Missionary Weakness & Isolation

Dear Prayer Supporter,

Allow me to share a personal secret. One of my prayers as I write these reflections and as I send out my prayer updates is that God, in His mercy, would speak through these words to call some of you to be missionaries. I know not all are called, but the harvest is so great, and the laborers are humiliatingly few.

Partly because of this secret ambition, I was deeply concerned to read an update from a missionary friend of mine. In it she confessed to her supporters just how weak and wretched she was. Her motivation to write such a transparent letter was simple—God’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). As I read of her struggles to love as Jesus loves, her candid introspection did not disturb me. However, the emails she received from friends and family back home shocked me. Some told her she was being too hard on herself. Others voiced their concern that she must not be doing well.

What concerns me about her supporters’ reactions is that they appear to have elevated missionaries to a super-Christian-spiritual-elite status. I fear that those who embrace such a mentality can justify, in their minds, dismissing their own involvement in mission work.

This myth could not be further from the truth. Many of us have heard the cliché "God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called." This is true. But I want to go a step further. As I continue to read the biographies of some very weak missionaries whom God has mightily worked through, I have noticed a common trend. They loved much because they never got over how God could love such a wretched creature as they. For example, William Carey’s tombstone reads, "A poor and wretched worm; upon Thy kind arms I fall." And David Brainerd’s journals are filled with statements like the following: "Oh, that God would humble me deeply in the dust before Him! I deserve hell every day for not loving my Lord more, who has, I trust, loved me and given Himself for me....I see myself infinitely vile and unworthy....No poor creature stands in need of divine grace more than I, and none abuse it more than I have done, and still do....I felt myself such a sinner all day that I had scarce any comfort....I never before thought there was so much spiritual pride in my soul."

God is looking for men and women who realize they are powerless and dependent children. In what way is God asking you to carry out His Great Commission? We are all called to make disciples. Many of us try to weasel our way out of obeying God’s call on our lives with excuses like: "But I’m not good enough", or "I’m not gifted that way." Ironically, what we use as an excuse, God views as a necessary qualification…the admittance of our complete dependency upon Him.

And so, as I continue to pray for God to raise up missionaries who will labor to see people and communities transformed in Christ, I, like my friend, sensed God prompting me to write about an area I have struggled in…namely, missionary isolation.

Missionary Isolation

"I have told my missionary friends, noble as you are, you have isolated yourself from the people you want to serve." Since I first read these words from Mahatma Gandhi six months ago, I have not been able to erase them from my mind. Honestly, they scare me. Numerous nights I have tossed and turned trying to fall asleep while these words echoed hauntingly through my mind. They disturb me because even though I don’t want to be like Gandhi’s missionary friends, when I reflect on my time in Los Angeles, I realize Gandhi might say the same thing about me.

Oh sure, I could comfort myself by rationalizing that I am seeking solidarity with the urban poor by living amongst them. After all, Jesus didn’t commute from heaven to earth each day. No, He "became flesh" and "dwelt amongst us"; He was "constantly involved in dust and dirt, pain and people" (Viv Grigg). Certainly Gandhi was only referring to missionaries who drive to work each day while living in isolated, luxurious mission compounds located miles away….Right?

Yet, when I am honest with myself, I must admit that living amongst the poor is not the same as becoming a companion to the poor. I have met many missionaries who intentionally moved into impoverished, urban neighborhoods, yet still lived in isolation from the neighbors they wished to serve. I have been one of them. In Los Angeles, I lived in an apartment building owned by an urban ministry. All the residents were missionaries. Half of the people on my block were missionaries. I know many of their names; even some of their pets’ names. Yet, I would be hardpressed to name any of my other neighbors on the block.

This is why Ghandi’s statement to missionaries disturbs me. For I naturally gravitate towards those who think and act like me. This tendency, when left unchecked, naturally leads to complete isolation from non-Christians and even Christians who aren’t likeminded. The longer one has been a Christian, the more likely his/her friendships with non-Christians have dwindled, and thus left surrounded by a Christian bubble.

And so, in a prayerful attempt to learn from my past mistakes in preparation for Vancouver, I have come to realize the following: Incarnational ministry (living amongst those we are called to serve) is not the end goal. Rather the incarnational approach is a means to deepen solidarity with those God has called us to love. We must never mistake the means for the end!

Jesus has not called me to just believe in His incarnational example (i.e. Jn 1:14; 2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:5-8). Nor has He merely invited me to admire its effectiveness. Rather, Jesus is beckoning me to follow His downward journey of becoming a friend to the "least of these" by "dwelling amongst them."

Though contemporaries who both lived in India, I doubt Ghandi ever knew Amy Carmichael. For if he had, Ghandi would have met a Christ-follower who had prayerfully wrestled her way through the temptations of missionary isolation. Amy Carmichael waged war against her fleshly desire to live comfortably amongst other missionaries in a compound. She fought this battle armed with prayer and Scripture amidst the ridicule of her missionary peers.

I want to end with some quotes from Amy Carmichael that have greatly motivated my efforts to befriend the poor by living amongst them. May her words stir your hearts as well.

"I would rather live in a mud hut with the people around me than among English people in a bungalow," Amy told Thomas Walker. "You could not stand it for long," responded Walker. To which Carmichael replied, "I would rather burn out than rust out."

"Philippians 2:7 states, "He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant." Pray that we may get down to the bottom of that verse. Then we shall be in a position to ask our Indian brethren to come down and join us for Jesus’ sake. Pray that we who are His sworn soldiers abroad may throw our kid gloves to the winds and FIGHT!"

"The saddest thing one meets is the nominal Christian. The church here is a ‘field full of wheat and tares….O to be delivered from half-hearted missionaries! Don’t come if you mean to turn aside for anything…Don’t come if you haven’t made up your mind to live for one thing—the winning of souls."

"If there were less of what seems like ease in our lives they would tell more for Christ and souls….We profess to be strangers and pilgrims, seeking after a country of our own, yet we settle down in the most un-stranger-like fashion, exactly as if we were quite at home and meant to stay as long as we could. I don’t wonder apostolic miracles have died. Apostolic living certainly has."

And finally, as I prepare to join Servants To Asia’s Urban Poor in Vancouver next week, please pray Amy Carmichael’s petition to God over my life (and yours!): "Please give us the grace to follow Your downward mobility, and not just admire it."

Testimony of God’s Work In Kansas

In Acts 8:1,4 Luke writes about how the early church grew due to every believer preaching the Gospel wherever they went. In other words, it takes an entire congregation to grow a church. We are all called to "make disciples".

And so, while hosting youth groups on mission trips in Los Angeles, one of my biggest prayer concerns was that each person would become just as intentional about loving those in need of Jesus in their home community as they were while on their mission trip. Numerous times, weeks after returning home, both youth and adults have emailed me to let me know how God has been working in their lives since their time in Los Angeles.

The direction God has taken each of them has varied, and rightfully so. When Matthew met Jesus, he immediately left his tax collecting business and followed the Teacher. When Zaccheus encountered Jesus, he remained a tax collector, but did business radically different. Similarly, some adults from these trips have sensed God directing them to pursue a new job, while others have written about their efforts to love their fellow employees at their current job.

I wanted to share with you an email I recently received from Angel. Angel, along with her son Josh, were part of the last group I hosted. Their church came all the way from Hillsboro, Kansas (in my opinion, the center of nowhere). Angel wrote:

"I had to share with you what God has done since being home this summer from LA…. I had such an amazing experience working with the homeless and the poor. I had made a comment to you that maybe God was wanting me to look outside of Hillsboro and to work with at risk kids. Well, He was working before I even got home. The Monday after we got back, I got a phone call out of the blue that there was an Early Childhood Head Start Teaching position open in the town of Marion 10 miles away. The Director asked if I would apply. I prayed and felt that God was leading me. I had an interview the next Monday and they offered the job to me Wed. Within two weeks God had completely changed all things. It was amazing. I have officially started my job, no kids yet, but training. This job will enable me to work with some of the poorest families in our County. What is the most awesome thing is the Head Start belief that we need to meet the needs of the entire family, not just the kids. So that will be such an awesome experience and growth for me. I believe that God used our time in LA to prepare me for this task ahead. I would ask for prayer that I would be compassionate, understanding, loving at all times and in his will to affect change in my own life and the lives of these families and children I will have contact with. I am so EXCITED!!!!"

Wow! God is amazing! Please keep Angel in your prayers. And thank you for your prayers for me while I hosted groups on their mission trips in L.A. Your prayers are so effective!

Angel’s testimony inspires and encourages us to SHINE for Jesus everyday and everywhere…whether that be inner-city Los Angeles, rural Kansas, suburban central Pennsylvania, or the slums of Indonesia.

Lord, we are willing to go anywhere to spread a passion for You. We are willing to stay to spread a passion for You. We are willing to change jobs, or we are willing to stay at our current job. But Lord, we pray, may our lives count. Enable us to live for You.

Shine,
Jason

The Four GREATs of Wholistic Ministry

Jesus teaches us four GREAT truths as recorded in the gospel of Matthew, during His last few days in Jerusalem prior to the crucifixion. Two of these we are familiar with: the Great Commandments and the Great Commission. The other two GREAT truths are often overlooked: the Great Compassion and the Great Cost. Because of how vital and foundational each of these GREAT truths are to our Christian journey, I would like to take a few minutes to expound on what they are and their relation to each other.

The Great Commandments:
"Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." ~ Matthew 22:35-40

Immediately following Judas’ fleeing from the Last Supper to betray our Savior, Jesus presented His followers with a new command. Really it was an old command (the second great commandment) wrapped in new meaning: "Love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:35). To love our neighbor as we love ourselves is one thing, but to love one another as Jesus has loved us…, that’s some radical love! In fact, our comprehension of the depths of such love was miniscule until Christ showed us its extent. "By this we know love, because He [Jesus] laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16).

The Great Compassion:
"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’" ~ Matthew 25:34-40

That last verse is shocking! When we help out those in need, our acts of love are being done to Jesus Himself. There is a famous picture of Jesus at a soup kitchen. Only, Jesus is not the one serving the food; He is in line with (and dressed as) the homeless receiving the generous meal.
I once heard someone comment that the most difficult passages in Scripture are often the ones that are easiest to understand. That’s how I feel about this passage. You do not need years of extensive biblical training to comprehend the Great Compassion. No one honestly says, "Hmm, perhaps if we study the cultural setting of the time when this was written we can then deduce some modern day applications from this ancient practice of giving a thirsty man a drink." This passage is easy to understand! The challenge is to live it out.

Look again at the list Jesus gives us in this passage. Where are the miracles? Nowhere does it say, "For I was hungry and you turned two fish into enough food for an entire year" or "For I was sick and you healed me." This is a list of practical ways each one of us can show love to those in need. All of us are able to give a drink to someone thirsty. Virtually all of us are capable of visiting someone who is sick. The true miracle in this passage is the great, radical love that motivates these small acts.

One last observation. Notice that Jesus did not say, "For I was hungry, and you wrote a check to Compassion International and they fed me." Giving to charity is great, yet this is no justification for being exempt from personally carrying out the Great Compassion. Jesus taught, "For I was hungry, and YOU fed me; I was in prison, and YOU visited me." Carrying out the Great Compassion involves personally interacting with those in need.

The Great Commission:
"And Jesus came and spoke to them [the disciples], saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen." ~ Matthew 28:18-20

Unfortunately, when the New Testament was being written, the writers did not have a computer with a word processor. They could not write words in a bold or italicized font in order to emphasize its importance. If the biblical writers wanted to stress a certain point, they used repetition. Only a select few of Jesus’ teachings are mentioned in all four of the gospels. Hence, we begin to see how foundationally important the Great Commission is for Christians, when we realize that it is mentioned in all four gospels and even the book of Acts! In Acts, Luke records Jesus’ final words before His ascension as being a reiteration of the Great Commission: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Certainly Jesus thought long and hard about what His last words to His followers would be. He knew whatever He spoke would continue to ring in their ears as they watched Him ascend.

There is another truly exciting observation about the Great Commission as recorded in Matthew. When the Greek is translated most literally (I promise I’m not making this up!) there is only one command. And it’s not "Go!" The only command given is to "make disciples." The going is assumed. Here is how it is worded: "Therefore, as you are going make disciples by teaching…and baptizing." "As you are going." This literal wording truly broadens our understanding of our mission as Christians. We are all called to make disciples as we go about our day. "As you are going" about your time in school, make disciples. "As you are going" about your work routine, make disciples.

How These Three Greats Are Connected:
Sadly, there is much debate amongst Christians as to how these three GREATs relate to each other. There are "Great Commission Christians" who pride themselves in their passion to verbally evangelize, yet they leave no room for loving acts of social justice. In their defense, most came to this extreme stance in response to its equally extreme opposite. The majority of Christians in our pluralistic society deviate off the narrow path in the other direction. They feel more comfortable just showing the love of God to people…at least at first. The problem is that most in this grouping never get past the "initial stage" of trust building; hence, they never verbally share the Good News.

Yet, Jesus was most passionate about evangelism AND social justice. He never neglected either. How did Jesus balance word and deed? Did one have precedence over the other? If we quickly take a second look at two of the passages mentioned during the Great Commandments section, I think we will begin to realize how the Great Commandments, Compassion, and Commission are related to each other.

In John 13:34 Jesus gave His new variation of the second great command. "Love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." Jesus continues, "By this all will know that you are My disciples; if you have love for one another." When this radical love is seen in action amongst Christians, the world is guaranteed to notice that we are following Jesus! The Great Commandments of love are evangelistic!

But what does this radical love look like? How did Jesus love? Let’s go back to 1 John 3:16 and read a little more. "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in Him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (1 Jn. 3:16-18). Let us love in deed and in truth! The Great Commandments of love lead to acts of Great Compassion (love in deed).

The passage also teaches us to "love in truth." Jesus once commented, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). The Great Commandments of love create a passion within Christians to carry out the Great Commission. But this is really just common sense. When a high school girl gets her first boyfriend, she is so giddy with excitement that she tells everyone about him. She doesn’t wait for her friends to ask about him. The same is true with evangelism. So many churches spend weeks trying to teach their congregations evangelism methods, yet the deeper challenge is motivating them to want to evangelize.

So how are these three GREATs related? The best analogy I can think of is that of a plant. The Great Commission and the Great Compassion stem from a life rooted in the Great Commandments. This is wholistic ministry’s aim. Either one, separated from the Great Commandments, may look impressive for a short season, but it is already in decline. Consider again the plant analogy. Bouquets are made from plant cuttings and they are often breathtaking. Yet those very bouquets are composed of living matter that is already in the process of dying. In a short time, what was once beautiful to behold will soon be discarded as dead and useless.

The Great Cost:
There is one more GREAT truth that Matthew reminds us of. The Greek phrase "pante te ethne" is translated "of all nations" or "of all ethnic groups." Matthew uses this phrase in his wording of Jesus’ Great Commission (make disciples of all nations). He also records Jesus using this phrase one other time. In this passage, Jesus reminds us of the Great Cost involved for those who seek to follow His wholistic model:

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." ~ Matthew 24:9-14

John Piper refers to this passage as the dark side of missions. It is definitely a wake-up call. We often forget that the cross precedes the crown. If we pick up our cross and follow Jesus on this narrow path of radical, wholistic love, we will have trials and suffering. But longevity in ministry will come only from those who have a biblical theology of suffering, for they will see how God’s sovereign plan can even use the suffering of His saints to further His Kingdom and His renown. This truth enabled Paul, while imprisoned, to write "that the things which have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear" (Phil. 1:12-14).

What empowers and sustains Christians, despite great costs, to spend themselves in loving others? Once again, the answer is hidden in the Great Commandments. "We love God because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). And "it is the awareness of being loved with God’s tender compassion that leads us to love ourselves and others" (Brennan Manning). In other words, we love others not because of their lovability, but because of the loving character of the One who loves us (Robertson McQuilkin).

In the final analysis, wholistic ministry is really just another name for Great Commandment ministry. As we love God with all our heart, mind, and soul, this love will overflow towards others. And it will be manifested in two ways: (1) Verbally telling others the good news of God’s incomprehensible love (the Great Commission), and (2) personally showing others great love through sometimes big, but more often, small acts (the Great Compassion).

Seminary On the Streets

I start at Fuller Theological Seminary in nine days. But for the last year, my seminary has been the streets, and my professors have included the homeless. Some have been my greatest teachers. Three people in particular have taught me the meaning of gratitude.

I first met Bruce & Sheri on a roasting hot summer day in the historic district of Philadelphia. The sun was blazing, and the temperature was soaring well over 100 degrees. As I walked down the sidewalk, I saw Bruce sitting on the sidewalk holding a cardboard sign that asked for money and food. His wife Sheri was across the street also hoping for generosity from tourists. It was already afternoon, yet their day’s accumulation had yet to be enough to buy any water, let alone food. Needless to say, they were both quite weak and dehydrated. As we ate Philly pretzels and chugged down water, our friendship began. Bruce, Sheri, and I hung out a lot that summer. As their trust in me grew, they opened up their lives to me. Bruce and Sheri were in their young thirties. Originally from York, Bruce lost his roofing job because he made an ethical stance to not join a union. They had recently moved to Philadelphia in hopes of finding more work. Bruce also was diagnosed with Leukemia. There were days when Bruce’s radiation therapy, coupled with the intense summer heat, caused him to be so weak that Sheri and I would have to carry him to an air-conditioned restaurant and feed him.

One night in August, I was helping take a CSM youth group around to feed and talk with the homeless. We had two meals left, and so I asked if we could visit Bruce and Sheri. When we arrived, Sheri had just finished meticulously laying out her cardboard and blanket for the night. She told me that Bruce had gotten lucky that day. He had waited with the other day laborers in line for a job. Unlike most days, today he was hired to help with roofing. As we talked with Sheri, Bruce suddenly appeared in the distance. He barely had enough energy to walk. Once he staggered to us, he collapsed onto his bed. Bruce had been roofing all day in the intense heat. He was burned bright red. The contractors only paid Bruce $20, so in order to save money, he decided to walk the five miles home instead of taking the bus. What can one say in the face of such suffering and injustice? Thankfully, Sheri interrupted the silence by asking us to pray for them. With his lasts words before falling asleep, Bruce prayed, "Lord, we will not worry about tomorrow. Thank you for helping Sheri and I make it through today."

I have discovered this kind of radical gratitude amongst numerous people who endure great suffering. For example, fast-forward eight months and across the country. I now found myself sitting on a park bench in Santa Monica, near the beach. I was observing how two different worlds—those with no home and those with multiple homes—could live so close together yet never see each other. As the homeless set up their beds for the night in the park, I looked across the street at the booming night life. Sports cars, jaguars, and Rolls Royces were pulling up to valet parkers. The night clubs had bouncers and lines out the door. While deep in thought, suddenly a rat ran by my foot. That was enough motivation for me to leave the park and cross the street…the invisible wall that separated these two worlds.

As I walked down a busy shopping promenade, I noticed an elderly, Irish lady who, like Bruce, was holding a sign asking for help. Typically when people ask me for help, I’m down to my last dollar and already running late to my next appointment. But this particular night, I had the time, a friend had just given me some money with which to bless others, she seemed polite, and there was an inexpensive Irish restaurant (McDonalds) just next to her. Feeling confident, I approached her and asked if she wanted to get a late dinner together. "Oh no," she gently yet passionately responded. Seeing my confusion she continued, "I’ve been so thirsty, and so a few minutes ago I closed my eyes and prayed to God for some water. And when I opened my eyes look at what was at my feet!" I quickly lowered my eyes from her radiant smile to her feet. I could not believe my eyes! There must have been at least 20 water bottles in two grocery bags. "Do you want to celebrate God’s faithfulness with some ice cream?" I inquired. "Oh no! I can’t go anywhere. I haven’t finished thanking God yet."

I walked away humbled. I too quickly move from thanking God for providing my needs today to nervously praying that He’ll do the same with tomorrow’s challenges. I am slowly learning the wisdom Jesus taught in Matthew 6:34. "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Families On Mission

In Los Angeles, the poor and the rich live very close together. Sometimes they are only divided by a freeway, a hill or a few miles. The effect on the rich is that they do not know the poor. Stereotypes and fear seem easier than taking risks in relationship.

Earlier this month a family group came from a local church, from a well off community less than 15 miles away. Parents came with their children. Through activities designed for families to serve as a whole, members of the group, from ages 7 to 57, encountered people in need in a whole new way.

This group’s first activity was Meet-a-Need. In small teams they walked around Broadway in downtown LA, and found someone they could help. They had five dollars to use creatively with someone they met. I don’t know exactly what was said, but I know this group was affected by the experience. These families met someone with much less money than them, but no less heart or feeling. As usually happens with our groups that come from all over, the visitors end up learning much more than they teach.

Less than two weeks after this group left, we received an update from one mother on this local, family trip. She said it was too soon that weekend for her to see what her seven year-old son had learned. She wanted us to know the impact the weekend trip had on her and her son.

The weekend following her CSM trip in LA, Belinda was visiting San Francisco with her family. While relaxing outside of a museum in a downtown SF park, she and her son saw a man who looked confused. Despite freezing rain that morning, the man had apparently been wading in the fountain, because his pants were wet up to his knees. As he wandered around and then headed back into the fountain, a security guard started yelling loudly at him that he could not collect coins. Belinda’s son turned to his mom and remarked, "I think if this man and the policeman could just talk they would understand each other better."

Belinda wrote to us that she could tell in that one reaction that her son truly saw the fountain wader as a man with needs. He saw him as a human being, not as a nuisance or a sub-human.
I believe that Belinda’s effort to take her son and her whole family to serve in Los Angeles was a powerful example. Her son learned as much from her model as from the lessons of our CSM trip.

CSM’s lofty mission is to transform people and churches and so honor Christ. Encountering those in need is a powerfully transforming act as we see that we all have needs. Maybe if we just talk to people we will understand each other better.
[Reflection by Rachel Hamilton CSM-LA Director. I was blessed to host their group.]

Needle In A Haystack & Magnetic Prayer

Los Angeles County has an estimated 91,000 homeless. Orange County—a bordering, affluent county—has an even higher percentage of homeless. As I pray to not be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of poverty in my community, I have sought to embrace Mother Teresa’s wisdom: "I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look only at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one."

A local Orange County youth group recently came on their annual CSM-LA weekend trip. One
morning, in seeking to live out Mother Teresa's wisdom, they were given a few dollars to take a homeless person out for breakfast. Christie and her son were with the group who enjoyed a scrumptious Irish meal (McDonalds) with Charles. Charles was an older man who was dressed in ratty clothes and female flip flops that were half his foot-size. After breakfast, Christie helped Charles pick out an entire new wardrobe from clothes collected at her church.

But the thought of Charles’ sandals never left her mind. She cried out to God for him all weekend. When her group left on Sunday, Christie told me that she was going to collect shoes and socks (which are like gold to the homeless) from her friends. Three days later, Christie and her sister loaded their Expedition up with the donations, and made their way back to downtown LA. She called me to ask for directions and to tell me that she had been praying all week for God to help her find Charles. I was touched by her act of compassion, but realized that finding Charles within downtown’s sea of homeless people was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

As Christie exited the freeway and began entering downtown, she saw a homeless man standing by the traffic light. At first she thought he was barefoot, but as she drove closer she quickly realized that this man was wearing size six female flip-flops! Charles was given new socks and shoes; Christie and her sister were blessed to eat another meal with Charles; and I learned a valuable lesson in the power of prayer.

Compassionate Listening

What was the most compassionate thing anyone has ever done for you? The most compassionate times in my life have involved friends staying by my side when I have been heartbroken. I cannot recall any of their advice or sympathy cards. Their presence and listening ears are all I remember.

Here in Los Angeles, there are many people talking about the poor; however, there are few people talking to the poor. Youth groups that come on CSM trips typically have an opportunity to get to know some of the homeless by name. Some groups invite the poor to lunch, others hand out socks and blankets. These are small acts. But they are small acts done with great love!

And this compassionate love is what the poor remember. Last week, Nina, a homeless woman, approached my group and asked, "Are you guys the ones who come to listen to people?" Her comment made me cry. I am so happy that CSM groups are known for their listening ears. When the poor are ignored all day long by passersby, perhaps sitting down and hearing their stories is the most compassionate act we can do. May we continue to be known for small acts done with great love!

Could It Soon Be Illegal for Churches to Love Their Neighbors?

There is a lot of talk these days in Los Angeles about illegal aliens. How to handle the growing masses of immigrants is quite controversial. Fortunately, the Bible has a lot to say on this topic as well. God repeatedly reminded Israel that an alien "living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt (Lev. 19:34)."

Many immigrants are fleeing impoverished, war-torn countries in Central and South America. When they arrive in the United States, they face a challenging process in order to legally work. Getting a green card requires three federal departments: Labor, State, and Homeland Security. Businesses must receive approval from the Labor Department before they can hire foreign workers. Due to a backlog, the process often takes three years. After this certification, employers must file an immigrant visa petition for the employee. Congress annually quotas 140,000 visas for foreign workers, but only 5,000 of those are set aside for unskilled workers! The foreign worker can then apply for a green card through U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services. But workers here illegally must do so from their native country. However, if they have lived illegally in the U.S. for more than a year, they cannot reenter the country for 10 years. If you find the bureaucracy of this process to be long and confusing, imagine speaking no English! Immigrants have four other options: acquire a fake ID (but there are many scams out there), marry a U.S. citizen, apply for political asylum (risky because you get deported if denied), or work illegally (often at one of LA’s estimated 4,500 sweatshops).

But the Church can help…right? Not for long…at least legally. Already approved by the House of Representatives, Congress is close to passing legislation which would require churches and other social organizations to ask immigrants for legal documentation before providing assistance and penalizing them if they refuse to do so.

Cardinal Mahony oversees the Catholic church’s largest U.S. archdiocese, located in L.A. He made national news this week when he asked priests to provide aid without proof of documentation even if proposed restrictions become law. Handing out water or food to a dehydrated, starving illegal immigrant could soon be breaking federal law. Then again, so would serving communion.

A U.S. senator went on national news saying, "I am a Christian, and I know of nowhere in Scripture where it says we ought not to obey the laws of our land." Perhaps He forgot about Moses, Elijah, Esther, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and his three friends, all of the apostles, and Jesus (who was a refugee in Egypt)! "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge (Acts 4:19-20)." The first Christians were accused of being "these who have turned the world upside down….They are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus (Acts 17:6-7)." My prayer is that we may each continue to take the radical (perhaps often illegal) step of loving our neighbors (including immigrants) as Christ loves us.

[Since living in cities, I have begun to learn that many social justice issues are not as black and white as I once thought. As the discussions on immigration reform continue, please be praying for our country's politicians. They do not have an easy task. Pray that their goal is to know how we can be most loving to both our global neighbors and citizens.]