Buen Pastor
We went to church today at Buen Pastor (Good Shepherd) in southern Quito. This church has 42 families with a total of 52 students in the scholarship program. The priest here, Juan Carlos, is focused on youth ministry, and the church is filled with vibrant young people. Christian Anderson, who attends Virginia Theological Seminary and is in the same class as Holy Cross' Kristen Pitts, is doing an internship at Buen Pastor for the next two weeks and assisted in the service today.
The church service was very joyful. We sang at least a dozen songs, and despite coming down with some kind of bug, our teammate Brian gave the sermon. After the two-and-a-half-hour service, we had lunch together: delicious chicken and rice.
Buen Pastor is overseeing the E=H ministry site in a community called Santos Pamba, which has 22 scholarship students. Because we were way behind schedule, we had to skip our home visits but left bags filled with goodies for the scholarship coordinators and the families we were supposed to visit.
Cameron and Juan Carlos are working hard to get the diocese's Happening program off the ground. (Happening is a weekend for and by highschool students. It is a powerful way for teens to develop a closer, deeper, more personal relationship with God and one another.) Before we said our goodbyes, I presented Padre Juan Carlos with a banner signed by teens and adults who have attended Happening in the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina -- from #1 all the way through #72.
We headed back to the hostel to pack and have our final debrief. Tonight, we will have dinner out at a restaurant called Crepes and Waffles and then head to the airport for our 12:30 a.m. flight. ("Yippee, redeye!" said no one ever.)
So Now What?
God is at work all around me, no matter where I am. Seeing God in the world doesn't require a passport and a plane ticket. It simply requires seeing with new eyes -- eyes that intentionally seek to see God at work in the midst of my everyday life. It requires slowing down and breathing deeply and truly seeing what is happening right in front of me. God puts us in this world right where we are supposed to be and sends just the right people to share the journey with us.
I know I can't "fix" the problems for all of the people I've met here. I can't do everything, but I can do something. I can stay in relationship with E=H, with Chip and with Cameron, with my friends at Cristo Liberador. I can provide a scholarship for a child to go to school. (To donate, click here: http://educationequalshope.org/donate/.)
I would like to work to intentionally deepen the relationship between Holy Cross and Cristo Liberador by finding $2,000 to send five children to school for one year. And I'd love to see this as a regular line item in our outreach budget.
I can pray for the people I've met here, who so graciously welcomed me into their homes, no matter how desperate and difficult their situations are. I can remember their spirit of thankfulness and love and strive not to wish for any more than what God has already given me, which is always enough and more than enough. I can say yes to the things that God calls me to and nothing more. If I am intentional about being fully present, about standing still and paying attention, I will hear that still, small voice that calls out to me and tells me where to go.
So now the question is, what can you do? Listen. Carefully. How is God calling out to you? In the midst of the storm, can you stand still and pay attention? What things move you to tears? For me, these thin places are a good sign that God is reaching out to me and asking me to pay attention. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, pay attention. Stand still, and breathe deeply. God will call out to you in the midst of the storm and ask you to step out in faith -- out of your comfort zone and into the unknown. Of course, this can be scary. It may be easier to not pay attention, to look the other way. After all, the world can be a big, scary, ugly place, but there's so much beauty in the midst of it all. When you feel that thin place appear, step into it. Know that God will be there to hold you up. And I'd be willing to bet, if you look closely, you will see that the right people are there to walk with you as God with skin on.
No comments:
Post a Comment