Recently I have been thinking a lot about the power of prayer. A few nights ago a woman I know from the feeding center came to the team house after leaving her abusive boyfriend. Hurt, drunk, and completely at the end of her rope she came to the team house looking for help. In tears she explained to me how much she loves him and how much she wants to be reconciled with the man that beats her. My heart ached from her. And what could I do? What could I offer her? My mind raced to all of the things I could try to do to help in some way. I had no place to let her sleep for the night, no food to give her, and fearing she would use money to buy alcohol, no money to give her. Not that any of those things really would have solved the problem. The only thing I had to offer her was prayer, and I felt so helpless.
That is the problem right there. If I had any of those other temporary band-aids to mask a much bigger problem I would have offered those first and then sealed it with a prayer. How backwards is that? I shouldn’t be feeling helpless when the only thing I have to offer someone is prayer, I should feel helpless, however, if the only thing I have to offer someone is a meal that will curb hunger for half a day, or a bed that will give someone one night’s sleep, or money that will be blown in a matter of seconds. Ultimately, while all helpful and good things, they can only provide temporary alleviation. Prayer, on the other hand, is lasting. It is powerful and surprising. It can heal matters of the body and of the spirit in ways we cannot imagine. Prayer is, by far, the most powerful tool I have in a situation like that.
What sometimes blows my mind here is that a lot of people ‘get’ all of that already, in the midst of their incredible physical needs. After my friend and I prayed that night she did not go away angry because I couldn’t do anything, but she thanked me for praying. What a humbling moment! Another woman, Derly, who always comes to the feeding center strung out and sleeping off the effects of the night before told me a little over a week ago that she was praying to be reconciled with her family once again and have a place to sleep with people who love and care for her surrounding her. After knowing her for even the small amount of time I have, I knew it would take a miracle for her mother to even let her walk back into her house, much less live there again. Again, there was nothing else to do but to pray in that situation. A few days later I see four foot five Derly sprinting through the park with the biggest smile I have ever seen on her face. Half laughing, half crying she tells me “Our prayers worked! Our prayers worked!” She is now living with her mother, next door to her sister and is a completely different person. She came to the feeding center yesterday with a stack of old pictures to show everyone and was practically dancing with excitement. If that is not a clear demonstration of the power of prayer, I don’t know what is.
We should be feeding those who are without a meal, clothing those without attire, providing beds to those sleeping on the streets and reaching out in tangible ways to meet people’s physical needs whenever possible. Jesus did that and so should we. However, we cannot forget what those are; they are temporary fixes. Our greatest tool that wields the most power is prayer. I had the privilege to witness the effects of Derly’s prayer but a lot of times we have to pray in faith without being able to see the incredible things GOD can do with that. However, the times you do get to see the fruit give encouragement for the times when you can’t. So, pray hard, pray a lot, and recognize the power that is in your prayers. GOD has blessed us with such a potent tool and I want to give it the credit it deserves. Speaking of that, thank all of you for your prayers. It is truly a blessing to me to have so many people praying and supporting me. GOD bless you all!
Becca
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Hope and Proof
This morning I was really discouraged thinking about some of the drug/alcohol addicts that we love. After seeing them three times a week or more at the feeding center, listening to their hearts, sharing in their struggles week after week it just absolutely breaks your heart to see them stumble. A few weeks back a quite infamous drunk came to the clinic we were holding at the church. Eduardo, one of the many unemployed homeless in Alajuelita, has, for as long as I have known him, been in a constant state of intoxication. Just the week before the clinic he had started a fight with Dave and me at the feeding center. When Eduardo sat down in the chair before me at the clinic I honestly could not believe it was the same Eduardo that stumbles into the feeding center each week. “Three days without drinking,” he told me. I cannot explain how my spirits soared at this transformation right in front of me: bathed, shaved, sober, and so polite! Yesterday would have been his sixteenth day without drinking. Sunday night I had a long talk with him as he walked me through some things he thought about the Bible (he has amazing head knowledge about the Bible!) and he told me he had taken a few sips earlier that afternoon. By the feeding center on Monday his few sips had escalated, I am sure, into quite a few bottles. That, in combination with some other friends of ours that have recently begun drinking again, brought me crying out to GOD. Not only was I praying on behalf of each and every one of them for strength and perseverance, I was praying for GOD to give me hope. Praying for proof that change is possible through the redemptive power of His Son.
Immediately my mind flashed to the graduation I attended on Sunday for two previously addicted women who had completed their nine month program at the women’s center. I thought about the guys at 6:8’s own men’s center, the Refugio, who all just moved into the second phase of their recovery program. If that is not proof that there is power in the name of Christ to break the bonds of addiction than I don’t know what is. I would ask that you would join me in lifting up all the men and women who struggle daily with the chains and slavery of substance abuse here in Alajuelita because it is possible. I have seen it. There are living testimonies of people who have done it and are doing it. The pastor at the graduation ceremony asked all of those who had already completed the program at an earlier time to raise their hands and about ten hands shot up within the audience. Yes, I am surrounded by examples of people who cannot seem to conquer their addiction and it is often very discouraging, BUT, I cannot forget the success stories with which I am surrounded as well. Praise GOD, the almighty healer and restorer! GOD BLESS,
Becca
Immediately my mind flashed to the graduation I attended on Sunday for two previously addicted women who had completed their nine month program at the women’s center. I thought about the guys at 6:8’s own men’s center, the Refugio, who all just moved into the second phase of their recovery program. If that is not proof that there is power in the name of Christ to break the bonds of addiction than I don’t know what is. I would ask that you would join me in lifting up all the men and women who struggle daily with the chains and slavery of substance abuse here in Alajuelita because it is possible. I have seen it. There are living testimonies of people who have done it and are doing it. The pastor at the graduation ceremony asked all of those who had already completed the program at an earlier time to raise their hands and about ten hands shot up within the audience. Yes, I am surrounded by examples of people who cannot seem to conquer their addiction and it is often very discouraging, BUT, I cannot forget the success stories with which I am surrounded as well. Praise GOD, the almighty healer and restorer! GOD BLESS,
Becca
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Seventy times seven= four hundred and ninety
I have heard over and over again that as Christians we will be taken advantage of, we will be mocked and cursed, yet we are called act according to the cliché Sunday school motto and ‘turn the other cheek.’ All of that seems fairly manageable, although undoubtedly uncomfortable, in the context of walking away from a bully on the playground, or ignoring a rude driver on the highway, or even holding your tongue with a fellow classmate. However, in the context of some of the things we run into here, that black and white clarity is engulfed by huge areas of grey.
At English speaking Church last week we read the parable in Matthew 18 about the ungrateful servant who is forgiven his massive debt by his master yet fails to show mercy on his own debtor. Jesus uses this illustration in response to Peter’s question about the parameters of forgiveness. “I do not say to you seven times,” declares Christ, “but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:27). Our master, Jesus Christ, has extended the most hideously undeserving gift of mercy upon us so that we may, in turn, be unscrupulously forgiving towards others. Especially in light of some things that have happened here recently, my question for GOD is ‘what does it mean to forgive?’ I feel a little like the lawyer in Luke chapter 10 asking Christ to specifically define neighbor so that he can still follow Christ’s instructions to love your neighbor as yourself and inherit eternal life with the least amount of effort possible. I want to know exactly what Jesus means when he tells us to forgive someone up to 490 times. I want a black and white answer that allows me to easily determine when someone has just crossed the line. I want to know if forgiveness is an act only from the heart or if it must also be manifested in actions. Sadly we have had a couple people steal from the ministry recently: pots, pans, kitchen knives, rice and beans for the feeding center, phones… Is forgiveness pardoning them from within my heart and giving them another chance, putting them right back in the situation where they were tempted in the first place? Is that what it truly means to forgive seventy times seven? I am sure many of you know what it feels like to be lied to and used, taken advantage of. When that happens I am so far from being in a place of forgiveness. I am so far from wanting to ‘turn the other cheek’ when I know someone has been playing me for their own benefit. It is really tough stuff and I am unfortunately without any clear cut answer to it all. If I have learned anything about following Christ, though, it is that the answer to my questions is probably not the easy one. When the lawyer asked Jesus to define neighborhood I am pretty sure he was hoping to hear something along the lines of “your neighbor is anyone who lives within a three kilometer radius of your house.” That makes it easy; it is clear cut in black and white parameters. The only thing that I feel GOD is telling me is to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you” (Matthew 5:44). To be honest, at home I probably would have had trouble thinking of people who “curse me” or “despitefully use me” but GOD has definitely given me the opportunity to try my hardest to put this in practice here. It is more challenging than I can explain and I am so thankful to all of you who constantly pray for me. Please continue! I love you all. GOD BLESS.
Becca
At English speaking Church last week we read the parable in Matthew 18 about the ungrateful servant who is forgiven his massive debt by his master yet fails to show mercy on his own debtor. Jesus uses this illustration in response to Peter’s question about the parameters of forgiveness. “I do not say to you seven times,” declares Christ, “but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:27). Our master, Jesus Christ, has extended the most hideously undeserving gift of mercy upon us so that we may, in turn, be unscrupulously forgiving towards others. Especially in light of some things that have happened here recently, my question for GOD is ‘what does it mean to forgive?’ I feel a little like the lawyer in Luke chapter 10 asking Christ to specifically define neighbor so that he can still follow Christ’s instructions to love your neighbor as yourself and inherit eternal life with the least amount of effort possible. I want to know exactly what Jesus means when he tells us to forgive someone up to 490 times. I want a black and white answer that allows me to easily determine when someone has just crossed the line. I want to know if forgiveness is an act only from the heart or if it must also be manifested in actions. Sadly we have had a couple people steal from the ministry recently: pots, pans, kitchen knives, rice and beans for the feeding center, phones… Is forgiveness pardoning them from within my heart and giving them another chance, putting them right back in the situation where they were tempted in the first place? Is that what it truly means to forgive seventy times seven? I am sure many of you know what it feels like to be lied to and used, taken advantage of. When that happens I am so far from being in a place of forgiveness. I am so far from wanting to ‘turn the other cheek’ when I know someone has been playing me for their own benefit. It is really tough stuff and I am unfortunately without any clear cut answer to it all. If I have learned anything about following Christ, though, it is that the answer to my questions is probably not the easy one. When the lawyer asked Jesus to define neighborhood I am pretty sure he was hoping to hear something along the lines of “your neighbor is anyone who lives within a three kilometer radius of your house.” That makes it easy; it is clear cut in black and white parameters. The only thing that I feel GOD is telling me is to “love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you” (Matthew 5:44). To be honest, at home I probably would have had trouble thinking of people who “curse me” or “despitefully use me” but GOD has definitely given me the opportunity to try my hardest to put this in practice here. It is more challenging than I can explain and I am so thankful to all of you who constantly pray for me. Please continue! I love you all. GOD BLESS.
Becca
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