.

.

.

.

Once upon a real time, in a real town, at a real cross, an extremely real man, and Son of God gave his vitally real blood to pay a huge, real price for heavy real sins you and I have or will commit in our precious real lifetimes. That is grace.

It’s by the grace of God, and out of His grace, that forgiveness can be an intentional, and sometimes automatic, response. It is only by His grace. His grace. His.

Once upon a very real night in my adult life, I embarked, unknowingly, on a journey of grace. My bags for this trip had been packed a long time ago when, as a kid, I gave my life into Christ’s hands and He extended His sweet grace to me. So, bags in hand, I began my trip.

On this very real snowy, cold night in 2003, my three children, husband and I were traveling from Portland, Oregon, to our home in Tillamook, Oregon, across the windy Coastal Mountain Range. As we descended the summit, and began rounding a corner, we were struck head-on by a large pick-up truck which was in our lane of traffic. There were many physical and emotional injuries sustained and my best friend and husband, Craig, was killed. The truck had been driven by a man who had chosen to be in control of his rig after drinking too much alcohol.

There were many choices made that night. Some were very bad choices, and these choices dealt with real lives. Real people. People God loves deeply. This man thought he was in control. He wasn’t. God was in control of extending grace to him because God loves him. I also had choices to make that night. I could keep grace to myself, or extend it to the man driving the truck that killed Craig. I began to realize the decision

to forgive this man–to extend grace–was made when my bags were packed for the journey. Christ had come into my heart to forgive me — to extend grace to me. Upon receiving that grace, I am compelled to keep that gift alive by extending it, as often as Christ compels me and gives me opportunity.

I made the decision to forgive this man but it was Christ who compelled me. I’m becoming aware that, as an embracer of the Truth (that Christ extended His awesome grace to me) I want to choose to extend His grace to others — believers or non-believers. How can I, knowing how much that grace means to me, not hold out that same gift? How can I pull back and hog life-giving, guilt-releasing grace and forgiveness from someone else God dearly loves?

My journey, of course, continues. Forgiveness and grace are not always automatic because I am human. I am working on another area of forgiveness right now that I have been battling with for about two years. Why this incident of hurt isn’t as easy to forgive I don’t know. But, I am having to be very intentional about extending grace and forgiveness here. In this case, it is a continual act of the will; a matter of obedience; a discipline. I  have to remind myself of God’s grace to me, what that means, and how that can affect my relationships in this current situation.

Extending grace and forgiveness to non-believers who may harm us (whether unintentionally or purposefully) is being “Valiant for truth upon the earth” (George Fox). Not only is this carrying out God’s directions to us as believers, but it is swinging open a gate which someone might choose to walk through and thereby come face to face with Christ.

The extension of grace to fellow Christians is also a spiritual investment of time and energy — not for my benefit only, but one for the body of Christ. If I can be di1igent in upholding others’ reputations as believers in Christ, and am intentional in extending grace to them, I am showing that I love them and care about the impact they make on others, and the contributions they give to the body of Christ. They are a part of Christ, therefore they are a part of me.

Being careful of the reputation of others can carry a strong message of love. It can proclaim in silent commitment, “let me propel you toward grace - toward great things — toward God. Let me hold in trust your treasures, your reputation, your weaknesses and your strengths. Let me encourage you in Christ because God loves you and I love you.” This kind of love, this choice, creates strong tapestries of relationship. While it requires the constant discipline of looking towards Christ, not ourselves, it weaves into our life fabric a beautiful pattern of trust and support and equips us to extend even more grace to others.

Oh how much God loves us! He gave us these gifts of love, grace, forgiveness and reconciliation to bring about healing to our wounded lives. Praise Him!

In his book, Let Me Grieve But Not Forever, Verdell Davis (p. 75) says: “I find it very hard to let myself take in this kind of 1ove. Yet over and over God is saying to us, in more ways than we can count,  ’I rea11y do love you.’ Nothing could be more important to us to grasp or for us to tel1 one another. And nothing is more critica1 to the perspective we bring to our reading of all of scripture than to believe that God really loves us.”

When we have deep emotional issues, we can feel ugly and respond in ugly ways. We can hurt each other on purpose, or unintentionally. If we are the one who is wounded by this ugliness, it’s only through God’s eyes of grace that we can see past the wounding in ourselves, and past the ugliness done to us, to the tender heart of the offender. The need for grace has created the ugliness. The giver of grace is Christ. The tool the giver can use (if we make ourselves available)is us. Wow!…Wow!! We can only be available if our eyes are on Christ and not ourselves. For grace is only ours to give if we experience it first hand from Christ.

The focus cannot be on me. The awareness of who extended grace to me; where that grace originates, is key to embracing and extending love and grace to others - both fellow and future believers. When not, if differences arise, I have a choice. I have the control to respond or not to respond, to respond grudgingly or promptly, to choose a spirit of forgiveness and understanding or one of judgment and anger. What about those to whom we extend forgiveness and grace, and they appear to trample our gift as worthless offering? I believe the act of extending grace opens up that gate even then — for future grace to enter.

Along with deliberate choices we make in life that determine our paths, there are many negative things in life that happen to us that are out of our control. There are many hurtful things done to us for which our permission was not sought. There are also many positive paths our lives take for which we cannot take credit, and many

beautiful, uplifting things others do for us for which our permission was not sought. We are goal oriented, task-driven, controlling people. We like to determine upon which path our feet trod. We want to have experiences in life that feel good, elevate us or affirm who we are as people.

God has reached deep down into my heart to heal me — to hold and comfort me when my nerves are shredded and disconnected from my mind; when my body rushes to react and respond to circumstances out of my control. Because I am a being who often reacts negatively out of a deep sense of hurt, injury or sadness, I recognize that same response in others. This causes me to offer grace to others because it has been offered to me.

I want to be so completely immersed in God’s grace that HIS grace becomes my first response to others. In order to love and respect other followers of Christ, and be patient and considerate in my personal interactions, my focus must remain on Christ. The awareness of who extended grace to me and where that grace originates, is key to embracing and extending love and grace to others — both fellow and future believers.

I was able to write a couple of letters to the man who drove the truck that killed my husband. In one of them I wrote: “I’ve been asking God to passionately pursue you with His love because He is worth having a relationship with.” This is how I want to look at grace and forgiveness. By seeing it through the eyes of Christ, I am better able to keep my focus on the important matter; leaving the gate wide open for someone else to journey into Christ’s amazing grace.

.

Queries:

• How has God extended grace in your life?
  
• Where is God challenging you to offer grace to someone else? To guard their reputation or proclaim forgiveness?
  

Please feel free to share your thoughts as comments below. It will enhance our discussion!

.

.

.

.

.

.

Some jerks just don’t deserve to be shown any love and respect. Or forgiveness. They’ve messed up so badly or so often, they’ve hurt so many or acted so brazenly that they’ve forfeited their right to forgiveness.

Not that forgiveness is a right. We can’t demand it, deserve it, earn it, or coerce it. It can only be given. Jesus, followed by Paul, insisted that, despite all the reasons not to, we must forgive, because God has already generously forgiven us, (See Matthew 18:21-35; Ephesians 4:31-32; Colossians 3:13).

Forgiving someone does not excuse or trivialize real hurt or damage that has been done. It just refuses to build a wall, to create separation, to tend a grudge, and it does this whether or not the offender asks for or even wants forgiveness. Sometimes it’s hard. In one of the hardest occasions for me, I could sincerely mouth words of forgiveness long before love and the release of bitterness took root in my heart.

An important path forward is to recognize that God’s love and forgiveness are freely given to us in spite of our human frailty. Psalm 103 reminds us that God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, but in compassion remembers how weak we are, that we are only dust, (Psalm 103:8-18). In a similar spirit, Paul urges, “Make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive anyone who offends you,” (Colossians 3:13 NLT). A lot of times we’re mad because other people fail to be as responsible, loving, and smart as we’d like to be (or, in some cases, think we are). But reality is that we humans are bumbling along with a frustrating mix of great powers and ordinary klutziness. God treats our frailty with compassion, and invites us to do the same. “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you,” (Ephesians 4:32 NLT).

.

Queries:

• How have you experienced forgiveness in a way that changed your ability to forgive others?
• In what ways do you seek God’s help when forgiveness for others does not come easily to you?
• Is there an individual or a group that God is speaking to you about, asking you to forgive?

Please feel free to share your thoughts as comments below. It will enhance our discussion!

.

.

.

.

.

.

“Are you at peace with one another?”

It is not uncommon for elders in some Mennonite fellowships to put this soul-rattling question before the congregation in the weeks leading up to the celebration of a communion service. Behind this query is the profound conviction that Jesus was and is serious when he said:

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to that person; then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24).

How, after all, can we really speak of fellowship, reconciliation and intimacy with Christ when we are at odds with other members of his Body? How can we talk with integrity about sharing in Jesus’ body and blood when there are barriers within the community of Christ?

I’ve often thought that the discipline of challenging the community with this question is even more necessary in Friends fellowships, since we do not celebrate our communion with the physical reminders of bread and wine. For a group who claims to live in constant communion with the Living Christ and believes that same Presence binds us together in peace-how much more do we need a discipline that calls us to integrity and obedience?

Having grown up in a world and home that was full of conflict, I can’t describe how stunning the notion of confession and forgiveness, which leads to reconciliation, was to me as a new Christian. Rather than entering into life in the church with the assumption that everything would be perfect, friendly, and conflict-free, I had a more realistic sense of it all. After all, I had read the New Testament…and saw just how hard and how deeply the brothers and the sisters had to strain, and bend and labor together to live in the love of God with each other.

And yet, they did so, continuing to submit to each other. They did so patiently learning to yield to Jesus in order to find a unity that transcended their diversity. Today’s church (on our best days), with faithful love, courage to speak the Truth, and a splash of needed humility, is able to live in and live out the peace of Christ.

Frankly, I find this to be perhaps the greatest miracle of all-that God through Christ is powerful enough to transform otherwise selfish, unforgiving, callous people into brothers and sisters who sacrificially love one another! Supernatural signs and wonders like healing and tongues may grab our attention, but the grace to confess, forgive and restore is a more powerful act and a more reliable sign that God is truly among us!

Having said all that, I will also say how surprising it often is to see how readily we turn a blind-eye to conflicts within our local churches. Some conflicts simmer under the surface of the seemingly still water of the fellowship but people both feel the tension and are able to name the source. In other Meetings, conflict roils like a water pot that has been left unattended. In either case, the unaddressed conflicts harm the spirit of fellowship and sharing in the Body. It hinders the spirit of freedom and communion in worship. And, it dims the light of our witness in the community that watches and wonders whether these Christians are for real or not.

As important as it is for us to share the gospel with our neighbors, demonstrate compassion, and work for peace and justice in our world, it is equally important that we live in genuine harmony with one another. This means being willing to confess my wrongs to others. It means forgiving those who have harmed me-just as I have been forgiven by God. It means taking responsibility for my thoughts, feelings and actions-even in the stress of a conflict-rather than justifying my behavior because I have been hurt. It means doing the hard task of working through conflict rather than ignoring it, hoping to just get over it or walking away.

So, as a member of your local church, are you at peace with the brothers and sisters to whom you are called?

You pastors, elders and other leaders, do you have the courage to call people to reconciliation? Is part of your care for the spiritual health of your church seen in a willingness to address relationships that are broken or harmful?

Do all of us seek to build others up rather than tear them down or apart? Are the words we use edifying? Do we expect and believe the best of others rather than something much less?

.

Queries:

• As a member of your local church, are you at peace with the brothers and sisters to whom you are called?
• You pastors, elders and other leaders, do you have the courage to call people to reconciliation? Is part of your care for the spiritual health of your church seen in a willingness to address relationships that are broken or harmful?
• Do all of us seek to build others up rather than tear them down or apart? Are the words we use edifying? Do we expect and believe the best of others rather than something much less?

Please feel free to share your thoughts as comments below. It will enhance our discussion!

.

.

Years ago, while leading a student “serve trip” for George Fox University to World Impact in Fresno, we asked the staff how they began relationships with their neighbor kids and families. They told us, “Never do anything alone. If you go to the grocery store, invite the mom without transportation. Are you washing your car? Ask the neighbor kid to help.” This has been the underlying thought behind our ministry ever since.

When we were recently married youth group leaders, this worked. As our family has grown, however, it doesn’t work as well. Our car is already full, and our schedules are crowded. So instead, we filled our house. Sometimes with worship gatherings, sometimes for celebrations of all kinds: birthdays, garage sale day, science exploration day, too-many-leftovers-come-help-us-eat-them-day, I’m-tired-of-my-leftovers-what’s-in-your-fridge-day. Lately, we’ve even celebrated homework by creating Homework Club. Monday afternoons the table is filled with neighborhood kids eating a snack and trying to complete as much of the week’s homework as possible, so they can play afterwards.

Through all of this, we try to see these friends through Christ’s eyes…looking for the things that make each person a wonderful and lovable creation, but also seeing the pain that each person carries. As these friendships deepen, we are often given the opportunity to listen and offer a prayer and encouragement as someone lays out their struggles.

This approach works fairly well for us, but sometimes it can be overwhelming. Keeping the house constantly in “guest condition” is hard. This approach becomes nearly impossible when you throw in a very confusing work schedule. So we are making some big changes in our life.

We are trying to cut out the uncontrollable aspects of our life and gain a better sense of balance and focus for our family. Right now we are in the middle of a huge transition: starting a coffeehouse ministry/business and renovating an old downtown building to become a gathering space for this community. But even within this transition, we have continued our pattern of “outreach by celebration.” On May 17, we invited all of our friends and family who have journeyed this far with us to come to the future home of Plowshare Coffee Roasters to celebrate our move into this new space and into this next part of our journey. We roller-bladed and scootered on the soon-to-be ripped out tile floor, served coffee and Italian soda, and had a big potluck. We shared thoughts on our sacred spaces (the places where God meets us) and prayed together that God’s presence would be felt by those who enter the coffeehouse.

Hopefully by the end of the summer, Plowshare Coffeehouse will be up and running. We’re looking forward to finding more ways to gather our community, hear hearts, and serve great coffee in our new space. But until then….construction celebration, anyone?

Pat and Mandy Schmidt

Plowshare Coffee

Redmond, OR

.

.

.

Contact Information:

Email or call to order your favorite coffee.  1/2 lb bags for $5.

Pat & Mandy Schmidt
plowsharecoffee.com
www.plowsharecoffee.blogspot.com

Please feel free to stop by the Yearly Meeting Office and taste some Plowshare Coffee. They serve it exclusively!

Jesus Christ, Matt Macy (Mid-America Yearly Meeting’s Youth Superintendent), Brad Carpenter (an Evangelical Friends Mission worker) and maybe one or two others in the room were talking about future missionaries when a stroke of genius hit. Or maybe it was Jesus’ contribution. Why not hold a retreat for future missionaries? Everyone in the room liked the idea, and so did everyone they talked to later.

Brad and Chelsea Carpenter (Rwanda missionaries on furlough, and seated in the photo) took on the challenge. As they prayed and planned and worked it seemed that the Lord Jesus kept giving them new  ideas. Yearly Meeting and Regional Superintendents, Missions Directors and EFM staff spread the word.

Fast forward to May 27-30, 2009, at Camp Quaker Ridge near Colorado Springs. The Retreat started with everyone standing in a circle playing a crazy game to help remember each other’s name. It worked. About 35 folks who plan to serve overseas in the next five years began a journey together that included space for discernment, worship, mission orientation, and great mentoring opportunities. Each yearly meeting was well represented. NWYM sent six participants!

Abby Hutson (MAYM) and Chelsea Carpenter led in worshipful singing, and former missionaries spoke and served as coaches-Ray Canfield (Guatemala and Cambodia), David and Mae Kellum (Burundi), Willard and Doris Ferguson (Burundi and Rwanda), Gene and Myra Pickard (Guatemala), and Russ and Esther Zinn (Taiwan). It went so well that most everyone jumped at the chance for on-going mentoring.

Unforgettable were the Concert of Prayer led by John Williams, Jr. (Superintendent of Evangelical Friends Church-Eastern Region), and messages from Scott Sward and Matt Macy.  EFM board members from NWYM shared personally and practically with these future missionaries. Ron Stansell (Newberg Friends and Director of Evangelical Friends International Church Council), Dan Cammack (Tigard Friends and clerk of NWYM’s Board of Global Outreach), Colin Saxton (NWYM Superintendent) and Shawn McConaughey (NWYM Associate Superintendent of Global Outreach) provided helpful insights about missionary life and the preparation for ministry. In addition to formal sessions, the EFM Board got to interact with these future missionaries at meals and during breaks. The conference participants were a huge encouragement to the EFM board.

The sessions shared between the EFM board and the future missionaries retreat were delightful for all of us-and highly educational. Built into the schedule were times of solitude with the Lord. The exit reports reflect what the Holy Spirit spoke to participants through speakers, coaches and from the Holy Spirit directly. Powerful!

What’s ahead? There are some new career missionaries, some short-termers and many in school for more training! Most plan to go out with Friends! This is good news for our future as a movement.

“Weaving Sacred Wholeness Conference.” What does that evoke in you? I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, yet I had a plane ticket to go across the country and was signed up and ready to go to the conference. I only knew I was going to an intergenerational conference for all Quakers at the Penn Center in South Carolina. Over those three days of joining with fellow Friends, we were able to have such fruitful interactions on what wholeness means.

There was wholeness at the conference itself, not to be confused with sameness, far from it. Sameness was not sought but we did explore commonalities as well as disincentives we have as a community. Oh community. To me, that is what wholeness is about when combined with seeking to live out Christ’s love for the world and doing God’s will.

The conference was not always comfortable. Certain times might be indeed uncomfortable, but that is all right, in fact I want it that way. In my trip, I anticipated uneasy, tentative times in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people, and some unfamiliar practices - none so unfamiliar any longer. What I did not fully anticipate was the clear sense of safety. Safety that permeated deep within, yet its source being tricky to pin down. I guess it comes back to the idea of loving community.

That safety I felt really freed me during the conference to embrace who I am and to embrace what went on during the weekend. It would have been easy for me to not fully engage as being the only one form the Evangelical Friends Church grouping of Quakers. Without stepping out to a somewhat scary place, I would have missed out on so many blessings. (Scary not because I felt threatened but because of the newness of it all, not knowing what to expect, and being vulnerable with people.) Growth doesn’t generally come when you’re comfortable. If I want growth, which I do, then I have to remember life is going to get pretty crazy sometimes.

This ties in with some of what we talked about in worship sharing. We talked about the wholeness we long for. We talked about how God calls us to live radically with which I completely resonated. Many Friends shared that we need our actions to match up with our words. We need to either get with it or get out, which has really been on my heart for the last few months. It’s not always going to be easy and we’re not called to an easy life anyway. I was blessed when one Friend brought forth that we do need to have joy in life. God has not intended for us a hard life, void of that which is life-giving, for He gives us our passions in life and joy. When we’re living out God’s call for our lives, we are becoming whole in Him. Then engaging our whole lives in what we profess, we join in God’s love for the world. Loving God, loving people, being together in community…weaving sacred wholeness.

Queries:

• How is God currently pushing you out of your comfort zone to promote growth?
• In what ways do you resist these nudges of God? In what ways do you embrace them?
• Are you living with enough open-handedness that God is able to teach you th rough circumstances or people that are unfamiliar?
  

Please feel free to share your thoughts as comments below. It will enhance our discussion!

A team of 17 George Fox University students spent nearly a month in Paarle, South Africa, as part of the university’s May Serve program. Their work with Monte Christo Ministries included teaching life skills in primary schools, making soup in MCM’s food center, working with kids in a soccer program and visiting AIDS and TB patients.

Begun by Americans but now increasingly led by South Africans, MCM first addresses basic needs such as hunger and poverty and then focuses on discipleship and life skills development.

The students were accompanied by Andrea Crenshaw, director of outreach and service, and Cliff Rosenbohm, director of the social work program, who met with them regularly during the school year. Students learned South African history, helped each other through Tilikum Retreat Center’s challenge course, prayed together and raised money for the trip.

Though they went to serve, the team members were served by MCM. “They had people with us constantly, guiding us, encouraging us, praying for us, and helping us understand why God wanted us there,” says Ethan Rhodes, an ‘09 graduate from Irrigon, Ore. “We were overly blessed.”

Rachel Madore, an ‘09 graduate from Vancouver, Wash., agrees. “My passion is discipleship, and to live alongside and partner with this ministry was such a valuable experience. I’ll never forget the things I saw and heard.”

Some of what Rachel saw and heard were burned-out shacks and the stories of the people who still lived in them. “We visited people there to find out what their needs and dreams were,” she said. “There’s a lot of poverty and hopelessness. There were times we wondered if what we were doing was making any difference. But we realized that God was using each encounter to communicate his love.”

Alyssa Schaad, a senior from Newberg, Ore., remembers the children who came to the soup kitchen with their own containers as well as a lesson she learned: “Being fully there and wanting to be there, showing people in Africa that we cared-that was the most important thing we did.”

Now in its 20th year, the George Fox May Serve program allows students to spend a month in volunteer service in cross-cultural settings. Previous May Serve trips have gone to Thailand, Ukraine, Brazil, India, Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, Romania and the Philippines.

Many Latinos are angry and disappointed because of the history behind these lands we live in, both North and South America: The Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty, the annexation of Texas, the treatment of the Hispanics in a land where a lot of places bear a Spanish name. We feel we are reaping what others sowed. The first Europeans in these lands wanted to solve their problems by bringing slaves whose children later on struggled to live in an unjust world that considered them objects. Galatians 6:7 challenges us all: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sowed, that shall he also reap.”

The first Europeans took these lands when they found out that the natives didn’t understand the concept of private property. They imposed their laws and worldview. In South and Central America they were mostly Catholic, while in the north, they were mostly Protestant. These Europeans believed that they were a chosen people and that they had the right to take all. The North has emerged as a super-power: Highways everywhere, industries, the best organized society in the Americas. The South didn’t have the same luck. Central and South America is a poor, divided land.

The South (Mexico through Argentina) views the North with a mix of admiration, envy and sadness. Their lands and natural resources have been exploited for the benefit of the North and Europe. They have often been pushed to do the wishes of the North. They have dreamed and wanted to become like the North and Europe but have failed. The treaties have always, in the end benefited the North. They are frustrated. Their leaders-with some exceptions-have been selfish, siding with the exploiter and benefiting from those alliances. It has felt like a curse.

The North is rich. The South is poor. There is no “slavery” today in the sense that we define it, but there is still the motivation to use others for their own advantage to build wealth. The North needs more people to compete with the rest of the world and to survive. The North makes it easy to allow people from the South to come and work, but then sees them as second-class citizens with minimal rights. They often don’t want to intermingle with the immigrants or treat them as equals. Northerners may feel that once the Southerners are not needed any more they should return to the South. But that hasn’t worked out. Those poor people see how well organized and beautifully these Northern people live and think that the best for their children would be to stay here

Nancy Thomas, of North Valley Friends, helps a neighbor with his conversational English. “Amigos y Vecinos” (Friends and Neighbors) is a weekly class set up by Janine Saxton of North Valley and hosted at Newberg Friends.

Laws have been created in a land where everybody was welcomed at the beginning. These laws label those unwanted people as “illegal.” This is insulting and diminishing. Families are scared again. Scared like the pilgrims’ families when they arrived with nothing in their hands in a land that belonged to other people. Scared like the African families when they arrived on these lands and were suddenly the property of a rich man. Scared like the Jewish families when they arrived in Babylon. Families have been torn apart; part live in the North, the other in the South. They can’t see each other anymore although they are living near each other. They can’t touch each other, hug each other, and visit each other. When some of them finally see each other, they don’t know who they are. Time has passed by. They can talk by phone, but little by little they lose communication. It is like dying.

By law they have been labeled illegals, criminals, terrorists, etc. These “illegal” people are trapped in their conscience. If they leave, how will their families in the South survive? They feel guilty. That guilty feeling doesn’t allow many of them to participate in our worship services. They prefer to just sit there in church and then go. They feel unworthy to do anything for God.

It is sad to see people not living in freedom in a land of freedom. It is sad to see people scared, before the uncertainty of tomorrow. It is sad to see people humiliated, quiet, not wanting to be spotted because of fearing to be noticed and being thrown out. A few behave differently. A few really are bad, as is found in any ethnic group, and the whole group is stereotyped because of those few.

Many in this generation of North Americans do not know about the whole story behind this tragedy. The new generation born recently is often unaware of how these lands and resources were taken. They see the “illegals” as the “invaders.” There haven’t been any apologies or repentance about what happened here.

At the end, as always, God is watching all of this. We are in his hands. That we all know. What does He expect from us?

Queries:

• Most of us reading this article are heirs of that “European worldview.” What is it like for you to read this different perspective on the issue?
• In what ways are you, or your church, working to engage or learn about the issues around immigration and undocumented workers?
  

Please feel free to share your thoughts as comments below. It will enhance our discussion!

Louise George of Boise Friends asked:

How do we Anglo Christians help build bridges to the Latino Christians and the Latino community in general?  I know that language is a barrier, and culture too, but there must be some practical ways we can find to embrace each other, to truly get to know one another, to share our lives with each other.  What do those of you from Latino cultures have to tell us?  What do you need from us?  What do you wish we understood about you?

Gil and I have a very close relationship with our Latino congregation, especially with their pastors, and I am sure that is possible in part because we speak Spanish.  I know that has helped our congregation to feel more appreciative of this group, but we never quite get past the sharing of tamales at church dinners.  Does anyone ever invite a Latino family home for dinner?  Would they want to come?  Many want to learn English but live in Spanish-speaking communities.  How can we help them integrate?  How can we learn to integrate?   Many of us share our buildings/facilities with non-English-speaking groups, so how do we learn to share our lives?

These are questions I struggle with.  Enlighten us!

Gracias!

Louise George, Boise Friends Church

Angel Diaz, pastor at Los Amigos in Newberg and McMinnville, and NWYM Latino Ministries Coordinator responded:

Thank you Louise for the opportunity that you bring to us to give ideas that can help to integrate both cultures and reach the community by building bridges between Anglo Christians and Latino Christians (and the Latino community in general). There are many secular books from both sides that can help in this theme. But since you specifically ask about my experience and work among Anglo churches in California and Oregon here are my suggestions or ideas:

1. Revise what we mean when we said “integrate.” It should mean submission and respect to each other. The “melting pot” had been the government plan and the ideal or dream of others but these never will happen. Latino people enjoy Anglo food like many Anglos enjoy Latino food. But this does not mean “integration” or “melting pot”! We still each like our own foods for the every-day meals.  What does the mean? We need to respect every culture, food, language, skin color, etc., rather than imagining that we can transform them into one culture. For example, native groups in the United States and Latin America learn English or Spanish but they still prefer life in their own communities. In our Latin American countries many groups from China, Japan, Italy, coexist with Latinos. We never pretend that they will or must change their culture or idioms. They speak their languages freely on the streets, in the factories and churches, without being looked down on by us.

2. To learn another language doesn’t mean integration or even comprehension. Many soldiers learn other languages to destroy other countries or infiltrate government. But it is good and necessary to learn the language when we go to another country. For Latinos, the United States is a strange country, exactly the same feelings when an American missionary goes to another country. The most important thing is feeling… rather than the language. The gesture, the intention, the sincere smile, the behavior is much more important than the language. Not knowing a shared language does not create a barrier. It is the feelings or behaviors which are communicated that create the barriers. For Latinos it is easy to approach other people and touch and kiss them. Latinos are very sentimental, and they are experts at knowing when someone likes them or not. Latinos like long conversations that cover many things. We are very bad in starting and finishing meetings on time just because the clock said. We forget the clock many times. Do you accept that?

3. A Latino can learn English perfectly and work in the same building or office with other people, but they prefer speaking Spanish loudly, and they prefer going to the Hispanic or Latino churches because there they feel like “fish in the lake” (a Latino expression that means “free in the place”). I don’t know any churches in United States with Anglos and Latinos in the same services, maybe for special Sundays, but not every Sunday. There are sometimes Latinos that learn English and want their families to “integrate” into an Anglo church but often they come back to a Latino or Hispanic church.

4. Each Latino is strange to you. And each Anglo is strange for them. But a Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, are not that strange to each other. There many differences among the Latino peoples: culture, foods, languages. And although you may hear them all speaking Spanish, many words mean different things in different cultures. What is the solution? Love them and work to understand what everybody wants to say. The Latino people understand very well the signals with the hands, body, head, eyes, etc. So be careful the next time.

5. Invite Latinos to your houses or to a restaurant for a dinner. This is good idea. But never expect them to invite you to their houses here in United States. If you someday go to Mexico or Venezuela they will offer their house and the best bed and room for you!

6. Our cultures have different expectations, and that changes how we feel we are treated here.  If you go to Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba, Chile and you don’t have papers to work they don’t care about this. You can work with just your name. You won’t be forced to become a liar or change your name to work. Ask the many missionaries that enter Latin America with only a tourist visa. If you are sick in any country in Latin America and you go to the hospital they don’t ask your name, address, parents’ name, social security number, medical insurance, driver license, etc. They only ask you what happened and accept you in the hospital and after that you are safe. The hospital is not a jail. You will never be arrested because you are “illegal” in our countries. In the Latino culture, “Illegal” means to be a criminal.

If you want I can share other ideas or strategies to understand Latino peoples and build bridges to them. Thank you for asking.

Angel Diaz

Latino Ministries Coordinator NWYM

Becky Ankeny of Newberg Friends shared further:

Angel has offered Anglos some challenging ideas here: appreciate difference, don’t try to eradicate it; respect those who are not like you, don’t require them to become like you first; take the time to understand what a behavior means to the person doing it, rather than assuming you already know; accept that you are an outsider sometimes, rather than expecting always to be the insider; recognize that one person speaking Spanish may be very different from another person speaking Spanish, even though you don’t see the difference, rather than grouping all Latinos together and assuming you understand them all because you have one Latino friend; be hospitable and be willing to wait for hospitality to be returned when Latinos feel themselves truly at home.

I may have misstated Angel’s intention in some of the things I took away from what he wrote.  But these are the very things I’m learning also in my executive MBA program about cross-cultural communication and relationships.  Teams that validate and value differences and make sure all members get heard will outperform teams that try to equalize and ignore differences and operate at a “common denominator” level; the management of the team requires alertness, compassion, deliberate strategies for inclusion, and willingness to work through conflict.

I generally agree with what Angel wrote that Anglos simply do not understand the fear and discrimination faced by our Latino friends. Some Anglos who have been overseas in dangerous areas may have an inkling of how it feels to be targeted and suspected and harassed. I also learned from him that there are concrete advocacy roles for Anglos to play.

In the OT, God reminds the Hebrew people to treat the alien among them with respect, remembering their own alien status in Egypt.  Perhaps changing the word alien to immigrant might make this clearer with respect to our country.

Becky Ankeny

.

.

Queries:

• How does this challenge your own thinking and practice about building bridges to another culture?
  
• In what ways is God asking you to adjust or transform your patterns of interaction?
  
• What is most uncomfortable about what you’ve read, and does that reflect how God is challenging you?
  

Please feel free to share your thoughts as comments below. It will enhance our discussion!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

“The devil’s bedroom is crammed with people-the porn users, the corrupt police officers, the brothel owners, not to mention the men, women and children whose bodies are bought and sold as daily commodities. On a human level, this fortress of evil is too strong for one person or even one church. Our challenge is in believing that God’s power through the global church is greater than the devil’s bondage.” (Escaping the Devil’s Bedroom, Dawn Herog Jewell, 198)

I first became aware of the issue of human trafficking four years ago when I attended a lecture given by a friend’s sister, the founder of a ministry in Athens, Greece for people caught in the web of slavery. I felt an immense desire to do something about it. I thought slavery was a dark stain of the past, but little did I realize that it has become stronger than ever. I came away from the lecture gripped by fear, hopelessness and anger. How could God allow this terrible thing to happen to innocent people, especially children? I felt that I had to let people know about the suffering of our brothers and sisters.

I put together a series of concerts and informative bulletin boards with free DVD’s and literature to raise awareness about human trafficking. I received a variety of responses. Most people shared my same urgent call to action, but some people could not listen to the problem. To them, the problem was so insurmountable that it was easier to ignore it. Others had the attitude that “God will punish the wicked so why do I need to do anything?” I found the later response the most disheartening. Although it is true that the wicked will be punished, we are called to be change agents in the world and to take care of the widows and the orphans. We should, as the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 13: 3, “…remember those in prison as you were their fellow prisoners and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”

Here are some organizations that can  help provide information and resources to address this need.

• Salvation Army - Trafficking
• Shared Hope
• Remember Nhu
• Lost Coins

.

.

Queries:

• How has Christ spoken to you about social injustice? Are you being stirred by the Spirit as you read this article?
• Have you had experience responding to human trafficking? What have you been involved with, tried, or learned?
• Do you have other resources you would like to share with readers? List them in the comment box below.
  

Please feel free to share your thoughts as comments below. It will enhance our discussion!

.

.