Let the Festivities Begin!

While friends in the US celebrate Memorial Day, Belize celebrates a holiday, too. It's Sovereign's Day (the Queen's birthday). There are no parades or anything to bring recognition to the queen, but schools close and shops switch to holiday hours. Hooray for the Queen. I was ready for a holiday.

Last week was the Orange Walk Primary School Festival of Arts. Luis was one of the dancers from St. Peter's middle school division. They did a salsa. Luis can wiggle his hips and shimmy his shoulders with the best of them! After watching 30 groups dance, do dramatizations and sing until 10 PM on Wednesday night, Luis' group got a "call back" for Thursday night. He was so excited. From the 15 "golden" performances, 6 were selected to compete for the national crown in Belize City. Unfortunately Luis' group was not selected but the younger female dancers were chosen and will represent our school.

Saturday was the National Special Olympics! 400 Special Education athletes from all over Belize were here in Orange Walk for the event, along with their coaches and about 300 volunteers. It was a tremendous amount of work to prepare for the games and the food for everyone and I was just a coach, cook and "go-fer". Was it worth it? uhhhhhhh...ask me in a few weeks and I'm sure the resounding answer will be yes. Right now, I'm glad that today is the queen's birthday. Go Queen!

Sunday was supposed to be the kick-off worship event for the up-coming week called "Disabilities Awareness Week". All of the children in the Special Ed. classes and their teachers were supposed to go. The priest at our school was asked to make the worship something that the children could be a part of and enjoy. Something that would be meaningful for them. I cancelled Jesus' Deaf Church and sent notes to all the parents to bring their children to St. Peter's. Nicar, our intern from Gallaudet, was going to interpret.

On Sunday morning the priest held a baptism for a baby and only briefly mentioned Disability Awareness Week. Sigh...a missed opportunity to have our special ed. kids read the scripture, sign a song, and be part of the worship there. I was disappointed.

What's happening this week?
Monday: Did I mention today is a holiday? Hooray for Queen Elizabeth! We need some more Monarch or Prime Minster birthdays to celebrate. Maybe each Belize Prime Minster should get there own holiday! Yeehaw! (We've only had 4 different Prime Ministers so far...so it's "do-able". Hooray for holidays!)
Tuesday is Movie Night: We will use a big sheet and an LCD projector to show the movie about Justin Yoder called Miracle in Lane 2.
Wednesday is a workshop for Special Education Teachers in Belize City.
Thursday is the annual Deaf Spelling Bee. Hipolito will compete in the senior division and Misael will compete in the junior division. They have been practicing since February.
Friday is a parade. Sulmi is the school queen so she will wear her pretty pink dress, cape, gloves and crown and ride in the back of Pastor Chon's pick up waving to the crowd while we walk behind.

Jesus Deaf Church
It's good to be in Pastor Chon's church building. To everyone it feels more like church. Many of the twenty-somethings have returned. I still want to see more commitment. Some still come to socialize. Our hour and a half goes by quickly. With eating lunch we were used to spending closer to three hours together. Yet it's more practical to have a snack instead of lunch and get everyone home to eat with their families. Pastor Chon is helping with driving half of the group home. The children and youth don't like that. They want lunch. They want to all be together. They want to all ride together. So there are still some bugs to work out. Yet, God is gracious and has given us this plan...we just need to adjust a little and maybe find ways to work in more "fellowship time".

Girl's Night (aka. Mom's Night Out)
Awesome! Last Friday we had 6 young moms and 7 children (all under the age of 3). Having a babysitter is not a Belizean way to do things....the children are usually just allowed to "play". But
it is so hard to Bible study because the mothers are distracted by the fights over toys, that I have hired a youth from Pastor Chon's church to babysit for us in my home. What a difference it makes!

We have been studying women in the Bible. Each week God finds a way to make the verses speak to us and to our situation. Please continue to pray for these women. I would love to see them not just "learn" but grow in grace and knowledge, to want to be a disciple and want to raise their children in a Christian home.

I'm coming home for two weeks! I'll be in Maine June 29-July 7 and in Lancaster, PA July 8 to 14. I can't wait to see you, to sniff Maine air, hug friends, walk country roads in Lancaster, and to worship with you at North Woolwich and in Lancaster. Soon and very soon. I can almost taste it.

Lancaster folk: I'm attending the EMM retreat for missionaries at Blackrock July 9 and 10 and and the Global Fair at LMHS on July 11. Let's plan some kind of IU13 teacher/terp/alum get together for Monday July 13 or Tuesday July 14. I can make Belizean food :-)...whatever. Get back to me it you have some thoughts. I would love to see everyone.

May the One who cared so much for you, that he gave up his life so you could be holy, fill your lives with his grace and peace,

I send you all love,
Nancy

What is Fair?

May 10, 2009

Michele Bontrager Showalter sent us a DVD series called Dr. Wonder's Workshop. It teaches "values" using some Bible verses and stories...all in ASL. The kids loved it. The first video is about being fair. At one point in the video a person asks children in the video what it means to be fair, or not fair. I asked the same question to the children in my class. It is actually a pretty complex concept. They could ALL use the sign for "fair" but they didn't really know how to describe it. We let it "brew" and by the second day they were signing "fair" and "not fair" often to describe something that happened in the classroom.

(If you want to see our video, click on "play button" below. The movie is 4.54 minutes. There is a transciption of what the children are signing in the right column.)

One example is JP's description of doing the job of sweeping the class at the end of the day. One child was sweeping and the other just leaning on the broom. He spoke up right away saying "Hey that's not fair". That incident was a catalyst to get the others sharing their own experiences of being fair or not fair during the past two days. The children were bubbling with ideas and loved seeing themselves on video.

The next day we read Matthew 5:38-41.

³⁸"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' ³⁹But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.⁴⁰And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Jesus puts a twist on the "what is fair?" concept. He teaches us that God's justice is different. God's justice requires us to be "more than fair". God's justice is not about making things "even". It's not about equality or rights. It's not about sharing your cookie by splitting it in half. It's splitting it in half and letting the other guy choose first. God's justice is about love, and making peace. Loving those who hate you, giving to those who insult you, forgiving those who hurt you, before t hey even care. That's tough! For those of us who are powerful, who hold the gold coins, who can choose everyday what we will do, this concept of being "more than fair" is what God's justice is about.

There are some who will argue that God's justice is to fight for the rights of the poor and oppressed. With all my heart I wish it were true. It's the way that we, the powerful, think. "I can fix this," I say. But God's Word says over and over again to give to the poor ( Matthew 25:35-39, Proverbs 19:17, 28:27, and 22:9, Acts 20:35, Luke 19:8-9), to stand with the poor (Matthew 5:3, 5:10), to BE poor (Matthew 19:21, Matthew 6:19-20) and that the poor are blessed (Luke 1:53, Job 36:6). Jesus, by example, walked with the poor and became poor. He owned nothing except the shirt on his back. He was oppressed, stripped, whipped, and killed, yet he did not fight back.

Hmmmm. What is "fair"? It's a perspective thing. If you are rich, and God has blessed you with everything you need, you, like me, are so fortunate. I need nothing. I have a place to live, a TV, and computer with internet...and lots of stuff. I'm never hungry. I even have pets. To us, the verses above are a challenge. We try to change the "spiritual context" of the verse..."Certainly they are saying something else...right?"

Yet if you read those verses and you are poor, you shout "Hallelujah!" It's a perspective thing. God brings this good news to the poor and oppressed. God asks those of us who are rich to be "more than fair". To us who have it all, it is really not a burden, but a blessing. It's the essence of PEACE. It's a rearranging of priorities with Kingdom values...seeking first the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness. It's grace.

To all who have given so generously to me and to our school, and my children, Thank you! I am so grateful. This message is not to say give more or less or anything along those lines. I was simply grabbed by the concept of "what is fair?" and what God thinks is "fair" and gave some thought to that.

To my Father, our God, who continues to amaze me with his "ancient words" of wisdom that are still wise despite time and politics , gracias Senor.

We are the Temple of the Holy Ghost

April 15, 2009

Dear Friends,

It’s time to catch you up on some of the things that have been happening with God’s ministry here in Belize.

We’ve Moved! Our church is now meeting in Pastor Chon’s church building. It’s such a blessing to be in a church. Even Angelica said, “I bet you were tired of the stealing.” Yeah, I was tired of the children and young adults stealing, and the disrespect for the property, and me, but mostly I knew God wanted us to move. It was clear after the boys broke my cat’s leg and

trapped her in a hole with fire ants for three hours. It was a painful wake up call. A few days after that, Pastor Chon said his church would be available for us to use...Sunday mornings, rent free. Wow! God’s timing is amazing.

That’s the good news. I still need your prayers for the young adults. They are not coming to church as often as they did when they were younger. Some women don’t come because they don’t like one of the boys who used to make sexual advances towards them, but has confessed and “stopped”. Some of the boys don’t come because there are other things they want to do on Sundays like swim and fish and hunt....and ride out a hangover from Friday night. So we need your prayers. Pray that the holy spirit will convict the young adults that they need the Lord. Pray that we have a wave of revival among them and in their hearts. Pray that they can resist the temptations to do drugs (mostly weed...there’s a lot of that here, it’s cheap), sexual activity, alcohol, and gambling in Mexico.

Ever get a song in your head and an hour later you find you are still singing it in the background of your thoughts? Yesterday I was singing “Know ye not, know ye not. Ye are the temple....Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost.” I was weeding the garden and singing in my head while I thought about these deaf youth. Sometimes I long for a sheltered community...like I remember Lancaster. Teaching in 4-H and our deaf church youth group I used to think that THOSE kids had little exposure to drugs, drinking a lot of Starbucks but not much alcohol, and were not having sex in high school. (Or were they?) I think I paint my memory of Lancaster too rosy. I have to get a grip on the reality that youth are tempted no matter where they live. It just seems worse here. I wonder why the more pure life is not more attractive to youth? I guess it looks boring, it’s not cool, it’s not risky or on the edge. There’s no thrill in it. It’s perceived as a lonely option because most of their friends don’t choose the narrow way. I wonder how to make it more attractive.

“Take up your cross and come follow me.” What’s the thrill in that?

So once again this morning I was doing some mundane task like cleaning up the “accidents” that my puppy leaves around the house, and again I was singing that song. ARGH! again. Then I realized, (duh!)...WE are the temple, not my house or Pastor Chon’s church but each of us. We are the place that God has chosen to reside! We are his hands and feet. We are empowered to do miracles in his name. We have a greater task than eating, sleeping, and watching American Idol on TV. We have a Kingdom to build and love to spread. Pray that I can communicate this. Pray that the youth will find God’s infilling more exciting than the myriad of things that tempt them.

Other news: I lost a good friend and mentor this month. Dora Taylor passed away. She was 98. Dora served in Florida, Honduras and then finally in the 1960’s here in Belize. But I did not know her then. When I came to Belize in 2004 for the summer, I felt God calling me to return and start a church for deaf people. I was questioning that call, wondering how I could do that as a woman and asked God outloud if he had the right person for the job. A few days later Belizean friends invited me to San Felipe to meet their family and experience their church. When I walked into the church I immediately saw Dora’s

picture on the wall. I wondered why, in this Maya, Mestizo community, they had a huge picture of a white Mennonite woman on the wall? Javiar’s response was, “She started this church.” I got goose bumps and thought, “God, this is your affirmation of my call. If she did it with your help in 1965, I can do it with your help in 2005” Later when I was back in the states I hunted for Dora and found her at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Center. We talked and shared our dreams for the church in Belize. Right up until her death she wrote to me almost monthly, sometimes by hand and sometimes by plucking out letters one-handed on her typewriter. Her letters were always encouraging and included Bible verses to help me understand God’s direction. I will miss her, but I know that when she sees Jesus he will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

New Students: I have two new students at school. That makes for a total of 12. Ryan is two weeks younger than Misael. They were immediately best buddies. It is wonderful to have an age-same peer for Misael since he has been the youngest in the class and feeling alone. Ryan did not have a teacher that signed at his old school, but his mother is working hard at learning to sign. It makes such a difference. When I send books home, he reads them to his mom, she learns the signs and he gets the practice. I expect great things from Ryan.

Elizanie is 10. She was in a deaf class in San Pedro, but did not learn many signs there. Now she is blossoming from non-stop gabbing with her new friends, Kristel, Sulmi, and Ginelli. It’s exciting to see. Even other teachers at school have commented on how Elizanie has found her nitch. Now...I need to find time to teach her family, too.

The Queen: Our school has an annual fundraising event that we call a fair. There are booths, food, raffles and games. Everyone gets involved. As part of the event each department submits the name of one of their girls to be the school queen. Instead of voting, people donate money in a basket or in the name of the girl they want to be the queen. Sulmi was reluctant at first. She did not want all of the attention and tried to shy away from the role. The other kids in our class convinced her to try for it. I was a bundle of nerves as the money was being counted. What if she lost? I would feel so sad for her. Losing would be worse than not having tried. She would feel awful. It seemed hours went by and finally they announced that Sulmi won. She is our school queen. She won a crown (and a bicycle) and will sit in the truck bed for the Independence Day parade, dressed in her white dress and pink cape...and wave to the public. On our way home from the emotional day, she started waving like the Queen of England, turning her wrist but not moving her fingers. “Is this how to do it?” she asked. Whew...yes.

The Puppy: Puppies are sort of like babies. They are fun to hold but there is a certain relief in being able to give them back to their mothers after a few minutes. I’ve been Googling “How to house break your puppy”, “what to feed your puppy”, “when to give your puppy vaccinations”, etc. and came across a site that said, “Enjoy your puppy. It wont be a puppy for long.” I “get” the enjoy part, but personally look forward to him using the grass as a toilet instead of my rugs and chewing on bones instead of my toes. Gabriel, is from Sulmi’s family’s hound dog. He will be big, with long ears and a deep bark. Now he sounds like a squeeky toy. But he is awfully cute. On the end of his tail is about one inch of white fir. When he wags his tail it looks like he is waving a flag.

Well it is lunchtime and he is squeeking at the screen door. So I will stop for now but know that I will try to write more frequently.

Love to all,

Nancy

A Clumsy Balancing Act

What would you have done? It was about 9:30 AM this morning and I was in the van with about 6 children heading to pick up more people in Orange Walk on our way to church. We had just crossed over the New River at the toll booth and the road to Guinea Grass was on my left. It's a highway. People go 60 mph when they are not speeding. On the right side of the road, walking in the gravel were two children. One was a toddler... walking upright only because her three and half year old brother was holding her hand. Both had dusty dirty faces that were streaked with tears. I passed them, then turned around and parked in a turn off from the busy highway. Where was the mother? (or father?) I clapped my hands and out-stretched my arms and said come... Buscaremos tu mama. I asked them where they lived. The three year old boy said, he didn't know. They were lost. How did they get lost and start walking on the highway? There are no houses within a quarter mile. There's a town across the street and back in there some, called Tower Hill... but that would be quite a walk and they would have had to cross the highway! Which would not really be possible at their pace. As I picked up the baby I noticed the boy had already wet himself. He must have been so scared. The baby stopped crying as soon as I picked her up and kissed her. The brother was still sobbing. We waited a little bit. Where is the mother? There was no one around. I decided to take them to a social worker, Camy, who lives across the street from me. Camy and I (and the van load of deaf church people) then went to the police. I gave a statement and left the children there with Camy. I didnt want to leave the toddler, she clung to me and cried when I handed her off. What a scary day for them!

I wondered if I did the right thing.

When church was over I asked Camy what happened. She said the mother had called the police because she was frantic that her children were gone from her house. The police went to pick her up and bring her to the station. Their house is a half mile or more from the highway. She said she had gone to buy something at a shop and left the 3 year old in charge. (!) Sigh.
The kids had waited a while for their mom to get back. When they went to find her, they got lost, and scared when they got to the highway. I wonder how long they were walking there. They were so dusty and tear-streaked and lost.

As a result, church started late, but it went well. I have to figure out how to engage the 12, 13, 15 year old boys but the younger ones and older ones were tuned in and involved. Today I had the teen boys do the Bible readings...sprinkled throughout the worship service. They like competition, visual images, don't like to answer questions, like the opportunity to be a "leader" and read a verse. Don't like to sit and listen. They think doing a drama is "for little kids". A few of them have good artistic skills. They have said they want to follow Jesus, but don't like someone telling them what to do or giving them a code to live by. Somewhere in that mix of their likes and dislikes is the key to getting them involved. Does anyone have ideas?

What's the point of the picture at the top of the page? Those are storks (mostly in the trees) and egrets (mostly on the ground).There is also a gray heron in there somewhere because he flew out of the tree just as I snapped the picture.

Often while doing the church pick up and drop-off drive we see interesting wildlife. We ALL like to stop and marvel. We've seen huge turtles (bigger than Jan Hoffer's lazy susan!), a jaguarundi (small jaguar), lots of iguana, snakes, quash (an animal with sort of a fox body and raccoon markings), deer, and today we saw these birds. HUGE birds sitting on the tops of trees near the river. The storks are as big as US farm-raised turkeys. I don't understand why the branches don't bow down to the ground with their weight. Hmmmmm. Interesting!

There's got to be a Biblical application in there somewhere.
Maybe the birds and I have this in common: we are both clumsily balancing our lives on the top of "precarious places", where the view is definitely never dull, doing our best, knowing the only reason we don't fall off... is God. (smile).

Peace to all

Nancy

Mountains and Valleys

A moment during worship.

It's been a while since I have updated this blog. We've had some ups and downs. On the "up" side, Manuel came to church again for the first time in a year (almost to the day). He was the first person to ask for baptism and a leader of the group. But the conflict in the "twenty-something" age group bothered him and he left. After a few months he tried out the Jehovah's Witnesses deaf group. Two weeks ago he came to church again...prayed and asked to lead a song. I'd like to see him give a testimony of why he left and why he came back. I think we need to be transparent in that way...to really be church family.

This is a picture of Kristen keeping herself busy during Girl's Night Bible Study.

Precious moments:

Sulmi and Luis were working together this morning in school. Just about anyone who works with Luis usually ends up fighting over something petty. Before they broke into pairs to practice spelling words I pulled Luis and Sulmi aside and I told them I had confidence that they are both mature enough to bear with each others faults and not make anything a big issue. They agreed. Somehow, miraculously, maybe the first time this year, Luis was able to get through the morning activities with a partner and not fight. Afterwards I told them how impressed I was and asked them “What was your secret? How did you do it?” Sulmi said, “It’s because last Sunday Pastor Chon laid his hands on me and prayed. So God helped me." Sulmi is such a blessing to me.

Kristel is signing "love" from the song "We are one in the Spirit.

Tonight Kristel was on her own to find something to do. I was making dog food and Sulmi was in the shower. When I turned to see what Kristel was up to, she had our song sheets and was singing her heart out. Sulmi finished her shower and joined her. It was a precious moment. I pray and pray that when they grow up they will love the Lord as much as they do right now.

A raunchy moment:

Four weeks ago Sunday two deaf, teenage boys pummeled my cat with hard green “plums” (more like small apples). The cat ran into a hole. The hole was full of fire ants so she ran back out again, BUT, the teen boys blocked the exit with a huge rock and watched her claw and claw to try and get out until her nails were gone and her paws were raw. Then they left her there blocked in the hole with the ants. I didn’t know about it. I was inside washing dishes with several others. Three hours later after driving people home and returning I called for the cat. When she did not come I knew something was wrong and summoned a boy who lives close to tell me what happened. We found her but, the rock they had shoved over the opening broke her left front leg. She had fire ant bites all over her body, eyes, ears, toes, and bites upon bites on her stomach. She has recovered except for the broken leg.

When I found her I screamed…my thoughts were filled with the image of her being bitten and trying to get out and not being able to escape. I was so angry. I hated the boys. I hated that they could hurt something innocent. I felt like quitting the ministry. Have they learned nothing? Then...how could I minister to people I hate? How can I minister and be a person capable of hate?

By that evening, God’s spirit had washed over me and gave me peace. That sounds hokey but there’s no other way to say that about four hours later I had let go of the hate and anger and was trying to figure out HOW something so awful could happen?

One mother of the boys told me, “Well, (her son) really hates cats.” As if that were an excuse for the behavior. She didn’t really think of it as “wrong”. I guess cats, here in Belize, to many are like rats. They’re dirty, they eat garbage, they carry lice and diseases. They are “bad”. Dogs are pets. Few people have cats for pets.

In my prayers I was saying “WHY?” Why God would you let this happen? Couldn’t you have gotten my attention some other way? The answer I got was that something needs to change with our church. It’s not going to work meeting at my house. When I prayed with others about this whole event, the overwhelming answer was: You need to move into a church building.

But what building? We can’t pay rent on a building. Few of our members work, so their offerings are coins each week. How can we move into a church building?

Last week I was talking with Pastor Chon, the Belizean pastor of the Spanish speaking Mennonite Church called Life Changing Ministries. He told me that his church was changing the times for worship and dropping their morning worship time.

(Thanks Phyllis for taking this picture.)

"God can do anything, you know---far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!" (Eph 3:20) The Message version

I never, ever would have imagined that they would change their worship from the standard times everyone uses. After he finished saying this he realized that Jesus Deaf Church could worship at their church in the morning. He said we could have the building to ourselves Sunday mornings (rent free). Then he paused and said, "That’s perfect timing." God’s timing... that their elders decided they want to change the worship times and we decided we need to meet in a church. So beginning in March we will move to a church building. Pastor Chon even said we could erect a sign. Had I found out later that they were changing their worship time, would we have moved to their church building anyway… even if the cat incident did not happen? Probably not. We were pretty settled and it seemed like there were too many questions involved with moving. So it’s interesting how God used that horrible, cruel, incident for our good and his purpose.

Please continue to pray for the teen boys who are violent and disrespectful. There are more issues than I could write in this very public forum. Pray that the Holy Spirit convicts them and leads them to choose to follow Jesus and show love to the others in the group. Pray that the others do not turn away from the church because of the behavior of some boys who are mean and threatening. Pray for wisdom for me and an openness and dependence on God's leading.

Peace, friends,

Nancy

The Light that is Life

"The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him. Life was in him and that life was the light for all people."
John 1:1-4 (NIrV)

I don't want to forget that the purpose of this blog is to share the life that God is creating in us as a Deaf Church and Deaf community here in Belize, but for two days now I have been musing on a metaphor that is kind of bubbling out of me. So please bear with me as I explain.

The scripture I quoted above is the Gospel lesson for this Sunday. (It's also my father's favorite Bible verse.) "Jesus is life that is the light for all people". As I mulled over this sentence it made me think about the old Lite-Brite toy. The way it works is you put a black paper over a lighted peg board. The black paper effectively blocks all the light. If you pick up a colorful translucent peg and poke it through the paper, the light shines through the plastic peg.

That's how Jesus' light works. We are the pegs in a dark world. We are surrounded by darkness that tries to block the Light of God. When we plug into the Source of light and life, Jesus' light shines through us. That light breaks through the darkness and reveals something beautiful. That light gives life.

But as pegs, without the light, there is no life. The pegs in the boxes are just one of many other colorful pegs that are waiting for their opportunity to glow and be used in the picture. The pegs cannot shine by themselves.

The only way I truly shine is when it is the light of Jesus that shines through me. Sometimes I allow my independent nature or my German roots to let me think I can do anything with hard work. But hard work, without the light of Jesus, is a misguided effort and in the end, just makes me tired. "In Him we live , move, and have our being." (Acts 17:28)

Jesus is the light, the one true light. When we glow with his light, it points to him. If we shine with His Light, we are part God's picture.

In another scripture that some churches will read this week, we see that Isaiah prophesied that a new day will dawn. God's glory will fill the earth. The great picture will be completed.

People of Israel, get up!
Shine because your light has come.
My glory will shine on you
Isaiah 60:1

I want to be part of that picture. This is the opportunity we have been waiting for. We can shine. So get up! Our Light has come.

The Light

For unto us a child is born,
unto us, a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulders.
And his name, shall be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God,
the Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

One of my childhood Christmas memories is singing this song with my sister. It’s part of the Hallelujah chorus. I don’t think we ever said, “This is my favorite Christmas song,” but we both kind of knew it was and would look at each other whenever it played or just launch into singing it while driving in the car.

This advent I have been preaching from Old Testament prophecies using the theme: “God Keeps His promises”. In Isaiah 9 before “our song” is a remarkable prophecy about Jesus bringing light:

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of darkness
a light has dawned.

Darkness. It would be difficult living in darkness, waiting, confused, lost, wanting to see a glimmer of light. If just a little light appeared, people couldn’t help but turn and look at it. “What is that?” they would say. They couldn’t ignore it. It would be a compelling force, because people WANT to see. Most people. Some people who are in the dark don’t even know it. Darkness becomes habitual. It helps to conceal what they are doing. They think they are getting away with something that they couldn’t get away with in the light.

The people of God had lost their way. They had a list of rules. They had some stories that they would tell traditionally every year, but they were still way off the path.

When I was telling this story in church, I asked, “What is the Great Light that Isaiah prophesied about?” Several shouted out; JESUS! Then Miguel added, “Jesus lights our path so we know the way to God.” Yes, Yes, Yes. We don’t have to stumble around and lose our way. Jesus is the great flashlight.

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world;
Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
—John 8:12

Light. It gives us warmth. It helps plants grow. It enables us to do our work. But most importantly, the light of Jesus shows us The Way. May you glow with the Light of the One, the long awaited, promised, Prince of Peace.

Deliver Us From Evil

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13)

These are the words Jesus used to teach the disciples how to pray. Who is this evil one?

Evil, the devil, the Prince of Darkness…I didn’t used to give it much thought. In fact, there was a long period when I assumed that “evil” was not so much a spiritual force but rather the “hell” we create here on earth with our selfishness and sinful choices.

I’ve never heard a pastor pray against evil. In a generic sense, yes, but not boldly recognizing a force that is trying to wreck havoc with the church, “prowling like a lion seeking whom it can devour” (1Peter 5:8). Yet Jesus mentioned the devil often , as did the New Testament letter writers. (Matthew 4, John 17:15, John 14:30, 1 John 5:18-19, James 4:7, 1Thess 5: 22, 2Thess 3;3 are just a few of the many references).

One of the young believers at our church, I’ll call him Paul, comes to my gate about 7:15 AM to ride with me in the van to pick up people. Paul is 15. He gave his heart to the Lord when Ian was here last month. Last week an older deaf boy met Paul at his house at 7 AM and took him out to eat breakfast. This older boy is a JW leader. He told Paul not to go to church, that the Christian Church is wrong, that Paul should come with him to the JW worship. Paul, who is generally hungry and does not have food at home, was delighted for the attention of the older popular deaf boy and the free food. Yet, after breakfast, he came to Jesus Deaf Church. The older boy says he will come get Paul next Sunday and take him to eat again.

On Saturday another older deaf boy went to Paul’s house and tried to convince him to not go to church. He said Paul could work with him. Paul would love to earn some money. The only day that the older deaf boy wanted Paul to work was Sunday morning. Paul came to church instead. Score: Jesus 2, Evil One 0
But oh my… I wonder how long Paul can resist.

Our School is Anglican (Episcopal). The diocese decided that they would renew the tradition of years past where every child and every teacher is “required” to attend church at the school on Sundays. I haven’t been going. I’m leading Jesus Deaf Church on Sunday mornings. Two weeks ago I got a letter from my principal saying that I’m under contractual obligation to attend the worship at the school church. I was “EXPECTED” to be there the next Sunday (which was the following day) Hmmm. What to do? Do I fight this battle now or do I concede this battle in hopes of winning the war for our church? I drove around that night to tell many deaf people that church is canceled for this Sunday. I made a mental note that I would need to see her superior to get permission to have church at my house for deaf, instead of attending the school church which none to the deaf kids would understand.

She told me I could discuss the matter with her boss on Wednesday. I prepared a letter for the boss. I prayerfully tried to communicate how our church began, how God started it, how God is maintaining it, how deaf people who come are not just school children, how deaf people are bored in a hearing worship service that they cannot understand. Then I prayed and fasted hoping the boss would be open to at least reading my letter.

When the boss (the “superintendent”) came on Wednesday she handed me her own letter expressing her disappointment in my not attending the school’s church, and I gave her mine. She read it right in my room, right then. She closed the letter, patted me on the back and said, "Your mission is doing a good work.” (Ahhhh...Praise the Lord for prayer answered.) She says she will write me another letter (I’m hoping it says that in lieu of my leading Jesus’ Deaf Church, I don’t have to attend the Anglican worship regularly.) I haven’t received it yet but if you’re counting I going to score that as Jesus 3, Evil One 0.
Note: I am not saying my principal or this woman are “evil" (by any means) but that the forces of the devil are working against our church.

Then there is the deaf boy from the family in San Jose. It’s fair to say they are “always” drunk. He fell in love with one of the girls who attend Girl’s Night. He gave her a promise ring and wants to marry next summer. She told him he had to stay sober. He did for a few months, but now he comes to visit her drunk and was drunk when he came to worship two weeks ago. He was drunk for their date last Saturday. She struggles because she is in love and wants to live with him (now) and marry him this summer. We've talked, and prayed and talked some more and she's staying with her mom and giving him some space, praying he will change.
Score: Jesus 4, Evil One 1.

There’s so much more. It’s like the deaf people and our church are caught in a huge elastic band. They’re pulled to church and then pulled away by some enticement. Then they come back to the Lord because the Holy Spirit convicts them or I talk to them, then they are pulled away again by something else. One of the boys said he is so tired of the pulling. He thinks staying home and not attending church will help him sort things out. I’ve visited him and others have visited him. I’ve prayed for him and with him. He’s come to school to talk but refuses to come to church. He says he’s tired of the spiritual battle. Sigh.
Score: Jesus 4, Evil One 2

It’s tough. The spiritual battle is exhausting. I know that the Holy Spirit empowers us believers and we have won the battle… the ultimate battle… but I hate fighting in the mean time. You know? It wears me down. But the Evil One will not win this battle. The Lord has been supporting me. Mom sent me a package. I have received email letters of support from people I haven't heard from in months. The Holy Spirit is strengthening my prayer life and showing me how the early church fought the same battles.

When I was younger, we didn’t talk about the Devil. The thinking was, don’t mention the forces of Evil. Doing so gives them power so just ignore them. But I don’t agree anymore. They’re there. They are prowling around like a hungry lion seeking whom they can devour. I need to pray against them. I need to pray for protection around all of our church members and courage for all to resist temptation. Can you join me?