Blogging?

In two days I'll be back in Arizona and back to blogging. The dial-up connections at both of my parent's houses, plus the other work I've had, have kept me away from blogging. More fun entries to come -- stay tuned!

Kairos

Why am I going to Argentina right now? There are definitely poorer countries, and countries with more obvious spiritual issues. So why Argentina? My stepsister Karina described this time as a “kairotic moment” for Argentina, which in rhetoric (her area of study) means a passing instant when an opening appears. According to the New Testament Greek lexicon, kairos is the time when things are brought to crisis, the opportune or seasonable time. What is going on in Argentina that makes me characterize it this way?

Several key provinces are excited and active in working for change in their communities. We have been invited to work in four key provinces: Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Santa Fe, and Salta. The first three are key because they are home to Argentina’s three largest cities. Salta is key because it is a land rich in natural resources that also has a significant indigenous population (Wichi).

In Buenos Aires the denominational barriers have fallen and churches are working together. The Libertador Church has been doing relief work in Baradero, a nearby slum, for many years, and recently began incorporating development techniques in the area. This past month, a couple from that church (Horacio and Silvia, who have prayed for 20 years to be released full-time to missions) received the go-ahead to move to Baradero to work full-time. In Cordoba a large evangelical church recently woke up to the idea of missions and is being trained to train others in transformational development. In Salta the villagers have responded to recent trainings with action: building a new form of oven, planning a village-wide event to deal with alcoholism, and requests for more training from both Christian and secular groups.

Horacio and Silvia

Fun serendipitous fact: the location for the training we did near Buenos Aires was called Centro Kairos! Here we are at the urban TOT1:

Change

The Columbia River in Wenatchee Valley last week.

I arrived in Cleveland, Ohio a few days ago. I don't have any pictures yet, so the one above is from last week's vacation. On Friday night I spoke with my Dad and Stepmom's "K-group." This is a group of people from their church with whom they've been meeting every other week. It was a very interesting group of people, several of whom had done short-term mission trips -- primarily in the States, but also outside of the country. The best part was when I was told a few times that I had done so much: medicine, travel, different jobs, etc. When this happens I am reminded that I was a very different person in high school (the last time I lived here), before taking Christ and his love and purpose and forgiveness so seriously.

In my community group last month we were assigned to write in 100 words or less how our lives had changed due to the love of God. I wrote the following: In high school I was very judging and critical of other people. This really came out of a deep insecurity – I was lonely and looking for acceptance, but that was hard to find when I was so critical of others. Over many years of searching, reading the Bible and praying, I decided to accept what God said about me, and I really met Jesus in a personal way. Since then I have a deep sense of being loved, accepted, and I know that I have a purpose. I also really love and value other people.

Now, it's not that I'm not ever judging or angry. In fact, it's incredible how being back with family and in my hometown can switch me somewhat into that mode -- and I've only been here three days! But there is a point below which I do not go, because I know at my core that I am loved, accepted, and have a purpose. I may sometimes act the old way, but I can go back to the source of life and be renewed in this love and truth.

I spoke at my Mom's church today, a brief "Minute for Missions." Afterwards at coffee hour I met the mother of someone I'd known in grade school. Yet again I remembered the deep-seated anger that characterized my "early years." This remembrance of who I was, who I am now, and who I am becoming, is so exciting to me. When I speak about ministry with LifeWind, I talk a lot about physical change: protecting sources of clean drinking water, disease prevention, small business development. It's all of a piece: our emotional and spiritual lives either uplift or weigh down our vocational and physical lives, and vice versa.

Cling

Sara goes to Bethany Community Church, whose pastor is Richard Dahlstrom -- check out his website: www.rainycitypastor.blogspot.com. I’ve listened to his teachings before, since my friend Amy has loaned me recordings of retreats she has gone to where he was the speaker. The sermon title this week was, “Inviting people to the wholeness of rest.” He cited a portion of a letter he had received from some of the church’s missionaries, who wrote, “My first and primary vocation and obedience is my sanctifying journey towards Christ.”

I’m sure that those missionaries have challenging work, since they minister to prostitutes in the slums of El Alto, near La Paz, Bolivia. However, they recognize that their work will be ineffective if they do not remember their first love, Christ. Henri Nouwen writes in The Way of the Heart that, “Our first and foremost task is faithfully to care for the inward fire so that when it is really needed it can offer warmth and light to lost travelers.”

Dahlstrom said that instead of pursuing godly habits, we should pursue Christ who will shepherd us to those habits. “CLING TO CHRIST,” he said (emphasis mine).

He also said something really funny, especially since Eva (from Germany) was sitting next to me. He was talking about whining (I can’t remember why) and he spoke of a trip to Germany where everything seemed better, and yet Europeans come to Seattle and think Seattle is great. His example of their whining contest was: American guy, “We don’t have any castles, ” and German guy, “Well, we don’t have anyone who throws fish.” Tee-hee!

Photo of the Pike Place Market, where fish are thrown daily.

Vacation, cont.

Ah, vacation! Here I am in the Wenatchee Valley (just east of the Cascades in Washington State) with some vineyards and the Columbia River in the background.

These grapes are being prepared for use in ice wine:

It started snowing on our drive back west through the Cascades:

We cooked quite a bit: Sara lived in China for five years and taught us some dishes. Here are Eva and Sara cooking tiger-skin peppers and the little-known Chinese dish “eggs with tomatoes:”

Eva cooked us some great German food, here with spinach and savory pancakes:

We also went out to eat a few times. Here we are with our friend Julie from college:

Eating fish and chips along the beach:

We later took a walk along the beach and saw a bald eagle in a tree. Thankfully we stayed a few minutes, and got to see him dive for food. He then took it back to his perch in the tree to eat it. He had to fight off seagulls and then crows to eat his food. Click on the picture to see it full-screen with the snow-covered Olympia Mountains in the background.

Vacation!

Last week I was on vacation in Seattle – it was fabulous! My friend Sara lives there and our friend Eva came from Germany for 10 days of laughing, cooking, traveling, advice-giving, and telling our stories. Friendship is a wonderful thing.

We traveled to Roslyn, Washington, where “Northern Exposure” was filmed. Here is the classic view of the town:

And here’s an interesting side street – note the sign over the building!
We stopped at a café with this sign:

And the next day we took a walk in the hills:

Seattle and Friends

I haven't posted in a bit because I've been on vacation in Seattle with my two dear friends, Sara and Eva. It's a little nicer visiting than posting!

I have had to be on-line quite a bit with things for my house -- within the last week I got an offer, the buyer backed out, and I got another offer. Hope deferred makes the heart sick.... :)

I've got some great pictures I will post when I get to Cleveland later this week, so please come back then!