Developing communications in India

While visiting the north Indian slums of Patiala one day, to minister to the impoverished garbage pickers who live there, Mrs. Sulochana Singh saw something that broke her heart: a small baby girl lying on a cot with thousands of bees swarming over her nearly lifeless, skeletal body.

That baby was malnourished to the point of near death, infected by many oozing bedsores. Sulochana watched as the child struggled to take her last breaths.

Sulochana had compassion on the child and wanted to do something for her. At the same time, she also recognized that it wasn't her business, and worried about whether to interfere. But at that moment, Sulochana says, "I heard a soft voice inside me saying, ‘What would you have done if she was your own baby?’ That voice touched me and I told my husband about the voice and got his consent to help the child."

Sulochana and her husband, Pastor Akash Singh, found the baby’s parents and talked with them to find out why was the baby left out on the cot like this. They learned that the baby was weak, and the doctors had given up hope for her, telling the parents that she would die. So the parents, not knowing what else they could do, had left the baby on the cot to die and had prepared a grave for her.

But Sulochana was persistent and asked if she and her husband could try to treat the baby in a government hospital. The father agreed. He went with Sulochana and Akash to take the baby to the children’s ward of the government hospital. There they met with more disappointment. A doctor told them that because the baby was about to die, they couldn’t admit her for any treatment.

Sulochana told the doctor that she and Akash run a charitable organization called Grace Seva Smitee (Grace Service Committee) and it was through that organization they had come on behalf of the child. They pled with him to admit her to the hospital.

The doctor’s attitude changed. He decided to take a chance on the little girl. He called his team and started treatment. With some oxygen, she immediately began to improve.

Then, the baby suddenly stopped breathing. The staff said she had probably died. Unwilling to give up, Sulochana and Akash went outside, knelt down and interceded to the Lord for the baby’s life. Even before they finished their prayer with “Amen,” someone came out and told them the baby had begun breathing again. They rushed back into the hospital room where doctors said they were going to run some tests and that they were optimistic for the baby’s life.

After all the tests, the baby was treated there for 25 days. Sulochana and Akash were at her side day and night, doing everything they could, along with praying continually for her. During the day, Akash stayed with the baby, and Sulochana stayed overnight.

"On the third day of the treatment the baby opened her eyes and looked at me and smiled,” Sulochana recalled. “I went close to her, and in spite of having no strength in her hands, she still hugged me very tight and I told her, ‘Jesus loves you.’ The baby was almost a skeleton, and when she hugged me I could feel her bones. All her body pus got stuck to my dress. At that moment I felt that the Lord has given this baby to me. I praised God for a new life to the baby."

After the little girl’s recovery, Sulochana talked with her husband and also with the father about the child’s future. If he was unable to care for her, would he be willing for Sulochana and Akash to raise her?

"We had already dug a grave for her in front of our house and had left the baby on the cot to die,” the father replied. “She was not eating anything and there was no hope for her. But you came in that time and the Lord has saved the baby through you. If we take the baby back, she would not survive. We have already decided to give the baby to you. You keep her."

Sulochana and Akash were overjoyed with this blessing. Doctors and the medical team instructed them how to take good care of the girl.

Slowly, the child’s health improved. She ate and digested well. Very soon, the girl became very healthy, put on weight.

Over the next four years, she started learning words, and began calling the pastor and his wife “Mom” and “Dad.” She attended church with them where she learned about God, and singing small songs.

Sulochana says, “We had two sons (Enosh, 18 and Phillip, 17) and now the Lord had blessed us with a daughter."

Now that baby is four years old. Sulochana and Akash say, "We love the baby very much. We have named her Angel. We want to see this baby becoming very educated and do great work for the Lord."

She will be attending school this coming November.

*******

The story you just read is a sneak peek at one of the many stories I am now receiving from our new communications team in India.

Some of you will know that last fall, I sent a Dutch volunteer to India for 3 months, to provide training and help organize a communications team there. It has been a long-time dream; we have been talking about it or working on it off and on for years.

At the same time, our church leader in India was able to find someone to take the role of India communications coordinator -- Rev. Rajiv Yangad.

I first met Pastor Rajiv back in 2013, when I visited to provide two storytelling trainings in the country. Pastor Rajiv specifically wanted us to give one of these trainings to people on his district in Central Maharashtra, because he intuitively recognized its importance.

Pastor Rajiv is passionate about photography, storytelling, video, writing and even creating websites. He has been developing his skills in these areas for years as a personal interest, next to his leadership for our churches in Central Maharashtra.

Since he took responsibility for communication ministry in India, and since Frank, the volunteer from the Netherlands, gave three months of his time to travel around with Pastor Rajiv and carry out four trainings in four different parts of the country, there has been a sudden flood of amazing stories from our churches in India!

I have been thrilled to see the beautiful, powerful and well-developed stories that trainees are writing.

Last week, Pastor Rajiv forwarded to me the first video filmed and edited by someone who was at the training. Pastor Rajiv is also working hard on creating a professional and modern Nazarene website for our church in India. And he is helping to develop a strategy for helping our churches in India communicate more effectively with one another.

You can read a couple more of them here:

http://www.eurasiaregion.org/today-you-are-a-new-creation-a-redemption-story/

http://www.eurasiaregion.org/the-last-shall-be-first-sudhirs-story/

An Unexpected Journey

As I sat on the unfamiliar bus, in an unfamiliar part of Manchester, and realized the bus was carrying me the opposite direction I wished to go (home) and I really had no idea where it would end up, I reflected on how there are just those days when nothing goes according to plan.

I was in this part of the city because my doctor had ordered some annual health checkup tests that had to be done at a hospital over here. However, the hospital is not in an area that I ever visit otherwise. The day before, I explored Google maps to figure out which bus I should take to get there. Yesterday morning, I left the house at 7:20 to walk to the bus stop where I caught said bus at 7:45.

The tests, but most of all the waiting in between, took longer than I expected. I ended up being at the hospital until 12:10. During one of the long periods of waiting, I had used my phone to look up the bus schedule going back. It seemed that the bus route I'd used to get here was incredibly infrequent. The next bus was at 12:15. Then there were many hours before it would come by again. There were other buses I could take, but I'd purchased a day pass on the bus that morning and it would be wasted if I just had to buy a ticket on another bus company.

So the second they gave me the all clear I tore out of the building and ran down the road. As I got closer and saw it was 12:13 on my watch (I was unsure whether that was the same time the bus driver would have), I saw the bus parked at the stand. I forced myself to keep going although I could already hardly breathe (a total of 7 weeks of sickness between Christmas and to the end of February has wrecked my stamina). Thankfully the bus sat there for a few more minutes. I stumbled on board, breathing raggedly and desperately, and showed him my ticket. I felt a flood of relief when I took my seat.

About 20 minutes later, I didn't recognize where we were. I used the google map on my phone to look at the little moving dot that represented me, and watched as it drifted further and further in the opposite direction from my neighborhood. Hmm. That wasn't supposed to happen. I did some more searching online and realized that the bus I'd boarded was completing the loop I started when I first got on that morning, as it headed to the far western outskirts of Manchester.

As a girl raised driving a car in the suburbs, until we moved to Manchester I didn't have much big city experience. While I ride the bus often, I tend to ride familiar buses to the same locations, and don't venture in different directions that will require getting off one bus and perhaps waiting 30 minutes to an hour for the next bus I need. So, it's not too surprising that I got confused and found myself in this situation.

Aside: When we moved to England, we opted not to buy a car, primarily because the costs seemed to be outside our budget anyway, but also to avoid the stress of having to learn to drive on the left in the second largest city in the UK. I've never liked city driving, even when I could drive on the right in my own country. But I've increasingly had moments when I've begun to wish we had our own car. Sitting there, watching unfamiliar neighborhoods float by outside the grimy bus windows, was one of those times.

Back to my present predicament.

Thankfully a little searching on my phone revealed that this bus would eventually turn inward again and come to its final destination at city hall (photo left) in downtown Manchester, an area I know very well.

There was nothing I could do but go with it. So I looked out the window and got a peek at many areas of Manchester I've heard about but never seen myself, such as Sale, Hulme, Old Trafford. Oh look, there's the Emirates Old Trafford cricket field.

I tried to see the adventure in my situation and enjoy seeing parts of the city that were new to me.

About an hour later we entered familiar territory as we approached the busy city center. The bus stopped at town hall and I found my bearings. By now it was about 1:30 and I was hungry. So I cut through Chinatown on my way to the street where I could pick up a bus that would take me directly back home. I stopped in my favorite Chinese restaurant for a bowl of soup while I caught up on my work email via my phone.

My stomach dropped when I got an email from a colleague with whom I had scheduled a video meeting for 1 p.m., She was wondering where I was. I frantically tapped out an apology email and explained the situation and we agreed to reschedule.

Part of Chinatown.

From there I managed to get the correct bus back, and when I reached our neighborhood, I was quite tired, but I stopped in at a rental agency to ask some questions concerning renting an apartment to my two new volunteers who arrive in a few weeks. That errand finally being accomplished, I walked the rest of the way home.

At home, I wanted to catch up on the work I'd missed in the morning, due to my longer than expected appointment and then my unexpected journey.

Unfortunately, the Internet was down! So, I decided I needed a hot cup of coffee to warm up from all that walking in the March temperatures. I'd been fantasizing about coffee the whole afternoon, but hated to spend money to buy one when I knew we had perfectly good coffee at home.

I unscrewed the Italian coffee pot that a friend gave me, intending to fill it with coffee grounds and heat it up on the stove. That's when I was confronted with a horrible truth: I'd forgotten to clean it out the last time I used it ... before Christmas. The entire thing was coated with mold inside all the compartments. I boiled some water, added soap and filled a large mixing bowl where I put all the pieces of the coffee pot to soak. Then I made some coffee in the French press.

I tried to do some email on my phone while I waited for the coffee to steep in the French press. Finally I poured it into a mug and took a sip -- and nearly spit it out. It was lukewarm. I'd thought that I'd boiled the water before I poured it in, but I guess I just filled the kettle, let it sit there, and then poured it into the French press.

I was cold, I was tired, I couldn't get much work done because I was tired and the Internet was down. And I knew I was going to be networking and getting stories at the district assembly in another town on Saturday, so I decided to just view it as a swap and I called a halt to my day. I was too tired even to cook or eat dinner. Thankfully Andrew wasn't hungry either.

About an hour later, a neighbor knocked on our door with homemade oatmeal cookies. She couldn't have known what kind of day I'd had, a day I'd managed to see the humor in as it unfolded, but was still frustrating and exhausting.  It was such an appreciated gesture and the cookies were delicious!

Ultimately, I am thankful that all the scans and tests came back good and clean, and I am glad to know I am healthy, a gift from God I do not take for granted.

And while I was able to enjoy parts of my unexpected journey, I really miss having our own car. :-)

Vulnerability and rejection

When moving to a new culture and a new country, missionaries pack bags with clothes and other items we want to have in our new home. Many of us don't realize that, unintentionally, we also pack invisible bags, carrying our fears, weaknesses, memories.

We arrive in a new land and we unpack our suitcases into our new homes. We are unaware that we are unpacking our psychological baggage, too.

A lot of people imagine that the hardest thing about living in another culture is adjusting to the culture itself. But after spending eight years in two different cultures other than my own, I am inclined to think the hardest thing is living with your own weaknesses in a new place, without the comforts, securities and support network you had at home. In fact, you may not be as aware of your vulnerabilities until they come into starker focus against a new backdrop.

Since we moved abroad, I have become a great deal more aware of my tendency to anxiety. One of the clues was when, after a move, I found myself staying home a lot, avoiding people, afraid of the social missteps and etiquette mistakes that I would inevitably make as I learned my way around the new culture. Many times, after an interaction, I would lay awake that night worrying endlessly about the confusing body language or the certainty I had offended by something I either said or failed to say.

As I've reflected on the reasons for such anxiety, I've concluded that it comes down to increased vulnerability. To be a missionary is to live in a greater level of vulnerability: to rejection and disapproval of others, and to the enemy, who will always oppose us when we step out in obedience to God's call.

Fear of rejection
At home, we have friends and family who are familiar and love us unconditionally. This helps us feel more confident and secure.

But, in any new place -- and especially in a new culture -- you WILL make more mistakes. You must rely on the grace and forgiveness of your new friends and acquaintances to overlook them and help you learn. This leaves you vulnerable to the possibility of rejection or disapproval.

I don't think anybody easily accepts rejection or feeling vulnerable. You are a pretty rare human, indeed, if you don't have some desire not to be rejected. But for someone with a tendency toward anxiety, this creates the perfect opportunity for the enemy to exploit a weakness. The enemy can stoke the embers of worries and concerns to a raging fire that becomes debilitating when trying to interact with new people while learning the steps of new social dances.

Fear is the root of anxiety. When I fear making cultural mistakes that might offend the very people to whom I want to be a blessing, at a deeper level it can be about fearing rejection, or losing the approval of the other. Such a fear is caused when the focus on myself is greater than my focus on serving and loving the other.

So, what does a missionary (or any believer) do when she is afraid of rejection? A missionary/believer has a choice to make: To try and protect herself from being vulnerable to rejection, or to embrace that vulnerability -- and that possibility. She must look to the God she has followed to this new place and learn His attitude about rejection.

The God who became vulnerable
That one's easy. God -- as Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit -- loved us so much that He made Himself vulnerable by becoming a weak human to walk among us. He became God "with skin on" so that He could invite us into a loving, mutual relationship with Him. And what happened when He did that?

In the very fact that God does not force us to accept His invitation, He gives us the choice to say no; to walk away from Him. When we make that choice, we reject Him. And God is hurt. He suffers when we reject Him.

Somehow, the God who created all of the universe, from the largest spinning galaxy to the invisibly microscopic electron, made Himself vulnerable to human rejection -- a rejection that culminated in the murder of the God-man, Jesus, at the hands of His own creation.

Talk about rejection!

And yet, the invitation has been continuous since creation. God continues to issue this invitation to each person, opening Himself to and experiencing the agonizing pain of rejection billions of times over.

In light of this example, how could I continue to try and protect myself from rejection by withdrawing from or avoiding interactions and the uncertainty of new friendships in a new place?

His power is perfect in my weakness
Yes, I will make mistakes. I will unintentionally offend. I will get tired and stressed out and say or do the wrong thing in a moment of exasperation. I will be weak and vulnerable, because the power is in the hands of the other to decide whether or not to forgive and overlook; whether or not to extend grace.

Paul writes: "But [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Cor. 12:9).

I love this verse. It means we can embrace rather than fear this sense of weakness and vulnerability. God promises that our weakness is the perfect context in which His power and grace flourishes. We learn to depend more on God in each vulnerable circumstance.

It seems an appropriate Christmas reflection to remember that God was born in the form of a weak and vulnerable child, and grew up to become a man who was rejected by the very people He tried to reach. This rejection went as far as murder. Yet, that was not the end. Jesus was raised, and death did not defeat or diminish His love and mercy. He continues to reach out to us every day. We can spurn this and reject Him, or we can accept this amazing invitation.

Part of following such a God, wherever we are, is living a life of vulnerability with the possibility of rejection. But it's not about us. It's about sharing Christ with others, even if they reject us -- and Him.

"That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).

What does my PhD have to do with mission?

Academic Research and Mission

Now that it's the end of my third year of PhD work, I am seeing a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. My research is developing very well in terms of making what I believe is a solid contribution to knowledge. I'm in the process of arguing for three 'doctrines of power', or general assumptions, guiding Constantine's use of imperial power in the internal church affairs of schism and heresy. My method for engaging with this question is to analyse specific language patterns in the surviving letters of Constantine concerning his involvement with the churches in order to more clearly define how and why the emperor did what he did in relation to divisions among Christians. 

What does it have to do with mission work in general, or our experiences over the past several years as many of you have followed, supported, and prayed for us? 

Statue of Constantine, York Minster (UK)

The reign of the Roman emperor Constantine is generally remembered by many modern Christians as a 'marriage of church and state' and, for some, this even involves a 'fall of the church'. I believe these assumptions are inaccurate historically, and potentially harmful in terms of faith and theology. One basic question I frequently ask is: if the Gospel is indeed for all people, then must it not embrace a Constantine just as surely as the poor and powerless? 

Aside from that, I think of the following: 

• Our churches and individual missionaries must work within a variety of political systems, not all of which allow for some of the freedoms of a truly democratic nation. We must both obey the law, and pursue God's mission; that requires knowledge and wisdom. The right, ethical, and legal thing to do is not always so clear in every case: how do we as Christians in different nations and systems operate both faithfully and in respect of the rule of law?
  
• The 'separation of church and state' as it developed in the United States is quite distinct from the 'state church' system found in Europe and the UK. Other areas exist where there is not the same distinction between categories of 'political' and 'religious' at all. It's important to understand this context wherever we find ourselves serving.
  
• Our churches in Western countries find themselves very divided over political ideology. Those on either 'side' politically frequently wonder out loud how someone can be a Christian and support Brexit, or Hillary Clinton, higher taxes, or cutting programs for the poor. Division is what happens when some kind of idol replaces right worship. But when people can't agree, should they be made to? Should legislation enforce morality? To what extent should Christians be politically active?

Those are just some of the things my research continually brings up in my mind, even while not all of them will be directly engaged in the final product.

Over this next year, I will soon (Lord-willing and brain/energy-permitting) complete a first draft of the entire thesis as well as undergo the revision process before final submission. My deadline is 31 October 2018, after which there will be an oral defense (called a 'viva' here). There will likely be a further period of making any requested revisions or corrections as a result of that examination. Graduation itself will follow in October 2019.

There is a lot of work left, but I sense that it has begun to 'wrap up'. I've learned so much more than will ever be written in 80,000 words. I've also learned that there's so much MORE to learn, and I'm truly excited about pursuing further study and research in the future. 

An Average Day for Andrew

But studying is far from all I'm doing.

Last year, largely due to a heavy load of responsibilities related to being a Resident Assistant in the dorm, I did not have the time to accept a couple of teaching opportunities.

This term, however, I am able to make up for some of that loss. I have served throughout my time in Manchester as the Postgraduate Assistant in Church History and Theology. It's basically what you'd call a 'teaching assistant', and I work with two different lecturers. There has been some 'grunt work' involved, such as scanning or photocopying assigned readings and organizing several lists of books ordered by both departments. But there are also some more enjoyable opportunities, like grading exams or essays and teaching in the classroom for a session or two. 

I've actually been quite busy as postgrad assistant this semester. I've even enjoyed some of the 'grunt work' as it has allowed me an occasional break from the rigors of research and writing. At the end of October, I taught a session on the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) from a theological perspective in a course called Christian Doctrines. In mid-November, I taught a further class session on Constantine, the Council of Nicaea, and 'Church/State Issues' from a historical viewpoint in a class called The Early Church. I've also led a small discussion group each Tuesday morning as part of an Intro to Theology class, which probably deserves a separate entry on its own to tell you about. Stay tuned on that one.

Through parts of the Christmas holiday, I will be grading essays and exams in Early Church while 'moderating' work in Christian Doctrines. 'Moderating' basically means that someone serves as an impartial second set of eyes to ensure that the actual grading (or 'marking' as it's called here) is fair and aligns with the course objectives outlined in the syllabus. 

These are some of the responsibilities of a PhD student aside from research and writing for the thesis. In fact, it often feels like work on my thesis happens in my spare time! There are conferences and seminars to attend, papers to write either for presentation or publication, revising everything that gets written down at least 3-4 times (chapters get revised about 20 times before I even hand them in!), occasional meetings with my advisor(s), keeping up with current trends related to my area of research (more reading), keeping up with language study as much as possible, and then doing what can be done as far as gaining valuable work experience (serving as postgrad assistant, for example). 

There is even more to it than that (such as the extensive preparation involved with teaching a single session!), but there's no need to go into excruciating detail. Your prayers are certainly asked for and appreciated as I re-double my efforts to finish with excellence and in a timely manner, while balancing it with supporting Gina, getting enough rest and maintaining my health, and enjoying a few good friendships. -- Andrew

My social media pledge

I wrote this today. I'm sharing it with trembling and fear, because I worry I won't live up to it. Christ have mercy.

Anyone want to join me? (I have a feeling this means I will talk and write a LOT less.)

Social Media Pledge

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I will pledge in my social media interactions (and in all my other interactions) to:

1. Ensure that I speak only when I am certain my motives and statements are rooted in Christ’s love.

• If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1)
• By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35)
• Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

2. Speak to and about others on social media the way I would like them to speak to and about me.

• Do to no one what you yourself dislike. (Tobit 4:15)
• Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)

3. Ensure all my comments and statements are “only what is helpful for building others up” and “may benefit those who listen.”

• Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

4. TRULY listen and try to understand the other’s ACTUAL point of view before responding, asking questions for clarification when necessary, rather than ascribing to them an idea or belief (usually negative) they may not really hold.

•  My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (James 1:19)

5. Prayerfully consider my words before I speak, and avoid speaking out of anger or hurt.

• My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (James 1:19)

6. Avoid engaging in silly or pointless debate, and keep my focus on what is important.

• Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. (Proverbs 26:4)

7. Be a blessing to everyone, as much as I am able.

8. Diligently check my facts, find out the source of stories, news and rumors before commenting or sharing them, and ensure the source is legitimate before sharing or commenting.

•  Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. (Proverbs 12:22)

9. Avoid criticizing people on public forums, rather addressing any grievances privately.

• If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. (Matthew 18:15)

10. Be quick to humbly apologize for giving offense.

• Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)

11. Strive in the hard work of achieving forgiveness toward anyone whose comments have hurt or offended me.

• Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13)

12. Speak to and treat others with respect and dignity – as if they themselves are Jesus – avoiding condescension, contempt, snideness or dismissiveness of their values, beliefs or feelings.

• The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40)

-- Gina Pottenger, September 2017

A Bed Bug Parable

Female bed bug.

When you travel as much as we do, somewhere in the back of your mind you know it is inevitable that at some point you will encounter bed bugs. You hope not, but it's a very real possibility.

That day arrived for us this summer when we stayed at a hotel while on a work-related trip. The very first night in the room, as we were getting ready to turn out the light, we noticed a couple of small insects in the bed. Suspicious about this, we checked the bug in our bed against pictures of bed bugs on the Internet and there was a match.

We rushed down to hotel reception to alert them, and they quickly moved us to another room. But as we packed up to move, we noticed that numerous bugs were emerging out of the mattress and pillows right in front of us!

I know about the danger of bed bug infestations moving with travelers, so although we changed rooms, we feared that somehow a few might have gotten into our luggage during the couple of hours we had bags in that room. Or maybe that room could be infested, too. So the next day the hotel called a specially trained dog to come and check our new room and our luggage. The dog sniffed everything but did not find any bed bugs. That really put our minds at ease and so for the rest of the week we did not worry.

However, after Andrew had already returned home a few days before me, on the last morning as I was packing up to leave, I found a bed bug in the bed. This meant that all week my belongings had been in an infested room, and I had also been sleeping in an infested bed!

This meant I could not bring anything from the hotel into the building where we live until I had washed and dried everything that could be washed and dried (including myself), hand-inspected every item of which I could see every surface clearly, throw away some things, and left everything else outside until we could buy a special device that would allow us to bake these items up to 120 F degrees, including our suitcases, shoes, etc., to kill any hidden bugs or eggs, since they are insecticide resistant.

Because Andrew had returned ahead of me, before we knew that our second hotel room was also infested, he had already brought his things into our apartment. So we spent all weekend cleaning and washing and checking everything in the apartment, and had to order special linens for our bed that will guard against bed bug infestations. This process was utterly exhausting and took basically two whole days.

Soon the evidence of our stay with the bugs in the hotel was apparent, as we broke out into a delayed allergic reaction to their bites, with painful, itchy welts all over.

I am not one to see a spiritual parallel in everything, but as I had to closely examine every single item from my suitcase to look for the tiniest white eggs or bugs, wash everything in the hottest setting, and even throw away some items that couldn't be washed or examined closely enough, I started thinking about two analogies: 1. The Israelites, who were mandated by God to cleanse the promised land of every people group who worshiped any false gods so that the Israelites would not be seduced away from their relationship with God (and because they didn't, they were); 2. And the need to eradicate every speck of sin in our lives so that even the smallest sins are not able to gain a foothold and gradually infest other areas of our life with darkness.

The thing with bed bugs is you cannot let even one egg or one bug into your house. It just takes a couple of these tiny insects to infiltrate everything, from books to picture frames; they can live under the baseboards along the walls and even inside electrical outlets. The females lay 5-10 eggs a day. And worse yet, they can live up to 300 days without feeding on human blood -- the only thing they consume. So even if you quarantine an object, you basically must seal it off for an entire year to ensure any bugs inside are truly dead. The cost of cleaning and preventing an infestation is high. The cost of dealing with an entrenched infestation would be much, much higher.

I just kept thinking about how it is the same way with sin: we must examine every aspect of our lives to root out even the tiniest bits of resistance to God and seflishness, or the potential is there for these things to create a foothold and spread, entrenching themselves in our lives and making it harder and harder to allow God to cleanse us and free us from their grip.

I hope that we never have to face bed bugs again, and I hope that none of you have to, either. And I pray that in the same way, we are all able to stay vigilant about areas of our lives where we need to do some cleaning and rooting out, so we can live in the peace of Jesus.

Dreaming God's dreams

Two months ago almost from today, I was at the Dare 2 Dream conference held by the British Isles North and British Isles South districts. The weekend conference was dedicated to helping pastors and lay people alike to listen for God's dreams for their communities and nations, and then to embrace those dreams. By necessity, those dreams would be far bigger than ours, and also, in many ways, unthinkable to our limited, human minds.

Today, I am with our church leaders of the South Asia Field, and in the afternoon session we are being challenged to listen for God's dreams for South Asia and beyond. The group was asked to try to identify the unthinkable, the impossible, that God might want to do.

This stretching exercise asks believers to realize that God's mind, and also His divine resources, are more than "we can ask or imagine".

I was reminded of the story of Jesus and the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark 6. It started when Jesus and the disciples were faced with a crowd of 5,000 men, and an uncounted number of women and children, who had been listening to Jesus teach all day, and they were hungry. Jesus told the disciples: I want you to feed these people.

This was Jesus' impossible dream.

37 They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages^[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

³⁸ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

The disciples had nothing. But a child had two small loaves of bread and some fish. The fact is that the resource they brought to Jesus wasn't even theirs. And it was far too small to accomplish Jesus' dream. Yet they brought it anyway. Whether their motive was to prove their point to him, or if it was a step of faith, we don't know. Either way, this small resource, offered to solve an impossible problem, was blessed and multiplied by the divine power of the Creator of the whole universe, and not only were the 5,000 and the women and children fed, but they were fed lavishly. There were 12 whole baskets left after each person had eaten their fill.

This story is a model to us for the fact that God's dreams are not dependent on our resources. When we stare in dismay at our material lack and decide we can't do more than what we have in our hands, we are limiting God. God only asks us to dream His dream, and to participate in the ways He asks, knowing He has His own resources in mind which He plans to bring to the table.

When we dream dreams that we can accomplish in our own power, we may not be dreaming God's dream, but our own.

I am moved by how both the Nazarenes in the UK as well as the Nazarene across South Asia are spending time dedicated to asking God what His dreams are for their world, and how He wants them to participate in that, without being held back by their own limited resources.

What dream is God asking you to dream with Him for your family, your community, your local church, your workplace, your nation, your people group?

^"20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." --  Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)