MOVE: End-Time Education: On the move!

Greetings from the MOVE[i] mission campus near Orange Walk, Belize! This is a good place to be for Christmas! Lyli and I came to attend “In the Power of His Might,” a three-day mission congress to motivate the local churches to get more involved in both local and foreign mission work.[ii] A few days before the congress, Keila Valenzuela, co-director of MOVE, called and urged us to come as soon as possible to help with the preparations. We arrived on Tuesday the 17^th. It has rained nearly every day, and the roads to the planned conference location became impassible. Keila was obliged to change the venue to the MOVE campus. The logistical pressure that ensued revolved around housing the nearly one hundred attendees who were registered for the full weekend. Camping in the rain would be miserable. Some guests would stay in the homes of the MOVE volunteers, but what about the rest? Providentially, there are several buildings under construction and one was ready for the roof. Some quick calculations insured that it would be just enough space to shelter the remaining visitors. So I joined the roofing crew. Two of them I knew from Bolivia: Samuel, a former student and graduate of UETIRG, and Edwin, previously a volunteer at the TV station in Santa Cruz and the Familia Feliz boarding school! Both are now volunteers at MOVE and loving it! I also really enjoyed getting to know Joel, a law student specializing in religious liberty at Duke University and former mission volunteer in Ethiopia and South Sudan. Turns out we more than likely played together at pastors’ retreats when we were kids, as our dads were pastors in the same district.

From the roof I could see workers pitch the big tent for the main meetings while others dug holes and put up tarp covered scaffolding for some improvised outhouses nearby. Other tarpaulins accommodated the seminar sessions. Perry Karges, a heavy equipment operator who hales from North Dakota installed two additional tanks on the water tower. But there was even more happening than met the eye: in the cafeteria, Ray, a young volunteer from Mexico Missions and Beyond[iii] installed an entire wall complete with a tiled serving deck. Inside sister Betty and others took turns cooking meals while Lyli helped Keila, Phoebe, and Katie prepare materials for the congress: name tags, schedules, signs, and more. In the evenings we practiced music.

Thursday afternoon, we fastened the last piece of sheet metal on the roof, just moments before the arrival of another downpour, and about three hours before the arrival of the guests for registration! How rapidly the work is done when we work together with a will, each one in their assigned place! During the congress they continued to keep us busy! Lyli led song service, I played the piano, did some impromptu translating to English or Spanish as the case required, and shared about the school in Bolivia. I also had one general session about the role of music in the last days.

The conference was phenomenal, and the Holy Spirit worked mightily despite our deficiencies. There was a rugged joy in slogging through the mud to sing “onward, forward”[iv] and listen to inspiring stories of faith, courage, and answered prayer from brothers and sisters from around the world. God is using diverse people in different places in fabulous ways!

After one stirring talk in the cafeteria I noticed a young man sitting alone at the adjacent table. I introduce myself and asked him how he was enjoying the congress.

“I just don’t know what to do” he replied. “I know God is calling me to do something but I don’t know where to go or how to start!” His answer took by surprise. His name is Damian, he is 21 years old, and he just started going to church again about a month ago! There are major problems in his family right now, and he is tired of it. He wants a different kind of life, something real, something meaningful. Thank God, who always has just what we need, and privileged me with words to encourage Damian. I reminded him of Abraham who responded to God’s call without knowing where he was going or what he would do when he got there. God doesn’t often show us the final destination, but he promises to guide us and teach us all along the way and invites us to trust him with everything. I encouraged Damian to make that decision. I don’t know where God will lead Damian, but I suggested that he prayerfully consider the missionary training course at MOVE that begins this February as a good option to start with.

Another exciting thing about the mission congress was the opportunity to recruit prospective volunteers for this next school year. Ricci and George, for example, are getting married next month and afterward they want to come work with us in Bolivia. She is a science teacher and he has experience in carpentry and farming! What a valuable addition to the team! We are praying that God will open and close doors according to His will.

Give for the love of God

“We can see only a little way before us; ‘but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.’ He never becomes confused. He sits above the confusion and distractions of the earth, and all things are opened to His divine survey; and from His great and calm eternity He can order that which His providence sees is best. If we were left to ourselves to plan, we should make mistakes. Our prejudices, our weaknesses, our self-deceptions, and our ignorances would be manifest in many ways. But the work is the Lord's, the cause is His; He never leaves His workmen without divine directions” My Life Today p. 14

On Sabbath afternoon it was time to practice what we preached. All of us divided into groups according to our home church[v] or mission project and organized a service activity to do within the next three weeks. Lyli and I joined the MOVE staff and planned a Christmas Eve concert to hold in the Orange Walk town plaza. In one rare moment when not on the piano, I walked around the perimeter of the plaza handing out literature. “Yeah, and God bless right?” a young man with his wife and kids said as he received a tract. “God’s not blessing me tonight nor tomorrow.” He answered his own question. At first it was hard to tell if he was just messing with me or if he was serious. He certainly looked and sounded serious enough.

“I don’t got nothin’ to give to my kids for Christmas. I’ve got to find someone to rob or somethin’ ‘cause God, ya know, sometimes He’s there for you and sometimes he’s not.” That was an extremely awkward moment for me as I tried to process how I should respond. Finally I just handed Him the only cash I had with me, while wondering if that was really the best response I could give. Maybe he was lying, and even if he wasn’t, why should I help someone who spoke openly of robbing people, and in front of his children at that? Then the Holy Spirit seemed to smack me over the head. Why should I always filter my giving based on whether I think they deserve it, or what they might to do with the gift? What if God based his giving on such criteria? He bestows a myriad gifts, good and perfect on an ungrateful and undeserving race: the pleasant perfume of the flowers, every breath of life-giving air, the joy of a genuine smile, the delightful flavor of a favorite fruit—oh, how he loves this old world, despite its rottenness! What perfect magnificence, what benevolent mercy, what unfathomable love! He took the biggest risk, gave the greatest gift of all in the life, death, and service of his only son, Jesus Christ. He gives it to everyone, knowing that even those of us who claim to love Him will kill His son all over again. And again. And again. For all practical purposes He is squandering His resources on millions who will never reciprocate His love: no acknowledgements, no surrendered heart or dedicated life, not even simple thanks? Instead, many return their gifted breath in blasphemies. Why does He keep giving? How does He do it? And more importantly, what even remotely valid excuse is left to me for NOT giving? Well, maybe I have one excuse: my proud, ugly, sinful, human heart that needs to be transformed by divine grace. My first work is to learn to give Him that.

[i] MOVE (Mission Outreach and Volunteer Evangelism) is a bilingual missionary training school. Classes open this February. For more information, go to http://www.movetraining.org/ and http://www.gospelministry.org/belize-volunteer-center/

[ii] Guest speakers included Lowell Jenks (South Sudan, Africa), Jonathan Lovitt (Darjeeling, India), Jeff Sutton, (Belize), Ruan Swanepoel (Colombia) among others. You can listen to recorded sessions below.

[iii] Mexico Missions and Beyond builds churches all over Mexico during Christmas vacation. When Ray first started working with them he says he knew almost nothing about construction. You would never know by watching him now. Ray is a great example of how God multiplies the talents of those who willingly employ themselves in His service. For more information go to http://www.mexico-missions.org/

[iv] From the hymn “Sound the Battle Cry.”

[v] At least 7 different churches were represented, including my in-laws’ church from across the border in Mexico.