"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself."You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live." But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
Luke 10:27-29
We all love to hear the stories of what God is doing through His people around the World. Maybe this is the year for you to be a part of one of those stories. There is no substitute for experiencing what it is like to follow Jesus in a different culture. It is a challenging and very inspiring experience. In 2010 we will be taking trips to a variety of countries to serve alongside of our partners. These trips will provide great opportunities for you to grow, learn, and share your experience with others from the Peachtree community. I hope that you will join us!
In the past few months, Rebecca and I have clearly felt that our season at Willow Creek was drawing to a close. We had a strong sense that our trip to Malawi in June would somehow mark the finish line for us. However we had no idea where God was leading us. During this process, we repeatedly read Habakkuk 2:1-4 and wondered how it might apply to us as we sought a new vision for the next part of our journey. “At a destined hour it will come with breathless haste. It will not fail. If it delays wait for it, for when it comes there will be no time to linger…”
On the first day back from Malawi, July 2, I was contacted by another church about a role that really fits my sense of calling. Over the ensuing weeks, God has made it clear that he is not just releasing us from Willow, but He is calling us to something new. We will be moving to Atlanta where I will be serving as the Pastor for Mission at Peachtree Presbyterian Church, leading their efforts in local and global mission. We are excited about this opportunity to serve in this role and to be closer to our family. Unfortunately we have to make this transition with breathless haste, because school started in Atlanta on August 10th. I will be transitioning off of staff at Willow on August 28th. While it would be our desire to have a longer transition period, we feel that God has been preparing our family for this move for months, and we feel that this quick transition is in the best interest of our children.
We want to thank you for all of your love and support over these past four years. It has been a great joy to serve with you. We have never served with a more committed group of Christ followers. I know that you will continue to have great impact in your community, because the reality is that you have not so much been following me as following Christ. We look forward to hearing the stories of what God is doing in Barrington and Cary-Grove. If you get tired of shoveling snow this winter, come see us! http://www.peachtreepres.org/web/
I would like you to meet Josephine. She is 6 years old and has HIV/AIDS. She lives with her parents in Chitipa. They also have HIV/AIDS. I met Josephine and her family while I was in Africa during a “home visit” with World Relief. The purpose of our visit was to bring gifts of food, encouragement and a new dress for Josephine. The peach colored dress with the orange flower, shown here, fit her perfectly! As I have reflected on this trip and what my purpose was, I believe it was to bring hope to this little girl through a dress. A dress that brought so much joy despite her circumstances. I am grateful God chose me to make a difference in Josephine’s life.
Malawi, Africa – a country of contrasts. Vast blue skies and red dirt roads; picture-perfect villages and markets; smiling, curious children – seas of them – waving at you roadside. Then there’s the stuff we read about: the harsh poverty; lack of food, safe water and work; diseases wiping out an entire generation… smiling, curious children who don’t have parents.
I never feel more alive and fully in God’s presence than when I’m in Africa; I think it’s because of these contrasts that assault me throughout my stay. I question, I pray, I feel. It’s hard to articulate the overall experience. It’s easier when you share the stories of the people you meet, one life at a time:
Joseph: He’s 33, the oldest attendee at our Youth Leadership Conference. His pastor lets him live in a small room in the church – in exchange for raising seven orphans, many of them teenagers. He makes containers out of tin and sells them to provide for his “family.” He carries his Bible everywhere and hopes to be a pastor someday.
Edward: He’s 19. Loves to write and wants to be a teacher. Quiet and soft-spoken, he talked non-stop when I asked him about his home life. He lives with a “stepmother.” His father abandoned him when he was two. He told his mother that Edward was a mistake. He kept repeating to me that he was a mistake. Not sure what happened to the mother.
Kennan: Also 19. Dreams of being a musician. Played the drum, sang and danced with abandonment – music was his escape. Some of his fingers are fused together (same with his toes) – defects from birth. He showed them to me and said people have made fun of him his entire life. His father died a few years ago, and his mother is dying… of AIDS. “She will be dead soon,” he whispered. I felt his fear. He’s being raised by an aunt. He can’t go to school because he doesn’t have enough money for the required fees.
Judy: 62 years young (picture of her attached; she’s the one in the middle.) Works as a caregiver for 21 orphaned children 24/7, no pay. “It’s for God,” she said proudly. She showed me the rooms where the kids slept – seven to a room, each the size of a walk-in closet. One twin beaten-up mattress per room. She cried when Pam prayed for her. She beamed when I told her she truly was a soldier of God.
Without a doubt, what leaves a permanent mark in your heart are the people. Despite their circumstance – their hope, kindness and hospitality overflows. Their joy is pure and comfortable. It confuses and humbles me, but grows me too. You really don’t understand community until you experience it in Africa. I leave richer than when I arrived.
As I watched the pastors sing, in Lambya, on the opening day of the conference, “Where love is, there is God,” I was struck by the power of their belief in a personal supernatural presence, that in the midst of enormous poverty and personal hardship, these pastors nonetheless chose to believe in the goodness of God, the reality of God’s enduring hesed, his steadfast lovingkindness. They were convinced, as Hebrew 11:1 tells us we should be, that faith is indeed the “conviction of things unseen:” even if we do not believe that he does, even if we have no evidence that he can, God still loves, still cares, still continues to unfold his purpose and intentions for every human being. In addition, I appreciated how hungry the pastors were for theological knowledge. Although what we were able to teach them might fill two or three class sessions in seminary, for them it was manna from heaven, a plethora of information to which they in their geographic and material isolation simply had no access. I was delighted to share everything I could with them, and loved watching them take notes, ask incisive questions, engage in debates, and in every way indicate that they were loving the experience of learning. If only, I often thought, we had more time. Moreover, I loved the community the pastors shared. Though they had come from many sectors of the region and did not all speak the same language (some spoke Tumbuka, some Lambya), they clearly regarded each other as valued brothers and sisters in Christ. They served each other eagerly, and repeatedly affirmed their mutual belief in the inestimable worth of the living God. I found their commitment refreshing and inspiring: far from the surplus of biblical resources we enjoy, they had established a wonderful salvific simplicity, a beautiful and unadorned vision of hope in the eternal work of Jesus Christ.
One of the pictures from our trip that really moved me was this one. In the photo a man who is living with HIV/AIDS shares his memory book with his family. The sun in coming through the window bringing light to a dark place... One of the things that surprised me was the number of men that came to the Memory Book workshop. I asked some of them why they came and they told me that they wanted to leave something behind for their children. It reminded me that we all want to leave a legacy. There is something in us that craves transcendence. We want to know that we live on in the memories of those that we love and share life with. No matter our culture we all want to believe that our life mattered. I hope that through the work that we did in Malawi these people had a stronger belief that their lives mattered not just to their families but to God.
We had made preparations as a team, the materials were packed.
We were excited to work with the about 100 youth that had been selected by their pastors to come. There were 2 from each village church and the 90 + pastors were at another location for a pastor’s conference.
We had allowed time to meet with our interpreters in Chitipa as well as the World Relief team that we were partnering with in their on the ground long term work and commitment in Malawi.
We were excited. We had in our minds flexibility. We knew that we might have to make changes. No problem. When you are feeling prepared and have all your “stuff” with you flexibility is easily engaged.
What actually happened?
Our flight was canceled causing us to arrive 2 days later in South Africa. We arrived missing 3 bags of luggage. We lost our “flex “time and were on our way to Malawi. We had a 2 hour flight and an 8 hour van ride got us to a motel to eat at 11:00 PM and go to bed and up at 3:15 AM to finish the last leg of the trip to get to the Youth Training camp location by lunchtime, so that we could teach and have soccer and net ball in the afternoon.
I watched the sun rise and had the joy of hearing Stella’s story and how it came to be that she was working for Willow Creek Community Church in Global as the field director for Malawi.
Excitement is still high and we are rearranging what we will do without the expected resources.
Stella said that the last 100 kilometers would be an adventure and they were, unpaved road and in the mountains. The van was working on 2 gears and we within 25 minutes of our destination and the van stopped dead at a government check point.
More time is elapsing and we are being picked up by a van from World Relief.
We arrive at the camp location. We are using a school that is on holiday. The sounds of children and young people greet us. Now I have 30 minutes before it is time to teach and I have not eaten, used a facility, or met with anybody from World Relief.
Jay said that he has not seen me unglued…but for a moment I was disoriented. The lunch was served…eating was with the right hand and then using the out door facilities.
I simply prayed “Lord let me teach your word with kindness, joy and power.”
We began with singing and I rested in the joy of their words and the smiles on their faces, and the movement of their bodies.
Lord these are young men and women you love, you want good for them, you know their struggles, their grief, and their joy. Help us to join in with World Relief and with this community and give our best and grant us the grace to receive their gifts as well.
I taught not with eloquence, but as one who believed that His word is good for life, love, faith and purity. Their was fresh meaning to the text, “Always be prepared to give a good account of your faith,”
Jay Madden- Pastor for Mission Peachtree Presbyterian
"My passion is to serve God’s mission of redemption in the world. My role is to cultivate transformational relationships and environments that inspire and equip people to love God and love their neighbor
Listen to My Life Workbook is a unique visual workbook that helps you invite God into the documenting process of reviewing your past, assessing your present and to continue walking with God into your future.
Who am I
They often tell me I would step from my prison cell poised, cheerful and sturdy,like a nobleman from his country estate.
Who am I? They often tell me I would speak with my guards freely, pleasantly, and firmly,as if I had it to command.
Who am I? I have also been told that I suffer the days of misfortune with serenity, smiles and pride,as someone accustomed to victory.
Am I really what others say about me? Or am I only what I know of myself?Restless, yearning and sick, like a bird in its cage,struggling for the breath of life,as though someone were choking my throat;hungering for colors, for flowers, for the songs of birds,thirsting for kind words and human closeness,shaking with anger at capricious tyranny and the pettiest slurs,bedeviled by anxiety, awaiting great events that might never occur,fearfully powerless and worried for friends far away,weary and empty in prayer, in thinking and doing,weak, and ready to take leave of it all.
Who am I? This man or that other?Am I then this man today and tomorrow another?Am I both all at once? An impostor to others,but to me little more than a whining, despicable weakling?Does what is in me compare to a vanquished army,that flees in disorder before a battle already won?
Who am I? They mock me these lonely questions of mine.Whoever I am, you know me, O God. You know I am yours.
