John and Erin

How learning about the kingdom changed my life

2006-03-28T13:53:00.000-08:00

Having not grown up in a Christian home, my cultural preferences did not reflect a church background of any kind. I was a product of my surroundings, and I had naturally surrounded myself with people who preferred heavy metal music over praise and worship, baggie jeans instead of khakis, and poetry and theatre over Christian concerts and retreats. It was who I was. It wasn’t a reaction against anything; it was just who I was.

When Christ took hold of me my freshman year in college, I dove in head first. I read the Bible daily, huge chunks at a time. I immediately started sharing my faith with the people in my life, not because someone told me I should or taught me how to. It was just something that came naturally. I felt the transformation happening inside me. I saw the great Christians around me who knew so much Scripture and who were very involved in their churches. I was told, without any words, that as I became more Christ-like, I would become more like them.

Naturally, having been touched by the deepest, most satisfying unconditional love, I wanted more. It was like a drug. It seemed that people like my roommate, who had grown up in the church and helped lead me to Christ, had more of it. People like her seemed to have it all figured out. So I, consciously or unconsciously I don’t know, began to leave the things “of the world” for the things “of Christ.” I traded in my baggy jeans and retro jackets for conservative Gap clothes and leather purses. I re-dyed my hair to its natural color and let it grow out to my shoulders. I got rid of my hard music and spent hours in the Christian bookstores. Over time, I stopped writing poetry and I stopped acting as well. I just didn’t have time for those things anymore, with all the Christian reading to be done.

I stopped hanging out with my non-Christian friends. After all, bad company corrupts good character, right?[1] Besides, they didn’t seem to understand me anymore, and I had caused so many waves by talking so openly about my new faith, that I felt an undeniable disconnect. I had my new friends, anyway. We went to Breakaway together every Tuesday, our Bible study every Thursday, and church every Sunday. Between all my encouraging, uplifting Christian events, I didn’t have time for anything else.

I got involved in a church, and even started a Bible study in my dorm. People began to affirm my spiritual growth and leadership potential. Younger girls began to look up to and respect me. I had successfully achieved spiritual maturity, at least for my age. I had been accepted into the Christian community. The old had passed away; the new had come.[2]

Things continued like this all through college. I graduated and began to feel a call to full time missions. I wanted my life to count for God, and it seemed like all the people who REALLY loved God ended up being missionaries. Plus, there truly was something tugging at my heart for Latin America that I couldn’t ignore.

I married a wonderful Christian man who grew up in a Christian family and a Christian school. He also sensed a calling for missions, so we began contacting parachurch missions organizations. God had different plans, however. He called us to Houston, where John worked at NASA, and I found a job with New Church Initiatives.

It was there that my husband, John, and I first heard about the kingdom. I mean, we had HEARD about the kingdom and had prayed for it to come a million times in reciting the Lord’s prayer, but we had never really known what that meant. The kingdom had something to do with angels and figurative puffy clouds, mingled with the terrifying end times where Jesus comes back with a sword sticking out of His mouth or something like that. It was too confusing and not too immediate, so I didn’t think about it much.

In NCI’s training class, our teacher pointed out that Jesus preached constantly about the kingdom and almost never about the church. So why was the church so central in my faith and yet I knew nothing about the kingdom? Now I understand that a kingdom is where a king reigns, and therefore the kingdom of God is where God reigns. It is a mystical kingdom that does not come with our careful observation, nor can we even point out exactly where or what it is[3], but we see its fruit. We see reconciliation, we see sacrifice, we see service and humility and authenticity and unconditional love. The things of God are the things that triumph.

We don’t see many things as well, because they are done in a way where only God gets the credit. People pray in their closets and give without drawing attention and fast without hoping people feel sorry for them.[4] He becomes greater; we become less.[5] Everything that is done for Him is done in Him and by Him as well, as His children die to themselves and truly live, step by step, in Christ, guided by His Spirit. This is the mystical, wonderful, freeing kingdom of God.

So how has it changed my life? For one, I no longer feel like a used car salesman, trying to sell people on a stylistic preference. I realize now that the only barrier between a person and eternal life should be the cross, which is offensive enough as it is! Cultural and stylistic preferences should not add unnecessary barriers. You don’t have to shop at the Gap and drink Starbucks coffee to be a Christian. Maybe that seems obvious, but for me, this is a long, slowly unwinding process.

Also I realize now that in college, I spent a lot of time doing good things for Christ completely apart from His presence or power. This isn’t what we’re called to at all! And what a frustrating life it is. Jesus Himself says without Him we can do nothing.[6] Nothing! I believe now that God is just as glorified, if not more so, by the little decisions in life rather than the big ones. For example, if the Spirit tells me to get out of bed and I sleep in 15 more minutes, then for those 15 minutes I was not in step with the Spirit. Now, maybe I slept in those 15 minutes in a bed in southern Chile where I am a missionary. But that’s not the point, because everyone admires and affirms me for being a missionary. I get the spotlight. But if I had heard the Spirit’s voice and obeyed, sacrificing 15 minutes of comfort, no one would have known except God. He gets all the glory. I get none.

My schedule becomes less and less cluttered as I begin to sift through the things I was doing for God and the things I was doing in God. Only the ones in God should remain. Everything else is outside of the kingdom. The kingdom encompasses both the “sacred” and the “secular.” Once we realize that our spiritual life should be a stream of living water flowing through every aspect of our lives rather than compartmentalized into Sunday morning springs, then we are truly free indeed. We are all called; we are all saints if we know Christ; we are all missionaries; we are all priests.[7]

Nicodemus had to be born again to see the kingdom of God.[8] Jesus told the Pharisee who understood the Great Commandment that he was not far from the kingdom of God.[9] The kingdom of God is like a guy who plants seeds, goes to bed, and wakes up to find growth that he can’t even understand.[10] The gospels are covered with the kingdom! Just look for the red letters.

I’m so glad I was taught about the kingdom before I went into the mission field. It has truly changed everything. I am not any more holy for going abroad than my friend Lindsay is for staying in her hometown and working for a newspaper. We just follow God. I don’t know why God led her to the Wall Street Journal and me to the streets of Valdivia, Chile, but He did, and He is glorified much more by our obedience than any of the details that the world, even the Christian world, holds so high.

It takes a huge burden off me too, because all of the sudden my life becomes less about “winning souls” and more about following the Spirit step by step. It becomes about praying for people and with people and praying for open doors and having authentic spiritual conversations and about seeing God in everything and about pursuing gratitude and holiness. It becomes more about the questions than the answers, about the journey rather than the destination. It becomes about Him, all about Him.

“Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.”[11] This is the kingdom of God.

[1] 1 Corinthians 15:33
[2] 2 Corinthians 5:17
[3] Luke 17:20-21
[4] Matthew 6:5-6
[5] John 3:30
[6] John 15:4-5
[7] 1 Peter 2:9
[8] John 3:3
[9] Mark 12:34
[10] Mark 4:26-29
[11] Mark 12:28-34

God is a Volleyball Fanatic!

2006-03-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Today I had my weekly breakfast with one of my best friends, Marilyn. She participates in the campus volleyball team. We were talking about how God has been speaking to us lately, and she mentioned how He kept confirming in her heart that He wanted her to participate in volleyball. This had been a struggle for her for years after she accepted Christ into her heart. I don’t know where this came from, but years ago she got the idea that now that she was a believer, she had to drop volleyball to make more time for the “things of God.” For over a year she refused to participate and instead spent lots of time in Bible studies and at church events. Last year she decided to start participating but slowly and very cautiously and, I think, with a little bit of guilt.

This summer in February God spoke very clearly to her through a passage in the Bible confirming that He wanted her to participate in volleyball this year, that it was not her “spiritual” life on one hand and her “regular” life on the other, but that He wants to participate in every part of her life. She knows now that she is literally “called” to play university volleyball and that God is smiling over her when she does it.

I asked her what preoccupations she had about playing volleyball in the past. Her reply was like a knife to my heart. She said, “Volleyball was so much fun. I just couldn’t believe that it was from God.” These were the thoughts of a brand new believer! How have we as the church let this kind of thinking sink into our teaching?! Or if it didn’t come from the church, then why didn’t someone see it and expose it as the lie that it is?! I guess it pains me so much because I went through a very similar experience as a new believer in college. I dropped theater; I stopped writing poetry. Why? I honestly don’t know. I don’t remember anyone telling me to, but I didn’t see other Christians do it. I felt, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, that I was a new creation in Christ; the old had gone and the new had come. How I wish someone could have taught Marilyn and me that God never intends for us to live in a “holy huddle!”
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17).

Guests of Honor

2006-01-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

On our way from Texas to Valdivia, we spent a day in Santiago, the capital of Chile. Our flight had arrived in the morning, and our bus didn´t leave until late at night, so we had the day to kill. We called a good Chilean friend who was in town with her family, and they invited us over to their place for the day. We arrived with no expectations. Just excited to see our friend and get out of the heat. Much to our surprise, we walked into a beautiful home swarming with people, only to be escorted into the backyard where there were kids swimming in a pool, a guy grilling a barbeque, and piscosours for all! What was the occasion? Nothing, apparently. The hostess told me that her house is always like this. Full of family members. By the end of the day (though we were complete strangers, though we were culture-shocked Americans fresh off the airplane, though we had come empty-handed), they treated us like royalty. They allowed us to shower (more for their sakes than ours I think!), they stuffed our bellies with two full meals, they insisted we borrow bathing suits and join the fun, they gave John an bed to take a nap in, and they just welcomed us into the family! Even though the party wasn´t for us, and it would have gone on without us, we felt like the guests of honor.

I was gratefully reflecting on that day (we would have otherwise spent it in an un-airconditioned bus terminal), and it hit me what a beautiful picture it is of how the church should be. We are one big happy family with much to celebrate every day, even if it´s not a "special" occasion. And our door should always be open to the next sweaty ragtag to walk by. We should never be ashamed of our celebration but rather welcome everyone to join in! It didn´t matter that our Spanish was broken, our bodies were winter-white, and my legs were way unshaven after a month in jeans. They welcomed me in and thought of every way to make me feel like part of the family. I arrived to Santiago homesick and exhausted and left Santiago rejuvinated and hopeful... and overflowing with gratitude.

Passion

2006-01-27T08:04:00.000-08:00

We made it back to Chile! Tons of goodbyes, one overnight plane, one overnight bus, and we are back in Valdivia. The past month has been a very cool time. One of the highlights, aside from seeing family, was the Passion conference held in Nashville, TN. Ester, one of our friends here in Valdivia, flew all the way to the US to join us, and we joined 18000 other students our age for four days of worship, discussion, and prayer. The pace was intense with events lasting 16hours per day, and we left very tired yet deeply refreshed. Afterwards we visited several churches in the Houston area, both to see what was going on in Texas and share what is going on in Chile. It was a priceless chance for us to reflect on how God is moving and pray about our next six months here. For Ester, the experience was a chance to see her culture through new eyes. She said that her love for her church in Valdivia has grown even more than before, and she is prayerfully searching for creative ways to connect her peers to the God she has experienced.

The Kingdom

2005-10-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

Today we started doing our first leadership training with Marilyn using the Retrospect curriculum from NCI. It was pure sweetness. :-) We only made it through two pages in the hour and a half we had together because the conversation was so good. The focus of the material was the kingdom of heaven, which is what Jesus spent the most time talking about. I (John) am going through it more as a student than a teacher, because though I've been through the Essentials training material, my contact with Retrospect has just been informal conversations with Erin.

Anyway, I'm just blogging right now as an overflow of excitement. I am reminded that I think way too much about my walk, religion, and church, and too little about the kingdom. Maybe it sounds silly to say that, but for me it is a change in mindset. Normally, when I think about spiritual stuff, I tend to go from the original thought more shallow. Example: James says faith without works is useless, and I think of how I can act on my faith. Very useful to think about, but today, in thinking about the kingdom, every thought went deeper instead of more "superficial". Example: James says faith without works is useless, and I am reminded vividly how deeply satisfying and contagious it is when I am deeply dependent on Jesus. It's hard to explain, I know, but I guess that's good. Some things are just easier to experience than explain, and so life is a journey.

Breakthroughs

2005-10-19T11:30:00.000-07:00

Our AFC (Authentic Faith Community) has been amazing us more and more every week. It is growing naturally and organically. We initially had wanted to train Chilean college students to start and lead organic, open-minded, authentic communities of faith. Instead, we have found ourselves simply modelling it and inviting them to join in. As it turns out, they are getting the idea without us having to do any sort of formal training. Living out our faith in an authentic way seems to be contagious! They are inviting their friends that have questions about spirituality and Christianity, and their friends are inviting other friends! Our discussions are a team effort, everyone contributing something and everyone playing a role. Every opinion is welcomed, and every question is addressed with love. We´ve had a blast eating dinner together before we get started, and it´s fun to see the mess of various types of food come together in the center of our circle.

One girl in particular has been especially fun to get to know. Her name is Nina. She´s a 19 year old from Germany who came to Chile on a volunteer program. She constantly says "I could never believe this stuff," yet lately she has been spending hours upon hours reading Marilyn´s (her roommate´s) Bible. She has decided to start at Genesis and read all the way through. She serves with us every Saturday with the homeless, has come to our Bible study every time, and has even started reading passages out of the Bible for the whole group. Our group is trilingual (Spanish, English, and German), so sometimes she reads the passage for us in German.

It´s obvious that the Spirit of the Lord is pursuing her with all His might and all His love. It´s a great reminder that we are called to be the witnesses, not the lawyers. We don´t have to fight or to "win" the case for Christ. He is among and within us.

Nina has been welcomed into the group since the beginning, and we can see her changing in small and big ways because of her time spent reading the Bible and interacting with a Christian community. For example, yesterday she was telling me that her mother´s birthday is next week. I asked her how old she would be turning. Since we always speak in Spanish together, she accidentally said 505 instead of 55 years old. We busted out laughing, and she said, "Yeah, like Moses!" She still insists that she could never believe this stuff, but she is beginning to at least understand it. Last week we discussed the parable of the wheat and the weeds. She boldly exclaimed to the whole group, "Ok, I know I´m the weed!" We all laughed. She also mentioned that without God no one can really make their lives better, because we´re too weak as people. She´s getting it. She really is getting it.

A Little Taste of Heaven

2005-10-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

Every Friday we fast and pray during the lunch hour with some students and professors who want to see life transformation on campus. We use the money saved from not eating on Fridays to buy food for the homeless on Saturdays. This Friday was particularly special. There were only four of us, John, Erin, Marilyn, and a new girl named Rosmari that accepted Christ 7 months ago. As we prayed, each of us could strongly feel the presence of God decend upon us. It's something so sweet, there really are no words. But it was something none of us wanted to end. So much peace. It was a great reminder that the the kingdom of heaven is among and within us, and that God is omnipresent. He is so much closer than we know.

Nina and Nacho

2005-10-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

In our AFC (authentic faith community) gathering, we have 6-10 students who meet in our cabanya or Marilyn's cabanya (we rotate) to share a small dinner together (everyone brings something) and read a parable of Jesus and talk about it. It's pretty informal and very personal and welcoming. Well, it's been really special to watch Nina and Nacho become part of the group. Nina is a German who barely believes in the existence of a God and who is deeply committed to yoga. Nacho (Ignacio) is a gothic, heavy-metal-loving Chilean atheist who is questioning everything. They are both BEAUTIFUL people! They started attending half-heartedly, having been invited by friends. Now both of them are asking lots of questions and are authenitically sharing their opinions, which are ALWAYS welcomed, even if they don't line up with the Bible. And, of course, they always respect our opinions. Every conversation has been beautiful... unifying, not dividing, learning, not judging. It is great to see the things that hit them from the parables. They often see things with fresh eyes, simply because they have never seen them before.

Amazing Grace

2005-09-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Saturdays don't get much better than the day we had today. Waking up to sunlight streaming through the curtains, drinking big cups of coffee, and jogging together got us off to a good start, but lunch was definitely the highlight.

Every Friday, a small group meets in our cabanya to pray and voluntarily fast the lunchtime meal, donating the money not spent on food to a little community piggy bank. Today, with the money saved, we went to the grocery store as a group and bought enough groceries for our group plus ten people to have sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies, and something to drink. From there, we took our goodies to the vegetable market by the river where there is a small community of very impoverished people and offered lunch to anyone that looked hungry. It didn't take long to build a gathering. All of the homeless people there know each other, and so the first few that we found made sure their friends were there to enjoy the meal.

We spent almost two hours out by the river sitting in the sun with them and eating. It was great. In our group of students we had three Chileans, Marilyn and Nina representing Germany, and us. About half of the people we met spoke a version of Spanish that was completely unintelligible to all except the Chileans (one of our students frequently served as a translator). Many of them still had the smell of alcohol on their breath. I think a couple weren't all there. And all, it seems, have gone through some great pain in their lives. Perhaps the most touching was Ruben, a small, elderly man wearing a sweater, slacks, and nice looking pair of black dress shoes. Ruben offered us a beautiful, original poem in exchange for his sandwich, though most only understood bits and pieces of what he said. He told us a little about his story by first pulling up his slacks a little and revealing that his legs were prosthetics. He said that his legs had been crushed by a train, which one of the students told me is not too uncommon in Chile due to a lack of safety precautions around the tracks. Ruben said he is still grateful to be alive. The greatest irony to his story is that he was a shoe maker by trade. He told us that that the beautiful dress shoes on his feet were the work of his own hands. I think he has been out of work for a long time, but his shoes were still clean and polished.

Around the time we broke into the cookies, Marilyn and Nina broke into song...in German (apparently by request). Immediately after we were asked to sing in English. Our minds actually went blank at the unexpected request, but Erin thought of Amazing Grace after a few seconds. When we started singing, everyone recognized the tune even though the words were different. Ruben actually grabbed his crutches from the wall behind him and struggled to his feet as a sign of respect for the song. By the end of the verse he had tears in his eyes. I don't know what grace looks like through the eyes of someone who has been through so much pain and tragedy, but from looking at Ruben I think it must be deep and sweet. None of us left before he gave us a big hug and a spoke a blessing over us.

What It's All About

2005-08-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

I have a dear friend named Paola. She and I have lots in common and have been becoming better and better friends since I arrived. She told me two weeks ago that she has been diagnosed with a type of cancer in her ovaries and that they are going to have to remove them. The doctor said she needs to either have children now or not at all. Can you imagine? She doesn't even have a boyfriend, much less a stable family prepared to welcome a child into the world!
When she told me, I prayed with her and invited her to my house. On Sunday, she came over for once, or tea time. In typical Chilean style, she arrived about 45 minutes late, but this was such a good thing, because literally right before she called, I remembered that I had bought her a sympathy card and also that this morning when I was reading the Bible, God had given me a verse for her out of 2 Corinthians (Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all) that I had written down on a purple notecard for her. I found the verse and slipped it in the card, wrote a little personal note, and was sealing it when she called. I prayed and gave the evening to the Lord and asked Him to use me to speak love into her life during this difficult time. The food was ready when she arrived, but we didn't touch it for over two hours! We were too immersed in a precious conversation on the couch to think about food. I had asked her what motivates her, her mind, heart, or spirit, and we both said that it was the spirit. She is deeply involved in an oriental martial arts called Kendo, and she explained to me that two years ago she met the sensei master, Cristian, who told her that he could tell she was looking for something but she didn't know what it was. She agreed. He said that she was looking for an inner equilibrium in her life. He's a hypnotist and can tell you how many past lives you’ve had. She has thoroughly enjoyed and to this day enjoys kendo. Recently she also started going to yoga, but not the kind of yoga you find in a U.S. gym. This kind is a form of meditation that involved chanting to spirits. Her first time to go was this past Friday. She told me that it was incredible. She felt an intense heat and her whole mind went black. Afterwards she felt like she was floating on a cloud.
At this point, I’m sure my face was white, though I tried as best I could to hide my shock. Intense heat? Blackened mind? Floating on a cloud? What was I up against?! I prayed, “Lord what was I thinking? What am I supposed to say to this girl?” And then I heard the whisper of the Lord, “Trust Me.” Okay, Lord, I trust you.

Rather than condemn and judge her, I listened and prayed for wisdom and searched with all my heart for something that we had in common that I could affirm and use as a springboard to bring unity rather than discord to the conversation.

When she told me the sensei had seen in her that she was searching for something, I found that interesting because when I first met her, I noticed that same thing. When the right moment came, I told her that and ventured to say that it even seems like she still has not completely found it. She was embarrased at being so transparent and admitted that indeed she was still looking. “My equilbrium has gotten better, but I still have a long way to go,” she confessed.

At this point, she really opened up and told me her story. She told me that she was raised in a home that didn’t talk much about God, and we laughed at how when we were little, we both prayed the Lord's prayer as if that would appease God. We’d both start out, “God, if you can hear me..."
When she was six months old, her parents gave her to her aunt and uncle. Her parents divorced shortly after that, and she never had much interaction with either of them. Her aunt and uncle raised her. In 2000, she saw something on Christian TV about death and heaven. She talked to her aunt about it and asked her opinion. Her aunt said she was scared of death. Paola told her she didn’t need to be, because if you trust in God, He will take care of you forever. She pointed out, “Why would we all work so hard to maintain relationships with the ones we love if they were just going to end?”

Soon after this conversation, her aunt was diagnosed with leaukemia. The doctors told Paola there was nothing they could do, and that she had between three and six months to live. She died within a week.

Paola was furious at God and asked Him why He had to take her, that she needed her now more than He did. No response came. One night, she saw a Bible, and she picked it up and through it across the room. It slammed against the wall and fell to the floor. After she calmed down, she went over to pick it up. It had opened to a page and her eyes fell on a verse. She couldn’t tell me where it was, but her paraphrased version said it had something to do with the fact that God allows trials in the lives of people He loves because He knows they will be able to get through them and come out better because of them.

The same thing happened many times afterwards. She’d pick up a Bible and open it and her eyes would land on a verse that was meant just for her. She told me she knows she is very special in the eyes of God. I thought that was so beautiful.

She had a reoccuring dream about her aunt. She would come down from heaven, and Paola would ask her, “What’s it like, Tia?” She would say, “Oh, it’s so incredible… better than you can imagine! I can see Jesus!” At this point, I was crying. How beautiful! I think that’s exactly how heaven will be… we can see Jesus! I shared with her that God had also apparently needed one of my best friends and that he too is now in heaven.

I told her about this friend, Ben, and that opened up a door to share my testimony… how I considered myself a third Buddhist, a third Taoist, and a third Christian when I met Ben who dramatically told me that I was living a contradiction because the three religions contradict one another, and that I then proceeded to kick him out of my house.

I told her how his passion had caught my attention, and out of my curiousity I started reading the Bible. I had heard of John 3:16, but I didn’t know who John was or what the 3, the 16, or the colon meant. She laughed and said, “I know exactly what you mean!” I told her that I started in Genesis and got half way through Exodus before I decided that Christianity was incredibly boring.

I have shared my testimony many times, and usually after this I say, “The whole so-and-so is the son of so-and-so thing just didn’t interest me.” As I was opening my mouth to say this, she interrupted me and said, “Yeah, all those crazy genealogies! Who are all of those sons of who knows who?” I burst out laughing! Exactly!

She told me that she wants to know God so badly that she will go anywhere God wants her if it means she can know Him better, “even Samoa!” she said. In that moment, I heard very clearly the voice of the Lord say, “Erin, Chile is your Samoa.” Oh Lord, this is why you’ve brought me here!

Crying, I told her that God had just used her to speak to me. She was blown away. "Why would God use little old me?” she said. “It's like he's saying, ‘Hello again, I'm still here.’” I thought this was beautiful, because it hinted that she had indeed at one time interacted with the true and living God but that she had been pulling away from Him.

At this point, the Spirit led me to ask a bold question about a conversation we had had a while back. She had said, “I don’t know what I believe. All I know is that I believe in God and Jesus Christ.” What does that mean? I asked. Because usually, at least in the U.S., people say “I don’t know what I believe,” Or “I believe in God and Jesus Christ,” but usually not both! She laughed and said that she was confused about all the different denominations, Catholics, Evangelicals, Mormons. She said she had visited all kinds of churches but never felt at home in any of them. I told her I understood completely, that knowing God was much more than going to church on Sunday mornings. She agreed.

I mentioned that we were going to start having a gathering in our home of people of different faiths to take once (eat dinner), study the teachings of Jesus, pray together and serve together. She said she absolutely loved the idea!

Eventually we turned towards the food. I prayed over the food, and it truly was blessed by the Lord. She’s vegetarian, and I had taken lots of time preparing zucchini bread and a black bean cilantro dip from scratch, and she absolutely loved it all. At the end of the night, I gave her the card and told her to open it later. She thanked me and left as the hour was very late.

Later I received a text message on my cell phone that said, “Thank you so much for your words! This means a lot to me, really! Thanks 4 the card. YOU ARE A WONDERFUL AND PRICELESS PERSON! Ur truly a jewel! C U tomorrow! Bye!”

Thank you Jesus that you choose to use your children to share your love. Thank you that we truly are special in your eyes, each and every one of us. Amen.

My Extreme Family

2005-08-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note to say that I have a family that must love extremes! Today I was watching CNN World, and they scrolled the current weather of major cities around the world. Dallas (where my parents live) was the HOTTEST IN THE WORLD, Santiago (more or less where we live) was the COLDEST IN THE WORLD, and Florida (where my grandmother lives) is in the middle of a hurricane! Are we gluttons for punishment or what? Meanwhile, my two best girlfriends are in Paris and San Fransisco, both of which had a big sun next to them and a beautiful 75 degrees. I think I need to start following their lead! :-)

La Ultima Frontera

2005-08-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

We had a great meeting with 9 students on Thursday in an eclectic coffee shop called "La Ultima Frontera." We walked away encouraged but also with a clear sense of how different our ministry here is going to be compared to what we expected! The students are sooooooooo eager to learn English, which is exciting but at the same time difficult, because the more we speak English, the more it hinders our Spanish, but at the same time it opens up doors to build relationships quickly! There are so many students that long to have a bibligual Bible or New Testament! Who knew?!?!

Another interesting thing is that we thought we would be starting an authentic faith community (AFC) that would meet in a coffee shop or on campus, anywhere but our home, because we wanted the community to not depend too much on us. But as it turns out, students LOVE coming to our home and eating our weird American food (chocolate peanut butter cookies, barbeque sauce, ranch dressing, mexican dip, cheesecake... they are stunned, initially confused, and always amazed.) Our American gadgets are conversation pieces as well. Today Marco was completely baffled as he played with a lint roller. "What does this do?!?!?" he asked, open-mouthed.

At the coffee shop, hardly anyone bought coffee, because they couldn't afford the $1.50 cup. Yet they all came, because they want to practice English with us. After having some one-on-one spiritual conversations with them, about half are also interested in learning more about the Bible.

Which leads to another thing we didn't expect. When we envisioned an AFC, we didn't expect it to be a Bible study, because with as many churches as are here, we figured they had been beaten over the heads with Bible knowledge but what was lacking was Christians filled with the Holy Spirit who authentically live out their faith on a day to day basis. As it turns out, this is lacking, but so is knowledge of the Bible! There are so many misunderstandings about who Jesus is and why He died on the cross, and what He offers us today, and what it means to be a Christian. There are over 3000 denominations in Chile, we found out recently, and the mixed messages have left these students' heads spinning.

So who's our group so far? Let me describe them... We've got church-grown kiddos, brainiacs, goths, a girl who is in love with everything oriental (acupunture, yoga, meditation, kendo karate, etc.), students burned by the Catholic church, students burned by the evangelical church, students who don't know what to believe, students who aren't sure if they want to believe, a forty-year old man whose wife left him, a fifty-year old woman whose husband left her, a handful of Germans, and on and on. We love the diversity and are praying for unity as we seek the next step! How fun is our God!

Home again

2005-08-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been full of travel for us. Thanks to two buddy passes, we went to Texas for a week to see our family and to stock up on books in Spanish for people here and other goodies (like bagels and peach tea mix) that our group has been eager to try. After we returned to Santiago from Texas, we stayed in the city for a few days for a retreat with some students from Valdivia. And it really was a neat time. It was our first opportunity to really sit down as a group and plan and dream for the coming semester. We saw that everyone had different strengths and abilities but the same desire. God really brought together a hand-picked group. I have a lot of hope that the coming semester here will be great. After the camp, Erin and I celebrated our two year anniversary. Now we are back home in Chile as the Spring semester here is beginning, and we feel recharged. The past weeks of travel were fabulous, but it is nice to settle back into a rhythm again also.

At the camp in Santiago, there were six of us: Marilyn, Pamela, Ester, Gabriel, and Erin and I. Three continents were represented: North America, South America, and Europe. Marilyn, the one representing Germany, had decided at the end of last semester that she would leave Chile and go home. She tells us that she was lonely and felt far from God and far from family. She says she was praying for community but felt like her prayers went unheard. When we met her, she was already looking at flight schedules and talking with her mom about what she would do in Germany.

When our nucleus of student leaders began forming and we began dreaming and brainstorming about next semester, Marilyn found something in her tugging on her heart to stay in Chile. We all began praying for her and for clear direction from the Lord about where He wanted her. We also prayed that God would confirm His will miraculously.

In Santiago, God answered our prayers. All in one day, God spoke to her through the words of her morning devotion, the preacher, and the worship, confirming her innermost desires and comforting her deepest fears. She knew that God wanted her to stay in Chile. She confessed to God that she too wanted to stay, and she felt in her spirit a need to fast as a way to express her gratefulness to the Lord.

On the last night of the conference, God decided to throw in a little miracle just to make us all gawk with awe. One of the guys at the conference approached her and told her that she has no idea how much God was going to using her and that he could confirm for sure that her ministry will be in Chile. He said he was so confident that he was willing to write it down and sign his name next to it.

Carne Cruda

2005-06-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Today we ate raw meat. No kidding. It's supposidly a specialty here. So we went with a Chilean friend and ate raw meat. So far so good. We'll keep you posted. It actually wasn't so bad!

The Message

2005-06-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

This morning I awoke to blue skies! What a pleasant surprise! So I decided to forego the normal bus ride to campus and walk it instead. Boy, am I glad I did! Along the way the scenery was just breath-taking. I was praying as I walked, and when I was walking along the front entrance to the campus, I noticed a strikingly white bird perched on the edge of a little stream. The stream reflected its mirror image as if two different birds protruded in opposite directions out of the same webbed feet. The bird stood out drastically amidst the green misty morning with sunlight passing through the droplets of water clinging to the earth and hovering just above it. It was if the whole earth had been dusted with silver, and there was it's queen, a beautiful white bird.

I hadn't walked 10 steps before my breath was taken away once again. There nestled in the woods on campus was another strikingly white reminder of God's presence and beauty. A flawless calla lilly was standing tall and proud, completely solo but unabashedly so. It was so perfect and so white. It looked like it belonged in a bride's bouquet, too delicate and perfect to have grown in the wild on its own.

This morning there was hope. The beauty of God's creation drew me into His presence. He's here, and He loves Valdivia. I have no doubt that He finds joy in that little bird and calla lilly. He is mindful of them, and He receives glory from them. His creation praises Him.

This morning reminded me that I too am His creation, and He finds joy in me. I was created to praise Him with my life. He is a God of the small things. This morning reminded me that the word of God is living and active... that the God of nature is indeed the God of the Bible, and we can find His eternal message in both places...

For in Matthew 5:25-33 Jesus says,
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

I used to find God in nature and knew nothing of the Bible. Then found God in the Bible and thought that was the only way to encounter God. Now I realize that the God of nature is the God of the Bible, that the message is the same.

As I learn more Spanish, my life is enriched as I realize there are certain ways to express oneself in Spanish that don't exist in English. In the same way, how much more will our lives be enriched if we learn to encounter God through His many different languages?

and in walks Marilyn

2005-06-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have been out of touch for awhile. Our lack of communication certainly does not mean things have not been happening. Quite the contrary, really. Things have been happening, both in and around us, that are difficult to put into words, and for that, we have started many blogs without ever posting them. Let's see if this one makes it...

So there's this group called GBU that's been around forever. It's part of a worldwide Christian students' network. We got hooked up with them before arriving to Valdivia, and through those connections have made some wonderful friends here. GBU on our campus has been trying for several years to have Bible studies again on campus like the ones they had in the past, but they have had little success. They just can't seem to get started. We have heard from many students that GBU has a reputation of being boring and hypocritical. This is far from what Jesus is, radical and pure and deeply loving. So we are trying to support this fledgling group, but usually the Friday meeting would just be us and the one leader, who isn't even a student any more.

Two Fridays ago, once again it was just the three of us. After a short time of prayer, the leader left, and we were gathering our stuff. Just as we were heading out the door, a girl came up to us asking if this was GBU. We said yes, but that there wasn't really much of a group and we were going to change the meeting time. She said she was glad to have found us, because for a long time she had felt like she was supposed to come to this but she had class at this time, so she could never make it. She said the idea of GBU wasn't what enticed her but rather the deep need to have a community of people that loved, accepted, and needed her. That was beautiful to hear, because that is what Jesus was about, and that's what we want to be about. So we invited her, Marilyn is her name, to our house, and there was an instant connection, especially between Erin and Marilyn.

Since then, we have come to learn that Erin and Marilyn together are like iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 27:17). Separately we can be pretty dull, but together we spur each other on and are sharpening each other. She is young in the faith but has profound insight and love. She has fallen in love with Jesus and can't help but share that love with others. It is beautiful to have found her. And we all believe that it was truly a miracle, because that was the last time we had that GBU Bible study, and that was the only time her professor let her out early in class, and she said that before she met us she was ready to give up completely and move home, that Valdivia was too difficult, too depressing, and too lonely. But now she feels that God wants her to stay and see what He has in store for her here. She says that she was in a deep valley, and when you're in the valley, you look for the light. She said she found the light in our eyes. How ironic that she has been such a light for us.

My Walk Home

2005-06-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

Today we were so fortunate to have a break in the rain! Even though there were drizzle spurts throughout the day, there were blue skies in between. John is out of town touring with his best friend, Clint, so I have had a fun "girls' week" with my Chilean girlfriends.

Today I ate lunch at one of their houses, and on my walk from her house back to mine, I couldn't help but stop and stare every few steps. Valdivia was reflecting God's beauty in such amazing ways!

First of all, there are these trees that, during the winter, bud into these beautiful explosions of bright red berries. They are really breathtaking. It looks and feels like Christmas should be right around the corner. (Actually, so much so, that the other day I bought some gingerbread cookies and watched El Mono de Nieve, better known as Frosty the Snowman... a moment of "I miss the States" weakness!)

But back to my walk home...

As I walked on the island, I noticed a beautiful rainbow perfectly centered over a tranquil landscape of rolling green hills, rivers, and cattails. I just stopped and stared.

Then I bumped into one of my students, so I stopped again and we chatted in Spanglish (I was wanting to practice Spanish and he was wanting to practice English, so we traded our native tongues.)

Then I passed by some trees, and had to stop and appreciate their beauty. Their branches were completely bare, but they were sparkling like a prom dress as the sunlight hit the raindrops clinging to the naked branches. So delicate, so breathtaking. The Louvre is not worthy of God's art.

Then I was walking on the bridge from the island towards our house, and there was another rainbow, a double one, so bright that I had to stop again and just smile. It was perfectly centered over the Valdivia skyline, the one that you see so often, for example on our newsletter. It was as if God was saying, "I'm here, and I love these people." The colors were so bright, and they actually passed in front of the trees near me! It was almost as if the rainbow had landed on me!

I stood there on the bridge for a long time just smiling and knowing that God's presence was near. Another father with his little boy on his shoulders stopped next to me, and the three of us just stared in silence. Then he smiled at me and moved on. No one else stopped. Some didn't even look. But for me, it was a message from God reminding me that He is faithful to keep His promises and that He has a plan for me and for the people of Valdivia.

Beautiful Frustration

2005-05-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

There are blue skies and sun today in Valdivia. What a blessing! Yesterday amid rain and strong wind we crammed over a dozen Chileans into our home for a student gathering. We all had a great time talking about how to have a spiritual discussion. The meeting progressed at a very relaxed Chilean pace, which means that people slowly trickled in during the first hour of the meeting, we ordered pizza for lunch which literally took over two hours to arrive, and we didn't talk about half the things we had planned.

Though we didn't do much, I guess what we did do we did well. Erin, with the help of a Chilean, translated an article she wrote about having spiritual dialogues without being judgmental or closed minded, and we read the article aloud as a group. Afterwards we talked for over two hours about what parts of it we could apply and conversed in depth over one of Jesus' parables found in Matthew 22 as an example of a spiritual discussion. It was great to hear everyone's ideas on what Jesus was saying. The goal wasn't a logical conclusion, it was introspection.

It was great to allow students time to ponder the words of Jesus rather than just being spoon-fed the answers. There was quite a bit of diversity in opinions, which made for some circular discussions, but it was all worth it to see them get so engaged by the mysterious words of Jesus.

At the end we asked if anyone was frustrated, and a few nodded their heads. They hadn't been able to structure the conversation in a way that concluded with everyone thinking just like them. It was beautiful. They had to listen to differing opinions, and everyone didn't see eye to eye. Yet they were listening to and respecting one another rather than trying to bend the conversation to meet their own objectives. No one was given the opportunity to play the lawyer, only the witness.

The conversation was like a beautiful piece of art swirling with mystery and color that touches deep and teaches a lesson without ever needing a thesis statement.

We scarfed the pizza when it finally arrived, had a time of prayer, and then closed around 5:00pm, two hours later than we had planned, and five hours after the meeting began. Even after the official ending, many hung around for awhile, and we took turns strumming away on John's guitar.

Something clicked on Saturday. These students long for community, and they found it in a small cabaña with too little space and too few chairs. A smaller group is meeting on campus tomorrow for lunch, and we are going to have another large gathering as a group in a week. It is a beautiful reminder of how much we need each other.

To read Erin's article, go to this PDF file.

Life is so different down here. Want some more macaroni?

2005-05-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog is also our quote of the week. And surprisingly, the first sentence and the second sentence have perfect commonality in my mind. Tonight is Friday night: the end of a busy week and the beginning of a three day weekend. We literally have had to turn down five opportunities to travel to give ourselves time to rest. Erin is still feeling bad and has made a home within a home of our extra bed. I moved it downstairs to our little living room and set our TV trays around it so she has easy access to food and books and is closer to the warm fire.

So while we were eating dinner together in our little cabanya I was thinking in the silence (Erin has taken a conversationalist haitus since she came down with bronchitis) about how different our way of living is down here in a thousand little ways. Instant coffee instead of drip, cooking with gas instead of electricity, riding the bus instead of a car, sweeping instead of vacuuming, Coke instead of Dr. Pepper. I was imagining what I would be doing if I was still in the States, and I guessed I'd be watching the new Star Wars or talking over Starbucks. It seems like it isn't the big things that make life really feel different, it is the change in all the little daily things we are used to doing that remind us where we are.

As for the macaroni, that is because I am cooking while Erin is sick, and I have been doing a poor job. Instant soup, macaroni, microwave dip, and salads. No wonder my poor wife is sick! But at least I was offering seconds, right... :-)

Shot from Behind

2005-05-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Hello world! This is Erin, from her bed. I've been here for a few days now, and as I lay here, I think "How could I turn this situation into an uplifting, metaphorical blog entry?" And then I realize, it's just not possible. So allow me to vent, if I may...

A week ago I started feeling really weak, so I went to the doc on campus, and he said I had the flu and a bacterial infection in my throat. He gave me three kinds of drugs, one of them being an antibiotic, and gave me three days of sick leave. Over time, I began to feel better and started this week at nearly 100%.

But by Tuesday, my throat was hurting, but I figured that was just the natural result of trying to talk over 40 students who love to practice English slang ("Bull S---, I'm a stalker, hold the phone, let's play it by ear, thank God it's Friday, wuuuzzzuuuppppp, whoop!"). So cute. Anyways, my throat was hurting, and then when I was walking to lunch in the cold, it really hurt to breathe, and then I could barely talk once I arrived to the lady's house with whom I would be eating. In a few hours, my voice would be completely gone.

So yesterday I went to the doctor again, and as it turns out, I have bronchitis. He said that my body must have rejected the antibiotic he gave me last time, but I think that's just a Chilean way of saying he misdiagnosed me. I could be wrong, but isn't bronchitis viral?

Anyways, I was so sick in his office, that they rolled me over and gave me a nice shot, right in the nalgas (Spanish for "where the sun don't shine"). I am now required to stay in bed for 7 days, and a nurse will be frequenting our cabanya every day to give me daily dose of humility.

But may I just say that my husband is an absolute angel? My poor, sweet, culture-shocked hubby has treated me like a princess, cooking for me, cleaning, pretending like he doesn't notice when I cough up phlegm as he reads the Bible to me, and patiently interpreting my sign language and gestures so we can communicate.

If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading and for putting up with my miserable mournings. Pray for us. This is a difficult time. Stage Two of Culture Shock has sunk in, commonly known as "Rejection" or "Horror." But fortunately God has given us a good sense of humor, and more than anything, His Presence, which keeps us smiling and holding onto each other and to Him as it hails outside our door...

Artistic Expressions

2005-05-12T18:45:00.000-07:00

Art. We have been thinking about how powerful a thing the short word "art" represents, especially in the Chilean culture. Since our last post, we have learned firsthand that the college students of Chile protest in the universities, seemingly more to exercise a freedom they recently lacked under the dictator Pinochet than to create change. Yesterday, we were surprised to find that after a one-week student protest that blocked anyone from entering the university except fellow students, they had painted works of art all down the halls of one of the buildings. Amidst the skillfully painted pictures were stanzas of poetry or words of protest, but it was anything but graffiti.

Saturday night we were invited to a concert to support a band that some of our friends are in. There were three bands, two secular and one called Free Toxica that classifies themselves as "Christian punk" which included our friends. They opened playing loudly and wearing doctors' masks. Two helpers from off stage then brought to the front what was presumably the lead singer - someone wearing a straight jacket and a gas mask. As the singer struggled against them, they removed the jacket and mask, revealing him as our soft-spoken, teddy-bear, lawyer friend! We burst out laughing, but as it turns out, he is just as skilled at entertaining a crowd with growls, singing, and sinister laughs as he is at leading an intimate, biblical discussion or studying for his lawschool exams. Though self-expression takes many forms, we've been appreciating both the diversity and the sincereity we have seen. Isn't it great to know we serve such a big God that He can take pleasure in His children connecting with Him in so many different ways?!

Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

2005-05-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've always liked bread, but if I was served a meal without bread, I didn't really think twice about it. Especially now with all the South Beach and Atkins craze in the U.S., bread is a bit of a faupaux. But in Chile, bread is something you can always count on.

Nearly every person I've met here in Chile comes from a broken family. It's rare to find a family with a husband that still lives at home. Since divorce was made legal just last year, there have been decades of single mothers who could not remarry nor get legal settlements to protect them. The man leaves and doesn't come back and she is left with the kids and lots of challenges ahead. Since traditionally women have not worked outside the home much, this makes it even more difficult. We have heard heart-wrenching story after heart-wrenching story. And granted, not all of them have been the men leaving but sometimes the women instead. Either way, infidelity is incredibly high in Chile.

So why bread? Because despite the lack of trust in spouses and parents, we have noticed that in Chile, you can always trust that bread with be served with every meal, even if the meal consists of nothing but carbs. There must be a full bread basket in the middle of the table. There are stores on nearly every block that sell fresh-baked bread. The government even subsidizes stores that make bread so they can keep it inexpensive so that everyone, even if they have nothing else, can have their daily bread.

People literally schedule their days around when they need to go buy bread. I've been walking to campus early in the morning amidst cold and rain, and there are little old men riding their bikes through puddles, the backs of their shirts drenched, with a plastic bag full of bread hanging from the handlebars. One must have his daily bread, come rain or shine, cold or heat.

And now, after living in Chile for two months, the Lord's prayer has new meaning for me. "Give us today our daily bread..." Lord, give me something that I can count on, something I can trust in, something that gives me security and sustains me. And then I am reminded...

"Jesus said to them, 'I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.'

'Sir,' they said, 'from now on give us this bread.'

Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'" (John 6:32-25)

Jesus is the only thing we can truly count on, someone I can truly trust in, someone that gives me security and sustains me. He is the Bread of Life. And how often do I go through my day without ever stopping to eat my Daily Bread? Do I schedule my entire day around getting Bread? Do I seek out Bread come rain or shine? Do people notice if I fail to provide them Bread?
If only I invested as much time into feeding my spirit as I do feeding my stomach. My prayer for you and for me today is that we would making getting Bread our first priority, and that we would remember that not only does everyone need Bread, but everyone has the right to have access to Bread. What are you doing today so that others can get their Daily Bread? Have you had yours?

Our Need for Community

2005-05-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

We've started having students in our home! Hurray for the gift of hospitality! By the grace of God, we love cooking for these students, and we don't even mind cleaning the dishes and vacuuming the rug after they leave. Somehow, we know that this is in part why we are here.

To our surprise, there are no student groups on campus, Christian or secular. There are no local hangouts, except maybe one nearby pub called the Bunker. Students are lonely, very lonely here. Their only friends are their classmates, and according to the students we know, those relationships are usually pretty superficial. The students here don't hang out at coffee shops because most of them can't afford a cup of coffee, and the majority of them still live with their families. For this, we are very grateful that God has provided us with a cabaña and the means to welcome these students into our home. (And John makes a mean fire to keep us all warm as winter approaches!)

So I am reminded of how much every one of us longs to belong to something, to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We need a purpose, and we need community.

We have connected with a small group of students who have been praying for the campus for over a year but are still waiting for God's timing to start something. We had a great conversation with them over dinner in our home, but we're realizing that we're hitting a bit of a cultural barrier here. We're feeling the urgency of getting something off the ground since we'll only be here for a short time, and yet they don't want to talk logistics. We're not quite sure why. A question even as simple as "When do you want to meet again?" causes them to pull back a little and avoid the subject. They love talking about the vision, students having hope and peace through personal relationships with Jesus Christ, but to get from here to there...? They don't seem eager to discuss it.

So pray for us. We're so excited to have found these students, but we're looking for direction from the Lord as to where to go next. We don't want to outpace them, because they are the future leaders. We want to encourage them rather than take the reins. They know the culture and the language so much better than we do, and our vision is that God uses Chileans to reach Chileans. The gringos are here to serve, not to lead. So help us gain wisdom and direction as to what to do next. ¡Gracias!

En Tu Presencia

2005-05-03T06:31:00.000-07:00

Sunday night we went to a church called Gracia y Paz to listen to a worship band called "En Tu Presencia," which as you may guess, means "In Your Presence." They are one of the most popular worship bands in Chile. It was extremely refreshing to worship with them, as four of the songs that they played were translations of English songs we knew. One of the songs they played was also an original, which was cool to hear. Chile is in need of more artists of all types - music, film, painting, etc. - since many artists were murdered, oppressed, or fled the country under the rule of Pinochet. This means that art and music that comes from Chile is now especially appreciated by the people.

After the worship concert, we hung out with three other young couples for several hours at one of their houses. Together we ate some homemade pizza and talked about everything from Chilean legends to pop culture. I think all the people in that room are going to become good friends. It also helps that they feel a similar call on their lives to help students who feel lost or lonely. Erin and I came here alone, but God is showing us that we are working alongside brothers and sisters of the same heart.

This week we are having dinner or coffee with someone almost every night of the week. Praise the Lord we have a cabaña that we can invite people to! It is ringing true that Chileans build friendships in small home gatherings. For Erin and I (especially me), relationship building has been slower in Chile due to the language barrier, but this week I am really feeling like people are getting to know me. It just takes a little more time in a second language.

The students have "taken over" the university this past week as a form of protest, and none of the professors are allowed on campus. For Erin this means that she does not have to teach, and we have both been able to focus on learning the language (Spanish classes for the Gringos have moved to another building off campus). Everything should start back up within the week, but for the time being, it is giving us a chance to catch up. I am starting to see improvement in my Spanish and am encouraged.

I guess I really don't have one story that captures the past week or two of my experiences. Plenty of great things have happened, but no one high or low that sticks out. I think I can say that a permeating theme over these past days has been this sensation that the will of God is in action around me. When I have been in a bad mood, I have tended to know how childish and selfish I was being. While singing praise and looking at other Chileans doing the same, I was struck by the complexity of God interacting simultaneously with hundreds of people around me with unique feelings, needs, and situations. When we were conversing with our friends over a glass of Coca-Cola, I remember feeling like God was amused and content that all of the coincidences that shaped our lives over the years had brought us together, right where He had planned all along.

This week has been a riot... literally :-)

2005-04-15T14:56:00.000-07:00

Man... every week here brings something new (usually many things new). The cabaña we mentioned in our last post turned out to be amazing and "the one" that we had been praying for! Thank you to all of you who were praying with us; we are amazed at how perfectly God worked it out. We moved into it this weekend, and it has already been a huge blessing. Though tiny by U.S. standards, it is cozy and we can already envision students gathered here for prayer and coffee. We are still settling in, but Erin's nesting instincts are already beginning to recover from the abuse they have taken at our last place. :-) It really wasn't that bad; hopefully I can post some pictures soon so you can see for yourself.

So a story.... Today we went to the university with our Chilean friend named Ester. As we approached the entrance of the university, we saw many police officers standing around directing traffic and two green armored vans, one with a water cannon on top. The students of the university were protesting! Roughly 100 students had blocked the entrance to the university and were throwing rocks to keep everyone back. We watched as they advanced out of the university a little to disrupt traffice with flying rocks, and in response the police, or carabineros, would drive their vans up to the entrance of the university and push the students back with tear gas and bursts of water from their cannon.

To give some background, Chilean law prohibits the police from entering universities without explicit permission as a way to protect freedom of speech. So if students have cause to protest, they can actually use universities all across Chile as safehavens from the police. Apparently these protests are an annual occurance this time of year. But what cause do they have to protest? Usually the students protest because they do not receive as much money from federal college grants as they would like. They take over the university until a spokesman can negotiate a resolution with the government. But that was not the cause of today's protest. The provocation was this: The buses used for commuting have increased the price for students to ride from 20 cents per ride to 24 cents per ride. A measley four cent increase considering oil prices seems generous, but to the students it was outrageous enough for them to set logs on fire at the entrance of the university!

After watching the action for for around an hour, we came to two conclusions: 1.) Tear gas must really hurt, because Erin got a little residual gas in her eye from the wind and could hardly keep her eye open. (Don't worry mom, she's okay now.) and 2.) Protests in Chile are a kind of game or ballet. The students try to disrupt traffic and the university as much as possible and the police try to scatter the students enough to put a premature end to the protest without hurting anyone. The result is an ebb and flow. The students flow out of the university rolling logs to slow down the police vans and throwing rocks to keep people from trying to enter. In retort, the police vans drive in and shoot water at the feet of the closest students while other officers carry away the logs. In the end the students had fun, the police got some practice in riot control, a couple of people get arrested for the night, and they will dance again tomorrow.

Juan y Marsela

2005-03-31T07:04:00.000-08:00

Last night we met with a church planting pastor and his wife in their home. It was a special time. Juan had two guitars in his home, so John used one and he used the other, and we took turns playing and singing praise songs in our native languages. It was a glimpse of heaven as we praised God side by side in two different languages and cultures! We were laughing too, because after John played an American song (which was water to my soul!), Juan said in Spanish, Oh that´s very nice...very gringo! And so we realized that we tend to put emphasis on the second and fourth beats in a song, whereas Latinos put the emphasis on the first and third. Don´t believe me? Just try clapping to the music in a Latino church. Even though you´re on the beat, if you look around you, you´ll notice that you are clapping opposite everyone else!

After our mini concert, we shared a meal and discussed the spiritual situation here in Chile. It´s very different. It´s about 10-15 years behind the U.S. There is lots of emphasis on large revival events. Juan and Marsela kept asking us about American pastors that come to South American and host huge revivals, but John and I hadn´t heard of any of them. The only one John recognized was Jimmy Swiggert, and I don´t even know who that is!

There are also many profetas that are wheeling and dealing in the name of God. In essence, they say, if you give me your money, you can trust that God will give you a new car. And people actually believe these guys! It´s really sad, because from my point of view, I´ve lived through the sins of people like Robert Tilton and other tele-evangelists, and I´ve seen the repercussions. In fact, I´m a product of them! Before accepting Christ, I thought all Christians were hypocritcal and holier-than-thou. Coming from the U.S. to Chile is like coming back from the future to a world that is headed towards skepticism and grudges against the church. I have already seen some evidences of this in my conversations with students.

It will be interesting to see how we approach ministry from within this context. The church here is still very much in the modern mindset, yet the unreached students are in many ways very postmodern. However, we find a lot of modernism in the student believers. It is an interesting situation, and if you don´t understand what I´m talking about, I´d encourage you to read The Emerging Church by Dan Kimball.

That´s all for now. Tonight John and I are going to look at a cabaña that we really hope and pray will be ¨the one.¨ Pray for us and for our future home so that we can host lots of students in it and use it to be a blessing to others!

All our love,
John and Erin

Climbing Higher

2005-03-28T13:13:00.000-08:00

This weekend, John and I met up with some friends in Pucón, a city about 3 hours NE of Valdivia. It is a beautiful, very touristy town nestled among forests, lakes, hot springs, and two active volcanos. On Saturday, we climbed the volcano (Volcán Villarrica) for 12 hours! It was literally one of the hardest things I´ve ever done in my life! We were on the mountain from 7am to 7pm. Today, our entire bodies hurt! We hiked through lots of snow with clamp-ons on our feet, zigzagging back and forth and huffing and puffing along the way. Our guide was a pro, so the pace was MUY RAPIDO! :-) At the top, after many excruciating hours, we saw the most amazing sight! The crater was enormous, and smoke constantly billowed out. Every few minutes, the volcano would get angry at us and spit out big explosions of lava and rock! It was insane! The last one we saw was so high, that many of us were thinking, ¨Let´s get out of here!¨ On the way down, we slid down most of the snow on our rears, creating miniature slides all over the mountain with our derrieres. :-)

I honestly thought I´d never get off that mountain. The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking, though, with bright blue-green lakes bordered by trees and farms, with black rivers winding through where lava once flowed. The whole day was a wonderful reminder of the reason for Easter. As each step up the mountain got heavier and more difficult, I remembered Jesus and the road to the cross. Thank You Jesus that You did not give up! His example and His presence helped me get to the top of the mountain, knowing that in my weakness, He is strong! Surrounded by the tranquil beauty of the lakes and sky, and yet also too close for comfort to the raging lava reminded me of the abundant grace and yet holy wrath and power of God.

That night, we went to the termas, or natural hot springs, to soak our sore muscles. Gazing up at a cloudless night, looking at hundreds of stars that have existed for billions of years but yet I have never seen since I´m from the northern hemisphere, I am so amazed to think that a God so big and so eternal would be interested in knowing little old me. But that is what the cross tells us!

Grupo Biblico Universitario

2005-03-24T06:38:00.000-08:00

¡Hola!

Last night was amazing. We met for the first time with the students from Grupo Biblico Universitario. Since we have been praying with them for so long, it truly was incredible to finally see there faces! There were about 15 of us meeting in a couple´s home, and the main student leader, Alejando, gave an introduction about GBU and what we´re about. My eyes began to water as he described the heart and mission of GBU. It was as if he had copied John´s and my prospectus. GBU is a student-led movement that focuses on starting expressions of the church called nucleos imbedded within the culture of the universities across Chile. We truly share one heart and one vision!

After the presentation, I brought out some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, which were devoured immediately. They have adopted me as la mamá de GBU. They are already looking forward to eating and eating and eating in our cabaña. I´m guessing that Jesus is leading me to ¨Feed my sheep.¨ :-) John and I were so honored by the way they welcomed us into the group. Our Spanish of course is horrendous, but they were so patient with us and eager to help. We were all laughing really hard as we taught them words like ¨tumbleweed¨and they taught us funny Chilean expressions.

We´re really blown away by how God is putting the pieces of the puzzle together so quickly! We were assuming it would be a slow transition process, but already we are spending almost every evening in someone´s home. Chilean hospitality is amazing! We visited a church plant last week, and the pastor and his wife invited us to share a meal with them next week. Also, yesterday I had once, which is like British tea time, with a woman who leads Hogar Luteraneo, which is a shelter for children and a ministry for single parents. She kept saying that she is so blessed that we are here and encouraged John and me to come to the Hogar and then pray to ask God is He wants us to serve the people in this way. What an amazing opportunity! She also is setting up a time for John and me to meet the very influential pastor of the Lutheran church in Valdivia who supposidly is very young, passionate, and mission-minded. She is convinced that we must meet this man. We are so eager to see how we can help!

So we are just blown away by the way people have embraced us here. There really is such a need for cross-denominational leadership and initiatives to help mobilize the Church of Valdivia. Perhaps we can play some small part in this? And the students make it all worth it. One of the guys, Felipe, became a believer last year, and already he is starting spiritual dialogues with all his friends. His flame burns bright. We´re so inspired.

On a personal note, we´re still praying about and looking for a place to call home. We are so grateful for the cabaña that we have, and the landlady is an angel. But there´s no way we´ll be able to host guests in this one, so we´re looking for another that has a living room and hopefully Internet. Please keep that in your prayers!

Also, please be praying for the student of Universidad Austral. In my classes alone there are prostitutes, drug abusers, orphans, broken families, and those who can´t even afford the textbook. So much suffering, so much depression. Pray that God´s Spirit would draw people to His neverending love that quenches our innermost thirst and meets our deepest needs!

Love to you all!

- Erin

Knowing

2005-03-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

We have made it to Valdivia. It is unlike any place we have been. When we came, we expected something similar to Mexico, but someone pointed out to us that Mexico and Chile don´t share a continent and barely share a language.

This past weekend we went to a church called "Gracia y Paz." It was a three hour long "contemporary" church service that ended with an awesome time of prayer for the students in Valdivia. I did not understand half of the sermon because of the language barrier... the topic was something about pursuing our dreams. What I did connect with was the worship music. The worship was long, loud, and passionate. Everyone was clapping and singing, and the lyrics of the songs spoke of victory over sin and death and the awe inspiring love of Jesus.

Later, Erin and I met the girl who was leading worship. Her name is Esther. She is a Senior at the university majoring in journalism and speaks quite a bit of English. She told us that there are few at the university that believe in any kind of God, and among those that believe, few live by their beliefs. She said that she and and three friends have been praying every week for two years for change on their campus. We are happy that we can now pray alongside them.

The statistics say that 80 % of the population in Chile is Catholic, but that has not been our current experience. In Spanish there are two words that translate to "know" in English. One is "saber," and it relates to memorization (and statistics). The other is "conocer," and it relates to experience, like being familiar with a person or a place. For all that we read and knew about Chile and Valdivia before we came, our real understanding has come from a church service, from conversations, and from the eyes of the students we pass everyday.

Oh God, you have called us and brought us to Valdivia. And now those we pray for have faces and voices. Jesus, bring your love to this place so that these students can know You by experience. Father, you have captivated our hearts, and our feet follow Your call. Light the path before us.

Un abrazo enorme desde Chile

2005-03-03T05:17:00.000-08:00

Our first entry from Chile! I´m sitting in the business center of my hotel in Santiago praying for John as he goes through customs in the airport. I should be seeing him within the hour! I can hardly wait to be reunited with my husband! The past few days have been amazing. Saying goodbye to my parents and walking onto that plane was one of the hardest things I have done yet. But with huge lump in my throat, I did it. God has provided every step of the way. During day one I hit my knees a lot, and He was so faithful to kneel down with me and wrap His loving arms around me. I felt like a fish out of water, but He reminds me that He is the water of life! He has met my every need.

The people in the Fulbright program are amazing. So diverse! There are three from southern CA, one from Chicago, and one from NJ. Just talking among the six of us is a cultural experience! None of them have been to Texas, and they have all told me that I have dispelled many myths they had about Texans. We had a conversation about spirituality last night at a cafe bar, and as it turns out, we all have different beliefs! From a skeptic to a Ba´hai to a Jesuit to a Jehovah´s Witness, to someone who thinks religion is for stupid people, to me, we are all quite a diverse bunch! I love our group dynamic and look forward to building relationships with these enriching people!

I met my director from the univesity yesterday, and he is incredibly generous and accommodating. Tomorrow we go to Valdivia. I can´t believe it. I´m really excited. Tomorrow, I´m going home! I can´t wait to see what ¨home¨will be like!

Un abrazo enorme (A huge hug),
Erin

Oh, The Places You'll Go

2005-02-28T10:13:00.000-08:00

Wow... the last two weeks have been a blur. We have gotten to spend some great time with family before leaving and have made some fun memories. We stayed in Dallas with Erin's parents most of the time, we got to visit several friends, and my parents came to visit this past weekend. We have been eating way too much in an attempt to enjoy one last time all the U.S. foods that we love: chicken fried steak, TexMex, barbeque ribs, etc. But with all the walking we will do in Valdivia, the calories don't count. :-)

Erin boarded her plane yesterday. She called me this morning from the Santiago airport to let me know that she arrived in Chile safely, despite flight delays due to weather. By now she is at her hotel about to begin her five day orientation for Fulbright. I leave on Wednesday to meet up with her in Santiago, and we will finish the trip to Valdivia together.

The night before Erin left, we stumbled upon "Oh, The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Suess while looking for material for Erin to use to teach English. We sat down and read it, and we got teary eyed despite the silly rhymes. Amid all the sad emotions churning within us... knowing all that we are leaving behind, in our hearts we felt like God was confirming again that He wants to move mountains in Chile and that He wants us to play some small part in His story.

Our ability to access the Internet will be sketchy over the next few weeks, but we will post again once we find a way. "Thank you!" to everyone who is praying for us.

Grace and Peace,
John

Humbled

2005-02-11T07:34:00.000-08:00

This is our last week in Houston. I don't think it's set in yet that we're actually saying "goodbye." It's been an amazing week. On Monday, the youth group at our church had a time of prayer and worship for us at the youth pastor's house. It's so amazing to see the high school students so on fire for God! On Wednesday our church, Clear Creek Community, commissioned us. What an awesome sight to see an entire congregation raising a hand towards us and praying for us. Wow. It was a beautiful time. On Thursday, we had a going away party for us at the church, and I'm just blown away by how many amazing people are in our lives. We are so blessed. God, thank You for our year in Houston!

Today is John's last day of work at NASA. I know a part of him is very sad to leave. He's had a great job. But as John's boss said, "Don't argue with the Big Boss." We leave Houston Sunday morning and then we're off to Austin and then the Dallas area. I (Erin) leave the country Feb. 27th, and John leaves March 2nd. We'll arrive in Valdivia on March 4th!

In my quiet time, God gave me this verse: 2 Corinthians 2:14-16: But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and who are perishing. To the one, we are the smell of death, to the other, the fragrance of life.

Lord, I pray that the Chileans we meet will sense your fragrance in us. Lord, you are already in Valdivia. We can't wait to meet You there. Amen.

Ignorant Attempt

2004-11-29T14:49:00.000-08:00

Hi. This is my first blog. Ever. I mean it. Can you believe it?