes on how to raise the child and Bible studies. I loved what they were doing!

Before moving to Peru, we learned that Peru has the highest number of illegal abortions… in the world. Part of that is because abortion IS illegal here in Peru, so any abortion adds to that percentage. However, still. That’s a high number. I can’t remember the exact number, but trust me, it was high. I was talking with a friend this week and I mentioned this to her and she agreed that that fact was probably true. She told me that there are signs everywhere that say, “Atraso Mensual?” with a phone number underneath. Those are all advertising illegal abortion clinics. (The sign means “Miss Your Period?”)

Yesterday, on the way to a nearby town, about a 20 minute drive, I counted 85. We were only halfway there. I quit counting.

85 signs advertising an illegal abortion clinic. To be fair, the phone number on each of them was the same, so it was advertising the same clinic. BUT ~ either business is really poor and they need a lot of advertising, OR there’s just such a high clientel, they want to advertise everywhere.

Either way, it’s distressing.

The other issue Peru faces is people trafficking. Prostitution is legal… kidnapping and trafficking people are not. A large number of women are taken every year from Iquitos (the jungle city we spend a lot of time in) and trafficked down to Lima (where we live). One report said that the majority of “street kids” that beg for money, sell stuff, etc, right here in our area are trafficked children from either the mountains or jungles. That’s scary to me. We see literally hundreds of children on the streets every time we go out. I wonder how many of them are not supposed to be here?

So, I’ve thinking about what we, as BCM Peru, can do. I have so many ideas. But, I know that none of them can come to pass without a few more workers, better Spanish, and a lot of prayer. Issues like this have been on my mind and heart for years. I’m in a country that needs much more help than anywhere I’ve ever lived before. I wonder what this could mean? And I wonder how it will come to pass?

Will you pray with me – just right now, wherever you’re at – for the children of Peru, the ones that are begging on the streets and the ones that are yet unborn? Pray for wisdom for us here at BCM as we figure out how we fit into this picture. And pray for us to get the license needed to build our own “Casa Hogar” (Children’s Home/Orphanage) within the next year.

Advertisements

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

Strange Ashes.

09 Friday Oct 2009

Posted by Brian & Lisa in Lessons from Abba

≈ 1 Comment

Literally two weeks before we left for Peru, I was handed a book by one of my favorite people on earth – Elisabeth Elliott. It was a book I wasn’t even aware she had written. It’s called These Strange Ashes and is about her time in Ecuador before she married Jim. I literally could not put it down. I poured through the book and ended up copying down a bunch of quotes that I knew someday I’d go back to. Unfortunately, this book is still in Pennsylvania; hopefully it can come down in a suitcase with a friend within the next couple of months.

I love the title of the book – These Strange Ashes. It’s taken from a poem by Amy Carmichael:

“But these strange ashes, Lord, this nothingness, This baffling sense of loss?  Son, was the anguish of my stripping less Upon the torturing cross?”

The last couple of weeks (probably the last month or so) have been really difficult, in just so many different areas. I wrote about it this morning and was going to post it, but when I re-read it, I realized I really shouldn’t. I don’t want to become a bitter missionary; I don’t want to be one of the ones that lives for furlough. I want to thoroughly love what I’m doing and dive into life in a new country.

But, for now, that’s not the case. I love my job, but I haven’t been this stressed out about a job in a long time. I love the country I’m in, but I’m struggling with language. I love what we’re doing and why we’re here, but I’m missing family right now. I love our new friends, but I miss our old ones – especially the ones that seem to have forgotten about us.

But…these strange ashes…this nothingness…this baffling sense of loss…?

I know exactly what she meant in these words. I wish I didn’t understand, but I do.

I read this quote this morning:

“Each separate experience of individual stripping we may learn to accept as a fragment of the suffering Christ bore when He took it all. “Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.” This grief, this sorrow, this total loss that empties my hands and breaks my heart, I may, if I will, accept, and by accepting it, I find in my hands something to offer. And so I give it back to Him, who in mysterious exchange gives Himself to me.” (Elisabeth Elliott, These Strange Ashes, p. 127)

As I was getting ready to leave my house this morning, I asked myself: Where do I go from here? The last thing we want is to get stuck in the pit of culture stress. We both recognize that we’re there; now it’s up to us how long we stay there and how we get out.

The answer to my question, I realized, is to give it all back to God. These strange ashes that I don’t understand; this feeling of nothingness – the ache of feeling useless; this baffling, confusing, downright frustrating sense of inexplicable loss… If I offer it all back to God, somehow, He will take it as an acceptable sacrifice and turn it into something beautiful. That’s what’s so strange about these ashes. There’s nothing great in them, nothing worthwhile of becoming a pleasing aroma, a pleasing sacrifice, to God. But, He takes it because it’s all I’ve got right now. In Romans where it talks about offering up our bodies as a living sacrifice, God doesn’t specify that our bodies (or our minds!) need to be perfect or worthwhile. He just wants us to give of ourselves, whatever that looks like.

So, here we go. I’m going to give it all up because to be honest, I have nowhere else to go with it and I don’t want it anymore.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google

Like this:

Like Loading...

Additional Reading

October 2009
S M T W T F S
« Sep   Nov »
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Topics

Click here to enter your email and receive an update each time I write!

Join 21 other followers

Advertisements

You Might Also Enjoy:

  • How To Throw a Peruvian Party 101.
  • Remarkable Faith.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: