Shhh... Don't Tell My Left Hand!

So... I've always had trouble deciding where the line is between not letting my left hand know what my right hand is doing (Mt. 6:3) and helping others be encouraged and able to overcome by sharing my testimony (Rev. 12:11).

When God allows me to be a part of blessing someone else, I'm never sure how much of that stuff to tell others about. Or, more accurately, I'm not really sure how to tell others in a way that truly glorifies Him without making it seem like it's just a little about me.

Because it's not about me. Not at all. At least, to me it's not about me. And, I don't want it to be about me to anyone else. But, I do really, really, really want to share the wonderful things I've been seeing God do for the people around me.

So - here goes. I'll be typing with mostly my right hand, so please don't tell my left hand what all I've had to say. Remember - this is not about me. If anything, I'd like this blog post to make you think about God in His infinite love and mercy, but also about YOU - and the role you have to play in helping people come to know Him.

For several weeks an amazing, awesome, rag-tag group of people from my town have been allowing me to accompany them to Omaha to serve food and hand out warm clothes to the men at a homeless shelter. This is, really, my first experience with homeless people. (I'm a little embarrassed to admit that.)

My first day I was pretty jumpy, and I didn't know what to expect. I mean, I was pouring syrup and doling out peanut butter onto warm pancakes from behind a table, so it's not like I was exactly getting up-close-and-personal or anything. Still - every loud interaction, every brusque tone, every sideways glance kind of set me on edge. I'm ashamed to say it, but I was honestly anticipating a knife fight to break out between two strung out bums at any moment.

(Yes - I'm cringing just as much as you are that I really thought that.)

What I have discovered over these past many weeks, however, is that these guys are just, well... guys. They're just people. Some of them are rude and cranky. A few are even openly hostile (for a myriad of reasons). But, for the most part, they're just people like you and me. They can't help but return a smile or a hug when one is offered. They say, 'please' and 'thank you'. They've usually got a funny joke or story to tell, and they're grateful when you take the time to care about them.

Oh, and they're hungry for the Lord.

I don't care whether someone lives in the biggest house in town, or in a tent by the railroad tracks - they were created in God's image. And, as such, there is something in them that longs to know their creator.

Usually, I'm just the lady behind the table with the funny hat. (See the pictures below if you don't believe me.) But, today, we got the chance to go inside the building and hang out with the guys at the day house. Because of the crowding due to the cold temperatures, it was (quite literally) an opportunity to rub shoulders with these men. I didn't really know anyone's names, but I had come to recognize a lot of faces over the weeks. Apparently they recognized my face too, and the fact that I had offered them smiles, syrup, and the occasional, 'God bless you.'

Those things alone would never have been enough to forge a relationship that transcended all of our vast differences in order to build trust and a level of intimacy between us. But, combined with the burning desire inside their souls to know God, it was sufficient.

It started with one man who came to me, a bit shyly, and quietly said, "I have a question..."

He showed me a page from a religious magazine, stating that after Jesus ascended He was a spiritual being in Heaven.

"So, does that mean He wasn't really human?" the man asked, his head cocked and eyebrows raised.

We talked quietly, amid the chaos and crowds, about the fact that Jesus is seated in Heaven with God as a spirit, but that He truly was 100% human while on Earth, and really did know the realities of life as a person - just like us. This seemed to be an important point to this homeless man - a way to connect with an otherwise unrelatable God.

He had no more than turned away when someone else tapped me on the shoulder, and began the same way:

"I have a question..."

As I walked the ten feet or so between the table I had been standing at and the door, I was stopped by several men today, each of them with a different question about God. I could tell that others were listening intently, curious about I had to say.

One man had been to Bible college briefly, and his eyes lit up at the chance to discuss the scriptures- clearly a topic near and dear to his heart. I found out that he didn't have a Bible, and I offered him one of the Gideon New Testaments that I always keep with me. From all the way at the other end of the eight-foot table, another man - who I didn't even know had been listening - quietly asked if he could have one too.

Not everyone was eager to talk about Jesus, of course. Most of them were more concerned with finding a seat in the crowded room or getting a hold of the classified ads from the paper. One gentleman was even hostile to me - vehemently telling me that as a Muslim he didn't believe in my Jesus. How could someone be God, and let other people kill him? To him, the story made no sense. Yet, before I left, he grabbed my hand, told me he could tell I was a woman of God, and allowed me to give him the last copy of my New Testament, promising he'd look it over so we could continue the conversation next time I was there.

There were other men with questions, I could tell, but our group was leaving, so I headed out to the bitterly-cold courtyard area to help load the vans. I stopped for a moment to watch a homeless man dole out little bits of a piece of bread he'd been given to the birds. As I stood there, I suddenly felt someone at my shoulder.

"I bet you wonder why he's doing that, don't you?" He asked. I didn't recognize him - neither from the pancake lines in weeks past, nor from any conversations I'd had that day.

"Actually, I was just thinking about what a beautiful act of mercy it was for that man to feed the birds, when he himself has so little," I replied.

There was silence for a moment, and I turned to look at the man beside me.

He was sober, and swallowed hard before he spoke.

"I don't know why, but I feel like I'm supposed to come and talk to you," he said. All of the typical toughness and posturing that is so necessary for survival as a homeless person dropped away, and he became very, very vulnerable.

"Well, what do you think we're supposed to talk about?" I asked. (Yes - I know... it probably wasn't the best response, but it's what came to me. Maybe I'll do better next time.)

He swallowed again, and rubbed the toe of his worn boot against the ice in the courtyard.

"About the fact that Jesus loves me."

So that's what we talked about.

I told him that Jesus did love him, and asked if I could pray with him.

After I had finished, he thanked me, and wiped the tears away that had begun to freeze on his cheek.

(I told you it was cold out there. That, and I'm prone to long prayers.)

I had always believed - until recently - that it was wrong to 'push' my religion on others. That everyone had already had the chance to make an informed decision about their beliefs. That people didn't really want to hear about Jesus. Today was yet another reminder of just how untrue that is, and just how much God's creation will always yearn to know about Him.

The question is - will there be anyone there to tell them?

Look - I don't know everything there is to know about theology. I don't know all the answers to all of life's hard questions. And, I'm not perfect. No one is. (Except Jesus, of course.) But, because I was there today - just because I showed up - other people had a chance to get to know a little bit more about their savior and their creator.

God is that big - that He can work through people like me. I know He can work through you, too, and I challenge you to start being there in your own life.

Being there for your friends
Being there for your neighbors.
Being there for your family
Being there for your co-workers
Being there for the people in the biggest house in town.
Being there for the people living in tents by the railroad tracks.
Being there for the lovely.
Being there for the unlovely.

But, most of all - just being there, wherever God asks you to be.

Like what you've read? Want to learn more? Check out our website, or go here to make a tax-deductible contribution to our ministry. (Select 'Farrier' from the pulldown menu.)

If you're interested in contributing to the wonderful things this group of folks is doing for the homeless in Omaha, send me an email at farriersoffaith@yahoo.com. 

This is someone's home.

(I told you I wear a funny hat.)

We are a motley but dedicated crew. It was 2 degrees F this morning.

I am amazed at how many of these men have severe illnesses, diseases, and disabilities.

This facility is at more than 150% capacity, and still not able to serve all those in need.

One of our crew pets 'Handsome' a loyal companion to the folks who live down by the river.

 

 

I am Not Happy!

I don’t try to be upset with my wife. We only fight every couple of months.  But, sometimes there are just things that are too frustrating to keep silent about.

I mean, how dare she? Does she know hard this is on me?  All the time we’ve spent together, and she does this to me.  It's like our 14 years of marriage were all for nothing.  It is almost more than I can bear.

I am sure by now you have guessed it.  Andrea is going to Guatemala without me in February.

Let’s just break this down:

The first week in February (which feels like the longest month of the year in Iowa), Andrea will be leaving sub-zero tempatures for mid 70’s everyday.  The horror.

She will be traveling with our church.  So, she will be in great company, learning even deeper truths about the Lord from seasoned Christians, and getting to hang out with Pastor Paul - one of the most fun people I have ever been around.  Like I don’t want to be around awesome people or something!

She will be helping at the school, the women’s shelter, and maybe even the college - blessing people's lives not just with her faith and her love, but also her works. Helping in such small ways that will change lives for eternity.  Did I mention this will all be without me?

She is going to get to travel around with the people we will be working with once we move to Guatemala.  Learning more about what we'll do when we get there, getting to know the city, seeing apartments, finding  out about local regulations we will have to follow.  (Okay, the last one on the list doesn’t sound great.)

She is going to get visit local Xela-area churches again.  To see people with nothing, but who are so happy just to know their Lord and Savior.  She will get to encourage and get hugs and share love with awesome brothers and sisters in Christ.  I just can’t believe she would do this to me.

She gets to fly around on airplanes, going through Atlanta and into Guatemala City. There is nothing more exciting than that!

She tries to tell me that I could go, but then the whole vacation time thing comes up. (I wonder if she planned our prior vacations out just so I wouldn't have enough days left, and she would have to go instead of me.)  She tries to say she doesn’t even know how much vacation time I have. Boy, she just has all the excuses...

If you would like to contribute to Andrea’s acts of selfishness against me, you can give online at World Outreach Ministries (select 'Farrier' from the pulldown menu), or learn more about our ministry by visiting our website at farriersoffaith.org.

If, that is, you think you can live with yourself for helping bring dischord to an other-wise happy marriage.

Why Not Stay Here?

So, here's a question we get a lot:

Why are you guys going to Guatemala?  mean, there are lots of people here who need help.
         who need more money...
                    who need more food...
                             who need more love...
                                                                                                               Who need more Jesus.

It's a thoughtful question, really, and I appreciate that people are asking it, because it means they recognize the needs here in the U.S. In their states. In their communities. In their own neighborhoods. And, if God has opened up their eyes to recognize the needs, then they're supposed to be part of the solution.

Don't believe me? It says so in the Good Book.

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.   -- Prov. 19:17

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  -- Gal. 6:2

Give to the one who begs from you, and do no refuse one who would borrow from you.  -- Mt. 5:42

Whoever opresses a poor man insults his maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors Him.  -- Prov. 14:31

Do not neglect to do good and share what you have, for such sacrifice is pleasing to God.  -- Heb. 13:16

But if anyone has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. -- 1 John 3:17-18

(Seriously - I could go on like this all day. The admonition to care for those in need around us is in there. A lot.)

According to a study done in 2010 by the Pew Charitable trust, there are approximately 250 million self-identified Christians in our country. (Yes. I know. If you self-identify as a space alien it doesn't necesarily make you one of those either.)

But, let's just say, for the sake of argument, that even 1/4 of those people who say they're Christians really got a hold of Jesus, and let Jesus get a hold of them. What would happen if they decided to start living out the scriptures I just listed above? That's  62 1/2 million people - or a smidge over 20% of our nation's population.

What that means - conservatively -  is that even if only a quarter of the people who call themselves Christians in the U.S. decided to reach out and help just 4 people each, then everyone in our country could have the chance to hear about Jesus, and experience His love through human vessels.

The church in the United States could - quite literally - care for all the widows and orphans. Feed all those who are hungry. Help all those in need. Reach all of those who are unreached. And, it wouldn't really take that much or that many of them to do it, either.

That's not the case in Guatemala.

So, honestly, the very question that people think will make us reconsider going, is the one that reaffirms that we're supposed to do so. There are enough people here who see the need, and have what it takes to meet it. Our job is to go to Guatemala.

We're doing our best to help our 4 people each before we go. (More than that, really.) You guys do the same, and tell your friends.

Once word gets out just how much of a difference we can make for Christ, this nation should be in pretty good shape in no time.

Right?

Like what you've read? Want to learn more? Check out our website, or go here to make a tax-deductible contribution to our ministry. (Select 'Farrier' from the pulldown menu.)

Rediscovering a Dream

When I was 11, I knew that God existed and that He cared for me.  He had answered a simple prayer and it was enough for me to believe.

When I was 13, at church summer camp, I felt His great love for me and I gave my life to serve Him forever.  Over the next couple of years I studied the Word all the time.  I would write sermons. Some I gave to the Pastor of our church.  Most were in notebooks that would get thrown away without anyone thinking about what was in there.

I wrote these and studied so hard because I had a dream of becoming an evangelist.  What would be better than telling people about Jesus?  To bring people to Jesus and know they were saved for eternity?

What I really wanted to do was start new churches for the church I was a member of.  I had dreams of going to cities we did not have a church in and starting one. Getting people to come to the church, teaching them God’s word, getting the new people to run things, and then I’d be off - off to the next city, to  plant another church, and get people trained in the word.  To me this seemed like the best job in the world.

I kept this dream until I was about 22.  As some may be able to guess, the rest of the story is not unique.  I got married and had kids.  The church we were in was consolidating, not expanding at that time.  Getting a career and supporting my family seemed to be the wisest step. I didn't have a 'give up on my dream' moment. It was lots of little choices and focuses.

Focus on my family (very important); focus on a career to support my family (important), give myself to my church and its goals (important).  None of the things I was doing were bad. Besides, the dream was only mine. I had only shared it with my parents and wife.  It is comical to me how it just disappeared and I never even really cared.  Life with my wife is great, my kids are great, my profession is great.

So what changed? How did I remember a dream that was buried?

After some very hard times and challenges, I had a very deep personal experience with God.  I had dug deep, and found myself face to face with Jesus.  That is not when I discovered the old dream.  This was when I rededicated my life.  I was on fire for Jesus again, and wanted to tell people about Him and His amazing gift. We left the church I had grown up in to join one that did more evangelistic outreach.

Still, this was not rediscovering the dreams of my youth. This was just an extension of what I had been doing.  I still had my job, wonderful property, great kids.  The only thing that changed was now I was in a church that would go out Fridays and talk to the college students about Jesus.

Then we moved.

We had prayed about it and felt it was where God wanted us.  To be honest though, it was mostly about my career.  With the move, I was able to support my wife and place myself for future career development.  There was no thought that God might have bigger plans.  We only knew that we would find another church because God would not lead us somewhere  where He wasn’t.

Then it happened - we went to a new church. The, we went to Guatemala.  Suddenly I had remembered what I had wanted to do in my youth.  Buried deeply, I had not even remember it was down there.

Though it is not my original dream, doing mission work is still time that's been redeemed.  I am getting the privilege to go Guatemala and share the gospel.  I will be helping at a college where the bible is taught and ministers are sent out from there to teach the gospel.  I get to throw aside all the concerns of a normal life and focus completely on him.

And that is a dream come true.

 - Mark

Like what you've read? Want to learn more? Check out our website, or go here to make a tax-deductible contribution to our ministry. (Select 'Farrier' from the pulldown menu.)