Eggs and Ham

  Our first full day on the mission trip ended with us dressing up and getting on a bus to go to the church here. The service is a contemporary one much like Elevate Church back home. To me, it was an amazing thing to see and experience in a world so different than what has been my life's experience up to this point.

  Pastor Geovany gave a great sermon, and through Frank's interpretation over our headsets, or at least through the ones that worked, I got to experience it like a sermon back home.  He told the story of the chicken and the pig.  Both wanted to provide breakfast. The chicken helped by providing the eggs. The pig gave the ham.  The chicken was involved while the pig, for obvious reasons, was committed.

  Then he talked about the call from God and how he is calling out to you (with urgency) to be committed.  God doesn't want "fans". He wants "disciples." How are you being a disciple of Christ?  And how are you committed in your faith?  Although I don't think he gave the verse John 12:24, he certainly mentioned it's elements about dying to oneself like a kernel of wheat that falls to the ground. It's death is necessary for a bountiful harvest.  I just smiled. There are certain God moments, and this was one of two that were back-to-back.  I had posted a picture on Facebook earlier in the day of the house we were replacing, and with it I wrote the following, "This is the house that we demolished today... The old house had to die to self to make way for God to breath new life into this family and community.  Tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. (John 12:24 NLT)".  I had done a mini-devotional surrounding this verse after seeing Santos's face, the woman whose house was being torn down to be built anew.

  During our demolishing work, there was no smile on Santos's face. Even though she was getting a new house, a much better one, her world was still getting turned upside down and there is a certain kind of rub in that. There has to be a death for new growth.  All I wanted to do was to tell her that I recognized her stress and reassure her that there is a better day ahead, that this stress of displacing her possessions and destroying the home she knew and along with it the memories is good for her and to point her to Romans 5, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." (Romans 5:3-5 NLT)
 
  At the end of Geovany's sermon, he offered up an analogy about being committed or involved. He said, "Christians are like wheelbarrows. They are no good unless pushed."  That was another moment. One of the days highlights was loading up rocks into a wheelbarrow and moving them.  On each return trip. The small children of this neighborhood jumped in the wheelbarrows and Tony and I "raced" back to get more rock.  It was another one of those God moments in a sermon that jump out at you and speaks a special message seemingly intended just for you even though it was a packed congregation.

  I thought back about my hometown, in which I have been born and raised and which I love. But, our town is what I would consider a typical Midwest town that is non-diverse and sort of goes about its day in ignorance of the real world swirling about it. It is a town ripe with churches, but it seems to me that it is also a place that is too complacent. There are a lot of wheelbarrows that are stagnant in God's call to mission. Many are satisfied with being involved but too few are committed. The workers are few but the harvest is plenty.

   I am already coming away from this mission trip with the firm belief that every Christian should at some point early in their faith go on a foreign mission. To see Faith in action, the hands and feet of Christ, at work in a culture, economy, and environment very different than your own... To see the God's love be universal, it does enrich your own faith and heighten your understanding.

  Today we visited two orphanage houses next door to the mission house. The kids were full of love and life. They wanted to play with us and be loved.  Several of the women mission team members gave the kids temporary tattoos. We let the kids take pictures with our phones. Tony and I played a little soccer with a couple of the boys. You would never know unless told that some of these children lost their parent(s) to AIDS or were sexually and physically abused.  Just as God's love is universal, so is the sin in this world.

   We also got to see and learn about the cinder blocks and coffee this holistic community produces. The Great Works being done here is truly a hand up and not just a hand out.  I could go on and on, but the simple story is seeing The hands and feet of Christ in action on a place foreign to your own is a true glimpse of the ham instead of the chicken. These people are committed in Christ, and it is a beautiful thing to see.

Glory to God in the Highest!

Aaron N. Mason