Least of these, Study pt 3

Continuing to look at what the Bible has to say about responding to people in need...

What is a faithful response?

• James 2:14-18; Is my faith evidenced by how I live my life? Is it evidenced in my interactions with my children? My co-workers? My brothers and sisters at Crossroads Mennonite Church?
• Is my faith evidenced in my interactions with those who come to me with need? Do I send them away, hungry and confused, until they get this i dotted or t crossed? Have I regulated away the need to meet the physical needs of those in our community?
• How do I handle the unexpected phone call, the interruption into my quiet night or trip to the store? Does my faith shine through then? Or does it only shine through when I am “on the clock” and have my ministry face on (and is that really shining?) ?
• Father, Let your love and my faith be the evidence of my life and intentions as I serve joyfully and gratefully for all you have done for me… In Christ’s name … Amen.

-Rick Rutter, formerly Director of Outreach Ministries

Snow Day

When I was a kid, I loved snow days. Waking up in the morning to a blanket of snow sent us running to the radio to find out if school was in session that day. What a delight it was if we found out school was cancelled! A snow day meant an unexpected holiday from the normal activities in life. Okay, I admit, as a child I certainly didn’t realize the amount of extra work it created for my parents just to do the normal things that needed done on the family farm. For me and my brothers and sisters, it was a holiday from school and a day to romp and play in the big white world outside. Sledding, building snowmen, snowball fights, snow angels, etc. were just part of the fun. Life pretty much ground to a halt.

As a young adult I realized all that snow meant shoveling driveways and walks in freezing temperatures, and suddenly snow days weren’t quite as much fun. And most adults still had to drive to work in all that miserable stuff. But as a teacher there was still a certain amount of excitement to waking up to an early morning phone call and hearing the words, “no school today” by the caller on the other end of the line. Snow days meant an unexpected vacation day. They were totally “free” days. They were different from the scheduled days off – those days were filled with appointments and all the things I couldn’t do during my regular work hours. Snow days were different – there was a whole day to do just what I wanted (once the driveway and walks were shoveled, of course). I could curl up and read a good book, bake cookies, play a game, put a puzzle together, or get out that long awaited craft project without worrying about the work that wasn’t getting done!

Oh, how things have changed. Now my day starts at 5 in the morning as I get up, listen to the weather forecast and check what the other schools in Lancaster County are doing. Should we have a delay or should we just cancel school for the day? And then once the decision is made, I’m the one making a myriad of phone calls – to the staff and then to the radio and TV stations. And all this by six o’clock in the morning! As I stand inside my warm house and gaze out the window at the winter wonderland, I realize that modern technology has kept us from having the traditional “snow day” when everything grinds to a screeching halt. Computers now allow us to connect to the office from our homes and life goes on. As I logged on to my computer yesterday morning just to check if there was anything urgent that needed my attention, I was somewhat amused to see a message from the IT department that said they were working from home. Pretty amazing, I thought. My son-in-law, who works for the phone company, got 2 minutes away from home in his vehicle, and was slipping and sliding so much he turned around, came home, and spent the day doing his job from the comfort of his living room in front of his computer! I’m sure these are not isolated cases. In fact, here I sit at home “working” all due to the wonders of modern technology.

However, I can’t help but wonder if this ability to keep on going is all for the best. If a snowstorm can’t make us stop, slow down, and take the day off to rest and play, what does? We live in a work driven society. Our lives are constantly on the move. Do we ever take a “snow day”? Is there such a thing as a holiday? What about the Sabbath? While I’m not suggesting that things come to a grinding halt every time it snows, perhaps we should count this snow as God’s quiet nudge to take a moment to rest and reflect on His Goodness. At least for a minute before we check our email and answer the phone.

-Lorraine Brandt, Wonder Club School

ps- the picture above is not from Lancaster (its from Newfoundland)

Being nice vs. being helpful

As a recovering drug addict I can say that “niceness” almost killed me. People didn’t want to hurt my feelings or let me experience the consequences of my actions because that seemed too harsh.

The world is full of people who think that being “nice” is being helpful. I used to think this behavior was well motivated naiveté. As I grow older I am seeing that it isn’t well motivated at all –it’s selfish. People are more interested in avoiding conflict than actually helping.

Addiction is a resolvable condition, but it will not be achieved through being “nice”. It only gets resolved through relentless accountability (tough love); and that’s not “nice”.

Practicing addicts are masters at evading what could help them. They will use everything at their disposal to maintain their self-centered lifestyle: family, children, physical conditions… “Nice” people often unwittingly assist them in their evasion. Pulling out of the steep dive of addiction requires very specific, hard work, and addicted people shrink from that hardship. And “nice” people let them.

All too often, I get phone calls from people (even from within the mission) who cannot understand how we could be so unkind to person x. “As a Christian organization you should…” they say.

What I needed, and finally got, in my addiction were people willing to walk away from me if I didn’t accept help. I called my pastor for help once when I was on the streets in Portland, Oregon. He said, “Aaron I can’t give you what you want. You need to experience the consequences of your decisions. When you improve your choices, your life will improve.”

That man knew how to help and for a long time after I hated him for it. I love him today.

- Aaron Eggers, Men’s Ministries

Mental illness and homelessness

John[1] spent most of lunchtime walking back and forth in front of the serving line. Attempts to engage him in conversation were met with a smile and silence. And as he paced he was observed speaking under his breath and laughing to himself. Clearly, he was not interested in engaging others nor did he notice the things happening around him.

Some of our residents hear and see things that others do not. Some are crippled with intense feelings of sadness. Still others have an incredibly difficult time getting along with peers and family. For many different reasons these residents, many who have been diagnosed with some form of mental disability, find their way to the Rescue Mission and provide a unique challenge as we attempt to get them the care they need.

Jesus offers us hope, peace and rest. He says in Matthew 11:28, “"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Our resident friend, John was not experiencing this rest that Jesus offers. And as we thought of John in light of Jesus’ statement we were forced to ask ourselves several questions:

How do we connect with someone who doesn’t necessarily see the need to connect?
How do we build trust with another who finds it difficult to trust?
And how do we get help to someone who doesn’t believe they need help?

We will pray with and for him. We will give him the support that a consistent schedule, a regular diet and times of rest offer. We will assess his needs. We will find out where he’s been and where he needs to go. We will evaluate his medical issues. We will carefully listen to his concerns. We will connect him with other service providers who can assist in his care. And we will do this in a way that values him as a person and operates in his best interest. And hopefully as he grapples with the confusion that mental illness brings he will know that he is of inestimable worth.

-Steve Brubaker, Residential Ministries
[1] Not his real name.

Praying for Chutes and Ladders

Carissa and I were in the middle of an intense game of Chutes and Ladders yesterday, and suddenly she realized that her Zoe game piece (we have the Sesame Street edition of the game) was in a precarious position. Although she was way ahead of her daddy (Big Bird), Zoe had a 2 out of 6 chance of landing on a chute with her next spin (which would drop her way back on the game board).

Suddenly, Carissa paused, turned slightly away from me, closed her eyes and grasped her hands together."Dear God, please let me get a 4, OK, please let me get a 4, alright."Wouldn't you know she spun the wheel and got a four. After a quick shout of joy and a "Thanks, God," we continued to play.

Now, as cute as this was, this whole situation left me a little perplexed. When I took the time to think about it, so many thoughts have been running through my mind.

• We have never really talked about praying for help in sports or games, and never really demonstrated this behavior, so where did Carissa pick it up?


• Is this a good thing for Carissa to do? Should we encourage her to think about God as an actively interested party in her board game play (and later with sports, etc)?


• I've always struggled with imagining that God cared a whole lot about the winners of athletic and other contests (even the Super Bowl), let alone Candyland or Chutes and Ladders. At the same time, I claim to believe in a God that cares about the smallest details of my life and my children's lives.


• To see Carissa model this level of dependence on God and trust that He cares is a humbling example to me... are there things that I consider too trivial to bring before God that he wishes I was humble enough to take to Him?
  

Maybe I'm thinking too much (OK, I know I am), but it is important to me that I raise up my daughters with a right understanding of who God is, and understanding that He is not some genie in a bottle waiting to grant our every wish and whim.

Most importantly, I got to see yesterday that my 5 year old daughter thinks about God as a friend who can help her and cares about what is important to her. Maybe she has as much to teach me about God as I do her.

-Jack Crowley, Teen Haven

Family traditions at camp

It's great to see how God can impact entire families through camp ministry, both as campers and servants...

• Steven Jr. (15) - I had an opportunity to sit down and chat with a young man that has been part of the ministry since his diaper stage. Steve is walking in the steps of his dad. Steve White Sr. came years ago as a camper and developed into a supervisor. He came to know his wife through the ministry and started to take on the responsibilities of a husband, father and servant of Christ. When Steven Jr. came along he started to follow his dad’s steps in serving the Lord at camp. Steven senior ministers during older guys weekends in programs, prize presentation and teaching Scripture. As he serves the kids, Steve Jr. serves in the kitchen and as an assistant cabin supervisor. Like father like son!
• Andy & Andrew (15) - Andy came to us years ago as a camper and developed a love for the kids and a hearts desire to serve the Lord. He has married and has a son and daughter. When the opportunity comes, he takes great pleasure in joining us to serve our kids. This past weekend Andy served with his son as his assistant. What a powerful team and great witness to the campers as they see the joy of a father and son serving the Lord.
• Husband & Wife Team - This past girls weekend, it was very special to see our newly weds serve together. Rodney in the kitchen and his bride, JoAnne, supervising a cabin of young ladies. A powerful witness for our female campers. The joy of marriage and serving the Lord together.

-Vinny Mikusow, Teen Haven Camp