The Seabourns

Archives for March 2012

No trash-talking former things

by 1 Comment

We should not disparage the former as we are casting vision for a new way to do things. This cartoon says it well (click on the image for a larger view):

I was in a meeting recently where vision was being cast for a new way to train others, and a new way to think about building multiplying groups. The former ways were denigrated as part of promoting a new way.

I’m guilty of this sometimes, so I’m not casting stones. We should remember this cartoon and not denigrate previous efforts as we move forward.

Trash-talking former strategies has no place in leading into the future.

We stand on the shoulders of many that have gone before.

How can we lead into the future without trashing the past?

You must wait until tomorrow

by Leave a Comment

“I’m sorry, sir, there is no flight.”
“Has it been cancelled?”
“No sir, there is no flight from Nairobi to Bamako today. You must wait until tomorrow.”
“But I have a ticket for a flight today, 13th March.”
“Yes sir. I can see your ticket. But there is no flight today. You must wait until tomorrow.”

 

So started today’s adventure. I got up at 3:45 am. The bus to Nairobi picked us up at 4:45 am as planned. So far, so good.

We got to the airport about 5:45 am. My flight is scheduled for 9 am. The checkin line is nice and short. Only one person ahead of me. Things are going well.

Then I had the conversation with the airline checkin attendant. Things are not going so good, now. She continued, “But I can see it is not your fault. So I will check you in for your flight tomorrow. I will give you a hotel voucher and meals. You can come back tomorrow.”

So, I’m in a nice 5-star hotel in downtown Nairobi.

I have meal vouchers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have internet. It’s a nice place.

But I’m supposed to be in Mali this afternoon. I guess there is work for me to do here in Nairobi today rather than in Mali today.

I’m reminded of a lesson I learned from Henry Brandt: I am going to be in Nairobi today. I have no choice. But I do have a choice about my attitude. I can be in Nairobi as a happy, contented, peaceful person, or I can be in Nairobi as a frustrated, angry person. The choice is mine. But I am going to be in Nairobi.

I decided choose to be contented and at peace because I’m confident God knew I was going to be in Nairobi today. And he has made provision for my attitude through his Holy Spirt.

How do you handle unexpected changes?

Sam survived

by Leave a Comment

Bomb blast survivor Sam AkpokoSam had no idea that a bomb-filled car had just entered the church parking lot. After the explosion, he stumbled outside and shook the dust and debris from his clothes.

I asked Sam how he felt after surviving the bomb blast.

Sam is part of the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ in Nigeria. He lives in the city of Jos, where Kay and Iived for many years during our time in Nigeria.

Sam was attending church when a car bomb exploded. This is the church where Kay and I attended for almost 10 years. The church where Kay played the piano. The church where I preached on several occasions. The church where we trained people in the basics of the Christian life, how to share their faith with others, how to follow Jesus closely. This is the church where the pastor cancelled the service one Sunday and the congregation walked 2 miles to the main market and shared Christ with vendors and customers.

I viewed photos of the wreckage. Broken glass, twisted metal, parts of the car that housed the bomb. But the photo that wrenched my heart was a debris-covered pew. Like the pew I sat in for 10 years. Like the pews where I helped serve communion. Like the pews that held people learning how to walk daily in the power of the Holy Spirit and how to introduce their neighbors to Jesus.

I asked Sam about the aftermath of the bomb blast. He said that as people walked out of the rubble and dusted themselves off, a growing awareness spread that the sovereign God who controls everything had spared their lives. The bomber had been thwarted. He couldn’t get into the building. He couldn’t even get very close. He had detonated the bomb far enough away that only one person died, almost everyone had been spared even though the building is severely damaged. Relief spread, but also a sense of being spared for a purpose.

This has been a good day to meet old friends and to make new friends. Especially an old friend whose life was spared.

It made me think: What if next Sunday was my last day? Or what if it was yours?

What’s happening in Ethiopia

by Leave a Comment

25 years ago Ethiopia was a closed, Communist nation. Christianity was illegal. Now Ethiopia is open to the gospel and it is spreading like an unquenchable fire. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers, well, not so much.

While we were in Ethiopia, Kay and I had dinner with a Campus Crusade for Christ short-term STINT team. I learned of this exciting video where Seth shared these opening remarks.

Watch and enjoy!

[iframe http://player.vimeo.com/video/38076449 400 225]

God has chosen now as the time for Ethiopia from Tim Casteel on Vimeo.

Thanks to Tim Casteel for publishing and to Karin Tome for alerting me.

 

Fighting jet-lag

by Leave a Comment

Mosquito nettingIt’s 2:30 in the morning. I’m looking at the drape of white gauze mosquito net illuminated by the security lights outside our building. The buzzing of mosquitos is a safe distance away.

As I’m laying in bed fighting jet-lag, I think of a childhood song “his banner over me is love”.  This mosquito net is like a banner that I’m beneath. I think of the hedge God puts around us to protect us. This mosquito net is like his hedge.

This is what travel to a far part of the globe looks like for the first few nights. Sleeplessness during the night watches. Can’t stay away during the daytime. I’ve learned a lot about helping my body adjust, but jet-lag is a companion of travelers. God doesn’t seem to hedge jet-lag away from us.

I hear my roommate tossing and turning. He flew in from East Asia. He’s fighting jet-lag also. When I room alone, I can turn on the light and read. But I don’t want to disturb my roommate, so I spend this sleepless time looking at the white gauze and listening to the buzz in the room.

And I pray for Betsy.

Betsy was my seatmate for 7 hours flying from Amsterdam to Nairobi. Betsy loves Africa as I do. She lived in Kenya for a year and comes back frequently. She is married to a writer for National Geographic who is in Tanzania doing a story. She runs a wildlife conservation foundation. We talked of our experiences in different parts of Africa.

And we talked of spiritual things. Betsy grew up in a Christian home, but she’s explored most of the world’s major religions. She converted to buddhism a few years ago. She said she loves the beauty of all the religions. We talked of Christ’s claims which seemed to rule out other ways to God. We also talked of the exclusivity claims of Islam and Jewdaism. She was troubled by these but kept talking about how beautiful the religions are.

Betsy’s conservation group teaches monks in Mongolia to care about the earth. She is attending a conference in Kenya to help religious leaders care for the environment. She is very aware of the good that religious leaders can do.

We had a robust conversation, but I felt unable to help her think more critically. I especially wished I could have connected her with the God whose banner over me is love, who cares deeply about his creation, and who cared so much for Betsy that he sent his Son to pay for her sins.

I was not able to get that far with Betsy.

I was encouraged, though, that I was able to have a robust conversation without bruising the fruit of Betsy’s heart. She commented that she hadn’t had such a good conversation about spiritual things in a while. I am glad that I could be the evangelical Christian who could love things about Africa with Betsy and could talk about God without bruising her.

So I pray for Betsy during these night hours.