Author: LAH

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Following the Instructions

Have you ever suddenly noticed that God is telling you something, and no matter where you turn, you can’t avoid the message? You could open the Bible to any passage, turn on the radio, have a conversation with a friend, read a book—and they’re all on the same theme.

In the past, this happened when I was doing something contrary to God’s will. In other words, I was sinning. I could try to shut out my conscience, but God was truly the Hound of Heaven, pursuing me relentlessly until I finally gave up and repented. Every sermon, every devotional, even totally secular activities such as reading a news magazine or watching TV were a reminder that God wanted not just my obedience, but me.

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Giving with a Purpose

What to do about the poor is a topic that has been discussed in Christian circles for ages, and I’m not going to solve the world’s problems here. Complaining about the commercialization of Christmas has also been discussed and re-discussed. Enough with the talking! What can we do about it?

First and foremost, ask Jesus how He would like His birthday celebrated! His answer might surprise you. But don’t ask unless you intend to follow through and do what He says.

Just in case He mentions something about re-focusing your holiday efforts,  I’d like to suggest a few practices you might incorporate into your Christmas tradition—or even participate in all year. They can at least get us pointed in the right direction.

  • Don’t let “stuff” be the focus of Christmas. Set a reasonable budget and stick to it. Let your gifts be thoughtful rather than expensive. Give the gift of yourself—time spent with family and friends, perhaps an outing together. I like to complete my Christmas shopping (or finish hand-made gifts) before Thanksgiving so that I’m not distracted during Advent.

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Bringing Light into Darkness

Turning off the main highway, our minibus bumped over the rocky gravel road toward Gege, Swaziland. Tree farms, with their orderly rows of pine and eucalyptus, gave way to grassy hillsides, cattle, and the occasional small cinder block building. I tried to snap some photos from the moving bus, with limited success.

About ten minutes into our 40-minute ride, we bounced past a run-down homestead flying a worn, solid black flag. Odd, I thought, and asked our missionary host what the flag signified. He explained that some Swaziland belonged to a cult that worshiped a nasty snake idol/demon, and the flag meant that a snake “church” met at this home. Apparently, Gege was the epicenter of this cult.

Swaziland_LAH_9879-001

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Prayer Works!

I’m back. Or, at least my body is now present in Colorado, United States. The rest of me, I’m not so sure.

CarePoint_Gege-Swaziland_LAH_0187Part of me is here, glad to be home. Part of me is still in Swaziland—with the children and “go-gos”(grandmothers) at the Gege CarePoint and with the missionaries from South Africa, Zambia, and the U.S. who are bringing light into a very dark place. I’m sure some scattered pieces of myself left a trail as we traveled. It will be some time before I can gather all my thoughts into a coherent, organized whole. After all, I only got home yesterday.

For now, what I want to tell you is that prayer works! You know that already, right? After all, why pray if God never answers. That would be pointless. Most of the time, however, we more or less take it on faith that our prayers accomplish something. These last two weeks, I saw answers in action.

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Going to London

But I don’t want to go to London!

1989-5 England 022According to our return itinerary, our Swazi mission team has a twelve hour layover at Heathrow Airport, in London. Of course, my teammates want to take advantage of the time to see some sights. I totally understand—who wouldn’t jump at the chance to spend some time in one of the most interesting cities in the world?

Me, for one.

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Departure

I can’t believe that October 12 is almost here. After months and months of preparation—planning, praying, working, packing—we’re finally going!

Tomorrow afternoon our team assembles at the church parking lot, luggage in tow. After piling into a 15-passenger church van, Pete will drive us to Denver International Airport, a bit over an hour away. Our first flight, to London, is scheduled to leave at 7:45 that evening. Somehow, in spite of our anticipation and excitement, we’re supposed to sleep on the plane. By the time we arrive at Heathrow it will be just after noon the next day (local time).

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How to Pray, part 2

Here are the other two prayer points for my upcoming trip to Swaziland. If you missed the first two, I posted them last time.

Swaziland
While we don’t want to overlook opportunities to share God’s love along the way, the primary purpose of our trip is to serve the orphans and their caretakers at a particular CarePoint in Swaziland. Some of the children who attend live with extended family, many live on their own, with only brothers and sisters to care for them—or for them to care for. They’ve watched their parents and other family members die, mostly from AIDS. They’re scared, alone, hungry, and to a large degree, unloved.

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How to Pray for Short-term Mission Trips

In just eight days I’ll be boarding a British Airways jet for my trip to Swaziland. A number of you have responded to my plea for prayer support, for which I am deeply grateful. I know I can’t do anything worthwhile without God working through me, and your prayers are essential to that process.

There are some specific prayer points I’d like to share, whether for this trip or any short-term mission trip—I doubt I’m the only person you know who’s going overseas for the sake of the Gospel. I’ll try to keep this short and focused, so your prayers can be focused as well. Today I’ll offer points one and two; Friday I’ll post the other two.

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