Thirst

Yeah, we have a cafe over here that we put together over the 40 Days conference. It was amazing how it all came together- in a period of 3 days, actually. It was in a run-down section of the building that we called Section D, and we were hoping to be able to get cleaned up enough to have a meeting there at the very end of the conference. Well, somewhere in the middle of 40 Days, God spoke to us pretty directly and told us that we were going to open up the room in 3 days. It was crazy- we got everyone mobilized and did it. Anyhow, yeah, so over the last couple of days I've been working pretty hard with a couple of others trying to redesign the place and get it looking really nice for this coming Wednesday. Wednesday-Friday are what they call "at-home days" here on the base- they happen every year, and it's a time for all the missionaries on the base to come together and meet each other and pray and worship. So we're opening our cafe to serve them. God has given us a vision for hospitality, that in this day and age, hospitality is one of the most important forms of evangelism. People don't listen to words as much anymore- they want you to show them. And it's kind of like Jesus- he very rarely declared the truth directly; instead, he spoke in parables and said, you want to know the truth?? Come follow me and relate to me and find out by the way I live. So we'll have a few musicians playing-- one of them, Ryan, is here because he's going on tour with 100 Hours playing bass, and the other, Eryn, is here for the discipleship and outreach. Eryn actually has a website where you can listen to some of her stuff, i believe-- check it out-- www.erynmchugh.com . She's excellent, top-quality. The vision of the cafe is that Section D is a place where people came to meet with God, dreamed his dreams, and saw them realized. So we see it as a place where dreams are born and grow.

I can't think of much else that's been going on over here-- just talks and worship and meetings and stuff like that. I went to Soul Survivor last week-- it was very very good-- i don't remember if i wrote anything about that-- tim hughes leads worship there, which is cool. Ummm... yeah i'm still planning on coming back to wheaton- that was my dad's condition for me staying here- that I come home for christmas and that i finish my degree in the spring. Pray for our team, for finances to go forward with what God is saying. And more importantly, pray for love for the lost, that if we end up in a place where it's difficult to minister openly, that we'd still have a passion to do God's will. One of our team members went home a few days ago- she was dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety that she couldn't get over. It was difficult for me, because she was a good friend of mine, and I couldn't help her except to pray. People have to go to God themselves, and I can't force them to do what I think is best. It's difficult for me, because a lot of times I'll have a savior complex about people, and I'll just want to give and give and give of myself to help them, but it doesn't help because i make them dependent on me. So I had to be "hands off" with the whole thing and just direct her to God if she asked me for advice.

It's a funny thing i've been learning about Jesus, that when he was here on earth, he didn't have a savior complex. I keep returning over and over again to the story of the rich young ruler, how Jesus let him walk away. I probably would have been like, wait, where are you going?? Come back and we'll walk through it together- you can start with just a little, then maybe work your way up or something. But Jesus let him go. And it wasn't a mean thing, like "If you're not going to listen to me, then fine, go ahead and leave!", because it says in Mark's account of it that Jesus looked at him and loved him. Jesus knew that he couldn't force morality and truth on people- it HAD to be a choice. That's why in the Temptation in the wilderness, Jesus didn't submit to Satan and get control of the kingdoms of the world. He was going to conquer the world by love and sacrifice, not by force. That's why communism didn't work-- although they started with biblical values of brotherhood and unity, they didn't realize that you can't legislate those things. Love has to be a choice that springs from a changed heart, not because you're forced into it. Good stuff... I got a lot of that from Philip Yancey's book "The Jesus I Never Knew". So God's changing me slowly but surely- i'm learning to just trust in His timing and in what He knows is best to do in my life and in the lives of others. Cool stuff... Peace for now...

posted by Benjamin  # 11:09 AM