This is several days late – it was written maybe 4 days ago.
This
morning I woke up at 5:45… I slept in thirty minutes. The extra half hour
didn’t help much. I threw off my covers, turned off the fan and walked to the
shower. I had to get to place of no return – cold water – before I was safe
from the danger of falling back to sleep.
After
drinking a couple of mugs of coffee and doing my regular morning routine, I
made my way out to the base. The Novas team spends an hour in prayer, praise
and reflection before starting their day. I went to join them. We all have two
weeks left before we depart for good and half of the team are in Honduras for
the week. After nearly eight months of living in community, the challenge to
live graciously is ubiquitous and large. I wonder if they’ve decided, in lieu
their limited numbers and time, to skip prayer for the day. I prepare myself
for a gentle rebuke and pray that they’ve remained steadfast.
As I approach the dorm, I
see one of the team, Valerie, sitting in the hammock in front of her two other
teammates and I join them with a sigh of relief. She guides us into personal
praise for a time. My thoughts wander and I consider community. Have I steered
them into a place of grace, of love, of freedom and shalom?
There
is a heaviness in the air. We all know each other’s tendencies, insecurities, wounds
and limitations. We’ve all got our crap. We’ve been pushed to the edges of ourselves
and seen the confines of our identity. We’ve reached the boundaries of who we
thought we were only to realize that there’s a deeper level of truth and life
waiting for us on the other side of pain, a true self. This is what community
is all about – joining a tribe on a journey thru pain to truth and deeper still
thru death to life.
As
I sit there with the other three I can see the weight of this experience. One running
from the pain, the others waiting graciously for the one to return so they can
walk thru it together. I think this is the refinement David, Paul, Jesus and
others were talking about.
I
am preparing myself to guide another community in Haiti, but they are a group
of leaders and adults who are supposed to have their act together. I’m
supposing they don’t, kind of like I don’t, and that the task will just be that
much bigger to navigate a team to greater health and life as I dive in with
them. I’m excited!
Beyond
discipleship and coaching with Novas, ministry with the locals is going well.
We are close to getting Juan’s legs back to health. Massiel, the sole parent of
four girls, continues to find joy in each day in spite of difficult
circumstances. Another mother lives alone under worse circumstances with seven
or so children. The rains have come sooner than expected this year, surely
disrupting the peace of the family. There are holes all over their walls and
roof. We are in the process of figuring out how we can help. These
relationships as well as others will continue with staff here when we are gone.
Alcoholism and drug
addiction continue to plague the nation. Some of us came face to face with this
reality in an interesting and somewhat comical way a few days ago on our way
back from a weekend trip to the mountains (see picture).
A
couple that have been here since August of 2009 have poured themselves into
ministry to this group. Frank Burder, his wife Bekah and Charles Kaye have been
focusing their attention on “small groups” as a solution to addiction –
providing accountability, intentional discussions, support and an overall sense
of community. I’d venture to say that 95% of the people involved in the
ministry as a whole are dramatically affected by alcohol and drug addiction.
The problem is huge and there is no quick fix.
We
continually shrug off discouragement and lift each other up. We have to.
