What's Next?

This is also a popular question we've heard a lot in the last month! Well, we can happily say that we now know where we're going and what we're doing.

Michaele has been hired by Bethany First Church of the Nazarene in Bethany, Oklahoma as pastor of equipping ministries. Brent has several job opportunities in the Oklahoma City area, but none nailed down yet. We will be moving in the third week of August, and are excited about joining the community and work in Bethany!

While we worked with BFC this past year in Swaziland, God grew wonderful friendships and allowed us to develop much respect for the church's vision and leadership. We know that they are people of vision and passion and are doing great things as a part of the Kingdom of God.

Over the past few weeks we have been able to see many of our friends and spend a lot of time with family. We are now in Johnson Vermont working as teen camp directors for the next two weeks.

As always we appreciate your prayers as we drive many miles, and walk in faith the road marked out for us!!

What did you learn in Swaziland?

Since being back in the US just over a month, we’ve been asked a lot of questions about Swaziland. Among the top 5 is – What’s the biggest thing you learned? Superlative questions are always the hardest, but this has been especially difficult to answer. I think we will continue to reap lessons from our time in Swaziland for years to come, but in this last month a few things have crystallized in our minds.

I have learned the truth that compassion is a lifestyle. Working with Americans and other westerners in a developing country, I watched the discomfort and shock that comes with seeing poverty one’s never encountered. Often in the processing of thoughts and emotions, I’d hear someone ask, “Why do the Swazis not have compassion on their own people?” Usually “the Swazis” referred to the collective society of systems and culture, not individuals. They were basically asking how could they let it get this bad for this child, or this person with HIV? Of course there are many individuals who exhibit stronger compassion that anyone I’ve ever known. But in our sweeping, generalizing analysis of an unfamiliar situation we often look over those small things.

It is not the crisis, one-time events that determine whether individuals are compassionate. Rather, it is the daily even hourly decisions that are made. It is the motivation or goal of our life that determines our compassion. Anyone can give clothes to a person in rags – yet that can even be motivated by guilt or a sense of pride or obligation. But what motivates people like Evelyn and Mary of the Task Force to search out the people in rags? Anyone can give medicine to the sick person comes through your door, but what brings someone to look for the sickest, weakest people who can’t get off the floor let alone get to a doctor? A compassionate person is not one who merely gives out the right materials to a person in need at the right time. Rather, a compassionate person is one who has made compassion into a way of life and not just an event. Mary and Evelyn and those who work with them have re-ordered their lives to minister to the poor, sick, dying, parent-less and hungry. Yes, Swaziland could use many more people like that – but who are we as “outsiders” to say that Swazis have no compassion in light of this? And how many people of Mary and Evelyn’s stature can we boast of in our own churches and communities?

The longer I was with them, the more I realized we were the ones without compassion – at least the kind of the compassion I saw in them. What would it look like if I lived a lifestyle of compassion at home in American like they do in Swaziland? How many of us have been so filled with God’s compassion for others that we went looking for people in need? I don’t know if I’ve ever done that. Usually I’m doing good if I have a compassionate response when a need is starting me in the face. At times this revelation has left me feeling hopelessly bad and inadequate. Yet I have been reminded that yes, compassion is a way of life, but it is part of the whole new life God is bringing me into. As the Spirit works in me to make me more like Christ, I cannot help but become compassionate – because Christ is. Compassion is a lifestyle, but it is part of the lifestyle of a disciple of Christ. If we are growing into discipleship, we will certainly be growing into compassion. And it will be a compassion rooted in our way of life, not just special events.

Out of necessity, I have also learned how to trust God for some of the simplest things. In regular American life, we have good systems in place to get us what we need or want. (And if you just rolled your eyes as if to say, ‘Well, sometimes our systems are good…’ then you need to spend time in Africa. Our systems are good. Period.) We rely on systems to make things fast and easy, because the customer is always right. The downside is that we unknowingly become self-absorbed consumers who expect that things should be fast and easy. Yet systems and customer service are not the strong suits of Swaziland.

Needless to say there were times we literally prayed to get online so we could send an email. There was also the time our four pieces of luggage were lost in Johannesburg, and no one at the airport could help us at all. Long story short, I finally stopped trying to find my bags, prayed about it, and three hours later they were found. Another story that comes to mind is when we needed to hire a crane to lift a container of medical supplies that was being shipped to the hospital. After calling company after company and hitting roadblock after roadblock, I was exhausted and on the verge of tears. I slumped into a chair in our living room to pray, and ended up asleep. An hour later I awoke to the phone ringing and found out the whole problem was solved while I slept. Each of these situations (and many more) taught me what I said I already knew: that we serve a powerful God who cares about the smallest details of our lives, and has resources and methods we can’t even imagine.

Coming back to America, I was worried that I might lose this precious gift back in the land of customer service and orderly systems. We learned to rely on God more than others or ourselves, and we didn’t want to revert back. So Brent and I prayed that God would help us to see Him and know Him here as we did in Swaziland. And already, He has.

Our second week back I was flying from Maryland to Wisconsin for a conference. There was a problem with my boarding pass, and was sent from the front of the security check-in line to the back of a customer service line with 20 minutes until my plane boarded. I was feeling anxious and antsy, and growing ever-more worried as the time stretched out and the line got no shorter. I began to think about customer service and how I could push myself to the front by yelling, ‘My plane is boarding in 15 minutes, let me through!’ I knew people would not be happy, but they would probably let me. But then I thought about what I would do if this line were in Swaziland. I would wait quietly like everyone else and pray that somehow God would not let me miss my flight. So I did that instead of pushing and yelling. Not one minute later an airline employee came through the line asking what people needed, and I told her (not as calmly as I would like) about my situation. She took me to the front of the line, got me my boarding pass, and sent me on my way. I got through security, boarded the plane, and even had time to buy breakfast on the way!

In America

After these few months we are back in America again!!

We have been as the Swazi's say "Moving Up and Down" since we arrived last Thursday. We are visiting family for the next few weeks as we pray about the future.

Our arrival back into the US is bittersweet but we are confident that those that we have worked with in Swaziland are continuing to search out the Lord and to courageously give our Lords love to those in Swaziland.

We will post more in the coming days but wanted to give this much delayed update to let you know where we are and praise God for what he has done.

Answers to Prayer

As our time in Swaziland is winding down (six days left!!), we are thanking God for the many, many prayers he has answered during this year. At the top of the list is the answered prayer for people to follow us here in Swaziland.

Andy and Amy Curry, the new on-site coordinators for the Swaziland Partnership, have been in country with us for the last three weeks. They graduated from Southern Nazarene University and have been friends with Brent since college. Andy grew up in Swaziland while his parents spent four years here as missionaries. Not only have they been a huge help to us during the last crazy weeks, but we are excited to see the gifts and passions they bring to this position and to Swaziland. We continue to celebrate God's faithfulness and His perfect timing.

They have developed their own blog to chronicle their time in Swaziland, and we invite all of our followers to follow them as they learn and write about their time here. We know that many of you who have been praying with us, have in fact been praying for them, since we asked people to pray for those who would follow us.

You can follow their Swaziland adventures at: CurryExcursion.blogspot.com

Three Teams in Three Weeks

This last month has been a whirlwind of activity. In three weeks we helped to host and lead 3 teams totaling 65 people in all! There was a team of Southern Nazarene University students and three of SNU's administration; a class from Eastern Nazarene College; and a combined team from Lenexa Central Church of the Nazarene and MidAMerican Nazarene University students. In addition, we also were happy to have Michaele's Dad as a part of these groups and Andy and Amy Curry, who will be taking over as the new on-site coordinators for the Swaziland Partnerhsip.

It's true that we are tired, but God blessed us richly with 65 wonderful people, no accidents or serious illnesses, successful projects, and meaningful relationships with the Swazis we worked with. Once again we feel blessed to be in the connecting role, enabling the relationships and interactions that change lives on both sides of the ocean. As time permits, we will try to get a more complete update of what these teams accomplished while they were here.

Thank you to all who have prayed for us in these busy weeks!

What does the Bible say about HIV and AIDs? Part 2

There is an interesting and sad misconception that can be found all over the world. In fact it was a misconception that existed when Jesus walked the earth as well. It has permeated every generation of God-followers, and is often found in a misunderstanding of God himself. It is the half-truth that says "holiness" -- the set-apartness and special quality of the people of God -- is all about doing certain good things and not doing certain bad things.

The Pharisees and other religious groups of Jesus’ day fell into believing this very thing. They were so careful not to wander into any of the bad areas that they purposefully fenced off other areas that were not bad per se, but might let people get too close to the bad. Following these rules and living within the fenced-in areas was said to safely assure one’s holiness. This is what we commonly know as legalism.

When Jesus came to earth in the middle of this very legalistic religious society, He purposefully smashed down every fence he came upon. He ate with people who were on the other side of the fence; he talked with women; he touched sick people; he gave forgiveness and compassion instead of judgment and shame for those who broke the rules.

He not only taught by his actions that "fence-making" was not a true concept of holiness, but by his words as well. He preached that hate, lust, pride, and judgmentalism were the true barriers to holiness -- not just behaviors, but the desires of the heart. He said that knowledge of one’s need of God was the most important aspect of true holiness – realizing one’s own inability to produce holiness. He also painted for us a full picture of God and said that holiness is being like God. This included not only doing right things, but also having the love, compassion, forgiveness and grace of God as well. (Check out the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7.)

This was not really a new sentiment. Jesus was just reiterating what had been said many years before, but had been neglected or unheard. Early in God’s relationship with Israel He told them to “be holy, as I am holy.” Holiness is being like God, who was revealed in fullest form as Jesus Christ. And so we say true holiness is Christ-likeness.

Therefore the picture of holiness as doing right behaviors and avoiding wrong ones is a sadly truncated version of the truth. Holiness is loving like Christ, showing compassion like Christ, offering grace and forgiveness like Christ, and bringing the outsiders in like Christ. A professed holiness that shuns, judges and brow-beats Is not holiness at all.

In light of this, the Church all over the world needs to find out what their response should be to the HIV and AIDs crisis. What is the response of people who are “holy as God is holy”? I think we can safely say that attitudes of judgmentalism and picketing with signs that say “HIV is God’s punishment on sinners” isn’t it. I think we can also count out the option of ignoring it and effectively shunning the ones who need the Church the most.

What does the Bible say about HIV and AIDs? Part 1

This may seem like a very odd question, seeing as the virus and its resulting disease did not descend upon humanity until nearly two thousand years after the last books of the Bible were written. Yet it is a crucial question, and our dear friends here in Swaziland and all over the world are desperate for the answer. Closely related to this question is the one which asks what the church’s response is to this disease and the plethora of issues surrounding it. Yet it is difficult to know how to respond before we know what, if anything, the Bible has to say about it.

Let’s start with Jesus. (Always a good place to start.) What do his words and actions say about HIV? Well, at face value, nothing. But when we spend time digging deeper and looking closer, we realize that Jesus spoke and ministered to the most basic of human conditions that are found everywhere and throughout time: suffering, rejection, sinfulness, shame, and the desires for love, belonging, and redemption. All of these elements are familiar to anyone who has been affected by or infected with HIV/ AIDs.

When Jesus touched lepers, He provided more than physical healing. Lepers were the most ostracized group of people in Jesus’ time. They were literally shunned by their societies and families, and sent to live by themselves or with other lepers. “Clean” members of society could not touch, eat with, or be knowingly in the presence of someone who had leprosy. Part of this was a misunderstanding of the disease that led people to think that it could be spread by touching a leper. However, there was also a belief that a person who had contracted leprosy had done something wrong to deserve it. He or she had sinned against God, and this was their punishment. In the sacrificial system of the Jewish temple, however, they were not able to offer a sacrifice for atonement because they were “unclean” and could not enter the temple.

When Jesus interacted with, touched, and healed people with leprosy he was making a statement. He was bringing justice. He was giving emotional and social healing as well as physical healing. He was restoring the humanity that years of shame and rejection had taken away. He was bringing the outsiders into the inner circle of relationship, chosen-ness and blessing.

The same is true for a number of other people groups with whom Jesus freely mingled. He ate with tax collectors, a despised group of people in the eyes of the first century’s “religious right.” He talked openly with women, even sinful women who were known to be prostitutes. In John 8 we even see Jesus defending a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, rescuing her from the punishment she deserved, and most importantly offering her free forgiveness. This is a Jesus who was fearless in breaking down the walls resurrected by judgment, shame, fear, stigma and sin.

In Swaziland and many places of the world, there is nothing more shameful, nothing that can bring more rejection, and no more ostracized group than those who receive a positive result on an HIV test. These people are placed firmly on the “outside” of society life, often times even in the church. There is a shockingly deep and penetrating stigma surrounding HIV. This is primarily fueled by fear and a lack of understanding, as most stigmas are. This fear leads to silence and denial, because not talking about it is better than being confronted with a shameful truth.

Yet what can we learn from the life of Jesus? What does the Bible say about HIV and AIDs? It says that Jesus is not afraid of it. He’s also not afraid of what causes it. Loud and clear, it says that Jesus’ compassion, love, forgiveness and grace is extended especially for those who are suffering on the “outside,” including those with HIV and AIDs. Knowing what we know about Jesus, I think it is safe to say that He would spend plenty of time with people who had been pushed to the outside by HIV/ AIDs. His whole mission was and is to bring outsiders in – into grace, into relationship, into forgiveness, and into the blessedness of being chosen by God. This is to be the church’s mission as well.