He Believed - What would you have done?

Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. - John 4:50

How many times have we read stories where Jesus heals someone without being there, and skip right over them because we know Jesus was a healer. I invite you to slow down, and read a little more carefully.

In this event, Jesus was in Cana, the man and his son that was dying were in Capernaum - about 20 miles apart and a two day journey. This man had obviously given up on the local doctors and, while his son was dying, took a two day journey to ask Jesus to come heal his son. After searching for and finally finding Jesus, he pleads his case: Sir, come down before my son dies.

Jesus tells him: Go, your son lives.

Wow! After leaving his dying son back in Capernaum, traveling for two days, worrying about his son's health, wondering if he could convince Jesus to travel with him back to Capernaum, hoping they could get back there in time, and then arriving in Cana and searching around the town for Jesus, he finally finds Jesus, explains his situation, is anxious to get going and Jesus simply tells him: Go, your son lives.

What a letdown that must have been. Keep in mind, this man was not a Jesus follower nor a believer (see verse 53). What would you have done? Continue to plead with Jesus? Give up and go home? The text says this man believed!

He started home and the next day his servants found him (they had also been traveling for a day) and told him his son was living. Surprised and excited, he asked them when the son got better and they told him "yesterday at the 7th hour" (about 1 in the afternoon). Of course, this was the same time Jesus told him: Go, your son lives.

She Gave Her Testimony

I'm now going through the book of John as part of my morning devotionals and came to this verse:

From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all the things that I have done." - John 4:39

What a GREAT example of Jesus' command to us as He left in Acts 1:8 - you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth

Not only did this happen in Samaria, the GREAT thing is that the woman "only" gave her testimony, what had happened to her and what she knew, and many believed in Him! She didn't start a campaign, she didn't start a church, she didn't prepare tracks to pass out - she simply gave her testimony and people believed!

Nothing wrong with those other things, and we need to do all of them, but let's not forget the simple things, or put off doing the simple things, because we have big plans!

Final Thoughts for the Year

Yeah, that’s the title I wanted to use a couple weeks ago, but with everything going on (visiting 4 countries, 9 cities, packing and repacking) I never got this post written. Although we are back in Costa Rica, I still want to make this post and will update our new status (new apartment, new classes, new phase of our ministry, etc) in a couple weeks… stay tuned!

The language school is setup with 3 trimesters of 4 months each; they have a graduation ceremony at the end of every trimester. On December 11th, the graduation of 50+ men and women entering service as missionaries in 13 countries (see photo of part of the graduation program) was truly awe-inspiring. The graduates entered the chapel carrying the flag for the country where they would be serving. As I have said before, Sandy and I are learning so much more than just the Spanish language – we are learning about God’s activities throughout Latin America and the world. Most students are from the US, but we also have students from Canada, England and Korea. We are learning more about our own faith as we deal with health and family issues (see previous posts). We are learning about how God interacts with people as students share their stories in chapel every Tuesday and Thursday.

During Christmas break we were fortunate to be able to visit with “family” in Honduras and Nicaragua. We were in a “sandwich shop” (pupuseria) in a small strip mall in Danli, Honduras, waiting for Gustavo and Manuel. On the door they had the standard PUSH and PULL signs (en español, por supuesto, EMPUJE y JALE). In addition, they had Christian messages (see photos). Busca a Cristo (Look for Christ) and Cristo te ama (Christ loves you). Then, inside the restaurant, attached to their sign by the cash register (caja), was the message: Jesucristo muy pronto vendrá ¿Ya estás listo? (Jesus Christ will come very soon – Are you ready now?).

When Gustavo and Manuel arrived, I commented to them that stores or restaurants in the US would not display such signs because so many people complain about being offended. They said signs like this were normal throughout the country! Is the US moving closer or further from Christianity?

It was great seeing our Hope family. We extend a special thanks to Tom and Mona for providing a place to park our stuff while in the US!

Thanks for following us on our journey – watch for opportunities to get involved! We serve a BIG GOD!

As this chapter closes…

This time next week we hope to be boarding a plane in San José, Costa Rica that will take us back to the US and Las Vegas! Woo-Hoo! Many things cross through our minds as we contemplate where we have been and where we are going.

First of all, we are grateful to the many people that have been praying for us! Many of you have told us and communicated with us directly and indirectly. We know that without your prayers and God’s daily presence in our lives we would not have experienced all the blessings we have seen: our ability to see God’s activity in and around the school, Sandy’s ability to learn Spanish while struggling with her medication, the friends and relationships we have made while here. Let me give you two concrete example of how we have seen God’s direct involvement in our lives.

One: We were very concerned about finding a doctor that knew about Hepatitis-C, the treatment for it, knew of the potential side effects and complications, and would be able to communicate with us as we learned Spanish. The doctor WE had chosen, the head of the gastroenterology clinic at the closest hospital, was unable to treat Sandy. A colleague of his, however, had studied at Yale and had just returned from working in Dallas on a one year fellowship at one of the premier liver treatment facilities in the world, and although he works at another hospital, he was willing to come to this hospital to treat Sandy. I’m glad God provided that doctor and didn’t let us use the doctor WE had chosen.

Two: We are living in a 4-plex apartment. Although it is about 8-10 blocks from the school, it was the PERFECT place for us to be. Our medical insurance requires us to get all long-term medication from them, yet they cannot ship out of the US. They will reimburse foreign retail purchases, but only twice. Students at our school are living in two of the other units in our 4-plex. What are the odds that Kim’s church would send a mission trip to Costa Rica in October and that Josh and Allison would be flying to the US and back here in November? They were able to bring our October and November medical supplies.

Coincidences? We don't think so! We believe God is watching over us and much of it is due to your prayers. Thank You.

I also want to include some random shots of why we love this country and these people: when there’s a job to do, they get it done, however they can (click on the pictures for more detail!)…

As I was walking to a local store to look for empty boxes for packing our stuff, I came across this parade of various school groups performing Christmas songs…

Please join us as we continue the next phase of our journey!

ICTUS

It takes a Spanish class to teach me a little Greek – how ironic is that?

In my fonética class (phonetics), we read a story entitled ICTUS. It told how many of the towns and countries in new testament times spoke different languages. For commerce and general exchange of information, the common language was Greek; hence the disciples preached, taught and wrote in Greek.

As it turns out, the phrase Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, in Greek appears as Iesous Cristos Teou Uio Soter. The first letter from each word, in Greek letters are: ἰχθύς (Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma), or with our alphabet: ICHTHUS. (The χ and the θ are represented by CH and TH.) ICHTHUS is the Greek word for fish! How cool is that?

But wait, there’s more…

The fish symbol was intentionally a very simple design: two opposing arcs connected in a point on one side and overlapping on the other side. Not only was this symbol used to indicate Christian meeting places and decorate artifacts, it was also used to secretly identify other believers. If after speaking with someone, instead of coming right out and asking if they were a believer (which could get you in trouble if you asked the wrong person!) one person would draw the top arc. The other person would either ignore what you did, not understanding what you meant, or draw the bottom arc, completing the fish symbol. If that happened, you would each then know that each of you were believers!

Think about that next time you see the fish symbol!

She Is My Hero!

Last month I wrote about the struggle Sandy is having with the side effects from her medication (click here for the article). Every Friday evening she gives herself an injection; twice a day she has to take three pills that make her feel tired all the time and give her headaches. Medically, Sandy is healing, but physically she is just as tired and the headaches still come and go.

Not really a bright side, but we wanted to share some of the positive impacts on others Sandy’s ordeal is generating…

Sandy told me that at the beginning of each class the instructor usually asks how each student ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?) – Sandy generally answers Estoy bien, gracias (I’m fine, thanks). The other day one of the students, when it was her turn to answer, commented “If Sandy says she’s doing OK, then I’m doing great!”

A few days ago I was talking with one of the instructors about what classes we should take next year. I described to her some of what Sandy is going through and she commented that it is tough for anyone to go through this program and that if Sandy has these issues to deal while attending these classes, “She is my hero!”

I was speaking with a friend at church this morning and she asked how Sandy was. She, too, was amazed that Sandy is not only able to attend classes, but do well!

Academics have never been Sandy’s strength; she did OK in school but quit early and later went back for her GED. In the classes here her grades are between 78 and 95… not too shabby.

We know that we are in the midst of God’s will for our lives, and that His plan is always best, even when we are shortsighted. We are glad to be able to see benefit come from this treatment… not only is Sandy’s viral load decreasing, but she is providing inspiration for so many others.

Please continue to pray for us…
1) that the side effects Sandy is experiencing are minimized as much as possible,
2) that we can continue to be an inspiration for others,
3) that we are effective in communicating the gospel to others, in English and in Spanish

Time to Let Go

Have you ever bought something just to find out you bought the wrong thing… and then discovered you couldn’t return it? That can be really frustrating, especially if it was expensive. Sometimes we will try to find ways to adjust our situation to fit what we bought so the money isn’t wasted, right? Or we will say it’s not really that bad, not wanting to admit our mistake.

Yesterday during my quiet time I was reading in 2 Chronicles and saw the same thing had happened to Amaziah. (WHO is Amaziah, you ask? Don’t feel bad; a few weeks ago I wouldn’t have known who he was, either.) Amaziah was one of the kings of Judah, between Joash and Uzziah.

Amaziah was basically a good guy: He did right in the sight of the Lord (2 Chron 25:2). He only killed the people who murdered his father, and not their children, because it is written in the law in the book of Moses, which the Lord commanded, saying, "Fathers shall not be put to death for sons, nor sons be put to death for fathers, but each shall be put to death for his own sin.” (2 Chron 25:4). For the most part, he was following the Law of Moses.

While he was assembling his forces, he didn’t think he had enough, so to help protect Judah, he hired 100,000 “valiant warriors” from Israel for 100 talents of silver. Then we read: But a man of God came to him saying, "O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the Lord is not with Israel nor with any of the sons of Ephraim.” (2 Chron 25:7). Here he was, following the Law, taking care of God’s people, investing a large sum of money to do so, and is told to not use what he had just bought.

Here’s the exchange they had: Amaziah said to the man of God, "But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?" And the man of God answered, "The Lord has much more to give you than this.” (2 Chron 25:9)

WOW! What an awesome verse… and so applicable for us! 100 talents was a large sum then; Amaziah did not want to see it go to waste. He had made this decision in good faith. He was helping others. He had nothing to gain personally by this. Yet how can you argue with The Lord has much more to give you than this?

When you hear God calling you to do something, to go somewhere, to give up something… are you going to fight it and declare you didn’t hear right, or that you don’t want to waste anything? Or are you going to be like Amaziah: Then Amaziah dismissed them, the troops which came to him from Ephraim, to go home (2 Chron 25:10)?