Bob Ekblad's Blog, page 18

Burning the Chaff

Last Sunday during our jail service I came prepared to baptize a man who had requested baptism a few weeks before.  The jail Sergeant even personally filled up the minimalist paper cup for this Sacrament, handing it to me with a smirk across the institutional-maroon Formica booking counter.  I knew there was a good chance my supply of water would not be used as on the previous Thursday.

There was no guarantee that I would see the men from E-Pod due to the jail’s reorganization efforts.  My thirty minute time slot was already whittled down to twenty minutes due to the previous group’s late start.  As the guard ushered me back into the jail’s multipurpose room I learned that the upper tier of E-Pod was locked down due to a fight, so the chances of the baptismal candidate being in the lower tier was getting lower.  And yet I’ve been experiencing God’s amazing flexibility in working in the midst of the messiness of human contingencies, and the group that came in did includethe man wanting baptism.

We looked together at Jesus’ baptism according to Matthew 3:11-17, and I suddenly wondered why I had complicated an already short time reflection by including verses 11-12.

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove his sandals; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  And his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor; and he will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

An inmate read John’s description that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.  We discussed the verses that terrorize people about the chaff being burned with unquenchable fire while the grain is gathered into the barn.

In response to an inmate’s articulation that chaff equaled bad people that would be damned, I suggested that chaff is the protective part of a grain—and that Jesus’ baptism is about removing and destroying this self-protective part from the vulnerable and valuable kernel—us.

“What might be some of the means we use to self protect?” I asked.  The men mention things like knives, guns, and self-medicating efforts like drug and porn addictions, and overworking.  I turned to a young gang member sitting beside me who I’d know for many years and asked him if he’d ever threatened anyone as a way to self-protect.  He looked surprised and said: “That’s what I’m in here for right now—for threatening someone.”

It encouraged the guys to see Jesus as not being about burning up people, but rather our self-protective attitudes and practices.  Seeing baptism as a surrendering to the fire of our ways of taking care of ourselves, our stress and problem-producing control mechanisms looked appealing.  After all, the men could see that this chaff had gotten them into the trouble they were in.

We then read the next verses describing Jesus’ actual baptism, how the Spirit came upon him as he came out of the purifying, chaff-removing water.  The Father’s words of total, unmerited approval appealed to these men who had a proven track record (criminal record) showing their inability to measure up.

From there I suggested that we go right into the baptism and asked the man if he still wanted to do it.  He nodded soberly, and I asked him to stand and for everyone to gather around him in a semi-circle.  At this point I decided to extend the invitation to others.  Three other men from the group wanted to be baptized, including the young gang member who was looking at life inprisonment.   All of us spoke our agreement regarding the following baptismal renunciations and affirmations in both English and Spanish.

“Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?”

“Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?”

“Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from the love of God?”

“Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Savior?”

“Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?”

“Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?”

The guards came in just as I was dowsing the fourth man, twenty minutes into our time.  I left amazed at God’s perfect timing, grateful to be part of Jesus’ beautiful ministry.

 

Further Adventures in Jail

Last Thursday night I went to the jail prepared to baptize a man from E-Pod, but apparently God had other ideas.  The jail guards surprisingly ushered in inmates from B-Pod, a group of men who hadn’t been allowed to attend our services for over three weeks.

The fifteen or so men were eager to talk about Romans 1:18-20 (see my last update).  Since they had been kept from regular gatherings due to reshuffling in the jail they were particularly open and we had a rich discussion.  When the guards didn’t come after the usual thirty minutes I invited the men to receive more of the Holy Spirit in a way I thought they would like.  Since I knew they had been deprived both physically and spiritually I suggested that we try drinking in the Spirit through an imaginary exercise that I rarely do.

I suggested that we imagine that we are each holding a forty ounce can of malt liquor which we were going to chug (the fastest and cheapest way on the street to get an alcohol buzz).  I told them that I was going to pray over our imaginary cans, that the Holy Spirit would fill them so we could drink God’s Spirit right down into our beings.  The guys were humored and excited as we lifted our cans before us, popping the tabs to open them, asking the Spirit to come and then “one, two, three,” chugged them down.  We laughed together for a while and then I told them a story about when I had first done this drinking activity with inmates about eight years before.

I told them how after I and the four inmates had received the spirit in this way the man to my right had began to cry, the man beside him was filled with joy, and I got the word “father wound.”   As I told the story I pointed in the direction of about ten o’clock in our large circle of men, recalling how right there, eight years ago, one of the four had stood up, saying he was sure this father wound word applied to him.

He had then pulled up his shirt to show us seven stab wounds his stomach.  He went on to recount how his father had beaten him severely when he was a kid and that he had felt so badly about himself that three months before he had stabbed himself seven times in the stomach and had nearly died from the wounds—continuing to feel severe stomach pain.

At that point I told the group how I had explained to this man the importance of expressing the pain we have from our fathers and mothers sinning against us, and then to drop our judgments rather than harbor bitterness.  I pointed over to where the man had been sitting who had stabbed himself, remembering it like it was yesterday, recalling how he had chosen to forgive his father and consequently been healed.

As I was finishing the story one of the men I had been pointing towards surprised us all by saying that this man I was telling about was his brother!  He told how in fact their father had exercised a lot of physical and emotional violence against them when they were growing up, and how his older brother had done prison sentence after prison sentence.

Realizing that I now needed to continue focusing on forgiving our fathers, we moved into a discussion about how when we don’t forgive those who have sinned against us we are likely to behave in similar ways.  At this point one of the men who had continued reading on his own after Romans 1:18-20 said: “Hey, right here it says exactly that:

“Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things… Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:1-4).

A man to my left spoke up: “I don’t know if I can do that.  I am totally full of bitterness toward my old man.  Is this something you can just do, or does it sometimes take a long time?” he asked.

I assured him that it can take a long time when we’ve been seriously sinned against, and I reminded everyone of Jesus’ call to forgive seventy times seven (Matt 18:22).  A huge guy who worked as a logger to my right stood up and told how this would be hard for him too:

“My dad shot and killed my mom when I was one year old.  He didn’t just shoot her once but four times.  I’ve been bitter against him ever since I learned it from my adoptive parents,” he said.

Just then the guards popped the doors and I said goodbye to the men, encouraging them to let the Spirit guide them regarding who and how they need to forgive.   I left amazed at how the Holy Spirit was so present to seemingly guide the guards choice of pods and the following words, Scriptures, example and even the gestures of our gathering.  I left interceding for these men, who like most offenders have been seriously sinned against themselves and are in need of big doses of mercy and love.

Hearing from God alongside the “damned”

One recent Sunday in the jail I discovered that the normal ‘B-pod’ group of inmates I usually meet with were ‘locked down’ due to a fight. The guard ushered in a different group of 8 or so men instead. After introducing ourselves and praying I had someone read Romans 1:18-31. As an inmate read the first verse I suddenly saw something I had never noticed.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness — of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

“Do you guys notice here that God’s wrath is not revealed against people?” I asked, interrupting the reading. “God’s wrath is against ungodliness and unrighteousness! Wrath is not directed at unbelieving, deceptive, abusive, lustful or angry men, but against unbelief, deception, abuse, lust and anger. Does this sound like good news?”

The men looked up from their bibles with wide eyes, surprised, even a bit jolted. Suddenly it dawned on me that I was reading Romans 1 with the sex-offender pod, men who hadn’t had access to weekly Bible studies due to the danger of mixing them with other inmates because of their despised, sex-offender status.

This clear differentiation between sin and people is consistent in the New Testament (see Romans 7:19-20). Jesus is never described as being violent towards people, but only towards the non-human powers (demons, Satan, certain attitudes (like superiority, pride), sins, money changing tables…). This distinction makes it easier for many to approach God for help.

More precisely here, God’s wrath is revealed against the spiritual states of ungodliness (asebeia), meaning lack of reverence for God, and unrighteousness (adikia) – which is the opposite of truth (alethia) and true righteousness (life in harmony with God’s will & Jesus’ kingdom- “on earth as in heaven”).

Ungodliness and unrighteousness result from people suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, rather then welcoming God’s continual communication to us all.

God’s communicating to all people is emphasized next: “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (1:19-20).

“Do you sense that God is speaking to you? Are you paying attention to what God is showing and telling you?” The men were all able to think of examples of the Spirit’s active communication to them, and also of their suppressing the truth in the midst of daily life. I found myself really inspired to be even more watchful for God’s Presence in my life too. The next lines offered analysis and some keys to a knowing the way forward.

“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (1:21)

Futile speculation, darkness, worshipping and serving creatures and all evil described in the rest of this passage result from ignoring the Creator, who gives humans over to the lusts of their hearts (v. 24), degrading passions (v. 26) and depraved mind (v. 28).

We agreed together to respond to this verse in prayer, speaking words honoring and thanking God. This is the way forward in resisting ungodliness and unrighteousness from the suppression of truth, and I find myself wanting to practice this more deliberately.

Titus 2:11-12 provides still more encouragement to pay attention to God’s initiatives towards us, as God’s grace is described as actively appearing, bringing salvation and instructing:

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.”

Our group of unlikely partners came to a place of unusual clarity and excitement to step into active faith described just prior to all these verses:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “but the righteous man shall live by faith.” (1:16-17)

The following week I received a letter from one of the inmates for that pod. I include an excerpt here:

“Thank you for coming today, because our pod is very unlucky when it comes to getting our own time for church and A.A. I’m sorry to say that we are lucky that B-pod was locked down today. Otherwise we would have not had that opportunity to see you. Just within this last two months that I’ve been here I have received Jesus as my Savior and I have this pod to thank for that. This is the sex offender pod and before I was brought here whenever I was in another pod or I looked into here from on the other side of the door I was so judgmental and I talked bad about this pod. But now that I’m in here I couldn’t want to be in any other pod. The guys in here are, for the most part saved and born again. Whenever we get someone new we suggest Bible studies and the like. I am not a sex offender but the guys that are in here that are being charged are facing life and for the most part feel the need for Jesus because they feel they have very little to live for…. Most people think that these guys are monsters, but if they were here in the midst of it all would think differently. They are the most giving, caring and nice guys around. If we need something or want it and they can spare it they will 90% of the time give it to us. Things like phone calls, commissary items, I-care packages and whatnot all get shared even when we don’t ask. The pod has a happy, joyful aura about it that makes things easier being in jail.”

It is encouraging to see the Spirit moving among those who society would deem the least worthy, even damned. When we come to believe that God truly loves us while opposing powers that prey on us, we are lead to honor and gratitude. I am seeing a growing desire among inmates and my own colleagues to consciously resist “suppressing the truth”, and to step into a more active relationship with our continually speaking, revealing Creator. Gracie and I are feeling this too, and pray that you will be encouraged forward in your faith journey as well.

Inmate Intercession and Bridge Collapse

Last night my colleague Alan and I were leading our normal Thursday evening back-to-back Bible studies in the Skagit County Jail in Mount Vernon. We started out just after 7pm with two men from “A Pod”. Both men were visibly upset as they were facing the normal post-arrest chaos: criminal charges, family upset, detox from drugs and alcohol, un-determined sentence. I could see we needed to pray before looking at a passage from the Bible, and asked if they were okay with that.

One man surprised me by his unusually generous attitude of a intercessor: “Every day I pray that God would be with all the people out there, protecting them and blessing them wherever they are.” After asking Jesus to pour out his Holy Spirit on us, to fill us with his peace, to open our hearts and minds to hear God’s Word to us, I included this man’s prayer, asking for God to truly protect and bless the people out there on the streets, in the world, including our loved ones. Alan and I then went on to pray and prophesy over the two men, and the Spirit visibly touched them.

At the end of second Bible study the guard informed us that the bridge over the Skagit River had collapsed. He didn’t know whether anyone was hurt or killed, but the men in our third Bible study were all very upset and wanted to pray. Jail staff had just announced that the phone system was down for the night, so the men were quite concerned that they wouldn’t be able to call family to find out whether their loved ones were okay. Everyone seemed quite earnest about praying for all the people affected by the bridge collapse. Our reading of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 also seemed to move the guys.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Imagining cars on I-5 driving 60-70 miles per hour off the edge of the bridge into the frigid Skagit River was making people think. “I cross that bridge several times every day when I’m out there,” one man said. The idea that our bodies belong to God, are bailed out of death’s prison grip by Jesus’ death and resurrection was making sense and looking attractive and needed. We were all feeling the desire to surrender our fragile selves to the One who made us and ask for Holy Spirit to fill us.

Our last Bible study was interrupted by one of the inmates being called out by the guard. The men were worried for him, wondering if he was about to be told that one of his family members had been injured or killed. In fact Alan had left early to meet with him one-on-one. He’d just been found guilty and was looking at a 15-year prison sentence. The men all wanted to pray for him, for his family, and for anyone else affected by the bridge collapse.

I left the jail last night in bumper-to-bumper traffic as traffic was being re-routed. I headed to my parents and watched live footage of rescue workers searching the river for survivors. Only a few cars had gone over the bridge and nobody was killed. My first thought was of the inmates’ intercession.

This morning in a BBC article on the bridge collapse “Dan Sligh, one of those rescued from the water, said the bridge had disappeared in a “big puff of dust”.

“When the dust hit I saw the bridge start to fall,” he said. “At that point forward momentum just carried us over and as you saw the water approaching it was just one of those [times when] you hold on as tight as you can and I saw just a white flash and cold water.

“You talk miracles. I don’t know what you want to call it. When you’re sitting down in the water and there’s all that mangled metal and bridge, and you’re looking around kind of pinching yourself and realizing you’re lucky to be alive. It’s a pretty amazing day to tell you the truth.”

He said he dislocated his shoulder in the fall, but popped it back into place. Mr Sligh and his wife were “belly deep in water in the truck”, and he said his wife was in shock as they waited for help.”

Men and women in our jails and prisons often know through the pain of confinement and deprivations and the trauma of many near-death experiences that life is fragile and precious. They often come to see that living life their way, as if their bodies are theirs to own and control, has not worked for them. They are readier than most to surrender their lives to Jesus, to agree with God to let their bodies be temples of the Holy Spirit. They often become intercessors for their families, our communities and world. I woke up this morning feeling grateful and inspired.

Jeff

In late December 2012 I received a letter from Jeff, a 35-year-old man currently incarcerated in Washington State Reformatory who I hadn’t seen or heard from some two years. He was writing to tell me that on January 1, 2012 he’d totally surrendered his life over to Jesus and that things were going well. “I’m trying to reach out to the homies (fellow gang members) here. I get them signed up for church and with some I do Bible studies. Now I know why you do what you do.” Jeff’s letter was a bright light of hope for me.

Jeff grew up on the streets of our county, running with Mexican gangs. Much of the parenting he’s received has been from the moms of his homies and from older gang members. I was drawn to him from the moment we met 18 years ago, and have been pained that our connections have usually been during times of crisis between prison sentences. Jeff calculates that he’s been locked up for a total of 18 years, including stints as a juvenile.

I first met Jeff in 1995 in Skagit County Jail in one of my most memorable experiences as jail chaplain. On that day, my Bible study on John 4 was not working. The thirty or so Spanish-speaking inmates were unusually agitated. I took an inmate’s advice and wrapped up the study with the Lord’s Prayer, which I found myself praying faster and faster as I was hearing noises around me. When I opened my eyes, men on both sides of the room had chairs raised over their heads (a good reason to keep your eyes open when praying).

I later learned that the Sureño gang members in the jail had planned to jump the Norteños during the Spanish Bible study because a Norteño guy had started a rumor that disrespected Jeff, a Sureño. Inmates later told me that they felt paralyzed when the Spanish version of the prayer ended (it ends with “deliver us from evil”), and were unable to lower their chairs down on the heads of their enemies.

I did some one-on-one visits with Jeff who was 18 at the time, and then didn’t see him for two years while he served his prison sentence. Once released Jeff contacted me, asking me to perform a wedding for him and his childhood girlfriend Catalina, which I did. Sadly, in spite of Jeff’s love for Catalina and their baby girl Angel, gang involvement and drug dealing kept landing him in jail and prison. Jeff and Catalina’s marriage didn’t survive these stresses, though they have remained close friends.

The last time I had seen him was two years ago at a very stressful time. Skagit County prosecutors were trying to put Jeff away for 24 years on drug charges with gang enhancements. Aware that nearly all of Jeff’s past crimes were directly related to drug abuse, I had attempted and failed to convince the prosecutor to let Jeff into drug court. Jeff’s anxiety about being locked up for the rest of his daughter Angel’s youth was so extreme that he ended up inciting a riot that led to still more charges. He was shipped off to prison while I was on an itinerant speaking trip in the UK.

These past two Fridays I have visited Jeff in Washington State Reformatory (WSR) and your SW of here. Since I had seen him respond positively to Jesus in past jail Bible studies I was curious about his letter stating he’d surrendered his life to Jesus only last year. He told me that actually his conversion had started right at the darkest point during his last time in jail. He told me how the prosecutor has surprised him by inviting him to accept a plea agreement for only 60 months in prison— five years instead of a potential twenty-four. This felt to him like a direct intervention from God.

I was shocked to hear about this as well. I had called this prosecutor, presenting Jeff to her the way I saw him. I told her that as Jeff’s pastor I knew a side of him that law enforcement had not seen. I knew that underneath his rough exterior he had a compassionate heart and a true desire to change. I asked her to trust me and to believe in him, even after his recent behavior and the riot. She had listened but insisted that she couldn’t give him any breaks. But then she did!

As for his conversion on January 1, 2012 Jeff told me: “Bob, I’ve always known that I cannot serve two masters, and that I had to make the choice to serve only one. I hadn’t been willing all these years to give up my old ways and serve only Jesus until last January. And since then everything has changed.”

Jeff and I have spent the last two Fridays reading the Bible and praying together, and talking about his dream to work with young people prone to gang involvement. Jeff is a natural leader, is growing spiritually by leaps and bounds, and is actively preparing for his August 2014 release.

Jeff told me about how there have not been any Spanish services in the prison since he’s been there, and named many Mexican inmates who I know. He urged me to make contact with the prison officials. Last week I called the prison chaplain who is enthusiastic and is doing everything possible to have me approved to begin a bi-weekly Spanish service by June.

As far as I know Jeff, Catalina and Angel do not have people actively praying for them. You can make a big difference through your intercession. All of them need protection, wisdom and clear direction for their future, as well ongoing growth in knowing and following Jesus. Pray for me as I prepare to launch a new ministry to Spanish-speaking inmates in the WSR prison. Pray too for Tierra Nueva as we focus more attention on effectively welcoming ex-offenders back into our community.

Julio

The image of the sower in Matthew 13:18 has always resonated with me, as I have scattered lots of seeds in all sorts of ground: addicted, unbelieving, incarcerated, overworked, and often receptive.

I have witnessed many people receive the word with joy, drinking it into their thirsty souls.  I’ve watched them grow before my eyes.  And yet for the countless Bible studies I’ve led and individuals and families I’ve visited, I’ve seen very little fruit.

I don’t know what’s happened to most of the people I’ve ministered to a chaplain of Skagit County Jail and in Tierra Nueva’s migrant ministry.  Inmates have often gone off to prison, from which they’ve been deported or released to a new life in some place unknown to me.  I rarely hear what happens to people who have heard the word.  I’ve clung to texts like Isaiah 55:10-11, which have brought me some comfort.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;  So shall my word be which goes forth from my mouth.  It shall not return to me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

Eighteen years ago I met a young man named Julio in Skagit County Jail.   At that time he was a scrappy gang banger from Stockton, California, caught up in PCP and crack cocaine addiction and dealing drugs for income.  I did one-on-one visits with him while he was in jail, and was increasingly drawn to him.   He called me “Pastor Robert”.

Julio and I hit it off, and when he was out of jail I began visiting him and his girlfriend in the apartment from which Julio sold drugs.  Julio asked me to read the Bible with him and his girl friend and to pray.  Our Bible studies were constantly interrupted by customers wanting to buy drugs—many of whom I knew from jail Bible studies. Julio invited everyone who came by to join in and learn about God.  He was a natural evangelist.  I loved him.

Julio and his girlfriend had two beautiful daughters together, which added more financial pressures and stress to their relationship. In spite of my best counseling efforts, he and his girlfriend broke up.  Julio took his daughters to live with his mom in Arizona.  He worked at one of the skills he’d learned from his stepfather—smuggling people through the desert to safety.

He would tell me how his drug addiction was taking a toll on his health.  It was hard to keep in contact with him with his constantly changing cell phone numbers.  Many times we were out of touch for months.  He was always on my heart.  My prayers would be answered when he’d call me out of the blue and we’d reconnect and pray together over the phone.  His young daughters would sometimes call me, saying “Pastor Robert, can you pray for my dad.”

I felt my limitations as a pastor all the time with this wily, beloved sheep, and have prayed for him all these years, imaging myself carrying him up and laying him before Jesus.  My love for Julio and longing to see him grow drove me closer to Jesus, asking for wisdom, training, more love, more of the Holy Spirit—whatever was needed.

Two weeks ago Julio called me out of the blue.  Pastor Robert.  “I’m leaving where I’m at and I’m moving back to Washington.  I’m ready to surrender to Jesus and to work with you at Tierra Nueva!”  He’d been on a Greyhound bus for 2 ½ days already and asked if I could pick him up.  He was three hours from Mount Vernon!

Julio moved into our building and has become part of our life again.  Last Sunday we baptized him.  He’s been going out with us on missions to pray for people, and loves it. This has been deeply encouraging to me, and I’m celebrating the realizing of Psalm 126:5-6.

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.  He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

Please pray for him as he starts out afresh as Jesus’ disciple and our newest recruit.  Please pray for his 15 and 17 year-old daughters, who are living on their own now in Mexico, and their mom who is now in prison.   Lift them before the Good Shepherd, Jesus himself.  He knows where they are and how to bring them home.

Hope in Dark Places: Reflections from S. Korea and Thailand

We just returned from three weeks in Korea and Thailand.  There we witnessed first-hand the Spirit calling people into missions, we served alongside front-line missionaries who care for women and men in prostitution, and participated in prayers of confession and repentance to address larger macro-powers.

In Korea I led a retreat for about 200 members of Jubilee Church, a congregation of young mostly-Asian English-speaking ex-pats living and working in Seoul.  Jubilee’s mission statement is Isaiah 61, and the Holy Spirit was strongly present to call people into Jesus’ ministry, visibly filling and healing people.  Many expressed their longing to follow Jesus into the darkest places—and Thailand definitely qualifies. (Jubilee prayer team is first picture below).

Next stop was Bangkok, where I met with Jennie-Joy, a young, joy-filled missionary working with Nightlight to advocate for individual women trafficked from other nations so they can get out of the sex trade (second photo below).

Iven and Kashmira Hauptman welcomed me into their home in the heart of one of Bangkok’s red-light districts.  Iven invited me on a several-hour loop around the National Palace and Emerald Buddha Temple, where we encountered dozens of young men awaiting customers as free-lance prostitutes.

We talked to a number of guys about Jesus and prayed for those who accepted our offers to bless them, as potential customers slowly cruised by.  Iven and Kashmira are fluent in Thai, have built relationships with their neighbors and many of these young men, with whom they envision starting a church.

My third stop was Pattaya, Thailand, home to the world’s largest sex-tourism scene and meeting place for two gatherings of missionaries living and serving the poor in slum communities with Servants and the New Friars. Gracie and our 17-year-old daughter, Anna, joined me to minister to these missionaries.

While there we went out on the streets three nights to pray for people in the heart of the red-light district, and to discern what Jesus would have us notice and do in response (third photo below).  Walking the streets was highly disturbing, and yet intercession seemed urgent and came naturally as the despair and emptiness of the women and men selling themselves and also the customers was in our faces.

We knew that an old US Air Force Base “U-Tapau” was close by, from which US B-52 bombers left to bomb Cambodia, Laos and North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  Many directly link the death and terror from these bombing campaigns to the rise to power of Khmer Rogue, and Pol Pot’sexecution of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians.

We were also aware that the US military had used Pattaya as an R&R site, and that sex tourism got it’s start there largely due to US troop presence.  One evening after a prayer walk through the heart of the prostitution scene, my friend Tom and I waded into Pattaya Bay and confessed nation’s sins, re-affirming our baptisms.  We felt God’s strong presence hovering over the waters.

At the Easter Sunday we included an act of public confession and repentance for US’s use and abuse of Pattaya as part of our celebration of Jesus’ victory over the powers (see below).  Many Americans joined me as I led these prayers (fourth photo) and Cambodian participants and ministry workers living in Phnom Penh offered declarations of forgiveness.

The following week our daughter, Anna volunteered with Tamar Project, a ministry that reaches out to women in prostitution.  Anna was deeply impacted as she worked alongside women whom Tamar staff had befriended and offered employment through their bakery, café and greeting card businesses (final photo).

Anna’s experience of working alongside the women was life-changing, reminding us that Jesus’ love is deeply personal and relational, and can overcome any barrier.  It breaks the grip of evil as people surrender to the crucified and risen Victor.

Prayers of Confession (March 31, 2013, Pattaya, Thailand)

I confess and renounce the sin of the United States of America of using and abusing the land of Thailand, the city of Pattaya as a launching pad for bombing raids on Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos.  I renounce US Imperial designs and lament the death and ongoing destruction that have resulted and continue to be felt.

I confess and repent of the sin of American soldiers, military personnel and other citizens of using Thai and Cambodian women as objects and for and any role the US played in contributing to the rise of prostitution in SE Asia.

We declare that there is no justification for these actions.

We repent of the sin of misrepresenting God through these behaviors [since many people would have viewed the US as a Christian nation].

We ask the people of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam for forgiveness for these sins in the name of Jesus.

Links to people and ministries

Jubilee Church, Seoul, http://jubileeseoul.com

Jenny Joy Tefler,  http://seedswillgrow.com/partners

Iven and Kasmira Hauptman, http://ivenandkashmira.com

Tamar Project, www.tamarcenter.org/en

Servants, http://servantsasia.org

Considering the victim: Easter week reflections on Honduras & other violent places

On March 16 I gathered with 25 members of a delegation of Canadian and American Christians to bless the people of Mal Paso, Honduras—a village that Gracie and I have visited and cared for since 1983.  Honduras is currently considered the most violent country in the world—and Mal Paso’s recent history reflects the complexity and nature of much of violence wracking this impoverished nation and our unique role.

For nearly five years Gracie and I rode our motorcycle from Tierra Nueva’s farm base in Minas de Oro down the steep mountain road into the dry, lowland foothills every Wednesday.  One of the first couples we met were Teodoro and Chon, campesinos (peasants) in their mid-twenties (our same age at the time) who resided in front of a make-shift soccer field in the center of a village of scattered adobe houses.

They invited us in from the scorching sun to drink coffee under the veranda just off a courtyard that served as a holding pen for their small herd of cows.  Other subsistence farmers gathered with us to learn about sustainable farming practices.  Our group grew to include many of the village men and later the women– as Gracie worked with Chon, teaching them nutritious recipes, hygiene and nutrition.

At that time nobody was at all interested in Bible study—and we ourselves were more focused on trying to serve the people at their point of felt need– identified as increasing production of corn and beans, avoiding amoebic dysentery, a gravity-flow water system for the village, latrines and getting access to land for the many landless peasants.   We worked with the people on these priorities, and grew close to many as production increased, water systems and latrines were installed and the village progressed.  Teodoro and many other farmers experienced dramatic increases in their yields of corn and beans, and hope was on the rise.

One day the people came with reports that a little airplane had flown over their village and fields, dropping hundreds of little pieces of paper that warned that Jesus was coming soon and everyone who didn’t accept him before his arrival would be thrown into the lake of fire—so repent!  The people were stirred up, and wondering what we thought.  They asked us to lead them in a Bible study from then on at the start of every Wednesday agricultural committee gathering.

We watched many of Mal Paso’s residents become attracted to Jesus as we read and discussed together stories from the Gospels week after week.  Leaders emerged out of this committee who became Tierra Nueva’s founding peasant promotores (village trainers).

Hard times followed, as US AID (United States Agency for International Development) funded a project that paid farmers we had trained and organized to leave our ministry and re-organize under Honduran government- controlled committees.  US strategy at that time involved efforts to win Honduran hearts and minds as they recruited and trained peasants youth to fight the US’s battle against neighboring Nicaragua.  Tierra Nueva lost many villagers who accepted the free handouts of chemical fertilizer, chicken wire and food for work in exchange for their allegiance and relationship with us.

Then NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) came along, and US farmers were given the green light to sell heavily-subsidized American corn in Central American markets, causing local corn prices to drop below what peasants could produce it for.  These happenings drove many to hit the road for El Norte (the US), a dangerous and expensive journey across Guatemala and Mexico into the USA.

Many young men left our region. Some became involved in drug dealing, gang activity & served prison sentences in the US, later to be deported back to Honduras.  Many then became involved in drug trafficking (one of the reasons Honduras is so violent now).

While Teodoro had done well farming with Tierra Nueva, he, like many, got the “fever for the North.” He joined others from Mal Paso and surrounding villages to work in fields, construction sites and factories as an undocumented worker.  Teodoro returned 7-8 years later wealthier and tougher, his values damaged by wholesale pursuit of the American Dream.

Two years ago jealousy was aroused by some of Mal Paso residents successes in the United States.  A man who was successfully managing his immigrant brother’s affairs was falsely accused by family members.  Things escalated a he was shot to death.  This unleashed a wave of vengeance killings, as people hired assassins to shoot up whoever was next on the “kill list”.  My old friend Teodoro was #9 of the ten who were killed.  He was shot to death by submachine gun- bearing gunmen right there in his corridor where we’d started Tierra Nueva.

David, Tierra Nueva’s leader, was Teodoro’s next-door neighbor.  He was awoken by the shots early one morning and heard Teodoro crying out to God “my God, my God” as he died.  David had been first on the scene of most of the previous murders—and was traumatized.  Though a gifted leader, peacemaker and pastor, David felt he had to move out of the village to protect his family.  60% of the people moved away.  Not one of the murders has been investigated due a breakdown of law and order in much of the countryside.

For the past two years though David has been visiting those who remained in Mal Paso– some 150 people.  Every week David visits people in their homes, leads Bible studies and prayers.  We are working with him to seek employment solutions like raising chickens, pigs and purchasing abandoned land that once belonged to the victims.

Last week I accompanied him for several days of visits to Tierra Nueva’s families in other villages and was able to visit our coffee farm.  Everywhere we went we found people hungry for Bible study and open to prayer.  We saw many receive physical healing.  On Saturday we hosted the Catch the Fire team from Toronto to bless the people of Mal Paso.  Over 200 villagers came to receive medical consultations, medicine, beans and rice.  Members of the mission group played with the kids, painted their faces, shampooed hair and combed out lice.

David and I gathered the entire community at the start and addressed them regarding their need to mourn, to forgive and to receive God’s comfort.  Many acknowledged trauma, fear and ongoing nightmares.  Many men, women and children came into the center of our gathering to receive prayer.  People cried as hands were laid on them.  Prayer teams prayed for peoples healing and a group of us took a long walk around the circumference of the village, interceding for peace.

Please pray for wisdom and strength for David.  Pray too for peace in Mal Paso and for peace in troubled places like Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Israel/Palestine and beyond.

 

Recently I prepared a talk on Judges 19, which ends with a call to “consider, take counsel and speak up” about the victim—which in that case was a Levite’s concubine who had been raped and cut up into 12 pieces and distributed throughout Israel.  Rather than responding as the men of Israel did—seeking to punish offenders in ways that unleash more violence, the text invites alternate ways—like the recent acts of kindness and solidarity offered to Mal Paso.  I invite you to view my recent reflection on Judges 19 as you contemplate Jesus, the risen victim this week, available on YouTube at http://youtu.be/fkGDnmJWC4Q

Honduran Harvests: Coffee beans and people

The coffee harvest is now in full swing on Tierra Nueva’s coffee farm in Alta Mira.  I am glad to report that we now have the infrastructure in place for a growing production of specialty coffee that offers employment to local workers and income to support Tierra Nueva’s ministry in Honduras (see photos below).

We are grateful to supporters who have contributed funds to purchase a truck, coffee processing plant, housing for farm manager, latrines, solar dryers and drying patios.  A growing supply of quality beans are now available for Underground Coffee Project’s ex-offender-led roasting operation at Tierra Nueva in Burlington, which you can order online here: http://coffee.newearthworks.org

Tierra Nueva’s Honduran leader David Calix has had a calling to reach out to people in extreme poverty since we began working together in 1983.  Since TN’s founding in Minas de Oro in 1982 we have been committed to empowering the rural poor through teaching sustainable farming and intensive gardening, establishing gravity-flow water projects and teaching on nutrition and hygiene.  Bible study among people outside the churches has also been a major emphasis.  Now we are focusing on building small communities, “hogares en transformacion,” where new Christians can be built up in their faith and in sustainable living practices.

David visits his native village of Mal Paso twice a month.  He had to move away two years ago due to violence that led to the deaths of 9 men from opposing sides—all people David grew up with.  Honduras is currently considered the most violent country in the world due to lawlessness resulting from a breakdown in government leadership and widespread poverty and drug-trafficking.

Jesus’ sending the disciples out in Luke 10 provides inspiration for regular visits to receptive families.  Hondurans are noted for their generous hospitality, and David and other leaders are welcomed into homes in Mal Paso, Minas de Oro and other surrounding villages.

There in the security of people’s homes, prayers are offered for healing and other needs, and the Bible is read and discussed.  When Jesus heals someone rejected by the majority, and people feel cared for with no strings attached by Tierra Nueva’s workers, they usually want more, and the work is growing.  Leadership development is now the biggest priority.

David conducts larger gatherings every two weeks with all the families involved to encourage and build up these new believers.  He also is mentoring emerging leaders in Bible study and social development.  Tierra Nueva provides lunch for these meetings and covers transportation for people from surrounding villages.

Tierra Nueva’s future plans include regular visits to the villages of Huertas, Altamira, Guachipilín to engage people in prayer and Scripture study.

Please pray for a resolution of the political crisis in Honduras, and for reconciliation between the many Honduran Christian groups that are currently divided and working against each other.  Please intercede for David and his wife Esperanza’s health and safety.  Pray with us for a growing harvest of people into Jesus’ Kingdom.  Pray also for TN apprentice Paul Foth’s visit to Honduras Feb 18-March 5.

Right now we are in need of $20,000 for the purchase of land with a house where David and his family can live, show hospitality, gather people for worship, leadership training, and establish a small organic demonstration plot to train people in sustainable living practices.  See this YouTube video interview with David where he outlines his vision http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VGF7fFt2BI.

If you would like to support this project donations can be given through e-giving using this link,

https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift/gift.php?giftid=E4EB2CF9D2AC4AF

Or, you can sent to Tierra Nueva, Attn: Honduras, PO Box 161, Burlington, WA 98233, USA.

For an extended version of the David Calix interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFcQ00XJuw0

Soft as a Marshmallow

Gracie and I have been enjoying being back at Tierra Nueva after our year away in France.  We’ve appreciated our weekly worship services, which are drawing ex-offenders, people in recovery and immigrant workers.

For the past three months on Monday evenings Salvio, Bethany (TN Family Support Center directors), a growing number of Tierra Nueva apprentices and Gracie and I have been meeting at the Tierra Nueva building for thirty minutes of prayer before seeking to enter into a contemporary practice of Jesus’ mission according to Luke 10.

In Luke 10 Jesus sends out 70 workers in pairs, telling them to “beg the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” because the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few (10:2).  Our group varies from four to eight. As we’ve gone out we’ve seen that Jesus’ assessment of First Century Palestine is true today for Skagit County.  There is spiritual openness, great need and a longing among ordinary people to engage in some kind of outreach.

During our prayer time together we thank God for what the Spirit is already doing in our ministry and community and deliberately ask how we can best collaborate with God.  We seek guidance regarding where we should go.  We expect God to speak, bringing to mind families to visit, specific places to go, conditions needing healing—whatever the Holy Spirit wants to show us.

In Luke 10:3-4 Jesus sends out the 70 dependent and vulnerable (no shoes, money, extra clothes) and specifically commissions them to go as guests rather than hosts.  Seeking the person of peace is all about receiving people’s hospitality- and yet there’s a proactive side to this involving going out looking for receptive hosts.

Usually we visit people in their homes, and end up praying for their concerns—which include anything from the need for work (Boni and Lourdes, photo below) to physical healing and comfort (Alredo, pictured below, longs for his blind 30-year-old son to be able to see him).

A few weeks ago Gracie got the impression: “soft like a marshmallow” thinking it was about the condition of someone’s heart.  She also thought of the laundromat across the street beside a Mexican grocer.   Anna and Salvio thought we should go to the megastore Wal-Mart, and Salvio got “palm tree” and someone else thought of “black hair.”  I wasn’t sensing anything but decided to join Salvio and Anna and head to Wal-Mart, even though I dislike this particular megastore.

Meanwhile, Gracie and Paul headed across the street towards the laundromat, but as they passed by the Mexican grocery store, “Los Antojitos” they felt they should go in.  There Paul noticed a bag of big heart-shaped marshmallows by the cashier, and in front of it was a Mexican woman making a purchase with whom Gracie struck up a conversation.  They accompanied the woman outside into the cold December wind.  After they introduced themselves and briefly described how they were praying for God to bless people, they asked her if she needed prayer.

“Yes I do, but doesn’t everyone?” she said in Spanish.  Gracie agreed that everyone needs prayer but told her: “I think God is highlighting you,” and shared how they’d been praying and had gotten the impression of a heart as soft as a marshmallow.  At this the woman seemed to melt and said that in fact she needed prayer: for pain and swelling in her leg from deep-veined thrombosis and some other conditions.

The cold wind motivated them to duck into the laundromat, which was empty, and they prayed.  The woman cried as she told how she’d been longing for someone to tell her about Jesus and help her understand the Bible.  Gracie and Paul invited her to our Sunday service.

At that point she invited them to her car and offered them bags of oatmeal and granola from the factory where she works.  She’s come twice in to Tierra Nueva’s services, and we recently visited her and her family in their home where we celebrated God healing her leg, and prayed for her family.  Afterwards she invited us to share a meal delicious home-made chicken tamales and strawberry atole (a sweet pudding-like drink) (photo below).

This woman truly has a soft heart towards God and us.   She is longing to go out with us on our Monday night outreaches, which shows us that Jesus’ call for disciples to beg the Lord of the harvest for laborers is a prime example of evangelism as recruitment.

That same evening when Salvio, Anna and I went into Wal-Mart I was skeptical about our prospects.  However, as we walked down the first main aisle we ran straight into a big tower made up of stacked cases of Corona beer (a Mexican favorite).  Atop it was a big plastic palm tree! (photo below).  There beside it was a man with jet-black hair pushing a shopping cart full of hot chili cheetos.

Salvio and I approached him about our mission and he immediately agreed to receive prayer: at which time we learned he was from India but living in Vancouver, BC.   We prayed for him and encouraged him, realizing that our church aisles were becoming strangely inclusive, and the nearness of Jesus’ Kingdom was coming into places I would never have chosen (Wal-Mart).

We rejoined Gracie and Paul and truly could identify with joy of the 70 who returned to Jesus to debrief (Luke 10:17-21).  Last week I sensed God speaking to me to “double” these outreaches—which we plan to do beginning in January.

May you too experience the joy of the harvest as you venture into whatever version of Jesus’ ministry the Spirit leads you into in 2013.